Frederick Douglass - Term Paper Example

Frederick Douglass No one would think American slaves did not suffer great injustices, heartache and physical punishment but the inhumane treatment imposed by white slave owners was harsh even by historic standards. The slavery experience in America was unlike most any other such as in ancient Egypt or Greece where slaves might expect to be released in time. American slaves served their masters indefinitely, masters who could lawfully buy, sell, beat or kill their human property. Education was prohibited, children separated from their mothers, spouses from one another and whippings were utilized often and brutally as a means to keep slaves in line. The African descendents were treated worse than farm animals which reduced them to relying on survival instincts, acting like animals. This ‘cause an effect’ reality reinforced stereotypes that slaves were more similar to animals than humans. Frederick Douglass experienced all of these indignities as a slave yet rose to prominence in the country that subjugated him and his people. Douglass wrote of his early life as a slave and along with its dehumanizing effects on a person in addition to his life as a freed man in the autobiography Frederick Douglass: Life of an American Slave. In it he details the aspects of life in the era and the circumstances that inspired him to ‘become a man’ instead of than remaining ‘in character’ as a slave. Frederick Douglass (1818 – 1895) was born in Maryland and given the birth name Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey. Douglass only saw his mother a few times before her death, when he was seven years-old. He was raised by his grandparents and aunt. Although Maryland was commonly considered part of the Northern states, slaves were used, but not to the same extent as in the South. Slaves in Maryland were typically treated more humanely than in states below the Mason-Dixon Line. Still, “Douglass witnessed many beatings during his first seven years and often was required to endure cold and hunger in his northern home.” (People and Events, 2008). Douglass was working in Baltimore by age eight where he was employed as a ship’s carpenter and was taught to read and write. It was during these early years he became to understand that some people thought slavery to be immoral. At age 15 his likely father, a white man named Douglass Aaron Anthony, died. He was forced to return to farm work where he was sadistically beaten on a daily basis by known slave breaker Edward Covey. (People and Events, 2008). Douglass turned on Covey, assaulting him while escaping the farm. He returned to Baltimore but was still considered a slave, a runaway slave which was a serious offense at the time. Fortunately while in Baltimore a friend gave him his own identification papers which allowed Douglass to escape slavery for good in September 1838. (McElrath, 2008). Douglass moved to Massachusetts and married Anna Murray of Baltimore, a freed slave herself. The couple would have five children. Douglass began his anti-slavery campaign by speaking to abolitionist groups in 1841 relating the reality of slavery. In 1845 he started writing about the slave experience publishing Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave in addition to speaking to audiences around the world, encouraged by William Lloyd Garrison (McElrath, 2008). Following two years of travel abroad, Douglass returned to America in 1847. He immediately accepted a position as publisher of the North Star, a weekly newspaper in New York where he moved with his family. Douglass, a strong-willed and well-known activist for slavery abolition, directed his energies to recruiting black soldier to fight for the North during the Civil War. At this time he was also speaking out for women’s rights in addition to freedom for blacks. Douglass has the honor of being the first black man to have an official title and position within the Federal Government. “From 1877 to 1881, he was the U.S. Marshall of the District of Columbia, from 1881 to 1886 he served as the recorder of deeds for the District of Columbia and from 1889 to 1891 he was the minister to Haiti” (McElrath, 2008). Douglass was the first black man in America to appear on the ticket in the presidential race in 1872 when the Equal Rights Party nominated him to be vice-president. Douglass died in 1895 at his home of heart failure. His legacy as an activist for human rights is celebrated by history and his courage in the face of adversity a model for the civil rights movement to follow. Douglass was a rare combination of a person who suffered horrible degradations as a slave but became a famous speaker and author who words and actions would inspire future generations of civil rights leaders. Douglass’s narrative starts with his earliest remembrances of his life, which is much less than that most people’s which underscores the extent to which black persons were considered animals. Douglass sorrowfully tells the reader that he does not know his precise date of birth. He calculates his year of birth by subtracting seven years from the year his mother died. Upon hearing the news of his mother’s death, Douglass was largely unaffected because the two had been separated since he was an infant. “Never having enjoyed, to any considerable extent, her soothing presence, her tender and watchful care, I received the tidings of [my mother’s] death with much the same emotions I should have probably felt at the death of a stranger” (Ch. 1). In the telling of this separation of him from his mother, Douglass also mentions that he never knew his father though some older acquaintances and relatives had told him his father was a white man. The important aspect of the early parts in the Narrative book was not his family history; it concentrated more on the technique by which the mindset of slaves are produced. Following birth, for example, they are quickly separated from their family to eliminate any feeling of natural human attachment and intentionally treated cruelly as a way to keep them in perpetual fear. Whippings were more about mind control than physical punishment. By the time Douglass was the young age of seven, he had worked sunup to sundown in the cotton fields, learned of mother’s death and had witnessed his aunt being brutally whipped. He tells of slave life, illustrating in vivid detail its brutal circumstances, the way it forms a person mentally, forcing them to exhibit animalistic behaviors along with the way slaves are supposed to act while in the company of their masters. Douglass describes slaves singing in the work fields. He took part in the songs, and explains how very few people, either masters or slaves, understood the true meaning and profound significance of the ‘negro work songs’. “I did not, when a slave, understand the deep meaning of those rude and apparently incoherent songs. I was myself within the circle; so that I neither saw nor heard as those without might see and hear” (Ch. 2). Most white people from northern states thought the songs were expressions of cheerfulness, an understandable assumption since most all songs being sung out loud are but that was not at all the case. Douglass explains that a good number of slaves were trapped in the mindset of the mindless tradition of slavery and did not appreciate the deep meanings of the songs they were singing daily. Slaves did understand that the words were expressions of misery and sadness, however, Douglass said it was only after he becomes educated and evolved psychologically beyond the boundaries of slavery did he really start to understand the methodical meanings within the songs. In Narrative, Douglass recounts his time as a slave while in Baltimore, working for the slave master’s brother. This is a noteworthy period in his life because this is when he learns to read. Mrs. Auld, his master’s wife, began teaching him but was scolded by her husband who told her slaves would rebel if given knowledge. “Whilst I was saddened by the thought of losing the aid of my kind mistress, I was gladdened by the invaluable instruction which, by the merest accident, I had gained from my master” (Ch. 6). It was during this period, he realized his master was right; knowledge is freeing for the mind and important for escaping the mindless existence of the slave life. He learned the extent to which blacks were being oppressed by whites. This insight motivated him to continue his education and to help teach former slaves interested in learning. The book’s main focus, though, is the brutal realities of slavery he experienced while serving two masters who were especially cruel. Even though his somewhat limited education in Baltimore had stimulated his intellect and sense of humanity, the atrocious treatment experienced from his master affected not just his body but his mind and spirit as well which reduced him to again feeling and thinking like an animal. “My natural elasticity was crushed, my intellect languished, the disposition to read departed, the cheerful spark that lingered about my eye died; the dark night of slavery closed in upon me; and behold a man transformed into a brute!” (Ch. 10). Throughout this latter section of the autobiography, Douglass continues to spotlight the effects of slavery on the mind and character instead of the more apparent physical abuse. This was the true source of the enslavement. During the years of slavery in Douglass’ time, his writings were inspirational to slaves who could read, encouraging them to rise above the internal shackles placed on them by the practices of slavery. He powerfully demonstrates his personal understanding of the assorted impediments that has to be conquered for a slave to really become a ‘free man.’ Many slaves acted the only way they knew how even when they were freed, still in a subservient way toward white persons and with the unspoken understanding that they were mentally inferior. In his writings, Douglass elucidates the perils of a mindset which limits a person’s self-worth and potential regardless of race, social status or gender. These are enduring observations of the human psyche, of a self perception that, for example, could continue to keep the low wage worker trapped within a cycle of poverty and ignorance or a woman trapped within someone else’s perception of her role in society as mother and homemaker. The physical abuse normally associated with slavery in America hid the abuse of the mind and spirit which was the most important factor in keeping slaves ‘in their place’ of a perceived subservience which is where masters wanted them to be. Douglass knew to truly free slaves their minds must first be freed. By telling his story, readers today can relate their own relentless feelings of torment and helplessness. Douglass’ overcame his slave beginnings to become a well-respected author and speaker in his own time and a historic figure for the ages. It is reassuring for readers to know someone else experienced what they currently are but survived much greater odds and oppressive circumstances to rise above the physical and mental shackles of slavery, even the self-imposed kind. Works Cited Douglass, Frederick. “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave.” Pennsylvania State University, 2001. McElrath, Jessica. “The Life of Frederick Douglass.” African-American History. About.com. Web. November 3, 2012 “People and Events: Frederick Douglass, 1818-1895.” Africans in America. New York: Public Broadcasting Station (PBS), 2008. Web. November 3, 2012 Read More