Frederick Douglass: The Road Of Freedom

In the autobiography “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass” written by himself is a book about an American slave on his extremely challenging journey to freedom. In the book, one of the main themes “Education is the key to freedom” is communicated throughout the course of the book. It is illustrated clearly when Douglass looks on his departure from Colonel Lloyd’s plantation. It is also conveyed when Mr. Auld scolds his wife about educating their slaves. Finally it is communicated when Douglass holds a sabbath school for his fellow slaves.

He soon became one of the first black leaders in the 18th century. He decided to attack slavery and suffrage. His brilliance and determination of shaping America became a inspiration to many more Americans. He became a public speaker for Anti Slavery and started shaping America into a place of equal rights for black and women. He was in the society of abolitionist as a speaker and leader for 3 years until going to the civil war.

Frederick was an amazing writer he wrote the north star and other papers. The north star was a newspaper that informed people about slavery and how it was wrong. Frederick Douglass also advised presidents and lectured thousands. He discovered so much skill in himself. Frederick Douglas is an inspiration to many slaves.

The legendary abolitionist and orator Frederick Douglass was one of the most important social reformers of the nineteenth century. Being born into slavery on a Maryland Eastern Shore plantation to his mother, Harriet Bailey, and a white man, most likely Douglass’s first master was the starting point of his rise against the enslavement of African-Americans. Nearly 200 years after Douglass’s birth and 122 years after his death, The social activist’s name and accomplishments continue to inspire the progression of African-American youth in modern society. Through his ability to overcome obstacles, his strive for a better life through education, and his success despite humble beginnings, Frederick Douglass’s aspirations stretched his influence through

Education played a big role in Frederick’s life. Douglass had this great idea where he believed that having an education would help him survive the slave world. As he begins his narrative he introduces himself as a former slave and the son of a white master. He sees how even though he is son to a white male, he is still seen as a slave, uneducated and ignorant. Douglass mentions his narrative that at this point of life he really has no accurate account of his real age.

As one begins their journey on the open road, discoveries are made, new people are met, and life is fully changed. The thought of freedom comes to mind when describing the United States but comparing modern times to the past would not be effective. Freedom did not occur until after slavery passes through. There were many individuals who made an impact. Fredrick Douglass was an African-American social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman who wrote My Bondage and Freedom which expressed his struggles and reflections about slavery.

Soon, this abolitionist newspaper had become very famous. Douglass educated, given knowledge, and raise the consciousness to the Northern blacks through the newspaper, also promote the majority of development of the antislavery movement. Besides being an abolitionist, Douglass also supports in equal women rights. In 1848, the speech in New York was the first time he talks about women’s rights; “In respect to political rights, we hold woman to be justly entitled to all we claim for man. We go farther, and express our conviction that all political rights which it is expedient for man to exercise, it is equally so for women.

In Frederick Douglass’s narrative, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, he tells his story of what it was like to be a slave. Douglass was born into slavery. He spent his childhood and and some of his adulthood as a slave, and after many years was ready to be free. He tells us of how slavery is terrible for slaves, and how slavery corrupts slaveholders. With this, he decides that after years of not knowing what slavery was, and years of having to hide in the shadows, Douglass was ready to shine light on the American Slave System.

This also gives the audience an understanding of his past with the relationship of father between the time he was alive and past. The novel then continues to start off with part one. In part one, James Baldwin touches on his first essay with title “Everybody’s Protest Novel”. Baldwin examines Uncle Tom’s Cabin written by Harriet Beecher Stowe’s as he describes it as “cornerstone of American social protest fiction”. Baldwin describes this novel (Uncle Tom’s Cabin) as it describes the life of the slaves and the daily life on a plantation.

Introduction Many writers and speakers have been influenced by the speeches of Martin Luther King Jr. "I have a Dream" and Frederick Douglass "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July". These speeches have helped evolve the history so drastically that black American’s now have freedom and to never be segregated like they were in the past.

They were the people responsible for persuading Douglass to write an autobiography. The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass was published in 1845. The book gained a lot of people attention, which put Douglass life in danger. The book risked him being captured and places back into

The autobiography became widely read due to it being realistic in terms that Douglass was once a slave and was now free. He wrote about his overall experience as a slave whom was taken away from his mother at an early age, only to be taken to work at a plantation. His written experiences essentially created awareness among the people who had read his autobiography. “In his preface, William Lloyd Garrison pledges that Douglass’s Narrative is ‘essentially true in all its statements; that nothing has been set down in malice, nothing exaggerated’” (Horn).

“I shall see this day and its popular characteristics from the slave’s point of view” (Douglass). Everyone is human, so they should all have the same human rights, but slaves were stripped from them all. Fourth of July was set upon to celebrate the freedom won after the war, yet there were still millions of people who were not free. Frederick Douglass does not believe that he, along with other African Americans, should celebrate Fourth of July because they were not included in the freedom that was won. Douglass simply reminded everyone that just because the Declaration of Independence was signed, there were still slaves in the world.

Frederick was a man of many things. African-American social reformer, abolitionist, writer, orator, and a former slave. But what made him become this great man. The fact that he was a former slave allowed him to understand firsthand the terrors of slavery. He could read and write, which was instrumental in his life.

He became and advisor and diplomat to people like Abraham Lincoln. His work greatly educated the public about slavery and helped move the abolitionist movement forward. His famous works are "The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass" and "The Life and Times of Frederick Douglass, Written by Himself." By publishing these works and speaking to the public, he showed everyone that black people were intelligent and talented people too, and deserved freedom. His main causes were to free the slaves and end it.