Frederick Douglass Narrative Essay
In Frederick Douglass’s autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Douglass explains his trials as a slave in nineteenth century America. Douglass examines the many obdurate along with the few kind hearts of those heavily involved in the slave system. During this time, the majority of the public accepted the existence and horror of the slave trade without question. Slaveholders used common misconceptions like the Bible’s suggestion of the descendants of Ham being designed for slavery and the American economy’s dependence on slave labor to validate slavery’s necessity. Douglass easily refutes these invalid reasons and thus debunks the mythology of slavery. Many novels during the nineteenth century present romantic images of
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It was a commonly held belief that blacks were inherently less intelligent than whites. This is what caused Douglass's independent authorship to be a unique accomplishment. In the preface of the Narrative, WM. Lloyd Garrison states that Douglass "[apologizes] for his ignorance" (3). This statement is ironic because Douglass is one of the few slaves who was literate. He apologizes for this because society believes that he unintelligent solely for his race and he may even have believed it himself. However, Douglass demonstrates his intellectual capabilities when he explains his determination to learn to read. Even though he was only taught the alphabet by his mistress, Douglass finds ways to get others to teach him how to read, write, and spell. Douglass learns the most by "converting [the little white boys in the neighborhood] into teachers" (44). He offers the hungry, poor boys bread in exchange for knowledge. Even though this is not the same as receiving a formal education, Douglass grows greatly from it. He learns to read and write and these skills are incredibly valuable to him while trying to escape slavery. He would not be able to write himself or anyone else a note from his master allowing them to escape. The other slaves who make no attempt to become literate demonished their intellectual capabilities by simply
It was a commonly held belief that blacks were inherently less intelligent than whites. This is what caused Douglass's independent authorship to be a unique accomplishment. In the preface of the Narrative, WM. Lloyd Garrison states that Douglass "[apologizes] for his ignorance" (3). This statement is ironic because Douglass is one of the few slaves who was literate. He apologizes for this because society believes that he unintelligent solely for his race and he may even have believed it himself. However, Douglass demonstrates his intellectual capabilities when he explains his determination to learn to read. Even though he was only taught the alphabet by his mistress, Douglass finds ways to get others to teach him how to read, write, and spell. Douglass learns the most by "converting [the little white boys in the neighborhood] into teachers" (44). He offers the hungry, poor boys bread in exchange for knowledge. Even though this is not the same as receiving a formal education, Douglass grows greatly from it. He learns to read and write and these skills are incredibly valuable to him while trying to escape slavery. He would not be able to write himself or anyone else a note from his master allowing them to escape. The other slaves who make no attempt to become literate demonished their intellectual capabilities by simply