Frederick Douglass penned down his firsthand experience of slavery in ‘The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass”. It is about his time as a slave from birth till about 1845 when the book was published at the Antislavery office. With its sheer honesty on the issue of brutality of slaveholders on their subordinates,this book helped fuel the abolitionist movement in the 19th century.Before doing so, Northerners found hard to believe that Douglass was once a slave.This was due to his brilliant oratory as many believe ‘that education and slavery were incompatible with each other’. He there writes this touching tale to prove his identity to his audience and to instill a strong disapproval of slavery. It is about the power of will to take …show more content…
He was barely affected by his mother's death at age seven since apart from her night visits, he had no reminiscence of her. At a tender age, he witnessed the cruel flogging of his Aunt Hester and the price one pays for being honest about the brutality of their masters.Fortunately, he was sent to Baltimore where he started thinking about freedom. His mistress, Mrs. Sophia Auld tutored him in reading and writing but became hostile at the warning of her husband. Nevertheless, Douglass continued to learn from the white boys in his neighborhood. After the death of his master , he had to go back to the Great House Farm. As property, he had to know which heir he would belong to. That made him detest slavery more. Sent back to Baltimore, Douglass winded up in St. Michaels due to some circumstances.After staying with Thomas Auld, he was sent to Mr Covey ‘a negro breaker’. “Mr. Covey succeeded in breaking me.”, Douglass reports. He then went to live with Mr. Freeman after a …show more content…
They were cruel hypocrites who used religion as a cover up for their hideous deeds. Douglass says “... for, between the Christianity of this land, and the Christianity of Christ, I recognize the widest, possible difference--so wide, that to receive the one as good, pure, and holy, is of necessity to reject the other as bad, corrupt, and wicked.”(Appendix) Reading the book will make one understand that Douglass had the right to say this. If you love your neighbour as yourself, you will not make them inferior than yourself. Thus, it makes one question the conscience of ‘Christian’ slaveholders. Also, it teaches us to beware of