and sell fellow mankind on an open market‚ to be used as property for the betterment of the slaveholder’s own fortune. In this essay I will look at a letter from Frederick Douglass‚ an ex-slave‚ to Thomas Auld‚ his former master. The correspondence was in the form of an open public letter to Auld on the tenth anniversary of Douglass’ abolition. The letter could be considered an "autoethnographic text" which Mary Louise Pratt defines in her essay‚ Arts of the Contact Zone‚ "a text in which people
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A relevant theme in Frederick Douglass’s narrative is the importance of education. Knowledge is what contributed to setting people free‚ while ignorance is the very thing that contributed to enslaving them. The goal of slave owners was to keep their slaves ignorant; if they remained ignorant‚ it would be less likely that they would want to get away. This mindset is exemplified when Master Hugh demands that his wife stop teaching Douglass to read and write. "’A n****r should know nothing but to obey
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the witness of your devotion to freedom and of your heroism wrote Fredrick Douglas in a letter to Harriet Tubman on August 29‚ 1869. In a letter to Harriet Tubman Frederick Douglass talks about his opinion of Harriet. Fredrik Douglas highly regarded Harriet Tubman‚ and they dedicated their lives to the abolitionist movement. Frederick says that Accepting John Brown - of sacred memory - I know of no one who has willingly encountered more perils and hardships to serve our enslaved people than you
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Learning and knowledge make all the difference in the world‚ as Frederick Douglass proves by changing himself from another man’s slave to a widely respected writer. A person is not necessarily what others label him; the self is completely independent‚ and through learning can move proverbial mountains. The main focus of this essay is on the lives of the American Slaves‚ and their treatment by their masters. The brutality brought upon the slaves by their holders was cruel‚ and almost sadistic. These
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Frederick Douglas in “Learning to Read and Write” and Malcolm X in “Learning To Read” were both very passionate about becoming literate. Gaining knowledge was a huge accomplishment for both writers. F. Douglass and Malcolm X wrote their stories describing their individual process of learning while going through rough times in their lives. Although‚ the titles of their stories are similar‚ both author’s tone and emotions were similar and different at times. Douglass tone in “Learning to Read and
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steps up to achieve a goal and who is not self centered. Heroes are courageous no matter how risky or hard the challenge. In Frederick Douglass’ autobiography‚ Douglass states‚ “...the idea of speaking to white people weighed me down. I spoke but a few moments‚ when I felt a degree of freedom‚ and said what I desired with considerable ease.” This means that at first Douglass was afraid of speaking his opinion in front of the white people because of his race‚ but then he was courageous enough to speak
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Frederick Douglass was invited by the Rochester Ladies Antislavery society‚ to deliver a speech. He delivered his speech on July 5th‚ 1852‚ at Corinthian Hall in Rochester‚ New York. In Douglass’s speech‚ he established himself to the audience. He praised their importance of the occasion before them and claims to be humble‚ yet he shrunk with fear and nervousness. Although he deceives his audience‚ His use of rhetoric‚ religious‚ and historic statements‚ achieves common ground for his argument and
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freedom. Among them was Frederick Douglass. Douglass successfully escaped in 1838 and several years later wrote a letter to his former master justifying his escape. He wrote‚ “I am myself; you are yourself; we are two distinct persons‚ equal persons. What you are‚ I am. You are a man‚ and so am I. God created both‚ and made us separate beings” (Biddle 2). He continues to write how he is no different from any other man regardless of race. For the rest of his life‚ Frederick Douglass became an outspoken
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Frederick Douglass’s autobiography is quite interesting. It touches many readers’ heart deeply to learn about slavery and I am not an exception. I learn a lot about slavery through Douglass’s story. To further understand the slave and slavery system‚ as a reader‚ I need to study his whole life since he was born as a slave and then escaped from slavery system to become a freeman. According the autobiography‚ I understand that slaves’ life were not belong to themselves. They were owned by other people
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Douglass resisted oppression at an early age and was able to use his education to escape the South; however‚ he did not stop using this form of resistance once he achieved freedom. Once Douglass safely reached the North‚ he used his knowledge to help the entire slave community resist oppression. Douglass began to openly write and speak in anti-slavery meetings about his experience as a slave and his journey while escaping. The first time Douglass “felt strongly moved to speak” was “while attending
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