The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An...

The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave was written by Frederick Douglass himself. He was born into slavery in Tuckahoe, Maryland in approximately 1817. He has, †¦no accurate knowledge of my age, never having seen any authentic record containing it (47). He became known as an eloquent speaker for the cause of the abolitionists. Having himself been kept as a slave until he escaped from Maryland in 1838, he was able to deliver very impassioned speeches about the role of the slave holders and the slaves. Many Northerners tried to discredit his tales, but no one was ever able to disprove his statements. Frederick Douglass does offer a biased†¦show more content†¦He became known as a fair and righteous man and was appointed as the U.S. Minister of Haiti after holding several government offices. Frederick Douglass has woven many themes into his narrative, all being tied with a common thread of man’s inhumanity towards man. Children were uprooted from the arms of their mothers, before the child has reached it’s twelfth month, it’s mother is taken from it (48) and sold to other slave holders. Brutal whippings occurred for even the smallest imagined offense, a mere look, word, or motion (118), women were treated as no better than common concubines and the slaves were forced into living quarters, on one common bed†¦ cold, damp floor (55) worse than some of the farm animals. The slaves were not allowed even the most meager portion of food, eight pounds of pork and one bushel of corn meal (54) to last a month. Clothes were scarce and illness was never tolerated. It was unthinkable for the slaves to practice any type of religion, hold any gatherings, become literate to any degree, unlawful†¦ unsafe, to teach a slave to read (78) or even make the simpl e decision of when to eat and sleep. One of the themes that the book dealt with is society and it’s handling of slavery under the guise of Christianity. Those who professed to being the most Christian i.e., the minister who lived next door, was actually the most cruel. Douglass stated adamantly that religionShow MoreRelatedNarrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave1251 Words   |  6 PagesJustine Boonstra Frey- Period 1 MAJOR WORKS REVIEW AP Lang Version GENERAL 1. Douglass, Frederick. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave. 1845. New York: Fine, 2003. Print. 2. Autobiography STRUCTURE 1. Point of View: First Person, the narrator Frederick Douglass 2. Relationship of POV to meaning: 3. Plot Structure a. Exposition: Douglass describes that his mother was a black slave, and his father was a white man. Thus, he was born into slavery and was sent off toRead MoreThe Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave1093 Words   |  5 Pagespossible difference.† -Frederick Douglass. The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, by Frederick Douglass, shares the story of the struggles of an American slave during the eighteenth-century. Fredrick Douglass was born in Tuckahoe, Maryland in approximately 1818. While being raised by his grandmother, Betsey Bailey, he snuck around at night to meet his mother nearby, assuming that his slaveholder, Captain Anthony, was his father. From adolescence, Douglass knew he was differentRead MoreNarrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave1131 Words   |  5 PagesAshley Moreshead American History 2010 November 8, 2015 Frederick Douglass Essay The â€Å"Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave† is a memoir that depicts the hardships and brutalities, Fredrick himself and other slaves suffered during the time of slavery in the 1800’s. Throughout Douglass’ narrative, he describes the common casualties of growing up, and the limited information he is provided with. This is a direct connection between the ignorance of slaves and the lack of educationRead MoreNarrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave1552 Words   |  7 Pages04/23/2015 Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Written by Himself Theme: False versus True Christianity In this theme, Fredrick Douglass contrasts the both forms of Christianity to show the underlying hypocrisy in slavery. The results show that slavery is not religious as it exposes the evils in human bondage. These ideals however can be distorted so as to fit in the society. Two forms of Christianity are presented in â€Å"The Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass and eachRead MoreNarrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave Essay2361 Words   |  10 PagesReference Teacher Resources ââ€" » More ââ€" » Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave Summary Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave cover image summary In Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Douglass recounts his experiences as a slave. He details the horrors of growing up on a plantation, being subjected to extreme racism, and running away to freedom. He later became an influential writer and activist. Douglass describes how he was separated from hisRead MoreNarrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass : An American Slave1386 Words   |  6 Pagesthe slavery became like a tumor to parasitize the human society rapidly. With physical and psychological abuse, this â€Å"tumor† tortured every struggling people from day to night. As the insight of a dark history, Frederick Douglass’s â€Å"Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave† demonstrates the dehumanization of an inhuman society and how slavery could make a man be a salve and make another man be an enslaver and how he resisted this dehumanization. In eighteen and nineteen centuriesRead MoreNarrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave977 Words   |  4 PagesIn 1845 Frederick Douglass published his first book Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave. This book not only showed people what life was truly like in the eyes of a slave, but it became instrumental in propelling the abolitionist movement and helping it gain motion all across the country. Douglass was truly a revolutionary person because throughout the duration of slavery, African American people were not permitted to be educated. This was considered dangerous. It wasn’tRead MoreThe Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave1129 Words   |  5 Pagesboth â€Å"The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave,† by Frederick Douglass and â€Å"Self Reliance†, by Ralph Waldo Emerson, a person may notice a trend that both authors focused on. The trend was the key to happine ss or self-fulfillment. Both Ralph Waldo Emerson and Frederick Douglass believed that acquiring knowledge is what people should aim for throughout their lives. They both had different viewpoints when it came to the type of knowledge individuals should gain. Douglass believedRead MoreNarrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave1375 Words   |  6 Pagesâ€Å"Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave† The book â€Å"Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave† was written by Frederick Douglass. It is based on a true story where Douglass writes down about his life as a slave where he was born in Tuckahoe near Hillsborough. However, his mother was an African American while his father was white. The problem was that all the slaves did not know their birthday therefore, Douglas did not know his own age. Although, his masterRead MoreThe Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave Essay1309 Words   |  6 PagesAfter reading Douglass’s The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Written by Himself, I have a better understanding of what it meant to be a black slave in the antebellum era, and have a better understanding of what form of oppression that they had to face. The fact that black people were oppressed into slavery created their own cultural identity. During this era, Douglass was able to pull himself ou t of terrible circumstances and taught himself how to read and write. As