Analysis Of Chapter VII From Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass

Since its introduction by the ancient peoples of Mesopotamia, writing has become a means of communication that has changed the way ideas are shared. Writing opened the door for people to go from hunters and gatherers to civilizations. It allowed for communication to be shared not only mouth to mouth, but from letter to letter. In our history, certain documents have allowed certain individuals to change the course of history. There are certain historical documents that have changed the world and tell us very much about history. The first document that significantly changed the world was “The Letter of Columbus to Luis de Sant Angel Announcing His Discovery.” This is the letter that Columbus wrote upon “La Nina”, a Spanish vessel, during his

It is an excerpt titled, “Chapter VII, from Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Written by Himself. (1845)”. In it, Douglass, a famous freedman from the 19th century, speaks of his experience of learning to read as a young slave. He describes his various methods of becoming literate, as well as the secrecy that had to be kept in order for this task to be completed. Despite hardships, Douglass ended up achieving his goal, and used his knowledge to escape the grasp of slavery. He realized how extraordinary his life was, so he began writing about it. His writing is so important to the history of mankind because it reminds us of the hardships that African Americans used to endure during slavery. In today’s society, people, especially children, take for granted our most common things, such as being literate. Nowadays, every child across the nation is taught how to read and write at a very young age. Douglass’ writing shows us that this was not always the case, and that the gift of knowledge is something that should always be cherished, let alone at least be sought out

The U.S. Constitution was signed on September 17, 1787. This established America’s national government, the fundamental laws, and guaranteed basic rights for the citizens of America. The Anti-Federalists were concerned that the power the national government had was to strong and that it would lead to tyranny. Thomas Jefferson stated “a bill of rights is what the people are entitled to against every government on earth” (Brookhiser). James Madison agreed with Jefferson and recognized that by listing specific rights, known as the Bill of Rights, the Constitution would remind citizens and members of the government that those rights were inalienable. The proposal of the bill of rights originally had twelve articles but only ten were ratified in 1791. The First Amendment (Freedom of religion, speech, and the press; rights of assembly and petition) guarantees the freedom of worship, of speech, of the press, of assembly, and of petition to the government for a redress of grievances (Pope). This amendment is the most important of them all. The Second Amendment (The Right to Bear Arms) gives the right to a well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free stand and that the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. The Third Amendment (Housing of Soldiers) guarantees the freedom from quartering soldiers in a house without the owner’s consent