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Fredrick Douglass

Topics: Slavery in the United States, Frederick Douglass, Knowledge Pages: 4 (1058 words) Published: November 24, 2014

Fredrick Douglass was born in Tuckahoe in the late 1810s, he never truly found out when his real birthday was or found any records that would inform him of it. He was born to Harriet Bailey and all he knew about his father was that he was a white man. Despite the rumors of Douglass’ father possibly being his master in a way his story is similar to the stories of Mary Prince and Gustavus’, all slaves tied down by the forces of slavery and trying to find a way to break free and receive their freedom. Douglass’ constant determination and perseverance to strive for a better future rewarded him with a life that was filled with meaning and lessons meant to be shared with the world. Douglass said it best when he expressed knowledge is power and the key to set slaves free.

“I now understood what had been to me a most perplexing difficulty- to wit, the white man’s power to enslave the black man” (Douglass, 364). From a very young age Douglass understood that the key to his freedom would be through the power of knowledge. One of the many luxuries slaves were deprived from in order to maintain them under control. It wasn’t until this moment where Douglass has his turning point, he described his discovery to be a “new and special revelation, explaining dark and mysterious things, which my youthful understanding struggled” His discovery was not something out of the ordinary or something that had not been thought of before but more of a pathway he had created for himself in order to gain his freedom. He used ambition to pursue his goals and to help other slaves around him gain their freedom as well. Douglass learned the cruelty that came along with religious men and their beliefs, he grouped religious people into two categories. There was those who were genuinely faithful Christians and were kind and followed the word of god, then there was those who used religion as an excuse to justify their actions with slaves. The hypocritical side of religion was cruel with...
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