Fredrerick douglass
Fredrerick douglassBy: Vashdev Arthur
E-mail: [email protected]
The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave was written by Frederick Douglass himself. He was born into slavery in Tuckahoe, Maryland, in approximately 1817. He has, "�no accurate knowledge of my age, never having seen any authentic record containing it" (47). He became known as an eloquent speaker for the cause of the abolitionists. Having himself been kept as a slave until he escaped from Maryland in 1838, he was able to deliver very passionate speeches about the role of the slave holders and the slaves. Many Northerners tried to discredit his tales, but no one was ever able to disprove his statements. Frederick Douglass does offer a biased review of slavery, as he was born into it, yet even in his bias he is able to detect and detail the differences in the slave holders cruelty and that to which he was subjected. From being whipped and humiliated daily, "a very severe whipping� for being awkward" (101), to being able to find his own work and save some money, "I was able to command the highest wages given to the most experienced calkers" (134), he is able to give the reader a more true picture of slavery. His moving speeches raised the anger of many Northerners, yet many still felt the slaves deserved their position in life. Douglass, for his own safety, was urged to travel to England where he stayed and spoke until 1847 when he returned to the U.S. to buy his freedom. At that point, he began to write and distribute an anti-slavery newspaper called "The North Star". Not only did he present news to the slaves, but it was also highly regarded as a good source of information for those opposed to slavery. During the Civil war, Douglass organized two regiments of black soldiers in Massachusetts to fight for the North. Before, during and after the war he continued his quest to free all the slaves. He became known as a fair and righteous man and was appointed as the U.S. Minister of Haiti after holding several government offices. Frederick Douglass has woven many themes into his narrative, all being tied with a common thread of man�s inhumanity towards man. Children were uprooted from the arms of their mothers, "before the child has reached it�s twelfth month, it�s mother is taken from it" (48) and sold to other slave holders. Brutal whippings occurred for even the smallest imagined offense, "a mere look, word, or motion" (118), women were treated as no better than common concubines and the slaves were forced into living quarters, "on one common bed� cold, damp floor" (55) worse than some of the farm animals. The slaves were not allowed even the most meager portion of food, "eight pounds of pork and one bushel of corn meal" (54) to last a month. Clothes were scarce and illness was never tolerated. It was unthinkable for the slaves to practice any type of...
To view the complete essay, you be registered.