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What Are The Pros And Cons Of Frederick Douglass

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People had very distinct thoughts about slaves, of these people were Thomas Jefferson, John C. Calhoun, and James Hammond. They believed that slaves were unable to be educated, not compassionate, and not able to think ahead. However, Frederick Douglass is a counter to all of these. He was first taught to read and write, once he was unable to be taught by someone else he taught himself. He cared very much for his fellow slaves, taught them to read and he included them in his plant to run away from Mr. Freeland. In addition, he carefully thought out his plan and the dangers that would precede him. Many people believed that African Americans were illiterate and uneducated. When Frederick went and worked for Mr. and Mrs. Auld, Mrs. Auld started …show more content…

But his may perhaps proceed from a want of forethought, which prevents their seeing a danger till it be present”. This is another quote from Thomas Jefferson. However, Douglass and his fellow slaves carefully thought out their escape and the difficulties that they might face. Douglass writes, “We met often, and consulted frequently, and told our hopes and fears, recounted the difficulties, real and imagined, which we should be called on to meet. Our path was beset with the greatest obstacles; and if we succeeded in gaining the end of it, our right to be free was yet questionable” (96). They knew their journey wouldn’t be east because they all met and talked about what they would have to go through to earn their freedom. They knew the difficulties they were gonna face, “At every gate though which we were to pass, we saw a watchman—at every ferry a guard—on every bridge a sentinel—and in every wood a patrol” (96). They knew about all of these obstacles ahead of time and they were still going to go through with the plan to escape. They also knew the dangers of what would happen if they didn’t succeed and they were caught. They would be returned to their slave-owner, “And to go there, and be forever harassed with the frightful liability of being returned to slaver—with the certainty of being treated tenfold worse than before—The thought was truly a horrible one, and one which it was not easy to overcome” (96). These slaves

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What Are The Pros And Cons Of Frederick Douglass

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Frederick Douglass the man, the steamroller, the one who paved the way for African Americans. Douglas was an escaped slave. He paved the way for many people. The African American society would not be where we are today without the works and the upstanding against the civil rights. Self-teaching and strong will, and his faith in religion allowed Frederick Douglas the strength and will power to never give up.

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Lincoln and Douglass were self-made, self-educated, and ambitious, and each rose to success from humble backgrounds. Douglass, of course, was an escaped slave. Douglass certainly and Lincoln most likely detested slavery from his youngest days. But Lincoln from his young manhood was a consummate politician devoted to compromise, consensus-building, moderation and indirection. Douglass was a reformer who spoke and wrote eloquently and with passion for the abolition of slavery

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Life began for Frederick Douglass as a slave without any indication of what the future would hold. A fortunate event occurred of Douglass; he learned to read as well as glimpse the abolitionist movement in Baltimore. Douglass quickly realized the institution of slavery and proper education cannot exist together. After being sold to a “slave breaker”, a drive for freedom and education was born. Frederick kept educating himself after his escape and joined the abolitionist movement.

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The quote, “By far the larger part of the slaves know as little of their ages as horses know of theirs, and it is the wish of most masters within my knowledge to keep their slaves thus ignorant. (Chapter 1)” connects to the author's purpose because it shows that the masters want the slaves to be as ignorant and illiterate as possible. The author states, “Very soon after I went to live with Mr. and Mrs. Auld, she very kindly commenced to teach me the A,B,C. After I learned this, she assisted me in learning to spell words of three or four letters. (Chapter 6)” This quote shows that Mrs. Auld had not been influenced by slavery, she did not know to keep her slaves illiterate, and she still had a kind heart, therefore, she wanted to teach Douglass how to read.

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Perseverance is a trait that you will find in most Americans. This trait has carried throughout many great Americans such as Abraham Lincoln, when he persevered to get the nation back together as a whole and he succeeded. He worked hard as possible to help prevent the nation splitting up. Frederick Douglass was a man that struggled so greatly during his life . He was never taken seriously because he was a black male, and at the time no one took any black person seriously.

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Some people aren't the same, but that doesn't mean they have to be treated different then others. Frederick defended how slaves should not be treated harshly, and how they needed to be treated like a real human that have freedom and have rights. Douglass overall purpose was to shine a light on how slavery is terrible for slaves, and how it supports even the nicest people. People who defended slavery believed that slavery does not affect anybody, and that all slave owners were the nicest people in the world. Douglass wanted them to completely understand how it corrupts the good people into having a evil soul.

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Many slaves fear even the idea of escaping because of the possible consequences that come along with it. Therefore, the escape of Frederick Douglass is relatively substantial. Douglass says he feels “like the one who escaped a den of hungry lions.” He feels fortunate to have accomplished something that not many have been able to. Unfortunately, his happiness is short lived.

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Frederick Douglass was a former American slave who was one of the first blacks to hold a high position in United States government. Hugh Auld was Frederick’s first master; he was then sold to Mr. Covey, who was known to be a “slave breaker.” Frederick Douglass states this in his autobiography: “I was somewhat unmanageable when I first went there, but a few months of this discipline tamed me. Mr. Covey succeeded in breaking me. I was broken in body, soul, and spirit.

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Although Frederick Douglass was not expected to be literate, he taught himself how because he believed that education should be for everyone, not just a few privileged children. Frederick Douglass was a slave for life in the southern United States before the Civil War. He had no regular teacher because, at that time, most slave owners did not believe that their slaves should be taught to read and write. White slave owners thought that if slaves knew how to read, they would go against their owners and fight against slavery.

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