Douglas's Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass

In 1845 Frederick Douglass published a narrative titled “Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass” which paved the avenue for a large abolitionist movement which eventually lead up to the civil war. In the popular narrative, Douglass shaped the American society’s perception of slavery and contributed to the abolitionist movement. Frederick Douglass’ writing in his narrative is composed of multiple appeals to the northern American population. Through Douglass’ journey through his contribution to the abolitionist movement, he performed a compelling and influential presence in the realm of literature and journalism to articulate the importance and reasoning behind abolishing slavery. In Frederick Douglass’ narrative, he appealed to northern americans through employing the ideals of innate human rights, the christian faith, and involvement in journalism.

Frederick Douglass understood the dynamics and importance of the christian faith in the northern American population. In his writing, he often argued that true faith would result in the abolishment of slavery, claiming that slavery is a result of hatred and a demonstration of false, poor christianity. Douglass believed that slavery was a result of hypocrisy and hatred and

Slavery challenged human rights and diminished access to education, individuality and fair treatment. Douglass described the lives of slaves as an “awful neglect of their minds and souls and the systematic effort to imbrute them” (Douglass, 118). Basic human privileges were kept from slaves, including neglect of education, mental and physical health and recognizing the individual. Often times, Douglass expressed many slaves were stripped of their identity by slavowners “changing their names; if, at the time they are brought into a family, there is another slave of the same name; or if the owner happens, for some other reason, not to like the name of the newcomer” (Douglass,