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How Is Frederick Douglass Cruel

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Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, by Frederick Douglass, is a poignant account of his experiences as a slave in America. Born in Tuckahoe, Douglass, like most slaves, knew neither his birthday nor his father, although some suspected his master, Captain Anthony, of fulfilling the role of the latter. After the death of Captain Anthony, Hugh and Sophia Auld became Douglass’s new owners. Sophia taught Douglass the alphabet, after which he secretly continued to get lessons on how to read and write from the little white boys on the street. During his time in Baltimore, Douglass began to feel dissatisfied with the notion of being a slave for life, and his secret education only fueled his desire to escape. Douglass was later sent to Captain …show more content…

As an infant, Douglass’s mom was taken from him and sold to a Mr. Stewart, who had a farm approximately 12 miles from where Douglass lived. It is also noted that most slaves were taken from their parents at a young age. This separation ensured slaves never developed a close relationship with their parents. Because they never knew their parents, slaves were left without any close relations and a perpetual feeling of loneliness. Not knowing anything about their identity, and being treated harshly left many slaves disoriented and unsure of their identity in society. Masters at the time also used to punish slaves (primarily by selling them) if they expressed discontent with their current circumstances. Douglass notes of a slave belonging to Colonel Lloyd, who unknowingly expressed discontent to him and was consequently separated from his family and sold. Because slave owners would occasionally send in spies to see what their slaves thought of them, and consequently, slaves could never express their true feelings for fear of retribution. Slaves could also never fully trust others in the same condition and had to live with a constant feeling of paranoia, which took an emotional toll on them.Not having anyone to truly talk to and constantly having to stay alert to stay alive can be a taxing experience, and very emotionally draining. Douglass also writes about Christmas and noted that slaves were frequently pressured into drinking by their masters. The purpose of this exercise, according to Douglass, is disgusting the slaves with what they do with their “freedom”, so they feel somewhat grateful to be under the control of their master. This shows the emotional torture slaves were subjected in. Slaves were manipulated by their masters into believing they were immoral, and thus could not lead a

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161 Words | 1 Pages

Douglass uses paradox to demonstrate that slavery degragrates the slaverholder. When Douglass under Mr. Sever’s care he described that: “He was less cruel, less profane… He whipped, but seemed to take no pleasure in it. ”(Douglass 24). Most slaveholders are characterized to be cruel and inhuman because of the whipping and the way they treated the slaves.

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Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass After reading this short passage about Frederick Douglass, I know that he was very against slavery. He saw enslavers as criminals and tormentors. He wishes to be an animal so he wouldn't have to go through the agony of slavery. He also recalls having to move in with a relative of his slave master, Auld Hugh. Auld Hugh’s wife tried to teach Douglass to read and write, but Auld wouldn't let her.

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Additionally, slaveholders tried to tame slaves into a tool and private property that have no individual thinking under the cruel practices of slavery. Although slaves afraid directly talk about their complaints to their owners in the process of the absolute obedience, that does not mean he has lost the existence of consciousness. In other words, they were forced to accept both physical and mental obedience in this terrible society, but that does not mean they do not have thought and feeling as human beings. Douglass recalled slaves’ feeling and thought is reflected in songs that slaves sang on the way to the Great House Farm. The songs revealed their deeply desire, both painful and joy.

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Covey, Douglass is sent back to Baltimore to live with Mrs. Auld. There Douglass gets a job in a shipyard where he pays his earning to Mr. Auld. Douglass continues to work hard and pay his weekly wages to Mr. Auld. Douglass finally comes up with a plan to escape on September third. Douglass finally escapes to the free land in New York.

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During this time, many people assumed that slavery was normal and that blacks weren't capable to function in the American society and were better off to be owned by whites and kept for labor. Many slaves, such as Douglass himself, weren't properly informed on where they were born, when they were born, and even more disturbingly, who their mothers and fathers were. At birth, slaves were taken away from their mothers and family. Growing up not knowing your mother, age, or even last name extorted slaves of their natural sense of personal identity. Douglass explains how he predicted that the intentional act of separating mother from child is to break their natural bond they share.

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Frederick Douglass was a slave from Maryland who, through luck and intelligence, was able to escape slavery at 20 years old. In his autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, he describes how it felt being a slave throughout his childhood and adolescence, as well as the traumatizing conditions on plantations. Douglass also discusses how he learned to read and write, which causes him to consider his position in slavery and helps to inspire his escape. Nevertheless, once he arrives in New York, Douglass’s hope quickly fades as he is faced with the reality of his situation; he is all alone in a place where he could easily be caught and returned to slavery, making the efforts of his escape in vain. In the excerpt from his autobiography,

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At the age of six, Douglass began his life as a bought slave. His slave owner was most likely his father and his mother died when he was about ten but other than that he lived a relatively normal life for a slave at that time. That is, until he saw his aunt being brutally whipped by his slave owner. This is where Douglass's strong drive to end slavery ensued. Being treated so inhumanly sent Douglass to seek freedom.

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This feeling of restriction and inability to socialize contradicts Douglass’s new freedom. Even though life as a slave was much harder, certain aspects of his life were more concrete, and as a free man, they are more

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They were given leisure time and the owners would not appear cruel towards their slaves. The better treated the slaves were, the better the owners looked. He did not mind leaving the plantation because he did not have any family that he was leaving behind like most people did. Douglass keeps a positive attitude throughout the hardships because he believes that it could always be worse. At his new home, he is treated much differently than most slaves do.

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Fredrick Douglass was separated by his mother at a young age

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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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In Narrative Life of Frederick Douglass, Frederick Douglass give you insight on how he struggle while being a slave in the 1800’s, It shows that your current Circumstance can not defined who you are in where you trying to go in life. Douglass had the ability to overcome physical and mental abuse by teaching himself how to read and write. Frederick Douglass real name was Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey. He was born year 1818 In Tuckahoe County outside of Maryland. He was born into slavery in a time where the color of skin defined who you were.

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560 Words | 3 Pages

“Learning to Read and Write” by Frederick Douglass is a personal narrative which describes a specific time in his childhood when he was learning to read and write. Born as a slave in the pre-Civil War south, Douglass was not expected to be literate. However, through strong ambition, Douglass overcame restrictions and stereotypes placed on slaves and taught himself to read and write. Later in his life, Frederick Douglass wrote down this story in his book Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass in 1845. Today, students and adults can enjoy this narrative on how he overcame the struggles of learning how to read and write.

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973 Words | 4 Pages

The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass is Frederick Douglass’s autobiography in which Douglass goes into detail about growing up as a slave and then escaping for a better life. During the early-to-mid 1800s, the period that this book was written, African-American slaves were no more than workers for their masters. Frederick Douglass recounts not only his personal life experiences but also the experiences of his fellow slaves during the period. This book was aimed at abolitionists, so he makes a point to portray the slaves as actual living people, not the inhuman beings that they are treated as. In Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, slaves are inhumanly represented by their owners and Frederick Douglass shines a positive light

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1838 Words | 8 Pages

This shows that the way a Master behaves around a slave can be very influential, and Douglass explains that he was compelled to give all his hard-earned money to Master Hugh because the influence the Master had on him was to give him everything he worked hard for. Next, on page 10 of his Narrative, Douglass proclaims, “They never knew when they were safe from punishment. They were frequently whipped when least deserving, and escaped whipping when most deserving it. Every thing depended upon the looks of the horses,

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