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Frederick Douglass's Disguised Message
Frederick Douglass, a firm believer in equality, was one of the most influential leaders of the abolitionist movement in America. An ex-slave, Douglass pushed for abolition and brought attention to the subject through his commanding speeches and his powerful writings. Among his writings Douglass published his autobiography "Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave" , which is indeed one of his more famous pieces of work. Douglass uses his own life and personal experiences to describe what life was like for a slave at the time. Although seen as a simple autobiography of his life, the text goes deeper with components that would ultimately affect the northern audience's view on southern slaveholders. Targeting the Northern audience was crucial because they were the only group he could persuade enough to change the way things were. Douglass used his life story as a propaganda device to promote and drive the abolition movement among northerners.
Before Douglass begins his life story , the preface written by Wm. Lloyd Garrison, prepares the reader for the abolitionist message that is really behind Douglass's Narrative. The preface focuses on Garrison's admiration for Douglass and his cause. He describes hearing Douglass speak for the first time and states "I think I never hated so intensely as at that moment..."(2065). Garrison also demonstrates how devoted to abolition and persuading Douglass is by writing "..if Mr. Douglass could be persuaded to consecrate his time and talents to the promotion of the anti-slavery enterprise, a powerful impetus would be given to it, and a stunning blow..inflicted on northern prejudice against a colored complexion."(2066). To furt...
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Using his written word and combining all the factors used to affect his audience, Douglass hoped to shed light upon the true nature of a slave holder and the practice of slavery. He knew his boundaries and did not try to promote a movement towards total civil rights; his intent was to motivate enough people to join his movement and fight for abolition. Douglass hoped his readers would become sympathetic towards the still enslaved using his own real experiences such as having no father, being separated from his mother, how the slaves were treated like animals, and the brutal punishments and killings without justice. Douglass also expected to place a black mark on southern slave holders by telling us how they had affairs with the slaves and used religion as support for their actions.
Douglass strived to make readers imagine themselves in his position.
Different types of literature have been part of America since the 1630’s and the varieties of literature still exist to this day. Frederick Douglass’s work and speeches during his lifetime caught the attention of many people in the United States, including slave owners themselves. Douglass has not only changed American literature, he has also inspired many other writers and speakers to seek freedom of expression for themselves. Even though he had a rough childhood because he was a slave, Douglass found ways to make the most of it. Fortunately it was because he had a nice and caring owner who taught him to read and write. Furthermore, because he had a warmhearted owner, he was able to express himself through his work to many different people of his time. Douglass’s works and speeches remain of great impact, and continue to influence and inspire many people in literature to this day. He influenced many people during his travels to Northern free states and overseas to England and Ireland where he explained and changed their mindset of the cruelty of slavery, which ultimately lead to the adjustment by the people to understand the reality of slavery.
Frederick Douglass has an autobiography called “Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass” basically telling his life story. He starts off telling about how he grew up from a baby and tells about his family, the little that he knew. Douglass was born into slavery and separated from his mother before he was twelve months, to prevent a strong bond between them two. He did not know what his exact age was and he did not know who his father was, there were rumors that his master was his father. He soon evaded slavery and went to New York where he got married to another freed slave. In the 1840’s he got the Anti-Slavery movement some fuel when he told about his days as a slave and his experiences. After that he was appointed to be the speaker of the movement by Lloyd Garrison. His novel almost got him into some trouble because he was not legally freed so his master could still go find him and take him back. This caused him to have to get out of the United States for a little while. He did not like the idea of the underground railroad saying “I have never approved of the very public manner of the underground railroad” (Douglass 990). He thinks t...
Douglass's Narrative brings an ugly era of American history to life as it weaves through his personal experiences with slavery, brutality, and escape. Most importantly Douglass reveals the real problem in slavery, which is the destructive nature of intolerance and the need for change. Douglass refers many times to the dehumanizing effects sla...
The Life of Fredrick Douglass shows how slavery could of not only affected the slaves but the owners as well. Thomas Auld was overall a cowardly owner and quite tough compared to other slaveholders. Douglass believed that since Auld obtained slave owning from marriage, it made him more of an unpleasant master because he wasn’t used to being around slavery and having so much power. Fredrick Douglass also was convinced that religious slaveholders were false Christians because they became more self-righteous and thought that God gave them the power to hold slaves. By telling stories to the reader, Douglass hoped to bring awareness to the harsh subject of slavery and show how the slaves kept hope during these miserable times.
Frederick Douglass, an abolitionist who altered America's views of slavery through his writings and actions. Frederick's life as a slave had the greatest impact on his writings. Through his experience as a slave, he developed emotion and experience for him to become a successful abolitionist writer. He experienced harsh treatment and his hate for slavery and desire to be free caused him to write Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. In his Narrative, he wrote the story of his miserable life as a slave and his fight to be free. His motivation behind the character (himself) was to make it through another day so that maybe one day he might be free. By speaking out, fighting as an abolitionist and finally becoming an author, Douglass's transformation from a slave into a man.
...edge. In his narrative, Douglass layers the many brutal, cruel, inhumane, and true components of slavery in his life, underlying each story with a political motive and relation. This method of writing was for his audience removed from slavery, those ignorant of slavery, uninformed, misunderstood, and those who were fortunate to have freedom. Douglass illustrates living conditions, experiences, tragedies, and struggles to great depths. Everywhere, African Americans escaped the binds of slavery due to Frederick Douglass' determination. He revolutionized America, being one of the greatest leaders of the abolition, being the reason for so many freed lives, and leading to the complete abolition and illegality of slavery in America.
Frederick Douglass defined his manhood through his education and his freedom. As a slave he realized "the white man's power to enslave the black man".*(Narrative 273) That power was through mental and physical enslavement. Douglass knew that becoming literate would be "the pathway from slavery to freedom".*(275) His education would give him the mental freedom to then gain physical freedom. He became literate by bribing and befriending the neighborhood boys that lived around him. Every chance Douglass had, he would find another way to gain more knowledge to learn to read.
Frederick Douglass’ source, “The Desire for Freedom” was written in 1845. He was born into slavery in 1818 and became an important figure in the fight for abolition. Douglass was also involved in other reform movements such as the women’s rights movement. He “experienced slavery in all its variety, from work as a house servant and as a skilled craftsman in Baltimore shipyard to labor as a plantation field hand” (Pg.207¬). “The Desire for Freedom” was meant to document how his life was within slavery and how his education could someday help him escape it. Douglass meant to speak to American slaves and those who did not really understand slavery in order to help persuade everyone that life was meant to be lived freely. In order to obtain this future, Douglass wrote about his own personal experience and how he believed that enslavers were “in no other light than a band of successful robbers, who had left their homes, and gone to Africa, and stolen us from our homes, and in a strange land reduced us to slavery” (Pg. 208). This source brings on the idea that slaves were willing to fight back, wanted to be educated, and, most importantly, wanted the chance to live life freely.
Frederick Douglass once said, "there can be no freedom without education." I believe this statement is true. During slavery, slaves were kept illiterate so they would not rebel and become free. Many slaves were stripped from their families at an early age so they would have no sense of compassion towards family members. Some slaves escaped the brutal and harsh life of slavery, most who were uneducated. But can there be any real freedom without education?
This excellent biography fluently tells the life story of Douglass; one of the 19th centuries's most famous writers and speakers on abolitionist and human rights causes. It traces his life from his birth as a slave in Maryland, through his self-education, escape to freedom, and subsequent lionization as a renowned orator in England and the United States. Fascinating, too, are accounts of the era's politics, such as the racist views held by some abolitionist leaders and the ways in which many policies made in post-Civil War times have worked to the detriment of today's civil rights movement. The chapter on Frederick Douglass and John Brown is, in itself, interesting enough to commend this powerful biography. The seldom-seen photographs, the careful chapter notes, documentation, and acknowledgements will encourage anybody to keep on learning about Frederick Douglass.
Foner, Philip S., ed. The Life and Writings of Frederick Douglass: Pre-Civil War Decade 1850-1860. Vol. 2. New York: International Publishers, 1950.
In conclusion, Frederick Douglass starts his life as a slave determined to get his freedom. At the end of his life, he is one of the foremost figures of the abolitionist movement. Douglass' narrative takes advantage of the literal advantage in order to abolish slavery. Through depictions of dehumanization and freedom, Frederick Douglass' narrative is instrumental in swaying the views of the indifferent Northern residents.
The Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass can be referred to as a memoir and writing about the abolitionist movement of the life of a former slave, Fredrick Douglass. It is a highly regarded as the most famous piece of writing done by a former slave. Fredrick Douglass (1818-1895) was a social reformer, statesman, orator and writer in the United States. Douglass believed in the equality of every individual of different races, gender or immigrants.
The Narrative of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass is written to have people place their feet in the shoes of Frederick Douglass and try to understand the experience he went through as a slave. Douglass writes this piece of literature with strong wording to get his point across. He is not trying to point out the unpleasant parts of history, but to make people face the truth. He wants readers to realize that slavery is brutalizing and dehumanizing, that a slave is able to become a man, and that some slaves, like himself, have intellectual ability. These points are commonly presented through the words of Douglass because of his diction.
When first introduced to Douglass and his story, we find him to be a young slave boy filled with information about those around him. Not only does he speak from the view point of an observer, but he speaks of many typical stereotypes in the slave life. At this point in his life, Frederick is inexperienced and knows nothing of the pleasures of things such as reading, writing, or even the rights everyone should be entitled to. Douglass knowing hardly anything of his family, their whereabouts, or his background, seems to be equivalent to the many other slaves at the time. As a child Frederick Douglass sees the injustices around him and observes them, yet as the story continues we begin to see a change.