Douglass’s descriptions of the slave trade were extremely vivid, from the details of how American’s viewed slaves, to the sounds of whips cracking and how a woman was encumbered by the weight of the child she carried and the chains that she wore. These details would bring readers to know what it was like to be in a slaves shoes at that time. His speech is driven by first had accounts of the degradations of slavery and would not be credible if it wasn’t for this fact. I believe that Douglass’s tone throughout the speech was hopeful, he enforced the cause of the Ladies’ Anti-Slavery Society with the hopes of making the United States more complete when slavery ended.
He believed that every man, even African-Americans should have the same chance and be able to better their lives. Even though, African-Americans may not be on the same playing field as Caucasian Americans in all respects, with national rights toward all Americans. Douglass thoughts on slavery, would be up to the local self-government as well as, an individual self-determination. He would go as far as to said, “That he would not force government involvement or make to free people who did not want it for themselves.” Douglass felt that it should be handle at the state government level, as what they decide to do with the departure of slavery (Fonder,
Frederick Douglass’s Impact Frederick was a slave in the 1800s and he was in the “Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass”. In this narrative, he tries to make the idea that all men are created equal. Frederick is not only trying to change the idea, he's also trying to show he doesn't want to be treated like a slave anymore. He shows them when he talks about how the slave holders fed/took care of the slaves. Not to mention the lying about the slaves' happiness or how the slaves were just as good as the animals.
His beatings and lack of food were only part of his miserable daily life. Eventually Douglass was able to successfully escape this life and vowed to forever actively support the equality of all
Douglass’s life as a reformer ranged from his abolitionist activities in the early 1840s to his attacks on Jim Crow and lynching in the 1890s. For sixteen years he edited an influential black newspaper, The North Star, and achieved international fame as a writer of great persuasive power. In thousands of speeches and editorials he levied an irresistible indictment against slavery and racism, provided an indomitable voice of hope for his people, embraced antislavery politics, and preached his own brand of American ideals. One of the reasons Frederick Douglass is the greatest reformer of all time is because he analyzed what he was advocating for well. This was especially hard for blacks at the time because they were put in a sort of bubble, isolated and feeling like they didn’t have the ability to stand up for themselves.
During that time African Americans were not seen as people, so Douglass had to fight against problems regarding slavery and his humanity every time he had to deliver one of his works. Douglass being a former slave made his words more powerful since he had to endure a lot. Through the use of imagery in his work, Douglass addresses events he and other slaves had to endure, making a difference in how people reacted. There were many abolitionists like William Lloyd Garrison and Gerrit Smith. Nevertheless, they were both white, so they could not show problems about slavery in the same manner as Douglass could.
Douglass travelled to many different states to give speech. He decided to publish his Narrative which was a dangerous decision because he was a fugitive slave. However, nothing can stop his ambitions, he didn’t only stop at America, but also came to other country like Ireland and Britain to give lecture. In London, he had to face discrimination by the white people, and had many chances to meet great people to learn how to improve his speeches such as Lord Brougham, and he also had many opportunities to work with the leaders who contributed to end the slavery system. Douglass made friends with several people who had the same thinking with him about abolishing slavery.
Nonetheless, he knew how to use his voice to raise awareness for the conditions that him and others have gone through. Being have lived a harsher life and his rights were neglected, Frederick Douglass’ words played a major role in improving his rights and the rights of others. When someone who lacks rights and is downgraded by society is able to speak up to change an ideology without the necessity of violence, then someone like Brown who has his rights and privileges as a white person, specifically a white male has a greater chance in making a greater change for
Most of his time was in the movement of the abolition of slavery. He did not want any other black person to face brutality, humiliation, and pain. His arguments became very useful in the anti-slavery movement. It is through his experiences of being a slave that he urged for the abolition of slavery (Douglass, 1845). Douglass’ style of narration makes the reader to be involved in the story emotionally.
He also struggled for stopping the racial violation and helped the fleeing slaves to escape. One of the main point of Douglass’s speech was slavery should be stopped. And he also argued that what’s the point of celebrating Fourth July if the term liberty doesn’t apply equally for all? He also exhibited that a slave is also a human being like others. If white people have the right to utilize all the rights and facilities as a citizen, on the whole as a human, why will the black people lead a life as sub human?
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).
In “The Pro Slavery Argument,” James Henry Hammond stated “In the mind of pro slavery men, the institution of slavery protected the common good of slaves, masters, and society as a whole.” Once again, Douglass has a different position on this because he was not “protected,” like Hammond said slaves were, when he was a slave. Afterwards Douglass went on to write a narrative about his life in slavery and experiences, that helped expose the darkness of slavery, which later lead to slavery being looked down upon, and more people joined the abolitionist movement, that helped stop
Douglass was tired of his master taking control over him, so he fought back against slavery. Douglass tries to prove the point of anti-slavery and racial arguments, relating to the Scientific
Douglass is a African American that was a slave and did a Narrative about his time being a slave and in his Narrative he “threw light” at the American slave system. African American slave Frederick Douglass lived through a time of racism and how slavery was a natural thing to do but was a very awful thing. And slavery is when families who had colored skin were separated and sold of to a person that can do anything to them, the slave is pretty much like the slaveholder’s property. And in this essay I will talk about how Douglass’s position differs from those who supported slavery and also I will be talking about How Douglass used his Narrative to share his position. How Douglass “throws light” on the American Slave system is by showing
He became known as an inspirational person. Not many people are willing to go against what others believe, but Douglass was. His slave owner thought that it was “unlawful, as well as unsafe, to teach a slave to read” (Douglass 29), but that did not stop him from pursuing further knowledge. Education has a powerful effect that makes others fear that one has superiority over them one way or another. Slaves had their basic human rights taken away from them because slave owners wanted them to lack the ability to form an opinion on what was happening to them.
