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How Did Frederick Douglass Impact On Education

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Liberation Through Education Frederick Douglass, proclaimed human rights leader during the 19th century abolition movement, in his critically acclaimed autobiography Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Douglass tells his personal experiences of overcoming obstacles a slave faced leading up to the point in which he breaks his own chains of slavery. Frederick Douglass’ most instrumental moment of his life was when he was under the ownership of the Auld family and gained the gift of literacy from Mrs. Auld. His ability to read had a profound effect on his development, such an effect that Mr. Auld felt the urgency to suppress any further growth. From this point on, Frederick Douglass had the knowledge to hate what his current and future …show more content…

Covey, a man who was renowned for breaking in young slaves, Douglass was subject to some of the most intensive work and brutalizing punishments. This inhumane method of working slaves was in Mr. Covey’s eyes, justified and was how things were supposed to be. From this, Frederick Douglass grew to despise how slave owners would justify their actions and consider them morally correct. Douglass describes the exhausting effect that Mr. Covey’s work had on him, “My natural elasticity was crushed, my intellect languished, the disposition to read departed, the cheerful spark that lingered about my eye died; the dark night of slavery closed in upon me; and behold a man transformed into a brute!” (Douglas 55). The state, in which Frederick Douglass describes, shows how slave owners would exhaust their slaves and break their body, soul, and spirit. Douglass also makes note that Covey took away what Frederick Douglass loved most, his desire to read and to completely deter all intellectual strength he possessed. With lack of intellectual strength and the knowledge of the repercussions for disobeying their masters, slave owners inferior in strength to his slaves would be able to maintain control. Douglass also hates how slave owners use the Christian religion to justify their actions. Mr. Covey himself demonstrates this justification “He seemed to think himself equal to deceiving the Almighty. He would make a short prayer in the morning, and a long prayer at night; and, strange as it may seem, few men would at times appear more devotional than he” (Douglass 54). Douglass, who is a Christian, sees through Mr. Covey’s deception and hates that he is using prayer as a form of making himself righteous in front of God. Mr. Covey is not the only slave owner who practices this deception, when Douglass is in St. Michael’s he is teaching a Sunday school that ends up being dismissed by slave owners who beat them with sticks and stones.

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Frederick Douglass published two similar versions of his fight with the ‘slave-breaker’ Edward Covey in the tenth chapter of his The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave, and in the seventeenth chapter of My Bondage and My Freedom. By comparing the two accounts it is possible to see an evolution of his thoughts on abolishing slavery and person hood which occurred in the years which transpired between the two works, 1845 and 1855. In the first account which Douglass wrote at around the age of 27 he narrates a physical confrontation where he refuses to allow himself to be whipped. Douglass struggles for two hours with Covey and also fights off Covey’s cousin at the same time.

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“I didn 't know I was a slave until I found out I couldn 't do the things I wanted”, said Frederick Douglass. " Frederick Douglass was an African-American social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. He became a national leader of the abolitionist movement (Abolitionism is a movement to end slavery) from Massachusetts to New York. " As a leader of the abolitionist movement, Douglass played an important role to end slavery and started to establish African-American rights through his actions and efforts as a lecturer, author, and

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Frederick Douglass was an African American social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. Douglass wrote the novel “The Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass” which depicted his life as a slave and enticed his ambition to become a free man. This novel helped form the big abolitionist movement. In the chapters of this novel, it explains important details like how he first learned to read and write, stays at different plantations, later in life events, leading up to his freedom.

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Frederick Douglass, born a slave and later the most influential African American leader of the 1800s, addresses the hypocrisy of the US of maintaining slavery with its upheld ideals being freedom and independence on July 4th, 1852. Douglass builds his argument by using surprising contrasts, plain facts, and provocative antithesis. Introducing his subject, Douglass reminds his audience about the dark side of America for slaves, in sharp, surprising contrasts with the apparent progressivity within the nation. He first notices “the disparity,” that “the sunlight that brought life and healing to you, has brought stripes and deaths to me,” as an African-American former slave. It is surprising for the audience to hear that the Sun does not bring him any prosperity, that the Sun, the source of life on earth, brings him destruction.

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What would you do if you were a slave what would you value the best education or your freedom? This story is about a man that was a slave, frederick fought for his rights and didn’t give up on what he thought was right he valued education because he thought it was important so that then others could not treat him bad and could just treat him equal. Frederick douglass did value education because he fought for his rights and he did not give up which helped him learn how to read and write.

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The Narrative of Frederick Douglass is a very great perspective for people of today to understand what it was like to be a slave in the 1800’s. It tells the story of the slave Frederick Douglass and how he began as an uneducated slave and was moved around from many different types of owners, cruel or nice, and how his and other slaves presences changed the owners, and also how he educated himself and realized that he shouldn’t be treated so poorly It was at the point later in the book that I realized how some slaves might have felt during slavery in the 1800’s. When Douglass is sent away to Mr.Covey he is treated pretty badly but eventually he stands up to Mr.Covey and demands that he stopped being treated like an animal.

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Throughout history there have been few important black civil rights activist. Arguably one of the most important leaders named Frederick Douglass was born into slavery, in February 1818. Douglas wrote many pieces of literature, but he only wrote one fictional story, The Heroic Slave in 1853. This story is based loosely off of real people and actual events in Frederick's life. In the modern world all people are considered equal by law, back in the slavery era the idea that blacks were equivalent to whites was constantly questioned.

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It is a common argument for Christian slaveholders to make “…that God cursed Ham, and therefore American slavery is right…” (5). this argument exposes their hypocrisy as it conveys how they attempt to stretch small pieces of scripture to justify the violence of the American slavery. Douglass thus asks if it is humane to use a small piece of writing to damn an entire race to hardship and subhuman treatment. This case of blasphemy is amplified by the observation that Douglass makes of one of his slave masters, Mr. Covey, in that “he seemed to think himself equal to deceiving the almighty” (61).

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The Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass shows the imbalance of power between slaves and their masters. In his book, Douglass proves that slavery is a destructive force not only to the slaves, but also for the slaveholders. “Poison of the irresponsible power” that masters have upon their slaves that are dehumanizing and shameless, have changed the masters themselves and their morality(Douglass 39). This amount of power and control in contact with one man breaks the kindest heart and the purest thoughts turning the person evil and corrupt. Douglass uses flashbacks that illustrate the emotions that declare the negative effects of slavery.

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The history of slaves was a psychological and physical torture to the mind of a slave and of a master. In his autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Douglass writes about his personal experience. He was born into slavery and finally succeeds in running away to the North where slavery is illegal. Kohlberg’s six stages of moral development help explain the behavior of people. Several characters in Douglass’ book show one good example of Kohlberg’s six stages.

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In the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Douglass's battle with his master Covey is a turning point in his career as a slave in that he resolves to no longer be docile and subservient as a slave. In fighting back against Covey, Douglass frees his mind from the psychological effects of slavery. Douglass's battle with Covey marks the end of Douglass being obedient and not questioning the word of authority like he was brought up to do. Douglass vows that "the white man who expected to succeed in whipping, must also succeed in killing me." (Douglass, 83) By refusing the role of an obedient slave, Douglass also refuses the slave mindset and liberates himself.

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The legendary abolitionist and orator Frederick Douglass was one of the most important social reformers of the nineteenth century. Being born into slavery on a Maryland Eastern Shore plantation to his mother, Harriet Bailey, and a white man, most likely Douglass’s first master was the starting point of his rise against the enslavement of African-Americans. Nearly 200 years after Douglass’s birth and 122 years after his death, The social activist’s name and accomplishments continue to inspire the progression of African-American youth in modern society. Through his ability to overcome obstacles, his strive for a better life through education, and his success despite humble beginnings, Frederick Douglass’s aspirations stretched his influence through

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When talking about Mr. Covey, who displayed his terrible nature in his reactions to the minor inconveniences Douglass cost him, Douglass focuses most on Covey’s lying about his religiousness. At the start of Douglass’s comments on Covey’s lying,

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1727 Words | 7 Pages

In many countries living in extremely poor conditions, not only is basic health an issue but also the lack of education. Although it is a necessity, “more than 72 million children of primary education age are not in school and 759 million adults are illiterate” (Rights to Education 1). The deprivation of education should be taken serious if a change is wanted. People need to become aware of how important education is and the benefit that it has.

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Human slavery requires ignorance, just as an individual’s freedom, from oppression, requires knowledge attained by education. To maintain order and control over slaves, slavery demands ignorant slaves; thus, keeping slaves ignorant prevents slaves from recognizing the empowering value of education and education’s ability to liberate slaves from the effects of ignorance. Frederick Douglass’s pursuit of education helped him discover the dark, hidden truths of slavery in his article, “How I Learned to Read and Write.” Thus, the pursuit of education inspires a desire for freedom. The desire to learn generates determination and motivation.

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