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Frederick Douglass was a self-taught, abolished slave in the nineteenth century. ... This was the worst thing about slavery to Douglass. ...
Douglass was born in Tuckahoe, near Hillsborough, Maryland. ... This, I believe, truly disturbed young Douglass because it was rumored his father was also his master. ... Douglass grew up having no knowledge of his birthday; his closest knowledge is that sometime in 1835 Douglass master told him he was about seventeen years of age. Douglass did not recall a slave knowing his exact birth date. ... Douglass desire for this information was a source of unhappiness during childhood. ... Douglass describes this ritual like that of feeding pigs. ... Douglass salvages his feeling of self though education and determination.
Douglass was ignorant to his plight until his owners wife, Mrs. ... Auld from teaching Douglass, he continued on his own. ... When Douglass first got his taste of knowledge, he then understood the power which it held. ... Auld stated, "If you give a nigger an inch, he will take an ell" (Douglass 47). Douglass knew that education and literacy would allow the slave to see another way of life and that they were not inferior to the white man. Douglass became aware that the white men prevented a power struggle by keeping the slaves from thinking that equality could ever take place. Douglass was determined to becoming educated, allowing him to challenge the power of the white man. Douglass knew then to give him the inch, nothing could stop him from taking the "ell".
By learning, Douglass was breaking the chains of his enslavement. Along the way, Douglass faced many obstacles, many of which were brought about by slave holders, which brought him to his deepest despair in life. ... Douglass emotional state showed the tortured mind of the slave in a life of despair when he spoke about Sunday was his only day of leisure, which he spent in some sort of stupor between sleep and awake. ... The efforts of the masters to keep their slaves suppressed were so strong that even Douglass knowledge could barely keep him going. ... Douglass often thought his literacy had been a curse rather than a blessing.
Douglass noticed that Christianity also played a role in the southern slave holders. ... This was a question that would continuously be raised in Douglass mind. Once in the north, Douglass saw that the southerners beliefs were hypocritical, and nothing more a than, a way to justify their actions towards the slaves.
Though once in the North, Douglass noticed the double standard of the northerners as well. ... Frederick Douglass turned against his oppressors and raised against them, and his words became soothing and mended of wrongs of slavery. Douglass hoped to gain compassion for those still in slavery by relating experiences, such as being taken from his mother when he was an infant and not knowing who his father was, how slaves were treated as if they had less value than animals, and the fact that slaves were brutally beaten and sometimes killed without it being considered a crime. Douglass stated the most painful situation was slavery and the only way to truly understand was to experience it. Douglass showed the injustice of slavery by knowing that gaining freedom, involved more than simply running North, it was instead a power struggle and a long tiring process of learning and maturing.
Approximate Word count = 2692
Approximate Pages = 10.8
(250 words per page double spaced)
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