ipl-logo

Why Did Frederick Douglass Gain His Freedom

844 Words4 Pages

Fredrick Douglass is one of the most famous abolitionists the United States has ever seen. The events that led up to his freedom of slavery were very interesting. In his Narrative you not only get to see the worst of slavery, but you can also feel firsthand what Douglass went through to get his freedom. As we all know slavery was something you could not just walk out of. Some slaves that try to escape even end up getting punished or killed. Fredrick Douglass does not actually tell us exactly how he escaped in detail to the North from slavery because he does not want to give any slave masters information. Which makes sense because, he would not like to be giving slave owners an upper hand on slaves that do try to escape.
One of the most important factors to Fredrick Douglass gaining his freedom is when he moved to Baltimore. I believe that is where his quest for freedom began. He was chosen to go to Baltimore to live with Hugh Auld. Before this Douglass was living on a plantation. This plantation was owned by Colonel Lloyd. Douglass was pretty excited to go to Baltimore because …show more content…

Fredrick Douglass meets Hugh Auld’s wife Sophia and he is surprised about how nice she is. She does not really know how to treat slaves because she has never had them. A slave with education is said to be a dangerous slave so they are not supposed to be taught. However it seems like Mrs. Auld did not know that, and she began to teach Douglass the Alphabet which is a big turning point in Douglass’s life as a slave. Mr. Auld figures out that his wife has been teaching Douglass, and he puts an end to it, and he tells her how dangerous it is to teach a slave. Fredrick Douglass overhears this, and realizes that getting an education can actually lead him to freedom, and leaving slaves uneducated is a strategy to enslave blacks. He is then determined to learn anything he

Show More
Related
477 Words | 2 Pages

After two attempts to escape slavery, Douglass finally prospered. During the final effort, he thrived with help of Anna Murray, a free black woman in Baltimore. Douglass gained access to identification of an African American sailor; which he used for himself to pass off as the sailor. On September 3, 1838, Douglass embarked a train to Havre de Grace, Maryland.

Read More
243 Words | 1 Pages

For Alexie, the connotation for superman breaking down the door would represent, his moment in life where everything would change. He broke down the wall that would limit his education and his ability to move up in this world. In comparison, Fredrick Douglas’s moment was not as glorious because he soon realized that he was a slave and that any hope of him being free where slim to none. Douglas lived in a different time where, even with the ability to read and write, a slave would still continue to struggle just because of the color of his skin. This is why he stated, “It had given me a view of my wretched condition, without the remedy” (Mcquade, Atwan, 109).

Read More
170 Words | 1 Pages

Fredrick Douglass knew the South was a horrible place, but he that the North was place of beauty and it was a second chance at life for him. He thought of the North to be such of a wonderful place, he needed to clean himself up, to fit in Baltimore. Douglass says “I spent the most part of all these three days in the creek, washing off the plantation scurf, and preparing myself for my departure. ”(6.4), Douglass is washing off his old life into the creek, and getting prepared for his new life in Baltimore. Once Douglass arrived to Baltimore, it was better than what he expected, it was beautiful and he knew it was a new beginning of a great, new life.

Read More
486 Words | 2 Pages

After having read both Frederick Douglass’s Narrative and Harriet Jacobs’s Incident 1. How were Douglass and Jacobs similar and different in their complaints against slavery? What accounts for these differences? In both the inspiring narratives of Narrative in the Life of Fredrick Douglass by Frederick Douglass’s and in Incidents in the life of a slave girl by Harriet Jacobs the respective authors demonstrate the horrors and disparity of slavery in there own ways.

Read More
775 Words | 4 Pages

To prove them wrong Douglass wrote his autobiography “The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass” in 1845 where he reveals everything about himself. With his identity known, and the world knowing he was a fugitive slave he was in danger, therefore he had to flee once again, this time to Scotland, Ireland, and England. In England he continued with his anti-slavery speeches, and such was the shock of the British that in December, 1846 a group of British man bought his freedom from Douglass’ former slave owner, and finally Douglass was able to return to the U.S legally a free

Read More
877 Words | 4 Pages

Douglass belong to a well off family. The woman of the house thought him how to read and write some things. Until her husband found out that she was teaching him, then she suddenly stopped and was angry at Douglass, when he was reading. They felt like he would listen to the Irishman when he said “They both advised me to run away to the north; that I should find friends there, and that I should be free.” After losing his only source of teaching he resorted to the lest fortunate white kids for help.

Read More
469 Words | 2 Pages

Fredrick Douglass was born enslaved,but he escaped to freedom. He became an outspoken opponent of slavery and a civil rights advocate. He lectured widely and even published his own newspapers. In this excerpt, I have learned the most important event that occurred in his life and why its important, the reason why he compared the enslavers to criminals, and the reason why he wished to be an animal. First of all, Fredrick mentioned in the excerpt the most important event in his life and why it matters.

Read More
1578 Words | 7 Pages

The Genius of Fredrick Douglass Fredrick Douglass was an African American slave in the eighteen hundreds who battled his entire life to become a freed man, his narrative gave readers the chance to gain insight into what happens to slaves in their country. The narrative shows that he always has a burning will for knowledge because knowledge is freedom, and that is what he wanted. Fredrick is one of the great minds in the history of The United States and it is sad that the society of the era held this great man back from being properly schooled. He knew that slavery was almost a game in a sense and that he had to wait until the right moment to make his move for freedom.

Read More
613 Words | 3 Pages

His mistress Sophia Auld, Hugh’s wife, was very kind with Douglass and even taught him to read and write because she has never had any slave before. However, Mr. Hugh then discovered this and ordered his wife to stop teaching Douglass. Not only Mr. Hugh but also other

Read More
703 Words | 3 Pages

What is courage? Many ask this question, but get various answers. Webster Dictionary states that courage is the mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty. Douglass is one of many people that are a living definition for this word. Douglas showed courage in many ways like by asking Mrs. Auld to teach him how to read, stealing Master Thomas’s notebook to help him learn how to write, and writing in his journal about the hardships of his life.

Read More
414 Words | 2 Pages

After some time, Douglass escapes from his last master and goes to New York where he gets a fresh start in life. Frederick Douglass was a slave that was physically bound. At the beginning he did not think that it was possible for him to gain freedom from his life of slavery. It was during a battle that he got the determination to fight for his freedom and after several months, he was finally able to attain the same physical freedom that he had in his heart and

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
1523 Words | 7 Pages

Frederick Douglass was able to stand up for what he believed in because he did not focus on the negatives of slavery. He was not a so called “normal” slave because he focused on education, versus working, which is what most slaves were forced to focus on. Douglass even took his slave life to another level when he attacked his master, Mr. Covey , an act of defiance and standing up for himself. Douglass notes that “it was a glorious resurrection” that was from “the tomb of slavery” , and after hitting Mr. Covey he felt as if he were in “the heaven of freedom” (Douglass). Douglass beats up his master, a clear sign of rebelliousness as well as courageousness.

Read More
560 Words | 3 Pages

Douglass had been living under Master Hugh’s family, when he learned to read

Read More
1727 Words | 7 Pages

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.

Read More

More about Why Did Frederick Douglass Gain His Freedom

Related Topics

Open Document