Preview

Slavery In Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
106 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Slavery In Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass
In the novel Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave Douglass describes the circumstances in which he and other slaves live. As a slave, he witnesses ruthless beatings and the killing of slaves. Frederick Douglass reasons that both enslaved African Americans and their white owners are compressed by the organization of slavery. Slavery corrupts those who are in control as they are no longer able to treat others with dignity, and those who are being dehumanized. According to Douglass the effects of slavery on slaves and slaveholders was creating and increasing a tension among two people that is built upon control and compliance.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Douglass begins this chapter by telling us about Colonel Lloyd’s garden, and how many slaves often stole fruits from it. In order to stop the stealing, Lloyd coated the fence with tar, and any slaves that were found with tar on their body would be whipped for stealing. Colonel Lloyd also had a stable, which was run by slaves names Old Barney and Young Barney, and whenever Lloyd found anything wrong with his equipment, he blamed it on the Barneys. Lloyd was also extremely wealthy, and was rumored to own one thousand slaves, most of which he did not even recognize. Slaves who spoke badly about their masters, and were caught, were often sold to slave traders. Douglass explains that this is the common treatment of slaves who decide to tell the…

    • 241 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Fredrick Douglass was born into slavery in 1818, he spent his youth being sold from plantation to city, then all over again. At a point during his youth, he realized that slavery was wrong, and eventually once becoming aware of the north, he planned to one day escape captivity and be free. His determination was strong, so strong that he would one day escape captivity and establish a legacy of work in the North, that made him one of the core members in the fight to abolish slavery in the middle of the 1800’s. He is know historically for his publications and speeches in the fight for abolition, being a convincing and proactive voice which comes from first hand experiences in what life is like for slaves and slave owners. The purpose of publishing the text, Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass, an American Slave, was to put into context the details of Douglass’ life, which include his feelings and tribulations, during his journey as a slave and escape to freedom. His conviction to reveal this story, was not hindered or halted by the fact that he would be exposing himself to the public, which often for an escaped slave would be a dangerous situation. The book was first published in 1845 when Douglass was twenty-seven, at this time slavery was legal, and the book that he had just published was incriminating evidence full of names, dates, and times, which make it very easy for someone to find him and return him to captivity by law.…

    • 1213 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In Douglass's book, he discussed several points about slaves being treated worse than livestock by telling a few stories about what he experienced. A few points Douglass discussed were about how animals were fed better and how a few slaves had to steal or beg their neighbors for food because of the small amounts of food they recieved. He also discussed points about Mr. Covey forcing adultery on Caroline and about how the animals could get the slaves into trouble.…

    • 80 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    As an African-American, I know a little bit about my heritage, but after reading this short story about Fredrick Douglass, I learned the immoral, criminal nature of slavery and enslavers. I also understand why Douglass wished to be an animal.…

    • 270 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The book Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, by Frederick Douglass, is a story about Frederick Douglass’s life as a slave and how he goes on his quest to achieve freedom. Douglass was born into slavery and goes from master to master, and he finally sees the power of education when he reaches Baltimore to work for some new people. Here Douglass begins to learn how to read and write and he uses this to his advantage in hopes of becoming free one day. He manages to teach himself how to read in secret and then helps the other slaves become more literate. Eventually Douglass does manage to escape but he doesn’t stop there, he becomes an activist himself in hopes of ending all slavery one day. Through this book, Douglass reveals that learning is essential in order to achieve freedom, friends can help you to achieve your goals, and that slavery can have a very negative effect on a slave’s mind.…

    • 1379 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Slavery, the dark beast that consumes, devours, and pillages the souls of those who are forced to within its bounds and those who think they are the powerful controllers of this filth they call business. This act is the pinnacle of human ignorance, they use it as the building blocks for their “trade,” and treat these people no more than replaceable property that can be bought, sold, and beaten on a whim. The narrative of Frederick Douglass is a tale about a boy who is coming of age in a world that does not accept him for who he is and it is also told as a horror that depicts what we can only imagine as the tragedies placed on these people in these institutions of slavery. It is understood as a chronicle of his life telling us his story from childhood to manhood and all that is in between, whilst all this is going on he vividly mixes pathological appeals to make us feel for him and all his brethren that share his burden. His narrative is a map from slavery to freedom where he, in the beginning, was a slave of both body and mind. But as the story progresses we see his transformation to becoming a free man both of the law and of the mind. He focuses on emotion and the building up of his character to show us what he over time has become. This primarily serves to make the reader want to follow his cause all the more because of his elegant and intelligent style of mixing appeals. Through his effective use of anecdotes and vivid imagery he shows us his different epiphanies over time, and creates appeals to his character by showing us how he as a person has matured, and his reader’s emotion giving us the ability to feel for his situation in a more real sense. This helps argue that the institution of slavery is a parasitic bug that infects the slave holder with a false sense of power and weakens the slave in both body and spirit.…

    • 1321 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    According to the narrative of Frederick Douglass, during the 19th Century, the conditions slaves experienced were not only cruel, but inhumane. It is a common perception that “cruelty” refers to the physical violence and torture that slaves endure. However, in this passage, Douglass conveys the degrading treatment towards young slaves in the plantation, as if they were domesticated animals. The slaves were deprived of freedom and basic human rights. They were not only denied of racial equality, they weren’t even recognized as actual human beings.…

    • 391 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    In the 1800 's the United States was separated into different sections- The North and the South. They both had many differences but one of the most controversial differences was the issue of slavery. Thomas Jefferson believed that all men should be created equal and included anti-slavery in The Declaration of Independence (Skiba 318). But pressure from Southerner 's led to its deletion. Although at one point slavery was illegal there was still smuggling of slaves and many Southerner 's felt that it was good for the economy. More than a million African American 's were enslaved in the United States and were treated brutally (319). Frederick Douglass, a former slave, spoke of his experiences being a slave and not only how he survived but how he escaped. The purpose of this essay is to inform audiences the evil reality of slavery and the experiences of one slave, Frederick Douglass. Through literacy and…

    • 1662 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Douglass’s autobiography is one of a personal fate and the other a documentation of the horrors of slavery. With his first recollection of his childhood, being the relentless whipping of his aunt Hester and the horrified of shrieks he heard with every blow of the whip. Living in Baltimore for about seven years he went with no hunger, then only to return to a plantation as an adult to suffer the gnawing pain of hunger. He knew the difference of what it was like to be treated with kindness and to live in the callous bondage of slavery. Douglass sought to bring a sense of order to his life by writing his journey from slavery to…

    • 117 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    to the naked eye, this passage may look like just a detailed essay about slavery in America. But really, this passage is to show and describe how slaves were mistreated in the states. Douglas describes his perspective of slavery, and his experience being a slave. he argues that america claims that the people are free and it is a free country but it can't really be free of millions are being enslaved.…

    • 106 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Slaveholders and masters were brutal and treated their slaves like animals and property. Douglass recalls a traumatic event for him when he was a child, the whipping of his Aunt Hester, stripped naked because she was caught with another slave from another plantation. Whipping was a common punishment for slaves, given whenever the master felt like it even without a sufficient reason. Gender or age was not important, some masters enjoyed whipping their servants and slaves until they were bloody. Masters were always cruel and slave lives did not matter thus murder though unjustified is also common. Slavery transforms people, both master and slave. Douglass remembers one of his master’s wives as being good and warm hearted then explains how having…

    • 424 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Frederick Douglass thought it was worth writing this quote because it symbolise how he became someone for all the free slaves and his community. It means that without his hard work as a slave nothing of what he has done would mean so little to everyone else.…

    • 350 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The State of Virginia embodies the Founding Fathers, the American Revolution and the nation by symbolically demonstrating the beauty of the union. But similarly to the State of Virginia, the sense of American Nationality is flawed because of the institution of slavery. Using Jeffersonian rhetoric, abolitionist Fredrick Douglass’ “Heroic Slave” transforms white attitudes through his promotion for solidarity, activism and resistance.…

    • 254 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Frederick Douglass was a slave growing up. Douglass had to teach himself how to read and write, life was not easy for him. Douglass wrote a book about his life the book is called the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass this book tells his story and how and what happened during his time. In the book Douglass explains and shows how he throws light on the American slave system and how he made a difference in the slave system.…

    • 773 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    This narrative begins with the childhood of Frederick Douglass and ends with his adventures as an abolitionist. He gives insight into his personal recollections of his first awareness of what it meant to be a slave, from his own experiences and his experience as a witness to the brutality of one human being upon another human being. He allows readers through his words to have a front row seat to the world of slavery and the main objective of slavery supporters to dehumanize and oppress another race and culture. The goal of his prose is to raise awareness of the cruelty of man upon the backs of blacks, which subsequently he hoped would end…

    • 115 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays