ipl-logo

Long Term Effects Of Frederick Douglass

1257 Words6 Pages

Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey was born in Talbot County, Maryland in 1818 to a slave, Harriet Bailey, and a white slave master. As a slave, Frederick Douglass was deprived of all his inalienable rights and dignity by potentially his “father” and other white slave masters. Douglass was further subjugated by the slave master withholding his age and actual birth date because “it was the wish of most masters within [his] knowledge to keep their slaves thus ignorant”. Through a systematic process practice by slave owners during the 1800s, Douglass was separated from his mother; the slave owners concubine as an infant the same way a dog breeder today splits a litter without regard to the long term effects. In fact, this act of derision was …show more content…

Thus, around twenty years of age, Douglass was restive, had seen and experienced enough of the cruelties of slavery, and successfully devised a plan to escape from bondage and find freedom in New York City. In New York City, he created his own newspaper the North Star, he authored three outstanding autobiographies, and developed into one of the most important abolitionist of his time period.Through his penetrating writings, Frederick Douglas was able to persuade many people that slavery was cruel, thus empowering him to promote the abolishment of …show more content…

Douglass emphasized the absurdity of the legal system’s failure to consider slave murders criminal acts. For example, Douglass described Mr. Gore, the overseer of Colonel Lloyd's plantation, and his murder of Demby, a slave who tried to avoid a whipping. Mr. Gore “took deadly aim at his...victim” after Demby refused to face the lashings. Shamefully, “his horrid crime was not even submitted to judicial investigation”. Douglass likely intended for the reader to be appalled by this disregard for human life–asking the reader to envision their own fight for justice if a family member suffered the same unwarranted, unjustified end of lift thrusted upon Demby. Ideally, the reader’s sense of humanity brought them to the conclusion that reprehensible acts of violence against enslaved people should not only be considered punishable under the law, but also be seen as egregious use of power. Moreover, Douglass stated that “killing a slave, or any colored person...was not treated as a crime, either by the courts or by the community”. Perhaps the reader realized dark skin and chained ankles were not permission slips to murder. Douglass emphasized that slave lives should be valued equally, and murder based on skin color was unjustifiable. He noted “it was a common saying, even among little white boys, that it was worth a half-cent to kill a ‘n–,’ and a half-cent to bury one”. While the life and

Show More
Related
555 Words | 3 Pages

Fredrick Douglass was born Fredrick Augustus Washington Bailey, in Maryland in 1818 to Harriet Bailey. There were two mysteries surrounding Fredrick’s early life: one, the actual date of his birth and two, the identity of his father. Even though his father has not been confirmed, it is believed that Douglass’ father was Harriet’s slave master. At the very tender age of ten, Douglass’ mother died suddenly. Shortly after her death, Fredrick was sold to Hugh Auld, where he began working on his plantation.

Read More
986 Words | 4 Pages

Frederick Douglass talks about how “I had no accurate knowledge of my age, never having seen any authentic record containing it (chapter 1 paragraph 1).” This quote talks about how slaves were denied simple access to knowing their age because of a potential fear that it would help them escape from slavery. This quote and explanation supports my claim because it shows the type of conditions slaves were living in and the learning obstacles they had to face while living in these violent and harsh conditions. In paragraph 3 of chapter 1, Frederick Douglass states another one of the problems slaves had to go through which was “my mother and I were separated when I was but an infant way before I even knew her as my mother (chapter 1 paragraph 3).” This quote demonstrates how slaves were forced to be

Read More
1580 Words | 7 Pages

Frederick Douglass “Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is made to feel that society is an organized conspiracy to oppress, rob and degrade them, neither persons nor property will be safe”, stated Frederick Douglass at a speech. Frederick Douglass, known by many as the most important African American leader of the nineteenth century, endured many of the struggles stated in this quote and was robbed of the most basic human freedoms during his twenty years as a slave. He saw unimaginable acts of cruelty and was overworked both physically and mentally. At the age of twelve, Douglass learned to read and write from Master Auld's wife Sophia and then later from white children in their

Read More
648 Words | 3 Pages

‘’ No words, No tears, No prayers, from his glory victim, seemed to move his iron heart fro his bloody purpose.’’ (page 5). Douglass appeals to the mournful emotions of the audience by expressing how the overseers gave no mercy or cared about the effect of whippings to the slaves. Douglass use of parallelism displayed how slavery was

Read More
778 Words | 4 Pages

Frederick Douglass - legally named Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey - was born in February 1818 as a slave born in Maryland, United States. He is an African-American abolitionist and author, most commonly known for his autobiography - Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Written by Himself. Douglass is one of the most reputable individuals known to exist when regarding his impact on slavery and the depletion of it as a whole. He allied and took the defence of equality among African Americans and the abolishment of slavery, and subsequently became a desired figure of presence within the U.S. Civil Rights Movement and political parties. He continued to do all of this until he died in 1895.

Read More
561 Words | 3 Pages

To show his perception on the very cruel slaveholders, Douglass uses a multitude of adjectives to create an image in his reader’s mind, while also using metaphors to better comprehend the situation. For example, Douglass stated, “No words, no tears, no prayers, for his gory victim, seemed to move his iron heart from its bloody purpose.” By using this metaphor, Frederick Douglass made the reader question how one could be so cruel to another human being. By visualizing one whipping another without any guilt, it makes the audience understand the inhumanity of slavery. In total, this metaphor creates a agonizing image in the reader’s

Read More
814 Words | 4 Pages

However, Douglass, who knows the true culprit, refutes this idea saying instead that slaves would join together in song to tell of their hatred and sorrow. Another way that Douglass rebukes this friendly image is with the gory horrific reality. For instance, when a savage overseer kills a slave named Demby, Douglass recalls “his mangled body sank out of sight, and blood and brains marked the water where he had stood”(22). Douglass isn’t painting this life in a positive way because he wants others to grasp the alarming reality that was life as a slave. Although those involved in the enslavement of African Americans might’ve liked to believe it, there was nothing reasonable or justifiable about

Read More
1110 Words | 5 Pages

Douglass points to the vast unwillingness from the group of whites that refuses to fully perceive and accept African-Americans as deserving and equal citizens of the nation. Based on his personal experiences as a slave, Douglass is abundantly aware that the battle to abolish slavery is not an easy task. For the first twenty years of his life, he witnessed firsthand the abject cruelty of that institution in our country. Tactfully, Douglass seizes this opportunity to publicly highlight the unmerited and coarse differences in the treatment between the whites as opposed to the blacks living in the United States during this time period. He makes a “powerful testaments to the hypocrisy, bigotry and inhumanity of slavery” (Bunch 1).

Read More
559 Words | 3 Pages

Douglass shows us an example of religious irony when he explains how his county views the murder of any colored person. In chapter four, Douglass states, “that killing a slave or any colored person , in Talbot county, Maryland, is not treated as a crime, either by the courts or the community,” (Douglass 34) The religious irony is shown here because the South has always been known as the ‘Bible belt’ and yet these actions were accepted, and even

Read More
793 Words | 4 Pages

Douglass stated, “What am I to argue that it is wrong to make men brutes, to rob them of their liberty, to work them without wages, to keep them ignorant of their relations to their fellow-men, to beat them with sticks, to flay their flesh with the lash, to load their limbs with irons, to hunt them with dogs, to sell them at auction, to sunder their families, to knock out their teeth, to burn their flesh, to starve them into obedience and submission to their masters?” He successfully expresses his pain and anger in this quote by providing images of his and his people’s suffering. He tapped into the emotions of his audience, such as mothers, workers, and those who have felt physically pain by exposing them to the amplified struggles he and others had to face. Nonetheless, he continually reminded the audience, both explicitly and subliminally, that his group of people are too human, and that the only difference they share is the color of their skin. He is pleading his cases and hoping that it gets across to his audience in hope they will do the right

Read More
753 Words | 4 Pages

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.

Read More
1636 Words | 7 Pages

Just Versus Unjust Violence: A Rhetorical Analysis of Violence in Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass and Uncle Tom’s Cabin Frederick Douglass and Harriet Beecher Stowe present slavery in vastly distinct ways. In Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, author Frederick Douglass dives into a grisly world filled with bloodshed and in the middle of it a man willing to do what it takes to be educated and in control of his own person, narrated with the voice of reason. In Uncle Tom’s Cabin, author Harriet Beecher Stowe depicts a variety of characters, their struggle with slavery and religion, their personal relationships, and their deep inner feelings, with no small degree of emotion and sentimentality. Douglass and Stowe’s use of

Read More
392 Words | 2 Pages

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

Read More
165 Words | 1 Pages

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.

Read More
257 Words | 2 Pages

“With them, justice, liberty and humanity were “final”; not slavery and oppression.” This relates to the hardships and the fact that the people don’t recognize how terrible it is. And that these meanings of these “free” words mean something else to him and other slaves. He shows that the changes are hard but once they are made everything will be peaceful. Rhetorical features and strategies are Douglass’ forte’ in engaging with the audience.

Read More

More about Long Term Effects Of Frederick Douglass

Related Topics

Open Document