Frederic Douglass - Article Example

Hilina Yelma Melvin Brown English Composition III June 9, Frederic Douglass, a powerful speaker Thesis: Frederic Douglass was thefather of the civil rights movement, an Author, and a human right activist, I Introduction: A. Frederick Douglass was one of the foremost leaders of the abolitionist movement B. which fought to end slavery within the United States in the decades prior to the Civil War II Important figure A. Douglass provided a powerful voice for human rights during this period of American history and is still revered today for his contributions against racial injustice. B. He transformed the views of many Americans during a difficult time for African-Americans. III Famous at a critical time A. His book is a collection of speeches and editorials chronicles the effects of slavery and the struggle to overthrow it, B. Describes the free black experience before and after emancipation. C. Relates the politics of the Civil War, and analyzes the Reconstruction. IV Human rights activist A. Frederick Douglass spent his life fighting for justice and equality for all people. B. Douglass was asked by the American Anti-Slavery Society to engage in a tour of lectures, and so became recognized as one of Americas first great black speakers. C. Douglass provided a powerful voice for human rights during this period of American history and is still revered today for his contributions against racial injustice Frederick Douglass Introduction Few can claim they had as much an impact on American history and culture in the 19th century as the former slave Frederick Douglass. This epitome of the self-made man was an eloquent and powerful advocate for emancipation and abolition. He dined with a president and wrote for newspapers. His personal memoir was read by millions. For many Americans he was the self-made representative of African American betterment, of what the slaves could and would be so long as they were freed and given the opportunity to better themselves. As such few men had as much impact on the course of the American Civil War and mobilization of American public opinion that that war required to win. In this paper I will argue that Douglass was among the most important Americans of his era. Douglass was born in Maryland in around 1818. He quickly educated himself and escaped slavery. He then began to write and lecture. He was so articulate and self-possessed that many white Americans, never having encountered an educated African American could hardly believe he produced the works that he did. As the issue of abolition heated up during his lifetime, Douglass became more and more a symbol of what an African American could become if he was freed from the shackles of the slavemaster. Important figure It is especially amazing how Douglass came to have such deep personal insight. He was a man who had no history, who had been deprived of his own story and family. His own words tell the story better than any paraphrasing could: The opinion was ... whispered that my master was my father; but of the correctness of this opinion I know nothing.... My mother and I were separated when I was but an infant.... It [was] common custom, in the part of Maryland from which I ran away, to part children from their mothers at a very early age. I do not recollect ever seeing my mother by the light of day. ... She would lie down with me, and get me to sleep, but long before I waked she was gone. (Narrative, 10) Out of this darkness, came light. Self-knowledge and ambition drove Douglass. The mid-19th century in American was a difficult place. It was full of racial strife. Into this morass, Douglass strode demanding to tell his story to the world. Famous at a critical time For many years Americans had been predicting that the slavery question would only be decided by conflict. In the 1830s, when Douglass was becoming a man, the former president of the United States John Quincy Adams wrote the following chilling passage: If slavery be the destined sword of the hand of the destroying angel which is to sever the ties of this Union, the same sword will cut in sunder the bonds of slavery itself. A dissolution of the Union for the cause of slavery would be followed by a servile war in the slave-holding States, combined with a war between the two severed portions of the Union. It seems to me that its result might be the extirpation of slavery from this whole continent; and, calamitous and desolating as this course of events in its progress must be, so glorious would be its final issue, that, as God shall judge me, I dare not say that it is not to be desired (Haysville). These are words that Douglass would definitely have agreed with. As he pursued his career on the speaking circuit, the war began to be fought that would decide America’s soul. For many Americans of this era, as the Civil War began, slavery was an abstract thing. Many slaves could not read and write. They did not communicate much with white Americans. There was little for the average American to understand how much slaves suffered or what freedom meant to them. This changed during the course of the Civil War. It changed in large part because of the words of Douglass. Human rights activist Few readers could help but be moved when they encounter the passage in his memoirs which describe his first moment of real freedom. The effect is that of a thunderbolt. I have often been asked how I felt when first I found myself on free soil. And my readers may share the same curiosity. There is scarcely anything in my experience about which I could not give a more satisfactory answer. A new world had opened upon me. If life is more than breath, and the quick round of blood, I lived more in one day than in a year of my slave life. It was a time of joyous excitement which words can but tamely describe. In a letter written to a friend soon after reaching New York, I said: I felt as one might feel upon escape from a den of hungry lions. Anguish and grief, like darkness and rain, may be depicted; but gladness and joy, like the rainbow, defy the skill of pen or pencil. (Life and Times, 170). Upon reading a passage like this many American readers began to finally empathize with the plight of the slaves. A human narrative was added to the abstract political and moral argument. This human face was Douglass’ and he was recognized around the world for it. While some criticized his writing, he stood tall as a powerful advocate for abolition. His views began to be accepted by more and Americans. He came to be seen as a representative not only of his race but as a true American—one not afraid to raise his voice to speak out against injustice. He was an inspiration to many American civil rights leaders who sought to finish the job he had started more than a hundred years earlier. Men such as Martin Luther King Jr. saw in Douglass a personal hero, a man beyond reproach. To conclude, Frederick Douglass was a slave, and chose to be free, he was ignorant, and he chose to learn how to read and write, he was oppressed and he choice to raise his voice and demand his rights. Few Americans have begun with so little and ended up making such a remarkable difference. He is an example to us all. Work consulted Douglass, Frederick. Life and Times of Frederick Douglass. Christian Age Office, 1882. Douglass, Frederick. Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass, an American slave. Written by himself. (6 ed.). London: H.G. Collins, 1851. (“Douglas 2”). Adams, John Quincy. Diaries. As quoted in Haysville Library website. http://haysvillelibrary.wordpress.com/2009/01/17/john-quincy-adams-on-the-civil-war/ Lampe, Gregory P. Frederick Douglass: Freedoms Voice. Rhetoric and Public Affairs Series. East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 1998. Read More