How Does Frederick Douglas Achieve Sympathy For The Women Of The North?

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Harriet Jacobs wrote about her experiences with slavery not to gain sympathy for her suffering, but to raise awareness towards the women of the North about the horrible conditions for slaves in the South. At the beginning stages of her life, Harriet is brought up in decent conditions making her unaware of her status as a slave. When her mother dies, she harshly finds out that she is a slave. Dr. Flint plays a crucial role in her life in a negative way. He believes that Harriet is entitled to him in a sexual manner because he is her master. After seven years of hiding in a cellar, Harriet is able to make her way up North but despite her escape, Dr. Flint keeps up his persistence to find her. Even after his death, his son-in-law Mr. Dodge …show more content…

Frederick Douglas shows the reader a comprehensive view on his life. Beginning with his birth into slavery and how the choice of his master to send him to Baltimore changed his life. In Baltimore, he was able to learn how to read with the help of his mistress, who was immediately told to stop by her husband because it would lead to literacy replacing ignorance. Ultimately, Frederick became free in the end. Thesis I claim that the institution of slavery taints slave owners from being good to inhumane from the moment that they didn’t own slaves to the moment that they entered the slave business. Secondly, the male slave masters caused turmoil within their families by having children with slaves. Lastly, when slaves obtained the power of literacy, they gradually began to understand their oppression from slave masters and were able to forge a path to freedom …show more content…

The biggest problem was the creation of offspring between the master and the slave. That problem was evidently a big one. Taking a look at the narrative of Frederick Douglass, “For thousands are ushered into the world, annually, who, like myself, owe their existence to white fathers, and most frequently their own masters.” (Ch. 1, p. 20). Relationships between slave masters and their slaves caused a great amount of jealousy towards the master’s wife. Dr. Flint constantly made unwanted sexual advances towards Harriet and Mrs. Flint, Dr. Flint’s wife was not ok with it. “She felt that her marriage vows were desecrated, her dignity insulted; but she had no compassion for the poor victim of her husband’s perfidy” (P.