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Frederick Douglass View On The Nature Of The Constitution Summary

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Douglass goes on to explain Garrison’s position and how he initially fell for it. Garrison’s teachings declared the “pro-slavery character of the Constitution” and he advocated for the “non-voting principle” as a means to promote “no union with slaveholders.” For Garrison, the only way to deal with sin is to cut it off completely. Voting and holding office simply made a person complacent in a corrupt system, since it was built upon by the Construction, a pro-slavery doctrine. Garrison refused to work with evil to get rid of evil—meaning, he refused to work with the Constitution to get rid of slavery. However, Douglass’s view of the Constitution changed. He first began to realize that “to seek dissolution” of the union was “not part of [his] …show more content…

Garrison focused too much on intention, while Douglass wanted to seek a real end to the problem. It is here that Douglass changes his opinion on the nature of the Constitution. Douglass was driven to “re-think the whole subject, and study with some care not only the just and proper rules of legal interpretation, but the origins, design, nature, rights, powers, and duties of civil government.” Douglass needed to look at the document and uncover from that the true nature of the Constitution. He came to discover that the contents of the document could never uphold slavery. The Constitution was created “to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty,” and from this Douglass concluded that it “could not well have been designed at the same time to maintain and perpetuate a system of rapine and murder like slavery.” Slavery goes against all of the principles promised by the preamble of the Constitution, and therefore can be used as a means to abolish slavery since it goes against the country’s principle

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William Llyod Garrison is probably the one white abolitionist that everyone will remember, and I really like how Garrison justified Turner’s rebellion. He claimed that it’s only normal for the Africans Americans to be angry and “uncivilized” when they were treated as if they were objects, and it would be hypocritical for people accuse them for their angers. Based on this justification, I see Garrison more as a humanitarian, rather than a diplomat. In the long quote by Garrison, he questioned why the Constitution did not abolish slavery if the Constitution was supposedly the “scared” doctrine that forms the basis of the United States of America.

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In his speech, Douglass introduces what is necessary for a compatible government for the people, “…no republic is safe that tolerates a privileged class, or denies to any of its citizens equal rights and equal means to maintain them…” Douglass’ sheer mention of equal right provides a stark contrast to Bruce’s speech as it mentions equal rights at all. Also, it creates a deeper argument that develops for the remainder of Douglass’ article. These contrasts create entirely different works from

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873 Words | 4 Pages

Both King and Douglass were advocating for the same thing: their constitutional sanction of freedom. Both men, in their respective letters touch upon parallel thoughts and beliefs that revolve around the much bigger topic of racial inequality and discrimination. Both men were discriminated against and they talk about their experiences and plight in their very distinctive yet special styles. Born in the year 1817, in an era of open and unashamed slave trade, Frederick Douglass’s story begins as a serf to Mrs. Hugh in the city of Maryland.

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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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Douglass writes, “I have found that, to make a contented slave, it is necessary to make a thoughtless one. It is necessary to darken his moral and mental vision, and, as far as possible, to annihilate the power of reason. He must be able to detect no inconsistencies in slavery;

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In particular, when Douglass learned to read he began reading documents that contained argument against slavery and in doing so, he became conscious of the true horror of slavery. He writes, “I often found myself regretting my own existence and wishing myself dead…” (ch. VII). However, he continues, saying “...and but for the hope of being free, I have no doubt but that I should have killed myself…”(ch.

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751 Words | 4 Pages

Boxill disputes the idea that the Constitution does not observe Frederick Douglass as a human being by stating, "Constitutions can fail to recognize the truth" (Boxill 308) that a slave is not a human being. Boxill further explains, "As we have seen, patriots often vigorously criticize the political systems of their country... patriotism cannot necessarily involve, though of course it may involve, love of the political system of one's country" (Boxill 309-10). Boxill reaches the conclusion that Frederick Douglass contrives his patriotism and love of the United States from the ideas that promoted liberty, and to end the ideas that limit the rights of men.

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Douglass points to the vast unwillingness from the group of whites that refuses to fully perceive and accept African-Americans as deserving and equal citizens of the nation. Based on his personal experiences as a slave, Douglass is abundantly aware that the battle to abolish slavery is not an easy task. For the first twenty years of his life, he witnessed firsthand the abject cruelty of that institution in our country. Tactfully, Douglass seizes this opportunity to publicly highlight the unmerited and coarse differences in the treatment between the whites as opposed to the blacks living in the United States during this time period. He makes a “powerful testaments to the hypocrisy, bigotry and inhumanity of slavery” (Bunch 1).

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Here, Douglass exposes the Christian attempt to wash their hands of any guilt or wrong doing. Overall, Douglass exposes the truth behind this hypocrisy; when these slaveholders use God as a

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At last, Douglass brings the point of freedom and justice the one person has every right to him than any other, and no man has the authority to rule over

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That which is inhuman, cannot be divine!” (19). The “American religion” was used as “a thin vail to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages” (20) and their “prayers and hymns, your sermon and thanksgivings, with all your religious parade, and solemnity, are mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety and hypocrisy” (20). Hence, Douglass purpose was not to primarily motive to can “American religion” a lie was to emphasize the “national inconsistencies” and bring up change. Douglass also uses the same method when stating that “it [the Constitution] will be found to contain principles and purposes, entirely hostile to the existence of slavery” (38).

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¨Freedom means you are unobstructed in living your life as you choose. Anything less is a form of slavery.¨ This is similar to Frederick Douglass because he lived his most of his life in slavery and then after slavery ended he chose to live his life the way he wanted. Frederick Douglass was an African American slave who wanted to abolish slavery after hearing the word abolish so many times. Douglass´s audience were many other African Americans who also said slavery was a bad thing. How slavery was bad for slaves and how it corrupts slave owners.

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Douglass was tired of his master taking control over him, so he fought back against slavery. Douglass tries to prove the point of anti-slavery and racial arguments, relating to the Scientific

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1574 Words | 7 Pages

Douglass’s position differ from those who supported slavery is that people who supported slavery, they thought it was a natural thing to do because on the Document “ Slavery a positive Good” on paragraph 1 it says, “ To maintain the existing relations between two races, inhabiting that section of the Union, is indispensable to the peace and happiness of both…. But let me not be understood as admitting, even by implication, that the existing relations between two races in the slaveholding states is an evil: - far otherwise; I hold to be good, as it has thus far proved itself both, and will continue to prove so if not disturbed by the fell spirit of abolition.” What this piece of evidence is saying is that slavery is a good thing and not a bad thing and that abolition should stop. Another way that Frederick Douglass’s position is different from people that support is that people who support slavery is that the people who support slavery has a different perspective of what is right and what is wrong because on the Document “ Slavery a Positive Good” paragraph 2 it says,” I hold in the present state of civilization, where two races of different origin, and distinguished by color, and other physical differences, as well as intellectual, are brought together, the relation now existing in the slaveholding States between the two is, instead of an evil, a good- a positive good… I hold then, that

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Frederick Douglass was a great writer, but he wasn’t always. He was an escaped slave who used that in his speeches as a topic to gain the attention of his audience. His audience was a seemingly sympathetic one and got to them through rhetorical questions. Douglass wanted to convey the message that there are many changes that need to be made.

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