My Bondage, My Freedom
Essay: My Bondage, My Freedom
First published in 1855, this book tells the story of Fredrick Douglass ' life first as a slave, then as a fugitive, and finally as a free man working to free the rest of the slaves in the American South from bondage. My Bondage and My Freedom is widely considered to be one of the most historically influential documents produced in the midst of the abolitionist movement. Written by a former slave, the memoir served as a moving argument against the inhuman institution of slavery in American history. In this essay, I plan to expound upon occurrences in the book, the political climate of the era,
My Bondage, My Freedom shows Douglas was a very well educated man who could write very well, and engage his readers with his stories of his life and troubles. He shows what it is like to be a slave; how violent and unfair the masters can be. Douglas also portrays Black people as capable of anything, which many white people did not believe at the time. Fredrick Douglass has gone down in American History as one f the greatest minds in history. Within this book, he did not resort to arguments of reason or philosophy in the work in an attempt to illustrate the immorality of slavery, as many other scholars may have done. Instead, perhaps because of his education and natural intelligence, coupled with a keen awareness of public sensibility, he refrained from attacking those responsible for using slaves, as well as those responsible for supporting the institution, itself. Instead, recognizing the limitations of his time and dominant social culture, he used the device of emotion to convey the brutality to the sympathetic part of his reader 's psyches. In My Bondage My Freedom, Douglass is separated from his mother, Harriet Bailey, soon after he is born and is raised by his grandparents. Much like that of Harriet Jacobs, the author of Life As A Slave Girl, Douglass life on the plantation is not as harsh during his early childhood. Young
First published in 1855, this book tells the story of Fredrick Douglass ' life first as a slave, then as a fugitive, and finally as a free man working to free the rest of the slaves in the American South from bondage. My Bondage and My Freedom is widely considered to be one of the most historically influential documents produced in the midst of the abolitionist movement. Written by a former slave, the memoir served as a moving argument against the inhuman institution of slavery in American history. In this essay, I plan to expound upon occurrences in the book, the political climate of the era,
My Bondage, My Freedom shows Douglas was a very well educated man who could write very well, and engage his readers with his stories of his life and troubles. He shows what it is like to be a slave; how violent and unfair the masters can be. Douglas also portrays Black people as capable of anything, which many white people did not believe at the time. Fredrick Douglass has gone down in American History as one f the greatest minds in history. Within this book, he did not resort to arguments of reason or philosophy in the work in an attempt to illustrate the immorality of slavery, as many other scholars may have done. Instead, perhaps because of his education and natural intelligence, coupled with a keen awareness of public sensibility, he refrained from attacking those responsible for using slaves, as well as those responsible for supporting the institution, itself. Instead, recognizing the limitations of his time and dominant social culture, he used the device of emotion to convey the brutality to the sympathetic part of his reader 's psyches. In My Bondage My Freedom, Douglass is separated from his mother, Harriet Bailey, soon after he is born and is raised by his grandparents. Much like that of Harriet Jacobs, the author of Life As A Slave Girl, Douglass life on the plantation is not as harsh during his early childhood. Young
Bibliography: Douglass, Frederick, Smith, John David. My Bondage and My Freedom. New York: Penguin. (2003). SparkNotes Editors. (2002). SparkNote on Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. Retrieved February 9, 2010, from http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/narrative/