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Analysis of the narrative of the life of frederick douglass
Frederick douglass literary essays
Essays about slave abolitionist
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In chapter 6, Douglass says that people slaves and slaveholders are affected by slavery, I believe its true. Douglass had a new Mistress who had never owned a slave before she was married and didn't know what would come of it. She had the heart made of pure gold, she didn't care if a slave would look her in the face. Her mere presence had put the stingiest of slaves at most soothing. All she was to him at the beginning was genuine smiles and the sweet sounds of her voice.
Frederick Douglass’s Position On Slavery Douglass supports his position that slavery is terrible for slaves because they get mistreated getting whipped, left with scars. ¨Mr.plummer was a miserable….and a savage monster. He always went armed with cowskin and a heavy cudgel . I have known him to cut and slash a woman's head so horribly that even master would be enraged at his cruelty.¨As douglass was saying his first master was ¨captain anthony¨was a very cruel man.
Douglass spoke in favor of the Civil War, stating, “The thing worse than rebellion is the thing that causes rebellion” (Reconstruction 94). Douglass was such an intelligent speaker many people questioned if he was even a slave. Frederick Douglass was one of the biggest contributors to the abolitionist
Fredrick Douglass was born enslaved,but he escaped to freedom. He became an outspoken opponent of slavery and a civil rights advocate. He lectured widely and even published his own newspapers. In this excerpt, I have learned the most important event that occurred in his life and why its important, the reason why he compared the enslavers to criminals, and the reason why he wished to be an animal. First of all, Fredrick mentioned in the excerpt the most important event in his life and why it matters.
Fredrick Douglass is one of the most famous abolitionists the United States has ever seen. The events that led up to his freedom of slavery were very interesting. In his Narrative you not only get to see the worst of slavery, but you can also feel firsthand what Douglass went through to get his freedom. As we all know slavery was something you could not just walk out of. Some slaves that try to escape even end up getting punished or killed.
Frederick Douglass understood that people are created equal. Education and self-improvement were extremely important to him, we weren't just born free: we have to make ourselves into who we are. The worst thing about slavery, to his mind, is that it prevents people from improving themselves through education (Shmoop Editorial Team). As Mr. Douglass grew into the slave life he questioned multiple things of his life. He wanted to know why he was deprived from knowing his age while other white boys knew their age.
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.
Frederick Douglass Final Frederick Douglass demonstrates the importance of community and building bonds and trust. The slave community was unbreakable, they would do anything to help another slave. “That night I fell in with Sandy Jenkins, a slave with whom I was somewhat acquainted. . . I must go with him into another part of the woods where there was a certain root, which if I would take some of it with me, carrying it always on my right side, would render it impossible for Mr. Covey, or any white man to whip me”(Douglass, 80).
He also struggled for stopping the racial violation and helped the fleeing slaves to escape. One of the main point of Douglass’s speech was slavery should be stopped. And he also argued that what’s the point of celebrating Fourth July if the term liberty doesn’t apply equally for all? He also exhibited that a slave is also a human being like others. If white people have the right to utilize all the rights and facilities as a citizen, on the whole as a human, why will the black people lead a life as sub human?
Douglass expresses to his spectators, while they dwell in the luxurious ability to partake in this joyous celebration of freedom for a nation, not everyone in that nation is sharing in the celebration. In The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro, he writes “The blessings in which you, this day, rejoice, are not enjoyed in common. The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity and independence bequeathed by your fathers, is shared by you and not by me. This Fourth of July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, I must mourn” (Douglass 1).
What to the Slave is the Fourth of July Introduction The 4th of July is an important day in American history it represents freedom and is usually associated with fireworks, parades, alcohol, and concerts. Those activities more or less represent today’s culture. When Fredrick Douglass made his speech he talked about American values such as liberty, citizenship, and freedom. The irony of this speech was that at the time white Americans in the south were still participating in slave trading.
Douglass argues that slavery has a horrible effect and it is a bad thing. One piece of evidence is when in excerpt 3 paragraph 3 the text states that ¨Mr. Covey gave us enough to eat, but scarce time to eat it.¨ Another piece of evidence is in excerpt 4 paragraph 12 ¨Causing blood to run where I touched him with the ends of my fingers.¨ This shows that slavery is a thing that can cause pain and has a horrible effect on slaves. This disproves people who believed that was a good thing because this shows that someone can get hurt when they are enslaved.
Frederick Douglass’s narrative provides a first hand experience into the imbalance of power between a slave and a slaveholder and the negative effects it has on them both. Douglass proves that slavery destroys not only the slave, but the slaveholder as well by saying that this “poison of irresponsible power” has a dehumanizing effect on the slaveholder’s morals and beliefs (Douglass 40). This intense amount of power breaks the kindest heart and changes the slaveholder into a heartless demon (Douglass 40). Yet these are not the only ways that Douglass proves what ill effect slavery has on the slaveholder. Douglass also uses deep characterization, emotional appeal, and religion to present the negative effects of slavery.
Slavery-- in laconic terms-- is the censuring, and antipathy of a human just due to their skin color. It is macroscopic and patent that it is wrong but nobody will admit it. In The Hypocrisy of American Slavery, Frederick Douglass talks about the current state of the US and why The 4th of July means nothing to him. He is trying to convince the American people that celebrating the freedom of their country is ironic because everyone is not free as they claim. Overall, Douglass uses Word Choice, Emotional, and Ethical Appeal to support his claim that there should be no celebrating being a free country when all of the country is not free.
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.
