Frederick Douglass: Abolishing Slavery

Ashley Gianibas American Literature 1 9:30 Paper# 1

What does the American Dream even mean well, The American Dream can mean many different things. For some it can mean the classic dream of a white picket fence, a dog, some kids, and a quiet life. For Frederick Douglass it meant abolishing slavery. Frederick Douglass American Dream was about abolishing slavery and overcoming obstacles and reaching one's goals. Frederick Douglass was born into slavery in Maryland around 1818. He was born "Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey" to a slave mother and a father that he never knew. He spent years upon years in slavery hoping there was a way out. As a slave, Douglass was not allowed to have much of a childhood. At an young age he was
separated from his parents and was forced to work hard. Frederick experienced brutal treatment when working on the land of Captain Aaron Anthony. Douglass life started improving when he was sent to live with a Northern. Northern slaveholders treat their slaves good unlike the people in the South did. He was educated by this northern the basics of reading and writing. The young boy learned how to write from studying the letters at the shipyard. Things were getting better for him, but at the same time he was disappointed about certain things. His limited reading convinced him of the evils of slavery and the need to seek his freedom Frederick tried to make attempt to teach his fellow slaves to read and write, but his efforts were quickly put to an end by the whites.
Douglass was hired out to be a skilled slave breaker, he needed to beat and abuse the slaves. He spent weeks getting whipped around, eventually he attacked back. The Northerners that he lived with brought him back to Baltimore where he was put to work in shipyards. Douglass came across an African American sailor where he then burrowed the sailors identification papers. He had to carefully planned his escape, he disguised himself as a sailor and carried papers that showed he was a free black seaman, successfully he was able to escape to New York by faking himself off as a
sailor. When Douglas escaped he wanted to promote freedom for all slaves. He published the abolitionist paper "The North Star". It got its name because slaves escaping at night followed the North Star in the sky to freedom. Frederick had goals, just like any other American, goals that he wanted to achieve were to "abolish slavery" in all forms, aspects, moral and intellectual improvement of colored people and freedom to enslave the country men. In addition to publishing The North Star he lectured the topic of freedom. He was Committed to freedom, he devoted his life to attain justice for all Americans, such as minority groups, African Americans. Douglass predicated America as a broad nation held-together diversity. This man was a well-known successful leader in the abolitionist movement. Douglas worked very hard to earn a living for himself, and family. He did so by doing manual labor. Years later he found himself caught up in the antislavery movement. The Massachusetts Antislavery Society hired Douglass to give lectures when he delivered an outstanding speech about his happenings as a slave at an abolitionist meeting in 1841. His speeches encouraged those around him due to being a fluent speaker and having speeches that were well organized. In 1845, he wrote and published the first of his three autobiographies, his "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave." The major conflict is that Douglass struggles to free himself, mentally, physically, from slavery. The theme in his "Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave" is about ignorance as a tool of slavery knowledge as the path to freedom, slave owners slave holding a perversion of Christianity. 1836 Douglass made a resolution that he would be free by the end of the year, he planned a escape. When his plan was discovered he was put into jail. In his autobiography, Life and Times of Frederick Douglass (1881) he depicted his Escape From Slavery.
Douglass tried to escape from slavery twice before he succeeded. He first tried to escape from Freeland but it was unsuccessful. In his final attempt he was supported by Anna Murray, a free black woman in Baltimore. In 1836 he tried to escape from his new master Covey, but failed again. "I prayed for twenty years but received no answer until i prayed with my legs." - Frederick Douglass, Autobiographies. The quote means only through action you can reach your goals, his dream of running away from slavery by doing. "Escape From Slavery, 1838, " EyeWitness to history, www.eyewitnesohistory.com(1999) In his Narratives Douglass strongly argued against slavery. Douglas always striving to educate himself, continues his reading, he reveals several ways in which African Americans suffered from in slavery. Frederick put a stop segregation and slavery in America. He told a group of African American students from a school , "What was possible for me is possible for you. Do you think because you are colored you cannot accomplish anything. Strive earnestly to add to your knowledge. So long as you remain in ignorance, so long will you fail to command the respect of your fellow
men." Until the end of his life Douglass continued to lecture and write for the cause of freedom. Frederick's life story is one of determination and success. He did what believed to be impossible and succeeded in his life. Douglass shows that slave owners constantly deny the humanity of their slaves in order to justify their ownership of human beings.To convince themselves that their slaves are not quite human, slave owners treat them inhumanely. Frederick Douglass' was a champion of the Declaration Of Independence. All men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. Douglass did not care about your sex, your skin color, or where you're from. Everyone was equal in his eyes. "He was a man ahead of his time"