Frederick Douglass An American Slave Song Analysis

In times of oppression, the oppressed can do little besides hope and wait. Especially during times of slavery in the United States, slaves had almost no choice in their lives of brutality. Frederick Douglass' autobiography titled Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, Written by Himself explores one of the few freedoms a slave had: the freedom of expression. A slave's expression through song reveals the painful emotions felt throughout enslavement. Though people may misunderstand the negatives of slavery, hearing the message behind a slave's song helps correct misunderstanding. Thus, one can understand a slave's unhappiness by listening to their songs. Slaves express their emotions toward enslavement by singing. As

Singing with happiness and pride reflects the honor and enthusiasm a slave feels from receiving this prestigious opportunity. While these songs seem fully positive, slaves convey both the "highest joy" and the "deepest sadness" through them (Douglass 951). When used together, joy and sadness create a paradox. Slaves already express joy through their satisfaction of gaining a position at the Great House Farm, but this paradox suggests the slaves still expect poor treatment. To communicate the contrasting negativity, slaves include meanings hidden within their songs. Each of the song's notes translates the hopes and request of slaves with the "bitterest anguish" (Douglass 951). The severe pain felt in anguish evolves from the master's treatment of his slaves. Consistent whippings, starvation, lack of proper housing, and other mistreatments cause slaves to resent their submissive positions. Using this struggle as a basis, slaves argue against slavery through every note in a song. / For Frederick Douglass, these

In contrast to southerners, the people of the "north" know little about the details of slavery (Douglass 952). Since the north does not allow slavery, northerners have unlikely witnessed it firsthand. Their distance from the southern slave states permits them to read, write, and speak either for or against slavery, but without viewing it in person, a northerner may have biased opinions. Specifically, some northerners use the idea that slaves sing as evidence of their "contentment" and "happiness" in slavery (Douglass 952). These northerners, likely pro-slavery activists, use their biases to interpret that singing has a positive meaning to slaves. This interpretation occurs from the association of singing with joy, and their inability to actually hear a slave's song. In fact, the songs represent the "sorrows" of a slave's heart, the opposite of both contentment and happiness (Douglass 952). Slaves free themselves of their sorrows by expressing them in song just like how an "aching heart is relieved by its tears" (Douglass 952). This simile between the slave and the heart emphasizes the power songs have since crying, an expression of emotion, often soothes the pain in one's heart, and singing about woe frees slaves from the burden of their sorrows. Thus, mistaking sorrow for happiness shows northerners' ignorance of the effect of