Brooke Zirker

Professor Lee

American Literature

4 March 2017

                                                            Blacks Rights to Liberty

Narrative of The Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave was first published in 1845. His first autobiography was so popular he actually ended up writing three different versions of his story. Frederick douglass begins his narrative by explaining how he is forced to separate  from his birth mother and that nobody will tell him when his birthday is. He tells the reader that it's very common for slaves not to know that much about their families or even themselves. Douglass works at Colonial Lloyds farm for the first part of his life, but eventually is sent on a ship to Baltimore to work for  Hugh Auld. while working for this ship carpenter he finds out that working in the city has many differences than working on a farm in the country. In baltimore, Hugh Auld’s wife started teaching him the letters in the alphabet but her husband immediately stopped these lessons. He was sent back Colonial Lloyds farm. This is when he actually understands what really means to be a slave. He is treated horribly and beaten very badly. He eventually escapes and settles down in massachusetts and marries a free black women. The narrative of Frederick Douglass argues that all men, even those of color deserve liberty.  through an appeal to emotion.

 When Frederick Douglass describes the beating and sexual harassment of several slave women in his narrative, he appeals to emotion to help argue that all men and women deserve liberty. At this point, Douglass is working for a different master named captain Anthony, a small-time slaveholder, and the first man that Douglass ever saw strip and beat a women. This experience was truly petrifying for Douglass. Throughout the narrative, Douglas writes about several instances where women were harassed and beaten. One experience that was especially damaging for Douglas the the beating of his aunt Hester. Hester, was caught disobeying direct orders from Captain Anthony by going out for the evening and spending the night with Ned Roberts. This Enraged captain Anthony, so he stripped her of her clothing, tied her up and whipped her senselessly ( Douglass 1184-1185). Douglas then describes it as,  “ … soon the warm, red blood ( amid heart-rending shrieks from her, and horrid oaths from him) came dripping to the floor” ( Douglass 1185). He explains that he was so frightened that he hid in the closet, and that he had never seen something so awful in his entire life ( Douglass 1185). When Douglass describing the effect of this event on his own life it helps others to see how slavery was really was back then. It is cruel, one-sided and incredibly gruesome. Slavery has not only physical effects but also mental/emotional effects on the slaves. I think part of reason that it was damaging for Douglass was the fact that he couldn’t help his aunt, he just had to sit there and watch it happen. These slaves were not able to defend themselves or have any control over this kind of situation. He uses these awful scenes to portray the cruel treatment by these slaveholders. These women didn’t deserve to be treated like this, to feel completely helpless, and this emotion that we feel for these women is just one of the many ways that Frederick Douglass argues that all slaves deserve liberty.

By describing the lack of knowledge and stability that Douglass had as a child, he draws sympathy from his readers to help argue that all men deserve liberty. At the very beginning of his narrative, Frederick Douglass explains that that he did not know when his birthday was and how he did not have any personal connection with his mother other than being biologically linked to her (Douglass 1182). A lot of slaves were torn away from their families and were never told anything about their situations. Frederick Douglass says “... it is the wish of most masters within my knowledge to keep their slaves thus ignorant” (Douglass 1182). These slaves didn’t have any information on themselves or their families, they were supposed to stay quiet, work, and obey all orders from their slaveholders. They were treated like objects. Douglass gets the reader's sympathy by explaining how these slaves, including Douglass, are kept from their families and are purposefully kept in the dark so that they will be easier to handle. When Frederick went to work for a ship carpenter named Hugh Auld his wife began teaching Douglass the alphabet and how to read. But her husband quickly stepped in and put an end to this saying, “If you give a nigger an inch, he will take an ell. A nigger should know nothing but to obey his master-to do as he is told to do. Learning would spoil the best nigger in the world” (Douglass 1196). This is another example of how Douglass was kept from learning and growing. By sharing these experiences he is showing how these slaves were treated and this draws sympathy from the reader. No man should ever be treated this way. No one should be derived of the opportunity to learn and have a family. But in order to have these things you have to be white. And Douglass uses these examples to show that all men should have these opportunities. 

When Douglass explains the irony of the way that the farm animals and slaves were treated in chapter three of his narrative, he draws compassion from the reader. He is sent to work for Colonel Lloyd who owned several slaves but was practically obsessed with his horses. Douglass says, “ The slightest inattention to these [horses] were unpardonable, and was visited upon those, under whose care was placed, with the severest punishment; no excuse could shield them…” ( Douglass 1189). So basically if the horses were not cared for, not fed or cleaned properly, or rubbed and groomed then the slaves would be whipped senselessly. Douglass shows that this slaveholder actually treats his animals better than he treats his human slaves. He uses this example to show his reader just how awful and emotional slavery really was. The fact that Colonial Lloyd treated his slaves like less than animals is actually a bit ironic, and I think Douglass uses this irony to show just how unfair the situation was. This causes this reader to have empathy and to feel for these people. Human beings shouldn’t be treated like this. Every man deserves to be fed, cleaned, and taken care of properly. Everyone deserves to be treated right and have freedom.

Frederick Douglass had a rough time growing up, not having a relationship with his family, being treated awfully and witnessing events no kid should ever have to witness. But he uses these truly unfortunate events to illustrate just how emotional and damaging slavery was. Nobody deserves to be beat, whipped and eternally punished for the color of their skin, they deserve to be treated with respect and have the right to liberty.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Works Cited 

Douglass, Frederick. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. 8th ed. Vol. B. New York: W. W. Norton, 2012. N. pag. Print.