Frederick Douglass goes on a journey to help stop slavery. Anti-Slavery movement. February 1818 – February 20, 1895. Frederick Douglass, Anna Murray, African American people, Slaves. To stop the people from being slaves. Frederick Douglass Cuts through the Lincoln Myth to Consider the Man. Frederick Douglass. 1849. Ireland, Britain, United States. Learning to be equal with others. In Frederick Douglass “Cuts through the Lincoln myth to consider the man”; he motivates his/her intended audience during the Anti-Slavery Movement by using the rhetorical devices or tone and imagery.
In this social movement it talks about people are not treated equally. This speech talks about how African Americans should not be slaves anymore. This speech talks about how he grew up in life listening to the president speak and how he gave all his speeches to the people of the United States. The theme of this speech is help others realize that we should help each other out. To protect, defend, and perpetuate slavery in the states where it existed Abraham Lincoln was not less ready than any other president to draw the sword of the nation.” (Frederick Douglass). (Frederick Douglass Cuts Through The Lincoln Myth To Consider The Man). This quote talks about how we should always protect each other and that Abraham Lincoln agrees on the fact that slavery should be put to an end. “When now it shall be said that the colored man is soulless that he has no appreciation of benefits or beneficiation, when to foul reproach of ingratitude is hurled at us, and it is attempted to, we may comply point to the monument we have this day erected to the memory or Abraham Lincoln.” (Frederick Douglass). (Frederick Douglass Cuts Through The Lincoln Myth To Consider The Man). ...
... middle of paper ...
...e still be slaves and working for the rich.
Works Cited
Granville, Grant. “He Made Us Laugh Some” Frederick Douglass’s Humor. [African American Review]. 4 (2003): 535. eLibrary. Web. 27 February 2014.
DeLombard, Jeannie. “Eye-Witness to the Cruelty.” Southern Violence and Northern Testimony in Frederick Douglass’s 1845. Scholarly Journal. eLibrary. Web. 27 February 2014.
Frederick Douglass. “Frederick Douglass Cuts Through the Lincoln Myth to Consider the Man.” W.W. Nordon and Company. eLibrary. Web. 27 February 2014.
Ramsey, William. “Frederick Douglass, Southerner”. Southern Literary Journal. eLibrary. 27 February 2014.
Comery, S. William. “Proud Lion of Baltimore: The Life and Legacy of Frederick Douglass.” World and I. (2003) 156. eLibrary. Web. 27 February 2014.
Franklin H. John. “The Two Worlds of Race.” [Daedalus]. eLibrary. Web. 27 February 2014.
Frederick Douglass.” Journal of Narrative Technique 16.1 (Winter 1986): 55-71. Rpt. in Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism. Ed. Russel Whitaker. Vol. 141. Detroit: Gale, 2004. Literature Resource Center. Web. 28 Nov. 2013.
Frederick Douglass, an African American social reformer who escaped from slavery, in his autobiography “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Written by Himself,” denotes the perilous life of a slave in the South. Through syntax, Douglass is able to persuade his readers to support the abolitionist movement as his writing transitions from shifting sentence lengths to parallel structure and finally to varying uses of punctuation. Douglass begins his memoir with a combination of long and short sentences that serve to effectively depict life his life as a slave. This depiction is significant because it illustrates the treatment of slaves in the south allows his audience to despise the horrors of slavery. In addition, this
After suffering the overwhelming ferociousness and inhumanity of being a slave for over two decades , a black man by the name of Fredrick Douglass fled from enslavement and began to make a concerted effort to advance himself as a human being. Combating many obstacles and resisting numerous temptations, Douglass worked assiduously to develop into a knowledgeable gentleman rather than the involuntary alternative of being an unenlightened slave. In doing so, Douglass successfully immerged as one of the Civil War era’s most prominent antislavery orators. From his first major public speech at the age of 23, Douglass became widely renowned as a premier spokesperson for Black slaves and the movement for the abolition of slavery. In one of Douglass’ most distinguished speeches, “The Meaning of July 4th for the Negro,” he uses the intermittent occasion of speaking on behalf of African Americans to a multitude of White Americans to outline arguments against slavery. In that very speech, Douglass made it clear that, like countless African Americans during this time period,
Foner, Philip S. The Life and Writings of Frederick Douglass, Volume II Pre-Civil War Decade
From before the country’s conception to the war that divided it and the fallout that abolished it, slavery has been heavily engrained in the American society. From poor white yeoman farmers, to Northern abolitionist, to Southern gentry, and apathetic northerners slavery transformed the way people viewed both their life and liberty. To truly understand the impact that slavery has had on American society one has to look no further than those who have experienced them firsthand. Frederick Douglass, an escaped slave and advocate for the abolitionist, is on such person. Douglass was a living contradiction to American society during his time. He was an African-American man, self-taught, knowledgeable, well-spoken, and a robust writer. Douglass displayed a level of skill that few of his people at the time could acquire. With his autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave Written by Himself, Douglass captivated the people of his time with his firsthand accounts into the horror and brutality that is the institution of slavery.
The Narrative of Frederick Douglass brings forth a story of struggle throughout the 1800s. In the book, Douglass discusses the dehumanization of slaves through describing his own experiences. His narrative brings to question what it means to be human. As living humans, it is our responsibility to investigate this question as it applies to our own observation and behavior. Douglass illuminates the path towards becoming human by addressing the ways in which slaveholders justify inhumane actions such as rape and violence as simply doings of God. The hypocrisies presented throughout the narrative present the overall idea that deception is what drives slavery. The path towards humanization rests
In the passage of the Narrative of Fredrick Douglass, the author masterfully conveys two complimentary tones of liberation and fear. The tones transition by the use of diction and detail. The passage is written entirely in first person, since we are witnessing the struggles of Fredrick Douglass through his eyes. Through his diction, we are able to feel the triumph that comes with freedom along with the hardships. Similarly, detail brings a picturesque view of his adversities. Since the point of view is first person, the reader is able to be a part of the Douglass’ struggles with his new freedom. With diction, detail, and point of view, the reader is able to get a rare glimpse into the past of Fredrick Douglass.Fredrick Douglass’ diction is powerful as he describes his life as a slave and with his new freedom. Fredrick Douglass calls being enslaved an act of “wretchedness,” yet he was able to remain “firm” and eventually left the “chains” of slavery. Fredrick Douglass expresses that being enslaved is a wretched act and that no man should ever deserve such treatment. Despite being a slave, he kept strong and eventually broke the chain of society. However, Fredrick Douglass experienced great “insecurity” and “loneliness” with his new freedom, and was upon a new “hunting-ground.” His new freedom brought other devastating factors, being a new state without any friends, which caused his loneliness. In this new state, he grew insecure for he was in a new danger zone where at any time his freedom could be rejected. With new freedom come new obstacles, which are described in the diction of Fredrick Douglass.
On July 5th of 1852, the Ladies Antislavery Society of Rochester requested that emancipated slave, Fredrick Douglass, speak for their celebration of the United States’ national independence. Douglass accepted this request and presented a powerful speech that explained and argued his true beliefs and feelings concerning this event. He considered their decision to request him as a speaker on that day to be a mockery of his past and of the ongoing status of blacks as slaves in America at the time. Nevertheless, Douglass skillfully constructed his speech utilizing various methods that forced his audience to take him seriously and think twice about the issue of slavery in America. His passion about the subject, his ability to captivate his audience, and his persuasive skills combine to form a clearly effective speech that continues to be studied to this day. Douglass warmed up his audience by commending the moral and patriotic excellence of their forefathers. He then delivered the argument of his speech which cleverly criticized the hypocrisy of the institution of slavery and those who tolerated or supported it. Yet, to conclude his speech, Douglass asserts that there is still hope for the young nation so as not to leave the audience completely discouraged. The way in which Douglass constructed and delivered this speech had a lasting impact and left his audience with an effectively argued point to consider.
Douglass, Frederick. “The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass.” The Classic Slave Narratives. Ed. Henry Louis Gates Jr. New York: Penguin Group, 1987.
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass written by Frederick Douglass and edited by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. described how slaves in the U.S were treated before the American Civil War. The cruelties that these slaves faced every day were beyond what all of us would expected. They were abused with force and starvation by their masters and overseers, additionally they were also being suppressed by their owners, intellectually and economically. Many of us think of slavery as an act of confinement and denying a person of his/her freedom. However, American slavery is way worst than that. Slavery in U.S is a way to suppress generations of African Americans by treating them with violence. As Douglass described what he saw " I had seen [master] tie up a lame young woman, and whip her with a heavy cowskin upon her naked back..Master would keep this lacerated young women tied up in this horrid Comment [G5]: Deleted:y Comment [G1]: Inserted: were Comment [G2]: Inserted: ies Comment [G4]: Deleted:a Comment [G3]: Inserted:
There are a number of key arguments in “The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass”. A few of which include inequality, education, and Christianity as the keys to freedom in terms of its true values within the institution of slavery. While Frederick Douglass made some key arguments, he also made common ground to make his appeal for the abolition of slavery.
Douglass, Frederick . "The Nation's Problem."Teaching American History. Ashland University, n.d. Web. 26 May 2014.
...e proper descriptions of Douglass’s experiences. These words also justify that he is brilliant and not no fool. His influential words in the narrative support the message of him being smarter than what some people may believe.
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, brings to light many of the social injustices that colored men, women, and children all were forced to endure throughout the nineteenth century under Southern slavery laws. Douglass's life-story is presented in a way that creates a compelling argument against the justification of slavery. His argument is reinforced though a variety of anecdotes, many of which detailed strikingly bloody, horrific scenes and inhumane cruelty on the part of the slaveholders. Yet, while Douglas’s narrative describes in vivid detail his experiences of life as a slave, what Douglass intends for his readers to grasp after reading his narrative is something much more profound. Aside from all the physical burdens of slavery that he faced on a daily basis, it was the psychological effects that caused him the greatest amount of detriment during his twenty-year enslavement. In the same regard, Douglass is able to profess that it was not only the slaves who incurred the damaging effects of slavery, but also the slaveholders. Slavery, in essence, is a destructive force that collectively corrupts the minds of slaveholders and weakens slaves’ intellects.
Douglass, Frederick, and David W. Blight. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave: With Related Documents. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2003. Print.