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Frederick douglass recalls his view of slavery
Frederick douglass and slavery essay
Frederick douglass and slavery essay
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Douglass uses paradox to demonstrate that slavery degragrates the slaverholder. When Douglass under Mr. Sever’s care he described that: “He was less cruel, less profane… He whipped, but seemed to take no pleasure in it. ”(Douglass 24). Most slaveholders are characterized to be cruel and inhuman because of the whipping and the way they treated the slaves.
Douglass claims in the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, by human nature, humans simply want to sense and be superior than others as it triggers the sensation of possessing authority over others. Individuals will possibly result to anything in order to obtain this state, to the point of brainwashing others whether it was desired or not by the individuals themselves. To experience the sensation of having authority, people conformed to such actions which can be shown in when, “Colonel Lloyd had three sons—Edward, Murray, and Daniel,—and three sons-in- law, Mr. Winder, Mr. Nicholson, and Mr. Lowndes. All of these lived at the Great House Farm, and enjoyed the luxury of whipping the servants when they pleased…”(Douglass 15). These people
“I wished I could be as free as they would be when they got to be men.” Frederick Douglass said this because he is a slave for life and wants to be free. Abraham Lincoln has similar problems with slavery, the only difference is that Lincoln isn’t a slave. Narrative Life of Frederick Douglass and House Divided are two similar texts. Frederick Douglass has problems with being a slave and Lincoln has problems with slavery.
The Struggles Of Frederick Douglass As a young man Frederick Douglass was struck with the inability to read nor write these troubles dawned on him due to his state of slavery. Frederick Douglass was born a slave, a slave will not read, a slave will not write, and a slave is not a human, these thoughts were planted in the head of his white owners cursing him to inequality and illiteracy. Imagine never being able to write a love letter or read a funny note, imagine never being able to put your ideas on paper and making them permanent. Frederick Douglass had a great mind, one that was chained up and held back by the slavery and illiteracy his forced lifestyle brought along.
The Corruption of Power “My mistress was...a kind and tender-hearted woman... Slavery soon proved its ability to divest her of these heavenly qualities. Under its influence, her tender heart became stone…” Douglass explained as he flashed back upon his memories of joy and suffering.
Fredrick Douglass felt strongly about the effect of slavery on slaves. However, since he was himself a slave, his views were far from positive. In his autobiography he shows this too us several time, when the slave owners give holidays to the slaves and at the very beginning of his story when he is separated from his mother. The first is less clear than the second so we will begin with that one.
Many Northerners believed that slavery was not good for anyone. Douglass argues that slavery hurts the slave and makes slave owners do things they wouldn 't normally do. Douglass wanted everyone to understand that slavery was not a good thing and needed to be abolished. ¨ He then gave me a savage kick in the side, and told
Sean Kim Mr. Nguyen English 3H 12 November 2014 Frederick Douglass Essay All through American history, minority gatherings were casualties of American administrative strategies, and these approaches made them powerless against uncouth and uncaring treatment on account of white Americans. American subjugation is a telling case of an administration endorsed foundation that deceived and abused a race of individuals by instilling and empowering oppression, prejudice and misuse. This establishment is harmful to slaves and slave holders indistinguishable in light of the fact that American culture, particularly in the south, experienced a dehumanization transform keeping in mind the end goal to actualize the savage and heartless convention. In the
In “The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass”, Douglass narrates in detail the oppressions he went through as a slave before winning his freedom. In the narrative, Douglass gives a picture about the humiliation, brutality, and pain that slaves go through. We can evidently see that Douglass does not want to describe only his life, but he uses his personal experiences and life story as a tool to rise against slavery. He uses his personal life story to argue against common myths that were used to justify the act of slavery. Douglass invalidated common justification for slavery like religion, economic argument and color with his life story through his experiences torture, separation, and illiteracy, and he urged for the end of slavery.
The immoral practice of slavery is a fundamental part of American history that most choose to disregard since American patriots and foreigners are blinded by the labels of the land of opportunity, freedom, and diversity. Frederick Douglass exposes the hypocrisy of Americans and the monstrous system of forced labor as they celebrate their liberties through his criticizing speech given on July 4th of 1852. Why should the greedy white man who worships God, yet seems to prioritize profit, have the right to celebrate their independence while owning, abusing and forcing a black man to work against his will? Is that not a sin? Douglass makes it his point to uncover the deceit of the American citizen, and does so in the beginning paragraphs of his
"His mangled body sank out of sight, and blood and brains marked the water where he had stood." (Douglass, 67). Just one sentence can prove how brutal slave-owners, slaveholders, and overseers can be towards slaves. A use of violence to control slaves can be seen throughout the book, and Frederick is very against violence in all forms. He only uses it when it was necessary,like the fight with Mr. Covey.
In the 1700-1800’s, the use of African American slaves for backbreaking, unpaid work was at its prime. Despite the terrible conditions that slaves were forced to deal with, slave owners managed to convince themselves and others that it was not the abhorrent work it was thought to be. However, in the mid-1800’s, Northern and southern Americans were becoming more aware of the trauma that slaves were facing in the South. Soon, an abolitionist group began in protest, but still people doubted and questioned it.
The Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass shows the imbalance of power between slaves and their masters. In his book, Douglass proves that slavery is a destructive force not only to the slaves, but also for the slaveholders. “Poison of the irresponsible power” that masters have upon their slaves that are dehumanizing and shameless, have changed the masters themselves and their morality(Douglass 39). This amount of power and control in contact with one man breaks the kindest heart and the purest thoughts turning the person evil and corrupt. Douglass uses flashbacks that illustrate the emotions that declare the negative effects of slavery.
Douglass argues that slavery has a horrible effect and it is a bad thing. One piece of evidence is when in excerpt 3 paragraph 3 the text states that ¨Mr. Covey gave us enough to eat, but scarce time to eat it.¨ Another piece of evidence is in excerpt 4 paragraph 12 ¨Causing blood to run where I touched him with the ends of my fingers.¨ This shows that slavery is a thing that can cause pain and has a horrible effect on slaves. This disproves people who believed that was a good thing because this shows that someone can get hurt when they are enslaved.
Frederick Douglass’s narrative provides a first hand experience into the imbalance of power between a slave and a slaveholder and the negative effects it has on them both. Douglass proves that slavery destroys not only the slave, but the slaveholder as well by saying that this “poison of irresponsible power” has a dehumanizing effect on the slaveholder’s morals and beliefs (Douglass 40). This intense amount of power breaks the kindest heart and changes the slaveholder into a heartless demon (Douglass 40). Yet these are not the only ways that Douglass proves what ill effect slavery has on the slaveholder. Douglass also uses deep characterization, emotional appeal, and religion to present the negative effects of slavery.
