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Frederick Douglass: 'The Wretchedness Of Slavery'

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Frederick Douglass, a slave of the deep south makes his escape into the free north, but even after his escape he can “trust no man”. No matter the color of one’s skin either black or white, Douglass has a deep sense of mistrust in any man, engraved into his person by the years of “the wretchedness of slavery”.
Douglass’ diction in his narrative shows how slavery can shape a man into a self conscious and paranoid person. Throughout his life as a slave, Douglass was constantly exposed to conditions in which the only way to survive was to fight for his life. Like the sisters who were raised by wolves -Amala and Kamala- Douglass is not adapted to society and does not trust anyone but himself. This mentality ultimately made him a slave to his own
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Unlike the Lost Generation the Harlem Renaissance was the birth of the New Negro. During the 1020’s just like The Lost Generation writers in the black community a new style of literature was born with a new set of mind. Before the Harlem renaissance black literature was mostly based on slave narratives accounts written by fugitive slaves about their lives in the south and, often, after escaping to freedom. This particular literature was used to illustrate the cruelties of life under slavery one of the most prominent Negro writer of that era was Frederick Douglas (c.1818-1895). His best-known work is his autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas, an American Slave.

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Slavery was a cruel thing humans used to do in the past. Many slaves became famous abolitionists. One such slave is Frederick Douglass. Frederick Douglass wrote an autobiography to explain the horrors of slavery. This book was called The Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass.

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Abolitionism was a well-known movement around the time of the Civil War and its aim was to put an end to slavery. The people of the early nineteenth century viewed the elimination of slavery in numerous ways. Some fought against the end of slavery, some appeared to mildly support the cause and yet others wholeheartedly supported the ending of slavery until their dying day. Charles Finney was a religious leader who promoted social reforms such as the abolition of slavery. He also fought for equality in education for women as well as for African Americans.

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Frederick Douglass was an African-American social reformer, orator, abolitionist, writer, and statesman. He was born in February of 1818 and died on February 20, 1895. He worked as a human rights activists and was the first African-American citizen to hold a high United States government rank. He worked to abolish slavery in the United states although the odds were against him. He was beaten for speaking about his views on slavery He was born into slavery in Maryland and escaped around the year 1838.

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Slavery had many faces but the underlying concept remained beneath each of these different faces. No matter how kindly a slave was treated by their master, they were still considered property and subhuman. While some owners beat and mutilated their slaves, others were more "kind" and treated their slaves humanely. Nonetheless, they still owned slaves and believed the slaves were property. Famous former slaves, such as Frederick Douglass, enlightened people as to how slaves were treated by their masters.

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Progress is something everyone has to struggle and fought it through. Without progress and struggles, people wouldn't know how to make something better. Frederick Douglass once said that “If there’s no struggle, there’s no progress.” The struggle can be a physical struggle or a moral struggle, and any of them would work.

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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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Bread of Knowledge In Frederick Douglass’s narrative, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, Douglass argues for abolition of slavery in America. His narrative tells us of his experiences as a slave. He also illustrates for the reader how slave owners dehumanize slaves in various ways. He shows us the cruel ways slave owners used to make slaves feel not capable of being a human .

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Slavery possesses a cruelty where very few of the victims attain liberation, with a smaller number able to recollect on their experiences. Nearly 172 years passed since Douglass published his journey from utter blindness to become “his own master”, and the message relayed still resonates in the present. Douglass vividly describes hardships that slaves and free African-Americans must deal with. As I pondered on the imagery presented by the wonderfully scripted narrative, I immediately saw, on a drastically smaller scale, the issues Douglass presents to the reader, in modern day 2017. It appears that, as racial divides flare, the black man is subjected to punishment rather than the white.

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In the 1700-1800’s, the use of African American slaves for backbreaking, unpaid work was at its prime. Despite the terrible conditions that slaves were forced to deal with, slave owners managed to convince themselves and others that it was not the abhorrent work it was thought to be. However, in the mid-1800’s, Northern and southern Americans were becoming more aware of the trauma that slaves were facing in the South. Soon, an abolitionist group began in protest, but still people doubted and questioned it.

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In the Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass, Douglass unfolds the story of his breakthrough from a victim of slavery to a leader in the Civil Rights Movement. In his narrative Douglass emphasis the issue of slavery by reflecting his own helplessness. As Douglass gains a new stature, freedom, he transitions from a servant to a leader, thus progressing from a silent narrator to an active speaker. While a voiceless narrator, Douglass replicates his silence as a slave.

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By telling his story of being enslaved, Frederick Douglass sheds light on the lies many slave owners had been telling the public. For years slaveowners stated that they would take care of their slaves and that the slaves were happy to work. During a speech, Douglass rebutted by arguing, "My mistress was, as I have said, a kind and tender-hearted woman; and in the simplicity of her soul she commenced, when I first went to live with her she supposed one human being ought to treat another." Frederick Douglass also states "Under its influence, the tender heart became stone, and the lamblike disposition gave way to one of tiger-like fierceness." Here, Douglass is able to persuade the reader by using credibility and causes the reader to feel a sense of empathy towards the enslaved.

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Frederick Douglass was born as Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey around the year 1818 in Tuckahoe, Maryland; he states in his autobiography “I have no accurate knowledge of my age, never having seen any authentic record containing it. By far the larger part of the slaves know as little of their ages as horses know of theirs, and it is the wish of most masters within my knowledge to keep their slaves thus ignorant. I do not remember to have ever met a slave who could tell of his birthday… A want of information concerning my own was a source of unhappiness to me even during childhood. The white children could tell their ages.”

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Douglass managed to overcome the maltreatment of his wretched slave owners through the eventual attainment of freedom. The injustice imposed upon the African-American slaves by their owners was the crux of Douglass’s motivation to escape this inhumane life. Adolescents in today’s society could use Frederick’s determination as an example of moving forward to better oneself or one’s situation regardless of

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Douglass later admits he cannot even trust his own color. “I saw in every white man an enemy, and in almost every colored man cause for distrust.” Douglass does not only reproach the whole concept of slavery and the distrust slaves have for one another, but he also depicts the intellectual capabilities that were believed to be “non existent” to not only the slave owners but the slaves

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