Preview

Frederick Douglass

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
905 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Frederick Douglass
No one can argue the horrors of slavery. I always immagined that slavery was the worst thing possible that could happen to a person. .That was until I took this class and read the book about Frederick Douglas.

As an assingment I was to write a paper and I had three topics to choise from. I was stuck between writting about the worst thing about slavery and what impact it had on what I thought I knew about slavery.I have watched many shows that depicted slavery as a harsh life. I have had black friends who could tell me storeys their great great grandparents once told. I knew it was not pritty before the book, but after it only opened my eyes to how bad it was.

After a while I finnally decided which topic I wanted to write about. "How does what Douglass says about slavery compare to your previous knowledge of the subject?". You would think with just that sentance the worst thing would be being the slave to begin with. Any person would wish to be free , just like any living thing would.

From Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, I began to understand slavery a lot more. Douglass had hated the way slave owners would encourage their workers to drink themselves into a stupor during Christmas holidays. He saw alcohol as another means used to humiliate slaves.And this was something that I did not know. I only knew that the earlie Americans applied alcohol to native American Indians but I never knew that they applied it to the African slaves also.

Douglass also wrote in the Narrative. "For of all slaveholders with whom I have ever met, religious slaveholders are the worst. I have ever found them the meanest and basest, the most cruel and cowardly, of all others. It was my unhappy lot not only to belong to a religious slaveholder, but to live in a community of such religionists."

He went on to say later that ,"I love the pure, peaceable, and impar- tial Christianity of Christ: I therefore hate the cor- rupt, slaveholding,

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    When I hear the word slavery, the only thing that comes to my head is cruelty. I could not even imagine how a human can threat another one like animals, as if they were and inferior or less because of the skin color. The idea of being able to read a book that was written by someone that lived during this years of brutality amazed me. Harriet Jacobs was taught how to read and write by her mothers mistress, this was not common for many of the slaves, and it is the reason why she used the name “Linda” to talk about herself during her stories, because if by any chance her master knew that she could read and write, she would have had the punishment of being whipped and put in jail. During the first chapters of her book we could notice that not all her years as a slave were miserable. In fact the first six years of her life were happy, because she didn’t know she was a slave, once she grew up her innocence started to fade, her days started to turn dark and sad. As described in her book the living conditions were like hell on earth. Slavery not only affected the slaves, it also completely destroyed moral…

    • 1236 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “The Christian religion, by nature itself, cries out against the state of slavery”(Abraham Lincoln ).In the book Harriet Jacobs’ Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl the slaves were trying to see a path to freedom by the religion they wanted to forget the dark path of slavery, and eventually they found a path to freedom with religion. Harriet jacobs talks about how slavery and church was connected and her thoughts when she saw what was going on. She saw that the slaveholders were using religion to trick the slaves into obeying their masters and not killing them. Slaves used it as hope and to free their pain of slavery.…

    • 365 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Slavery was an oppressive time in history. Nothing good came from it, only hatred against others for the color of their skin, violence against them because the whites saw themselves as a superior, intellectual, and more dominant race. Some historians believe that life for slaves may have been different than what we’ve been taught by traditional historians, but how could it have been different. They weren’t treated any better. They were whipped, beaten, looked down upon, they have recorded chattels, where animals were treated better.…

    • 462 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    A Christian is in no way an accurate name for a slaveholder. The name is in fact ironic. The Christian faith calls for freedom, respect, and kindness for every creature God has created. It is not justice for a “Christian” to treat another human or any living thing in such a cruel manner. Douglass makes a distinction between “true” and “false” christianity. Slaveholders are “false” christians because they do not execute justice for all of God’s creations. A “true” christian would not advocate for slavery because it goes against their Gods teachings. A “Christian” slaveholder in truth can not exist. Slave owners also committed sins such as adultery, which is how Douglass was born. They were hypocrites that claimed to be part of a just society and religion, but could not carry out their actions in such a manner. Douglass describes how white slave owners would send their most defiant and unruly slaves to Edward Coveys plantation. Douglass describes his own experience on Covey’s plantation. Slaves were sent there to learn a lesson, and to be “broken”. Covey would make them take care of the horses he had. The slave had to keep the horse healthy, clean and happy at all times. If the slave did not do the work to Coveys liking, the slave would get whipped. Covey also committed adultery. He tries to “break” the slaves in a sense that they will feel like they are not worth more than a horses life, and they will forever be but a tool to white folk. The slave is “broken” when he or she has no spirit, cheerfulness, or motive. Covey tries to pass himself as a pious man, a man who has a strong faith and belief in his religion, christian. But this is a defective adjective to use to describe him because he commits sins every day! Every person sins. But not every person commits the same sin over and over and tries to pass it as “normal” or “just”. That is the cruel and wicked part of his…

    • 352 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass, Douglass uses rhetorical devices to convey his meaning that slavery is the worst possible experience for humanity in a contemptuous tone. Douglass states, “the wretchedness of slavery, and the blessedness of freedom, were perpetually before me.” This use of antithesis in parallel structure is used to convey his meaning by contrasting the two ideas of slavery and freedom, showing how extremely awful or beautiful each is and to show the differences between them. The use of the word “wretchedness” creates a contemptuous tone in this quote. He then goes on to state that upon arriving in New York he felt “like one who had escaped a den of hungry lions.” This simile is used to show the extent of his fear when in the south, showing how slavery is the worst experience for humankind. This comparison is made using a scornful tone, shown by the dehumanizing of the South through slavery. Next, Douglass explains that during his stay in the North “[he] was afraid to speak to any one for fear of speaking to any one for fear of speaking to the wrong one, and thereby falling into the hands of money-loving kidnappers, whose business it was to lie in wait for the panting fugitive, as the ferocious beats of the forest lie in wait for their prey.” Douglass writes this long sentence for the rhetorical effect of imitating the style of a person ranting, or speaking uncontrollably due to fear to show the horror of slavery. This is written in a bitter or scornful tone through his descriptions of the fugitive kidnappers. Douglass also includes that “[he] saw in every white man an enemy and in every colored man cause for distrust.” This almost equal parallelism is used to compare the common fear Douglass had for both races. The negative outlook on both races shows Douglass’s disdainful tone. Douglass further explains his outlook when he states his motto at the time was “Trust no man!” This…

    • 482 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Christian slaveholders against those of the peaceful doctrine of Christianity. This can be seen several times in his work. In one of the passages he states: “In August 1832, my master experienced religion… and after his conversion found religious sanction and support for his slaveholding cruelty” (Douglass, pg. 380). With this, Douglass is using the actions of Captain Auld to illustrate his misuse of Christian ideals. He highlights that slaveholders who call themselves Christian use their beliefs as a “justifier of the most appalling barbarity – and a dark shelter under, which slaveholders find the strongest protection” (Douglass, pg. 398). By shedding light on the hypocrisy of Christian slaveholders, Douglass strives to change his…

    • 533 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The "Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass" is a very strong book that analyzes the concept of slavery. The story is told by a slave and lets the reader know first hand what a slave's life was like. It's very interesting to listen to Douglass explain the every day struggle that a slave would have to go through. He points out how slaves had very little belongings and how they were completely disrespected and feared around most communities.…

    • 600 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave written by, none other than himself, Frederick Douglass presents to the reader several instances in which the fellow slaves that he knew, a vast majority of them family and friends, were whipped nearly to death and were inflicted upon the most horrible crimes known to man. Through these stories from his past, the reader is shown how cruel and emotionally scarring to the individual slavery was and why it should never have happened. By the end of his narration, Douglass manages to express to the reader through his appeals to ethos, pathos, and logos, the need for slavery, as inhumane and unjust as it was, to come to an end.…

    • 788 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Frederick Douglass’s life narrative provides a look in on slavery by someone who was directly affected. Because many masters believed that teaching their slaves to read and write, “would spoil the best nigger in the world,” (Douglass 5) not many slaves were able to write their story for the future to see. Douglass’s perspective is a once and a lifetime look into how slavery affected an intelligent slave who knew how to both read and write. Unfortunately for him Douglass’s growing understanding was a curse rather than a blessing. As his intellect expanded, his misery deepened as well and his lack of freedom began to bother him. Douglass shows his expanding sorrow, using tone, imagery and selection of detail. Through the these ten pages…

    • 1073 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    3) “For of all Slaveholders with whom I ever met, religious slaveholders are the worst. I have ever found them the meanest and basest, the most cruel and cowardly, off all others.”…

    • 350 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Slavery is one of the worst things that happened in American history. It brought harm to millions of people in the South and left a mark on our legacy as a country. Many people, however, do not know what the life of a slave was truly like. The life of a slave was degrading, unfair, and agonizing for those who endured it.…

    • 633 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Douglass focuses on American because this is the only place he lived and the place where he understands uses religion to justify slavery and cruelty to the slaves. Douglass is mainly talking about religion in the Southern part of the United States of America. This is where slavery was most prominent and depending on the part the most brutal. This is also where Christianity was used as a religion. Douglass also use a Bible verse to enforce his way of saying the Christians of the land were not true followers of Christ. He uses Matthew 23 to describe the way Christians of the land are (Douglass 571). This text summarizes who they are and act during this time of Douglass’ slavery. He has a great hate for the hypocritical ways of the slave owners for using Christianity to promote their views of how to treat a person. He compares them with the people in the Bible who want to have a position in the church. He compares them to the people in the Bible who did everything for show and nothing truly for God. Douglass feels they want to have this position for the power and the show of having it, not for the glorification and gratification of God. The verse speaks about the long prayers, to hear themselves speaking for themselves not for God. But by doing this they are only putting themselves further and further in hell. Matthew 23 speaks about how they have taken the Christ like aspects out of their Christianity views and puts in the ones they want to uphold slavery. Matthew 23 says “omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith”. Douglass wants to explain that the Christians of the land have used their own understanding and not what the Bible asks of…

    • 2028 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Frederick Douglass

    • 1110 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Numerous people have a diverse way of thinking towards the Narrative of Fredrick Douglass, so some people may think that his description on slavery was adequate while others may think that his narrative was not fair. Several people say that the story was an autobiography of his life and others say that the story was written to reveal the brutal acts of slavery and the hardship one went through as a slave. During most of Douglass’s childhood he did not have it as hard as other slaves, but as the years passed by and the older he became, the harder it become for him as a slave. He did not just live as an urban slave during his childhood but also lived as a plantation slave during his older years. The life of an urban slave was not like the life of a plantation slave. Fredrick Douglass gave a good description of events that took place in his life, but you cannot just go off of just his stories because his life of a slave is differed from a plantation slave. So the book is how he saw things and what he felt. The things he experienced in his life was the same and different in many ways that of another slave. The great Fredrick Douglass tries to describe in the best way he can the life of a slave. He does this because he could only talk about slavery through events that he lived through because slavery was different for other people and different things happened to those people.…

    • 1110 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Slavery has been the worst of the worst issues that our history has ever seen or heard of and now a days most people still believe African Americans shouldn’t have rights. Throughout history slavery was a tremendous problem in our society because many people believed it was normal. They were taking advantage of the African Americans and using them to do their house chores, taking care of their children and overall making the slaves do the impossible. They were treated very poorly and they were expected to work in unnecessary heat conditions. Some were expected to work long hours and weren’t getting the property nutrition and sleep to recover from working those long hours.…

    • 797 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Dehumanizing Slaves

    • 1999 Words
    • 8 Pages

    The Dehumanization of the Enslave: Frederick Douglass The Narrative of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Written by Himself…

    • 1999 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays