The Life of Frederick Douglass Essay -- African American social reforme

Escaping slavery in 1838, Frederick Douglass informed citizens of the cruel abuse that many slaves and he experienced from their masters. Frederick Douglass was a self-educated African American while also being under the chains of slavery. As Douglass rises to admiration upon abolitionists, he writes many stories describing the difficulties and encounters he witnessed and experienced as a slave. In the book, The Narrative Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Douglass describes the clothing, food and horrific conditions he overcame as a slave. Frederick Douglass was born into slavery by his estranged mother, Harriet Bailey and his unknown white father, assumed to be Captain Anthony. Like the majority of slaves, Douglass is unknown of his actual birthdate, rumored to be born around Valentine’s Day in the year 1817 or 1818. Generally, a slave owner will keep his slaves uninformed by keeping simple information from them, such as birth dates and their biological father. Those who were mixed, black and white, were beaten and whipped, and were worse off than those of darker skin, due to the overseers’ wife’s growing suspicion of her husband interrelating with a slave. As part of the transition to becoming a slave, Douglass was taken from his mother to break the natural mother and child bond. As a child, Douglass lived with his grandmother and rarely saw his mother. On rare occasions, his mother would travel twelve miles to his farm after she finished all her work to see him as he slept. Douglass’ mot her passed away, as usual, he is not allowed to attend her funeral. All slaves were treated as if they were not human and not allowed to have privileges white people experienced. Overworked and exhausted, slaves were living... ...tates in his book, â€Å"Without Struggle There Is No Success† (Douglass). In other words, most people cannot expect to achieve a goal without failing. Frederick Douglass describes the different conditions he experienced and witnessed in the book, The Narrative Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave. As an educated and free black man, Frederick Douglass made it his goal to get his story out to the nation, so that the citizens will know the true colors of slavery. In Douglass’ writings, he illustrates to the reader the horror and authenticity of captivity. Although the place of his captivity was not as major as other slaves in slave states, he describes to the audience blood wrenching details of his encounters. Frederick Douglass becomes a well-known face to the abolitionists’ community and goes on to accomplish several goals, including supporting women’s rights.