Biography Analysis and on Fredrick Douglass - Report Example

Biography Analysis and Report on Fredrick Douglass Fredrick was born in the February of 1818 in a slave cabin near the city of Easton, near the shore of Maryland. Fredrick Douglas separated from his mother when he was only a few days old, leaving him in the hands of his grandmother. When he was approximately five years old, her grandmother took Fredrick to his master’s plantation where she left him alone. Since his grandmother had not told him that she was going to leave him alone, Fredrick did not recover from this abandonment betrayal (Trotman 33). When Fredrick was about eight years old, his master sends him to Baltimore, where he was to serve as a houseboy. In Baltimore, Fredrick lived with Sophia Auld and Hugh, who were his master’s relatives. Shortly after Fredrick’s arrival in Baltimore, the new mistress started to teach him how to read the alphabets. Unfortunately, her husband forbade her from teaching Fredrick how to read the alphabet since it is illegal to train slaves on how to read and write (Hancock and Milano 56). However, Fredrick did not lose hope and instead he decided to learn through his own means. He decided to make his neighborhood boyfriends, his teacher in exchange of his share of food. Later on when he was about thirteen years old, Fredrick managed to a copy of a popular book during that time, The Columbian Orator (Pratt 42). This was among the popular schoolbooks during that era, and it highly helped him to understand and appreciate the power of both written and spoken words. These were two most effective factors, which enabled one to bring positive and permanent change in his or her life. Fredrick Douglas returned to his home place when he was approximately fifteen years old. He then became a field hand a condition that enabled him to gain experience of the horrible lives that slaves went through throughout the two hundred and seventy years of legal slavery in the United States. This followed Douglas involves himself in an encounter with one of the slave breakers, Edward Covey. Although the war between the two was a draw, the victory went to Douglas since his challenge against slavery revealed his self-worth sense (Trotman 37). After a failed attempt to escape, Douglas was sent to Baltimore when he eighteen years old to continue his life with a family of Auld. However, in the year 1838 when he was twenty years old, Douglas managed to escape from slavery by mimicking a sailor. First, he decided to go to New Bedford, where he happened to marry his wife. Anna Murray and started to build up their family. Even after escaping from slavery, Douglas did not let his desire end slavery go. Whenever he had time, he attended the abolitionist conventions. In the year 1841, after his attendance to the anti-slavery meeting at Nantucket Island, Fredrick Douglas was appointed a lecturer to teach the anti-slavery society (Massachusetts) together with his colleague, William Lloyd Garrison (Pratt 45). This work enabled Douglas to be a perfect public speaker as well as a writer. For instance, Douglas managed to publish an individual newspaper, The North Star. Additionally, in the year 1848, Douglas was among the participants of the first convention about womens rights, which was held at Seneca Falls (Hancock and Milano 59). Douglas later wrote copies of his three autobiographies. People internationally recognized Douglas as one of the uncompromising abolitionists. The entire world knew him as an indefatigable servant for equal opportunity and justice, and a powerful defender of the rights of women and minority groups in America. He later became Abraham Lincoln’s advisor, U.S. Marshal in the Columbia District, Deeds recorder in Washington D.C, and General Minister in the Republic of Haiti. Fredrick Douglas met his death in the year 1895 at the age of 77 years in Anacostia, Washington DC (Trotman 43). Significance of Fredrick Douglas Most history books refer Fredrick Douglas as the father of American civil rights’ movement. He grew up as a determinant, brilliant, and eloquent person aiming to shape the entire American nation. Douglas was a human and womens rights activist, abolitionist, journalist, orator, publisher, author, and social reformer (Hancock and Milano 63). His main significance is that played a vital role of ending slavery in American and fought for women’s rights as well as those of the minority groups. With his commitment to freedom, Fredrick Douglas devoted his entire life to end slavery in America and ensure justice for all citizens, especially the black Americans, women, and the minority groups (Pratt 47). The constraints that highly affected Douglas where diversity and discrimination. He foresaw American as a notion strengthened by free discrimination and ethnic diversity. Fredrick Douglas came out of slavery and become a significant African American leader during the nineteenth century. At his tender age, Douglas realized one’s ability to write and read was the only key to slaves’ freedom. All his efforts from that time concentrated on how to achieve freedom and end slavery in America. He was a convincing power in the movement to end slavery in America and fight for women’s rights as well as the rights of the minority groups in the country (Trotman 45). This means that, the main constraint that Douglas faced was race. Being a black American, he started serving as a slave at his tender age after his grandmother left him in her master’s field. The constraints, he faced were advantageous since they influenced him to commit himself in ensuring that no more slavery was taken in America, and thus all people had equal rights and justice. Fredrick Douglas worked hand in hand with many recognized abolitionists during the nineteenth century. These abolitionists included Abby Kelley and Wendell Phillips (Hancock and Milano 67). Fredrick Douglas established close friendship with John Brown as well as his family, although he came to disagree with John Brown because of his violent approaches radically displayed in his raid in the year 1859 on the Harper’s Ferry (Pratt 48). Following the end of African American slavery after the Civil War, Fredrick Douglas diverted his attention towards integration of black American to take part in the economic and political life in America. Douglas later published a weekly newspaper about abolitionist, North Star, which turned out to be a significant voice of the black Americans’ opinions. Later on, following his periodical, Douglas Monthly, he employed black soldiers to serve in Fifty-Fourth Black Americans Volunteers of the Massachusetts. His two sons, however, Charles and Lewis took part in this regime, and they saw combat. Douglas worked tirelessly to ensure that the black Americans retained their hard-won advances (Trotman 48). However, the advancement that black Americans achieved during the reconstruction era immediately battered following the approach of the twentieth century. Douglas spent most of his life fighting for the rights of women and that of minority groups in the United States. The crusade to end slavery that was held in the nineteenth century played a vital role of training suffrage of the women’s rights movement. Although Douglas held the belief that black Americans should first receive the suffrage, he extremely fought and gave maximum support to the movement (Pratt 49). Being a devoted supporter of the women’s rights campaigns, he attended the first feminist convention, which took place at Seneca Falls in the year 1848 where he largely proposed for implementation of motion to propose women suffrage. Douglas and Elizabeth Cady Stanton signed the sentiments declaration that later became the proposal of the womens rights movement (Trotman 56). The cover page of his North Star newspaper once was “Right is for no sex and truth is for no color”. Fredrick Douglas served as an activist for women’s rights throughout his entire life until his death in the year 1895. Evaluation & Summary The above biography, analysis and report on Fredrick Douglas fits with the theme and chronology of our course. The theme and chronology of the course is that black Americans underwent through hard life of slavery in the United States of America. Some of the African American leaders such as Fredrick Douglas fought tirelessly to ensure that they ended the free discrimination and women rights violation, as well as those of the minority groups. For example, Fredrick Douglas started to serve as a slave at his early age a condition that enabled him to gain experience of the horrible lives that slaves went through throughout the two hundred and seventy years of legal slavery in the United States (Hancock and Milano 71). This followed Douglas involves himself in an encounter with one of the slave breakers, Edward Covey. I choose Fredrick Douglas because he is among the African American leaders who tirelessly fought for the rights and justice for the other African Americans. After analyzing his biography, I learned that there is a time in American when all black Americans lived as slaves (Trotman 67). In conclusion, Fredrick Douglas played a key role in ensuring that black Americans were not living as slaves and that they were involved in the economic and political lives. He is internationally recognized as one of the main uncompromising abolitionists who fought for the rights of black Americans. The entire world knows him as an indefatigable servant for equal opportunity and justice, and a powerful defender of the rights of women and minority groups in America.   Work cited Hancock, Scott and Milano, Alexandra. Frederick Douglass. New York Times. Internet Source. April 12, 2014. Pratt, Lloyd. "Human beyond Understanding: Frederick Douglasss New Liberal Individual." Novel 43.1 (2010): 47-52. Trotman, C J. Frederick Douglass: A Biography. Santa Barbara, Calif: Greenwood, 2011. Print. Read More