The Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass
“Frederick Douglass was a leader in the abolitionist movement, an early champion of women’s rights and author of ‘Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass.”
Frederick Douglass was an abolitionist leader from 1818–1895, he was born into slavery in Maryland, “he was an eminent human rights leader in the anti-slavery movement and the first African American to hold a high U.S government rank, advising president and lecturing on causes like women rights.”
Frederick Douglass is one of the famous black men in the U.S who fought for slavery. The teaching of slaves to read and write was not allowed, but Frederick taught himself instead and was able to have great achievements. Moving in with his brother-in-law, his wife had taught Frederick how to read, early the alphabet, and some small words. After learning a few of these things Hugh Auld was angry with him for learning. Frederick realized that education was his key to freedom of not being a slave anymore and achieving his goals.
Frederick Douglass was able to teach his knowledge to other enslaved people. “He started an illegal school for blacks in the area that secretly met at night and on Sundays, and with five other slaves he began to plan his escape to the North.” (Williams, 32) Douglass tried to escape from slavery twice before he finally succeeded.
In Massachusetts, Douglass had joined a Black church and attended abolitionist meetings. Douglass had written and published his first autobiography, Narrative of Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, in 1845. “Frederick Douglass decided to write a story of his life during the winter of 1844–45” (Williams, 14). He sat down and remembered all the people and places he went during his slavery time. “In May 1845, he publishes 5000 copies of the book. The book is a story of the “triumph of dignity, courage, and self-reliance over the evils of the brutal, degrading slave system. It is a sermon on how slavery corrupts the human spirit and robs both master and slave of their freedom.” His autobiography became a bestseller in the U.S and was then translated into several languages. He republished his autobiography three different times during his lifetime and would revise and elaborate on his work each time he rewrote it.
Not only was Douglass an abolitionist leader but also a supporter of women’s rights. He spoke about not accepting the right to vote as a Black man if women could not also claim the right to vote. Being aware of the fact, he thought it was unfair for women not to be able to vote but men were able to allow you to be aware of the type of person he was. He wanted things to be fair and was willing to speak out on his opinion.
In my opinion Fredrick Douglass is a strong individual because of everything he went through in life and having to try to escape slavery. I feel like he was also a very smart person and was able to use that to his ability to write his autobiography and was able to be successful because of it. Not only did he write his autobiography and he became successful, but he also taught himself how to read and write and was obviously able to accomplish his goal. Not many people back then were able to be successful because life as a slave was very unfair and people would purposely uneducated slaves, so they weren’t able to know any better about being mistreated and overworked. But since Frederick had the advantage of learning to read and write and was able to spend some time education other people, he was able to be a role model for others.
Work Cited:
“Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: Key Facts | SparkNotes.” Spark Notes, www.sparknotes.com/lit/narrative/facts. Accessed 30 Nov. 2020.
“Frederick Douglass.” Biography, www.biography.com/activist/frederick-douglass.
Andrews, Williams, L and Mc Feely, Williams, S. Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, Written By Himself. New York: Library of Congress, 1997.
