To some Frederick Douglass was a confusing man why fight for formerly other slaves when he could have just lived his life in peace, after all, he escaped the tight bounds of slavery something others thought of as impossible. He chose to be a leader of a new world a free world where all race was accepted and not shunned so he spoke and used his greatest strength his ability to string words into speeches that can reach even the darkest of places where hope is scarce and freedom even rarer. It still wasn't enough to create speeches for freedom so he wrote a book because he knew he wasn't going to be around forever and he wanted to give people hope even when he's gone and passed on. Douglass's novel Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass …show more content…
Frederick Douglass a slave from birth worked hard as a slave, but wasn’t completely obedient to his masters often asking little white boys to teach him how to read, they often agreed because Douglass would befriend and bribe them with the bread he would carry with him when sent out on errands. Later in his life after escaping his master, he would become an abolisher to fight for the freedom of his formerly fellow slaves. During a speech, he once said, “A man's character always takes its hue, more or less, from the form and color of things about him.” And Frederick’s hue became clear when he was speaking and trying to free his fellow brethren showing that even in the darkest spaces there will always be light no matter how hard people try to snuff it out. Douglass fought for what he believed in, no matter the price and although at the start he had the same mindset as the other abolishers he eventually managed to find his own personal voice and continue his own unique verbal attacks on slavery and having one man be superior to another because when needed leaders will come to light shedding it across others and causing something glorious as an end result even though it may take its sweet old time it will
Born into a life of slavery, Frederick Douglass overcame a boatload of obstacles in his very accomplished life. While a slave he was able to learn how to read and write, which was the most significant accomplishment in his life. This was significant, not only because it was forbidden for a slave to read due to the slaveholders wanting to keep them ignorant to preserve slavery, but because it was the starting point for Frederick to think more freely and more profound. Frederick Douglass then taught other slaves how to read and write because he believed and taught “Once you learn to read you will be forever free” (Frederick Douglass). This man was an astonishing individual who
The life of Frederick Douglass was as horrible and miserable as any other slave. However, since bravery was his most dominant trait Frederick’s life became the life of a hero. Born into slavery on the year of 1818, Frederick never really got to know his family and was separated at birth. Growing up, he knew that blacks like him were not supposed to be educated, or treated as well as the whites. This compelled Frederick even
Frederick Douglass wanted to promote freedom for all slaves. He himself was a slave and escaped from slavery in Maryland. He was a national leader of the abolitionist movement in Massachusetts and New York. He was known for his dazzling oratory and incisive antislavery writings. Douglass wrote several autobiographies, including one about his own experience as a slave. Douglass spent two years in Ireland and Britain, giving many lectures in churches and chapels. When he returned to the US, he started publishing his first abolitionists newspaper, The North Star. Many people were impacted by what Frederick had to say about slavery. They ended up joining his movement to held abolish slavery. Frederick Douglass used civic action when it came to
His experience as a former slave enabled him to gain sympathy for his cause, and he was very influential in the attainment of rights for African Americans. The message in his bibliography sent to Americans was a turning point in American history. His brilliance served as evidence that both black and white were born with equal intellectual potential and were capable of equal achievement. His speeches, compositions, and general display of intellect played a crucial role in the emancipation of the slaves and the way Black people were viewed in
The Influence of Frederick Douglass Douglass was a wise man. He held great wisdom with what he said and thought. A man like that with minimal education gave gifts to the masses. His words caressed the livelihood of what was going on, if only other slaves could’ve been acknowledged as he was at the time. The truth gave horrors to those in the south, but they needed the truth to rise up.
Frederick Douglass was once a slave with an opportunity that no other slaves have obtained. Douglass have spent the rest of his life educating himself, either by self-taught or someone else helping him to learn. At the time period, it was forbidden for the slaves to educate or to be educated. Douglass was lucky enough to even receive this chance to educate himself. Despite his determination to educate himself, he is still human. There are obstacles in his journey that prevented him from moving on. He even wished to die from all the pain he stored in himself that he could not express, except in his writing. With all of the obstacles and pain throughout the years, it was worth it because he escaped slavery and became a free man. “Learning to
Frederick Douglass was an abolitionist and a great man he stood up for others. He had a lot of people who liked him and a lot who did not like what he did. Frederick Douglass had to give speeches and he argued for what was right. Many people found his speeches empowering while others didn’t.
Frederick Douglass inspired others to join the abolitionist movement and other movements by using his attributes that singled him out as a leader. The United Negro College Fund elucidates, “Throughout his life, Douglass was steadfast in his commitment to breaking down barriers between the races. His courage, passion, intellect and magnificent written and oratory skills inspired hundreds of the world’s most prominent civil rights activists of the 20th century, as well as pioneers of the women’s rights movement.” Douglass had used his pronouncing traits in order to give dignity to people who wanted to fight for salvation and human rights. This is what abolitionists have gained and used to their advantage in the battle against slavery.
Frederick Douglass realized that he had to take matters into his own hands and help gain voting rights for African Americans without the help of President Lincoln. It takes a lot of ambition to seperate yourself from President Lincoln. Douglass gave a speech in Rochester, New York, about the hypocrisy of the 4th of July. Even though he was nervous to be in front of the audience, he was still determination to get his point across to the them. In the speech, Frederick said, “He who could address this audience without a quailing sensation, had stronger nerves that I have” (Douglass 169). Despite the fact that he was nervous to be giving the oration, he knew that this would help the chances of slaves being freed. His tenacious nature gave him the motivation to give the speech. Frederick Douglass was known as a great writer and abolitionist. After African Americans were freed, Frederick did not stay complacent, he continued to work hard in order to achieve his goal, which was to abolish slavery for good. Douglass, “set his powerful ideas and commanding speaking voice to the task of ending slavery” (Douglass
One of the best speakers, writers, and anti-slavery leaders of the mid-nineteenth century; he did not have the opportunity to educate himself freely as white people from his time did. He was born as a slave in Tuckahoe, Maryland, in February 1818. As a child his future did not seem too brilliant because of his condition of slave. He really did not have any future in life under bondage. However, he was fortunate enough to be sent to Baltimore to be the servant of the Auld family (Encyclopedia Britannica). In this place, a big door was opened to him so he could become a successful man and be remembered for decades in the history of the United States.
His will to keep learning, keep inspiring, appreciating every moment of his life is what made him such a motivational figure. His hard work and tireless dedication to the abolitionist movement are why he has had such a great impact on the world, now and beforehand. Whenever moments got hard, he remained faithful to his beliefs. When he was at risk of being reenslaved, Douglass worked around it; he moved away to other countries while still advocating for the abolishment of slavery. As a result, “Douglass's fame as an orator increased as he traveled.”
Frederick Douglass, an abolitionist who altered America's views of slavery through his writings and actions. Frederick's life as a slave had the greatest impact on his writings. Through his experience as a slave, he developed emotion and experience for him to become a successful abolitionist writer. He experienced harsh treatment and his hate for slavery and desire to be free caused him to write Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. In his Narrative, he wrote the story of his miserable life as a slave and his fight to be free. His motivation behind the character (himself) was to make it through another day so that maybe one day he might be free. By speaking out, fighting as an abolitionist and finally becoming an author,
To begin with, Frederick Douglass, a former slave wrote and spoke about the establishment of slavery and southern culture based on his youthful experiences as a slave. Douglass is a powerful speaker for the abolitionist movement and became a leader of the anti-slavery movement. One of the main reasons for his writing of the Narrative was to prove to critics that such a well-spoken and expressive man could not have once been a slave. Douglas eventually gains the resources and convictions to escape to the North and wage a political fight against the institution of slavery. I believed that his most inspirational saying was when Douglass said, “I would unite with anybody to do right and with nobody to do wrong.”
“I prefer to be true to myself, even at the hazard of incurring the ridicule of others, rather than to be false, and to incur my own abhorrence.” That is something Frederick Douglass once said. He was all about being true to yourself no matter what others may say, think or do. He stood up for his beliefs, which were that all men are equal and that not one man is better than another. Though Frederick Douglass suffered through slavery, he impacted generations of slaves by working with the antislavery movement and being an example to slaves and other minorities.
Fredrick Douglass also came to exude a great sense of racial pride as his life progressed. At first, his only perception of his people was that of a lowly slave nation. Yet, he was dedicated to trying to improve their lot. After his fellow slaves learned that he was literate, they “insisted that I must keep a Sabbath school.” He agreed to this proposal because he felt that the only shot his “brothers” had at gaining their freedom was through the power of the written word. Later, when he and his fellow slaves were jailed after their plans to escape to freedom were revealed, he states that “our greatest concern was about separation.” Douglass felt a sense of responsibility and kinship towards the members of his own race, and was loath to break these bonds. His racial pride reached its peak when he saw the houses that the free blacks in the North lived in. Douglass proudly writes that “I found many, who had not been seven years out of their chains, living in finer houses, and evidently enjoying more of the comforts of life, than the average of slaveholders in Maryland.” When Douglass saw how well some of his kinsmen were living, he could not help but change his impression of his people being a downtrodden slave nation. He came to recognize his race for what they truly were: a people equal in stature to any other, even the lofty Caucasians.