Comparing The Life Of Frederick Douglass And William Lloyd Garrison

Frederick Douglass and William Lloyd Garrison were the most famous abolitionists who spoke out publicly against slavery and racial discrimination. They were also strong supporters of women’s rights. Phillis Wheatley and Douglass were both black writers and in favor of the abolition movement. Douglass himself escaped from slavery and went from courage to freedom. He published his autobiography “The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass,” that is considered works of the narrative slave tradition and life learning lessons that he encountered. The narrative illustrates many instances of Douglass’s courage on his journey. Freedom was not given to him. He had to find it himself and stopped at nothing until the day that slavery was abolished.

He wanted to get his message out about the hard life all slaves endured. Garrison helped him publish his book and helped him gain fame. His audiences did not believe he was a slave because he was very intelligent. He knew that writing his autobiography would draw a lot of attention to him, but he risked his life to educate people on slavery in hopes of gaining support for abolition. In the Preface by Garrison he states, “Douglass’s prestige is due to his perfect union of head and heart, which helps him capture the hearts and convince the minds of others.” Douglass explains in his book that he grew up fatherless and had very little contact with his mother. He did not know his age: “I have no accurate knowledge of my age, never having seen an authentic record containing it.” Douglass first learned a valuable lesson when he witnessed the brutality of slavery when his aunt was beaten. He began to wonder why blacks were beaten and wanted to find the mystery behind it. He also questioned why other white children knew their

He described her, as a woman who treated him the way one human being has to treat the other. However, his master immediately put a stop to it because in his view learning to read “would forever unfit him from being a slave.” Douglass took this lesson to heart where he says it “only served to inspire me with a desire and determination to learn.” At this moment he learned that education is what ruin slaves and education and slavery are not linked together. This encouraged him to work toward becoming free by learning to read and write using several strategies that included offering bread to the white children in exchange for reading lessons and observing the writings of the men he worked with. Douglass then learned a new lesson about slavery, “it doesn’t just brutalize the slaves, it also brutalizes the masters.” Mrs. Auld used to be a nice person and it didn’t take long before she became “brutalized” by owning a slave. He wanted people to know that owning a slave turns the masters into monsters. Douglass continued to learn and said “knowledge is the pathway to slavery.” His mission was finding the road to freedom and his education gave him the strength to pursue that mission