Running From Slavery
Imagine being stripped away from your family, being bought by a stranger, and be expected to participate in forced labor for the rest of your life. This is what Kunta Kinte and Frederick Douglass had experienced in their life. Roots was a book written by Alex Haley, a descendant of Kunta Kinte. Roots was later made into a mini television series that depicted Kunta Kinte’s journey from living in his village Juffure, near the Gambia River in Africa, to being caught by slave catchers and sold into slavery. The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass was written by Douglass himself after escaping to the North to show people what life as a slave was really like. Even though the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass and Roots have some similarities, some of the differences between the two, such as their origin and education, are more important.
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In Roots, there is scene where we can see an African American women leading her daughter to Mr. Ames’ cabin. During this scene we see that the girl, who appears to be a teenager, is very jumpy and scared. Mr. Ames comes to the door, the mother gives her over to Mr. Ames, and Mr.Ames drags her into his cabin to rape her. It was very common for young African American women to be raped by their owners or overseers. In the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, we see an example of sexual abuse when Aunt Hester sneaks out to meet with a man named Ned Roberts. Aunt Hester’s owner was mad when he found them because he was planning on raping her that night. But, since she was with Ned Roberts, he couldn’t. As a punishment for Aunt Hester not being there, she was severly