Frederik Douglas - Research Paper Example

?Research essay about Frederick Douglass Generally, growth and development of a society are indebted to the contributions by social/ political reformers. When socio-political development is superimposed into the context of the American society, Frederick Douglass is one among the social/ political reformers in the mainstream society. To be specific, Frederick Douglass’s life history is interconnected with the socio-political development of the African Americans in America. At the same time, Frederick Douglass was the part of a mass movement in favor of equality and against the discrimination based on racial identity and skin color. Thesis statement: The social, political and literary contributions of Frederick Douglass prove his importance within the spheres of social reform, political agitation, and American literary scenario. Personal life: Douglass was born in the year 1818, in Maryland. When his mother passed away, he was forced to serve other families. But disregarding his status as a slave, Mrs. Auld helped him to learn the alphabet and to read. This transformed Douglass’s life because he came to realize the fact that he was a slave who is destined to serve others. Henry Elliot stated that, “From his birth in 1818 until his death in 1895, his life would change many times” (6). When he was a teenager, he was hired by another person, named as Edward Covey. Within this context, he tired his level best to escape from slavery. Later, he met a free women named as Anna Murray. This incident ignited the spirit of freedom in Douglass’s mind. Somehow, he managed to escape to New York. In 1838, he married Anna Murray and started a new life. Later, in 1877, Douglass and his family moved to Washington D.C. In the year 1882, Anna Douglass passed away and this tragic incident badly affected Douglass’s emotional equilibrium. But Douglass overcame this traumatic condition by marrying Helen Pitts. On the other side, this marriage attracted criticism from the society. After marriage, Douglass and his wife visited a number of countries in Europe. Later, Douglass and his wife returned to Washington D.C. Later, he passed away in the year 1895. Social life: Frederick Douglass’s social life can be broadly divided into three: his involvement in the Abolitionist Movement, women’s suffrage, and fight against slavery. The Abolitionist Movement After the marriage with Anna Murray, Douglass began to attend the meetings organized by the Abolitionist leaders. Claudine L. Ferrell stated that, “Douglass read the Liberator and attended abolitionist meetings, first speaking at a meeting in 1841” (122). Once, he was invited to share his past experience as a slave. Thereafter, his life underwent transformation because he was encouraged by others to become the part of anti-slavery movement. Gradually, Douglass began to deliver speeches on his past experience. Besides, he served at the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society and this nurtured his involvement in the Abolitionist Movement. So, Douglass began to make use of the Abolitionist Movement as a platform to communicate with those who are in favor of anti-slavery protest. In short, Douglass’s past experience as a slave forced him to an active participant of the Abolitionist Movement. Besides, Douglass’s participation strengthened the anti-slavery protest in the mainland of US. But his effort to educate the mass that slavery is the visible violation of basic rights of human beings was not so easy. For instance, Douglass faced physical assault in Indiana. Women’s suffrage One can see that Douglass’s effort to reform the society was not limited to the context of anti-slavery protest. For instance, Douglass supported the women’s movement, especially the effort to gain the right to vote. Within this context, his participation in the Seneca Falls Convention (say, the mass movement related to the women’s activism for equal rights in the society) is noteworthy. The leaders of the convention were in favour of the women’s right to vote. But most of the members, including male, were not in favour of the fact that women were eligible to claim their right to vote. But Douglass hesitated to accept this opinion because he believed in equality. So, he made clear that women must enter the sphere of national politics and this can reduce the possibility of male domination in national politics. One can see that Douglass felt that the African American women must fight for their social and political rights in the society. Fight against slavery From the beginning itself, Douglass’s life was fully dedicated to the fight against slavery. As pointed out, his life during teenage proves that he tried his level best to save himself from the clutches of slavery. He was aware of the fact that slavery reduces a human being to the level of a machine designed to do work. In addition, Douglass knew that the Civil War encouraged the African Americans to participate in the mass struggle against slavery and discrimination. So, Douglass decided to extend his activism to the sphere of anti-slavery protest. Joanne Turner-Sadler stated that, “Before Douglass, many people could just ignore the evils and conditions of enslavement” (53). On the other side, the Emancipation Proclamation can be considered as the end product of the anti-slavery protest undertaken by Douglass and many other African Americans who are in favor of equality in the society. In addition, Douglass expected that the Emancipation Proclamation will help the African American community to gain the right to vote. So, one can see that Douglass’s fight against slavery originated from his responsible attitude towards the African Americans in America. Political life: Douglass’s political life can be broadly divided into three: his involvement in the Civil War, his speeches, and his fight to gain political rights. Involvement in the Civil War One can see that the Civil War helped thousands of African American slaves to enjoy freedom. On the other side, Douglass considered that the Civil War can help the African Americans to gain political rights in the society. David W. Blight opined that, “In disunion and the coming of the Civil War, Douglass would rediscover the depths of his radical abolitionism, his commitment to his race, and his psychological attachment to American nationalism” (59). After the Civil War, the Reconstruction process guaranteed political rights to the free slaves. Within this context, Douglass’s attempt to attract the African Americans to the national politics of America is noteworthy. For instance, his visit to Europe helped him to attract the leaders of anti-slavery protest in Europe. To be specific, Douglass’s political agitation during the Civil War Era attracted international attention. During the Civil War, Douglass and his sons joined the Union side. Gradually, Douglass became a prominent leader of anti-slavery/anti-racial protest in America during the Civil War Era. So, one can see that Douglass made use of his revolutionary spirit to support the African American political agitation. Speeches As pointed out, Douglass was a charismatic orator who is able to attract the attention of the oppressed class in the society. Earlier, he shared his experiences of his past as a slave and educated the mass on the hardships faced by the African American slaves. Gradually, he began to make use of his oratory skill to ignite the spirit of political freedom among the suppressed classes, especially the African Americans. Nicholas Buccola stated that, “In the ‘Who and What Is woman?” speech he delivered at the annual meeting of the New England Woman Suffrage Association in 1886, Douglass relied on a natural law argument to make the case that the right of suffrage should be extended to women” (67). He did not limit his political agitation within the contest of anti-slavery protest. Within this scenario, his speech at Bates College, Maine is important. So, one can easily identify the fact that he extended his political agitation to create awareness among the mass on voting rights, and equality before the law. Fight to gain political rights In the initial stages, Douglass provided ample importance to social reformation. Within this context, he considered that freeing the slaves from slavery and leading them towards freedom is most important. When the Emancipation Proclamation helped the slaves to gain freedom, Douglass concentrated on the rehabilitation of the free slaves and provided ample importance to their political rights in the society. One can see that Douglass’s transformation from a social reformer to a political reformer is indebted to the change in the national politics of America. Hereafter, Douglass concentrated on wellbeing of the African American community in general. In short, Douglass’s political life is interconnected with his transformation from a social reformer to political reformer, who is interested in the welfare of his fellow beings. Literary life: Within the context of the literary scenario in America, Douglass’s autobiographies unveil the atrocities faced by the African American slaves. Besides, Douglass utilized the literary genre of autobiography to educate the mass on the inhuman aspect of slavery, forced labor and segregation. Steven Mintz stated that, “When many Northerners refused to believe that this eloquent orator could possibly have been a slave, he responded by writing an autobiography that identified his previous owners by name” (146). For instance, the work A Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, which was published in the year 1845, unveils the most important happenings in the life of Douglass. Besides, his contributions to the context of memoir writing/fiction include the work named as The Heroic Slave, published in the year 1852. In this work, Douglass makes use of the character Madison Washington to lead the readers to have a bird’s eye view on the atrocities faced by the slaves in America. At the same time, Douglass provided ample importance to journalism because he was the founder of the newspaper, named as The North Star. Later he changed the name of the newspaper to Frederick Douglass' Paper, aiming to spread his anti-slavery messages to the mass. So, one can see that Douglass’s autobiographies are symbolic of the first hand experience of a slave and his memoirs/contributions to journalism proves his literary creativity. Summing, Frederick Douglass’s life history is symbolic of the atrocities faced by the African American slaves. Besides, his role as a social reformer is symbolic of the revolutionary spirit of the underdogs to attain freedom and the unending struggle to gain importance in the mainstream society. On the other side, his contributions to the political scenario of America are symbolic of the responsibility undertaken by the African American leaders to gain political freedom. In addition, Frederick Douglass’s literary contributions are related to his unending spirit to lead his fellow beings towards social and political freedom. In short, the revolutionary spirit of freedom ignited by Frederick Douglass can be considered as the source of inspiration for the African Americans in America. Works Cited Buccola, Nicholas. The Political Thought of Frederick Douglass: In Pursuit of American Liberty. New York: NYU Press, 2012. Print. Blight, David W. Frederick Douglass' Civil War: Keeping Faith in Jubilee. US: Louisiana State University Press, 1991. Print. Elliot, Henry. Frederick Douglass: From Slavery to Statesman. New York: Crabtree Publishing Company, 2009. Print. Ferrell, Claudine L. The Abolitionist Movement. Westport: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2006. Print. Mintz, Steven. A History of Us: Sourcebook and Index: Documents That Shaped the American Nation. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002. Print. Sadler, Joanne Turner. African American History: An Introduction. New York: Peter Lang, 2009. Print. Read More