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Frederick Douglass Inhumane Essay

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Frederick Douglass was a former slave, journalist, author and a human rights activist. In his autobiography, the “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave”, Frederick describes the inhumane and cruel practices of his masters, the conditions of the slaves’ clothing, food and sleep and their relationship with the slaves. Frederick’s first master was Captain Anthony. He draws him as a brutal man who brings pride and pleasure in beating his slaves. He got the name “Captain” by sailing ships in the Chesapeake Bay. Frederick believed that Captain Anthony may or may not be his father, but he could not be sure which to believe. Frederick describes a time where his Aunt Hester, had been absent when the master needed her, she went …show more content…

The masters’ relationships with the slaves were very inhumane and scary in that every slight mistake that the slave makes will be negatively impacted upon them. The slaves lived in constant fear that they will get whipped or get scolded for practically doing nothing at all. (Douglass 17) Another effect taking place is the dehumanizing effect of slavery on both the slaves and their masters. Masters in a sense have unlimited power over their slaves, their power to oppress and grind down the slaves, which turns a good, kind women who never had any slaves to a brutal and evil being like that of Sophia Auld. (Douglass 35) This explicitly signifies the negative impact that slavery can have on normal people. Most of these masters see themselves as a “Christians” but by what they are practicing, they are sinners, which is somewhat ironic. (Douglass 65) It is much to say that Indentured servants had it much easier than what the slaves had to endure. These Indentured servants, who were European, were treated much better, even though it was harsh for them also, but compared to the slaves who can be tossed around without any rights for them. (Servitude In New England) Being a slave was a lifelong, involuntary, and forced job in which one’s master gets to whip and abuse you every single day, rather than working for them for 7 years and getting the benefits at the end of one’s contract and moving on with their life like that of the servants. (Our Plantation is Very Weak) Additionally, there were even practices of slave breeding going on at this time not just at Douglass’s plantation. (Douglass 65) Masters would breed their slaves to have stronger children that the masters can sell for a higher price or add them to his wealth. In a sense this disgusting practice can be called an indirect sort of rape, in which you are forcing two individuals, who

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Throughout world history many people have been known to become famous for various reasons. Though I feel like current role models in our world are becoming less worthy of their famous title compare to people such as Frederick Douglass. His contribution was to the antislavery movement and began at a convention not long after he escaped prison. He acted as a public speaker agent for the antislavery movement, exceling during chaotic times, to continue his help with slave abolitionists. Frederick Douglass wrote a narrative of his life, providing incidents of his life which offer another perspective of slavery for his readers.

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The Narrative of Frederick Douglass is a very great perspective for people of today to understand what it was like to be a slave in the 1800’s. It tells the story of the slave Frederick Douglass and how he began as an uneducated slave and was moved around from many different types of owners, cruel or nice, and how his and other slaves presences changed the owners, and also how he educated himself and realized that he shouldn’t be treated so poorly It was at the point later in the book that I realized how some slaves might have felt during slavery in the 1800’s. When Douglass is sent away to Mr.Covey he is treated pretty badly but eventually he stands up to Mr.Covey and demands that he stopped being treated like an animal.

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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.

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In the beginning of chapter six, Frederick Douglass focuses the reader’s attention on how slavery can affect even the best and most innocent people. While talking about how slavery removes the good from slave owners, Douglass also explores how slavery is not only detrimental to them, but corrupts their ethics as well. Douglass remarks, “The crouching servility, usually so acceptable a quality in a slave, did not answer when manifested toward her. Her favor was not gained by it; she seemed to be disturbed by it” (19; ch. 6). Douglass’s word choice and use of antithesis in this section shows how Sophia Auld was a kind and hardworking woman who treated Douglass like a human being.

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Through his story, Douglass proves that slavery has negative effects on slaveholders. He uses imagery, flashbacks, and characterization to persuade the reader of the true nature of slavery. His deep thoughts and insights of slavery and the unbalanced power between a slaveholder and his slave are unprompted for a social establishment. Douglass insists that slaveholding fills the soul with sadness and bitter anguish. In addressing effects of slavery on masters cause one man to rethink his moral character and better understand the laws of humanity.

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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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Slavery in one word is described as corruption. It was the reason for the United States Civil War and for the lost of so many lives. In the Narrative of Frederick Douglass, Frederick Douglass describes the events of his life and how he was deprived of the natural rights. Frederick Douglass' message is that to a slave sometimes ignorance is bliss because the intelligence of knowing can be insanity because they have no power to control their lives. Slavery, however, does not only affect the morality of the slaves themselves but in the corruption of others around them.

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Historical Essay #4: Frederick Douglas Ashleyann Mabatid Azusa Pacific University College Frederick Douglass Who Is Fredrick Douglass? He is a African American writer and a former slave, he had escaped to freedom in the North.

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    Douglass uses deep characterization to show the change in behavior of slaveholders who have uncontrolled power. A good example of this is Sophia Auld. Before slavery took effect, she was a kind and caring woman who comprehended moral righteousness. She had never owned a slave before Douglass. Owning Douglass soon changed her into an evil slave owner when she realized the power, “the white man’s power to enslave the black man” that she had (Douglass 41).

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Douglass wrote three autobiographies depicting his life as a slave and his struggles against the codified inequities of nineteenth century America; The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, ostensibly his most famous work, is rife with depictions of the unnatural, cruel, immoral, and

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Douglass encountered multiple harsh realities of being enslaved. For example, the ex-slave was practically starved to death by his masters on multiple occasions. In fact, “[He was] allowed less than a half of a bushel of corn-meal per week, and very little else... It was not enough for [him] to subsist upon... A great many times [he had] been nearly perishing with hunger” (pg 31).

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Douglass argues the fact that slavery is not good and it should be nonexistent. Fredrick Douglass proclaims “nature made us friends and slavery made us enemy’s.” The disturbing nature disrupts what should be to something that is not proclaimed to be. Through all aspects of slavery, dehumanization and pinpointing the victims allows Douglass to reflect on what has occurred and how he has become someone that everyone reads

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Because of this, he successfully creates a contrast between what the slave owners think of and treat the slaves and how they are. Douglass says that slave’s minds were “starved by their cruel masters”(Douglass, 48) and that “they had been shut up in mental darkness” (Douglass, 48) and through education, something that they were deprived of, Frederick Douglass is able to open their minds and allow them to flourish into the complex people that they are. By showing a willingness to learn to read and write, the slaves prove that they were much more than what was forced upon them by their masters.

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Some slaveholders were quite affectionate towards their female slaves. Naturally, some ended up having children with their mistresses. Perfect case in point would be Douglass himself: his father was suspected to be his master but no proof was provided to him. Back then mixed children were not accepted among whites. Therefore, whether by choice or pressure, slaveholders would have to enslave there very own children.

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Also, in the same chapter, Douglass’ expresses his feelings for Mr.Freeland stating, “I will give Mr.Freeland the credit for being the best master I ever had” (Douglass 49). Douglass’ states that Mr.Freeland was not religious but he was the best master he ever had. It is ironic that non-religious slaveholders treat their slaves better than religious slaveholders. Therefore, Douglass notes the irony of religious and non-religious slaveholders: religious slaveholders being more cruel than non-religious slaveholders. Douglass perceives how slaves are treated worse than animals.

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