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Frederick Douglass Argumentative Essay

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Recommended: Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

Frederick Douglass was a former American slave who was one of the first blacks to hold a high position in United States government. Hugh Auld was Frederick’s first master; he was then sold to Mr. Covey, who was known to be a “slave breaker.” Frederick Douglass states this in his autobiography:
“I was somewhat unmanageable when I first went there, but a few months of this discipline tamed me. Mr. Covey succeeded in breaking me. I was broken in body, soul, and spirit. My natural elasticity was crushed, my intellect languished, the disposition to read departed, the cheerful spark that lingered about my eye died; the dark night of slavery closed in upon me; and behold a man transformed into a brute” (55)!
On the contrary, there were masters who treated their slaves fairly. For example, John Pinney was a …show more content…

This is shown by the regulations he sets up for slavery. One that has already been stated was that after working for a certain master for six years, it is law to free the slave on the seventh year. Along with this, Deuteronomy 15:14 declares, “Supply him liberally from your flock, your threshing floor and your winepress. Give to him as the Lord your God has blessed you.” Masters are expected to not let their slaves leave empty-handed (McDowell). The Mosaic legislation was set up to protect the poor. With the slaves allowed to voluntarily choose their course of action and never leave a job empty-handed, the poor were successfully protected (Copan, 126). In Genesis 15:13-14 God foretells to Abraham about his descendants. God says that they will be serving in a land that is not their own, yet when they are freed they will have many great assets. This came true with Egyptian slavery. The commands God set put a negative light on slavery (Hodge and Taylor, “Doesn’t the Bible Support Slavery”). Adding rules to slavery showed that God cares; yet, He also showed His love by making sure slaves were treated

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The idea behind keeping the slave’s faith in the Lord was that the Lord allows slavery because white people are better than the blacks. Basically, any slave who disobeyed their owner was disobeying the Lord, resulting in an eternity in hell, “To be good children of the Lord, the slaves must beware of Satan who created their cunning wicked master of Hell – for it was Satan who created their desires for freedom and tempted them to run away” (Oates

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1. Fredrick Douglass witnessed harsh and violent actions throughout his slave life, as slave owners utilized Christianity as a justification for these actions and for the system of slavery. Douglass experienced this religious abuse throughout his life as a slave. However, in 1832, when he began working for Captain Auld, he witnessed the misuse of religion in the setting of a violent action. After Auld whipped a young woman, he justified his actions by quoting the Bible: “He that knoweth his master’s will, and doeth it not, shall be beaten with many strips” (33).

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For instance, when attempting to appeal to the Quakers, George Keith used a verse from Exodus stating that anyone who steals and sells another man will die. This idea of “divine vengeance,” as Frey puts it, not only would scare the Quakers into ceasing from owning slaves, but it would hinder them from making a profit from them as well. In order

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Slaves were warned to obey their masters, “As to the Lord and not to men.” However, their masters were also held to this same standard. Masters were expected to treat their slaves well and even to treat them as brothers, as God is the master of all people, including

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Covey, a man who was renowned for breaking in young slaves, Douglass was subject to some of the most intensive work and brutalizing punishments. This inhumane method of working slaves was in Mr. Covey’s eyes, justified and was how things were supposed to be. From this, Frederick Douglass grew to despise how slave owners would justify their actions and consider them morally correct. Douglass describes the exhausting effect that Mr. Covey’s work had on him, “My natural elasticity was crushed, my intellect languished, the disposition to read departed, the cheerful spark that lingered about my eye died; the dark night of slavery closed in upon me; and behold a man transformed into a brute!” (Douglas 55).

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On one hand, the “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass” is a narrative of a slave attempting to become free. On the other hand, it is a narrative of how African Americans are mentally and physically turned into slaves—moreover how white men manifest their superiority. Firstly, Frederick was separated from his mother as a young child, leaving no time for the two to build a relationship; “I received the tidings of my mother’s death with much the same emotions I should have probably felt at the death of a stranger” (Douglass, 6). Secondly, Edward Covey, one of Fredericks slaveholders, strategies in establishing his dominance was through making him work relentlessly and punishing him when he felt necessary—which almost never was necessary. Frederick understands how slaveholders can make their slaves feel inferior and degrade them through physical power however is intrigued with the idea of how slaveholders dominate their slaves minds.

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In this biography ,”narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass” shows how slavery doesn't only negatively affects not only the slaves but also the slaveholders too. Way back when slaves were almost necessary for a farmer in the south, the slaves acted up and the cruel harsh punishments the slaveholders did to keep the slaves in line. Slaves had a cruel terrible life but the slaveholders were almost as bad, from getting threatened when crop wasn't done to becoming a slave himself. According to Douglass in his article, biography of the life of “Frederick Douglass” slavery was one of the most popular and most expensive things on the market yet everybody had one.

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It is a common argument for Christian slaveholders to make “…that God cursed Ham, and therefore American slavery is right…” (5). this argument exposes their hypocrisy as it conveys how they attempt to stretch small pieces of scripture to justify the violence of the American slavery. Douglass thus asks if it is humane to use a small piece of writing to damn an entire race to hardship and subhuman treatment. This case of blasphemy is amplified by the observation that Douglass makes of one of his slave masters, Mr. Covey, in that “he seemed to think himself equal to deceiving the almighty” (61).

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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.

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After being separated from his mother at a young age, Frederick Douglass fights back against slavery and human rights. In Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, the author, Frederick Douglass, uses powerful rhetoric to disprove the Pragmatic and the Scientific pro-slavery arguments of Pre-Civil War America. The Pragmatic Argument is about how many people believe that if all black slaves were to be freed, then this would result in convulsions which would then lead to extermination of the one or other race. Many people also believed that black slavery was necessary for American history.

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He rather rejected the manipulation of doctrine utilized by the slaveholders to achieve their end. Douglass wrote that, "the religion of the south is a mere covering for the most horrid crimes,-a justifier of the most appalling barbarity,-a sanctifier of the most hateful frauds,-and a dark shelter under, which the darkest, foulest, grossest, and most infernal deeds of slaveholders find the strongest protection" (965). Religion was therefore not only a means of false justification for slave owners, but also a source of unified protection against any criticism of slave practices that could arise. Douglass seemed to insist that there was a genuine form of Christianity that was based upon love of God and love of "thy neighbor," but that these Southern practitioners certainly had not converted to the belief in such a doctrine.

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This introduced the principle that slavery was a sin and an abomination. Ministers in the North preached about the horrors of slavery, especially the slave trade, and that God would seek vengeance on any nation that committed such cruelties. In New York during the year 1810, Reverend William Miller gave a sermon on the abolition of the slave trade stating, “ According to the basis of the christian religion, we are bound to love God with all our soul, and our neighbor as ourselves: but this sacred injunction does not reach the heart of the oppressors of Africans” (Miller 11). This was the very premise for most of the Abolition Movement: thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.

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The legendary abolitionist and orator Frederick Douglass was one of the most important social reformers of the nineteenth century. Being born into slavery on a Maryland Eastern Shore plantation to his mother, Harriet Bailey, and a white man, most likely Douglass’s first master was the starting point of his rise against the enslavement of African-Americans. Nearly 200 years after Douglass’s birth and 122 years after his death, The social activist’s name and accomplishments continue to inspire the progression of African-American youth in modern society. Through his ability to overcome obstacles, his strive for a better life through education, and his success despite humble beginnings, Frederick Douglass’s aspirations stretched his influence through

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(Exodus. 9:7). Regardless of the fact that slavery was so common, it was to be expected amongst powerful rulers, such as the Pharaoh, it was the Lord’s wish that His people be freed, so that they may have time to worship Him. The Lord’s actions may come off as selfish, but with His power, He has the right to demand such things from the Pharaoh, who thought he was above everyone

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Justification from the Bible The emphasis from proslavery defenders was based on a literal reading of the Bible which represented the mind and will of God himself, according to some settlers. Certain individuals viewed the Africans as the descendants of Canaan, and therefore also the descendants of Prophet Noah’s sons—among them Ham. Since the African’s were the descendents of Ham and their slavery resulted from Noah’s prophecy—a divinely inspired one, indeed—the condition of the Africans was not avoidable. Evidence of pro-slavery was quoted from the Book of Exodus in the Bible, which stated that the “very first law” by God given to Moses dealt with the regulation of slaveholding.

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