Frederick Douglass Research Paper

In the 1850s, the debate over slavery was a huge issue in the United States. Slaves were treated unfairly and were given unfair punishments, even when they were not doing anything wrong. One recognizable slave is Frederick Douglass. He told his story through an emotional narrative, describing his struggles with his life as a slave. The Narrative of Frederick Douglass shows the terrible impacts of slavery through the daily lives of slaves, the way slaves were treated, and the cultural expression of African Americans. To begin, Douglass’ daily life was extremely different compared to people today. In the narrative, it states, “Here they sleep till they are summoned to the field by the driver’s horn. At the sound of this, all must rise, and be

The slaves would report to their posts to receive their tasks for the day. By the end of the day, if they are finished with all their tasks, they can spend the rest of the day as they choose. This same process repeats daily. The devastating impacts of slavery are shown through the daily lives of slaves working and participating in their daily routine. In addition, the treatment of slaves was represented accurately in Douglass’ book. In the text, it states, “I have often been awakened at the dawn of day by the most heart-rending shrieks of an own aunt of mine, whom he used to tie up to a joist, and whip upon her naked back till she was literally covered with blood. No words, no tears, no prayers, from his gory victim, seemed to move his iron heart from its bloody purpose. The louder she screamed, the harder he whipped; and where the blood ran fastest, there he whipped longest.” (Dougless 5). This quote describes the horrific behavior that slaves endured in the 1850s. Dougless’ aunt was treated horribly by the slave master. There was no mercy for the slaves; they were treated like they were not

Their yearly clothing consisted of two coarse linen shirts, one pair of linen trousers, like the shirts, one jacket, one pair of trousers for winter, made of coarse negro cloth, one pair of stockings, and one pair of shoes;” (Dougless 8). This quote displays an example of the culture of African Americans in the 1850s. The clothing the slaves were allowed to wear was extremely limited. They were allowed only a few clothing items a year due to the limited allowance they were given. The clothes would have to last a whole year, which was almost impossible. Many children end up being naked for the majority of the year. To sum it up, Dougless’ story displays many different examples of cultural expression, but their clothing is an excellent representation of the limited ways they express their culture. In conclusion, The Narrative of Frederick Douglass shows the terrible impacts of slavery through the daily lives of slaves, the way slaves were treated, and the cultural expression of African Americans. This essay explains many different aspects of slavery in the 1850s and the ways the African Americans were affected by