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Frederick Douglass's Struggles

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Frederick Douglass was born into slavery around 1835 in Tuckahoe. (12 Miles from Talbot County) In his Narrative, Frederick not only describes his struggles and hardships during his time as a slave, but also with escaping slavery. When he was young, Frederick did not know his father, though he thought that his father was a white slave owner. (Maybe even his own master). Frederick’s mother, on the other hand, rarely saw him due to the fact that she was sent to a plantation about twelve miles away.
Of course, Frederick eventually questioned his birth and childhood and wanted to know more. As Frederick grew up, he became more and more aware of what was happening in his life. He wanted to escape from slavery and live as a free man. As time went …show more content…

In the appendix, Douglass talks more about this. Frederick started mentioning this theme in Chapter ten when he describes how Mr. Covey considered himself a religious man and made Frederick help lead hymns. The next time he was asked, Douglass retaliated by not singing or purposely singing badly. Religion was a controversial issue in Douglass’s time and an embarrassing excuse for holding slaves. Another part in chapter ten mentions the Rev. Mr. Hopkins and the Rev. Mr. Weeden and how they mistreated their slaves. It is hard to believe for Frederick that people that claim to be holy men own and mistreat their …show more content…

Since Frederick did not see his mother very much due to the the distance that separated them, he viewed her as a stranger during her funeral. This separation ensured that Douglass did not develop familial feelings toward his mother. Douglass’s separation made him develop a loathing for slavery and its masters while gradually becoming unmanageable.

“In the same book, I met with one of Sheridan's mighty speeches on and in behalf of Catholic Emancipation.”

This quote comes from the time when Frederick starts reading. He finds his passion for ending slavery and his desire to escape through books. Frederick strives to learn and learns through books. One aspect of slavery is that it is against the law for a slave to read books and become educated. To do so will make a slave have a mind of his/her own and the slave will become unmanageable. So, in Frederick’s case, he is actually retaliating against slavery and opening up his world to a bigger

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Douglass tells us this by saying that he believes anyone who is a slave owner cannot be a Christian. In his view, he believes being a slave owner violates the very principles of being a Christian. Auld quote he believes that the Christianity practiced by the Slave owners and the Christianity practiced by non-slave owners are two

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“I do not recollect of ever seeing my mother by the light of day. She was with me in the night. She would lie down with me, and get me to sleep, but long before waked she was gone.” (932). Though Douglass does not know his mother for long, the reader can infer that his mother comes to him for comfort, not only to attempt to comfort her son, but to comfort herself and the separation she had from her beloved child.

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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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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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Born to a slave woman, Frederick narrates how he was separated from her at a tender age, and only got to see her a few times before she died and was buried in a funeral that he wasn’t allowed to attend, he also never got to know who his real father was (Douglass 3). He further narrates about how he was

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Slavery started in the year of 1619 in the southern part of the United States where Maryland is located and also where slavery was a way of life. Slavery was still a way of life when Frederick Douglass was born. Douglass was born into slavery, although the date of when he was born is not exact. Douglass was one of the slaves that is remembered well by a lot of people because he was a slave that became an abolitionist and wrote a book entitled Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. In his book, Douglass argued that slaves were treated no better than, and sometimes worse than, livestock by telling a story about adultery and how the animals were fed better than the slaves.

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Douglass tells about his own childhood and how his father might have been a slaveholder. He explains

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Frederick is living with Master Hugh and is self teaching himself because the mistress wants to follow orders from Master Hugh. Even in knowing this it didn’t stop Frederick from pushing towards something he knew he needed. “During this time, I succeeded in learning to read and write. In accomplishing this, I was compelled to resort to various stratagems” (Douglass 50). He was learning and was dedicated by doing multiple strategies to get it done.

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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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Fredericks master would allow this no longer. He informed her that if she kept this up. Frederick would be too knowledgeable, and be unfit to be a slave. Frederick was inspired by his master’s words. So he set out to get as much knowledge as he could.

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Realizing in his struggles that mental strength can overcome physical abuse. What made Frederick such an amazing man was what he did with what others said about him and the things he did the brave steps he took, he didn 't take it personally and just stopped doing what he believed in just because other people didn 't like it or agree with it. The hate he received made him stronger in the end. If he had taken what people said to heart than he probably wouldn 't have accomplished all that he did. When Hugh Auld 's wife Sophia defied the ban of teaching slaves to read and write and decided to teach Frederick.

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Douglass states: “The more I read, the more I was led to abhor and detest my enslavers. I could regard them in no other light than a band of successful robbers, who had left their homes, and gone to Africa, and stolen us from our homes, and in a strange land reduced us to slavery” (Douglass 51). Reading and writing opened Frederick Douglass’s eyes to the cause of the abolitionist. He became knowledgeable about a topic that white slave owners tried to keep hidden from their slaves. Literacy would eventually impact his life in more ways than what he could see while he was a young slave under Master Hugh’s

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Looking back upon his mothers passing when he was around the age of seven, Douglass “received the tidings of her death with much the same emotions [he would] have probably felt at the death of a stranger”. This was because of the unfair separation brought to the family since Douglass was born of a slave mother and a white father who was supposedly his master. Mistresses could be the most unanticipatedly barbarous. Being a woman, a gentle and motherly disposition would be expected but usually they could be the cruelest if they assumed that slaves obtained favor from their master. The constant torment done to women throughout the account of Douglass’ life not only traumatized them but Douglass as well.

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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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257 Words | 2 Pages

With this, Douglass is addressing the topic of slavery and whether to abolish it or not. And goes about telling the hardships he went through.

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