Kylie McEwen
Slave Narratives and the Civil War
"The more I read, the more I was led to abhor and detest my enslavers" (Douglass 43). This was said by Frederick Douglass, an ex-slave from Maryland. Douglass wrote a book recounting his experience as a slave, called the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave (Frederick Douglass and the Civil War). The book is an example of a slave narrative, which is a "firsthand account of... African Americans whon were enslaved" (Criner 1). Former slaves wrote different slave narratives differently before and after the Civil War. The purpose of antebellum slave narratives was to spread awareness and recruit people to the cause. Postebellum slave narratives were used to empower African
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It was published over sixty years before the civil war began, causing it to become very popular (Tucker 3). After this, many other freed or escaped slaves, such as Frederick Douglas, were inspired to share their stories. Frederick Douglass was born into slavery in "1818" (Frederick Douglass and the Civil War 1). During his time as a slave, he educated himself, learning to read and write. After his escape, he wrote his "wildly successful" slave narrative, "The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass an American Slave" (Frederick Douglass and the Civil War 6). The country was impressed by the intellect of Douglass, causing his work to become very famous, selling almost "30,000 copies between 1845 and 1860" (Slave Narratives and Uncle Tom's Cabin 2 ). The people of the north had never encountered a well written intelligent account of a life of slavery. Europe and the north showed their appreciation for Douglass's work by buying him his freedom. All slave narratives of this …show more content…
People were not interested in rehashing the cruelties of slavery. Therfore, slave narrative writers took a different route. They focused more on the "resilience, industry and ingenuity" they had gained from their experiences (Criner & Nash 6). They depicted former slaves as productive members of society. They also focused on the persistent racism of the north, showing the struggle was still not over. Booker T. Washingtons' Up from Slavery is an example of an antebellum slave narrative. (Criner & Nash 4). Booker's slave narrative focused on his success at creating an African American school after his time in slavery. He illustrates that his experience in slavery paved the way for his role as a successful schoolteacher at "Hampton" (Up from Slavery 22). His slave narrative also continued the discussion about racism between races by giving examples of racism in the north. Another reason former slaves continued to write slave narratives was the Lost Cause. In "1865," the Civil War ended, and all slaves were freed (Up from Slavery 5). Once the war was lost, a new movement began to "defend the myth of the South," named the "Lost Cause" (Andrews 11). The Lost Cause were slave narratives written by pro-slavery southerners, depicting slavery as a utopian system. They romanticized the lifestyle, describing slaves as happy, "members of the... family" (Medlin 5). Sadly, while many former slaves attempted to remind the world of
He traveled for four years as he spoke out in many placed about his story and experience in slavery. Many people did not believe he was a fugitive slave because he was an eloquent speaker and writer. He then later wrote his autobiography "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass" in 1845. After the publication of his autobiography, Douglass had to flee the country for his safety since he was still a runaway fugitive slave. As he toured many countries like England and Ireland he began to gain supporters.
The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass addresses an intensely problematic issue the South had been facing for decades: slavery. He was one of the few slaves who could read and write, which allowed him to be able to write his book. The main reason Douglass wrote the book was to educate people from the North about how slaves were being treated in the South and to attempt to have slavery abolished. Douglass uses his personal stories as a slave to make a persuasive case against slavery.
The histories written by the White and the Black abolitionists are widely known because they turn back powerfully to autobiographical motif. The slave narratives covered many areas in their narrative of black African society. They also spoke extensively about how they were arrested by whites in the same country where they lived and made them slaves under very harsh conditions. Frederick Douglass (1818-95) was known as a leader of the Black journalist group. He considered one of the most prominent writers and critics demanding the abolition of slavery in the narrative of the slave.
Frederick Douglass, an abolitionist who changed America's perspectives of subjection through his compositions and activities. Frederick's life as a slave had the best effect on his compositions. Through his experience as a slave, he created feeling and experience for him to wind up plainly an effective abolitionist author. He encountered brutal treatment and his abhor for servitude and craving to be free made him compose Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. In his Narrative, he composed the tale of his hopeless life as a slave and his battle to be free.
Dallin Jones C. Ogimoto American Literature February 15, 2023 Frederick Douglass Rhetorical Appeals Fredrick Douglass was born into slavery on February 14, 1818. He later escaped slavery in 1838. Frederick Douglass is most commonly known for his narrative, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave. The purpose of this narrative was to uphold the principle of freedom as an inalienable human right and to prove how slavery was dehumanizing. Fredrick Douglass neatly uses ethos, logos, and pathos to promote his purpose, but pathos is by far the most effective due to the correlations between him and the reader.
After multiple attempts, in 1838 Douglass finally escaped from slavery with the help of some other (Douglass, Narrative). So, Douglass has first-hand experience as a slave that enables him to get credibility from people, especially other slaves. They wanted to be able to relate to the stories. Eventually these people liked his works so much, that they wanted more and it eventually spread to other groups of people, including the white-man, slave owners. Eventually a ton of different types of groups were reading his works, enabling him to reach out to different social classes.
These speeches were a key factor in his success in spreading awareness about the hardships of slavery. In 1845, Douglass wrote and published his first autobiography, “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave,” which revealed his horrific past along with his escape to a new life. This script was a powerful tool, spreading worldwide awareness about slavery, and helped him further progress his fight against slavery. The detailed stories revealed in the book caused readers to second guess Douglass, assuming a former slave could not write with such elegance.
Slavery was not completely the way that the media and base level history books have depicted. During the mid 1800’s, a rift split America apart over the issue of Slavery. When people look back on this divide, many tend to overlook the different stories these former slaves had. Despite Slavery being depicted as just plantation labor, it has had many different forms and long lasting effects such as African American troops, lynchings, police brutality, and sharecropping.
Slavery soon proved its ability to divest her of these heavenly qualities. Under its influence, the tender heart became stone, and the lamblike disposition gave way to one of tiger-like fierceness.” He wonders why the ‘land of the free’ is only free for white people and what it takes for the ‘human spirit’ to truly be free. Douglass uses his narrative as a means to show us that he won his freedom, he made himself free but as long as anyone else is still enslaved, he is not a free man. I believe the provocative questions posed by Frederick Douglass along with the experiences he suffered in slavery work together to make his narrative a hit and this why it sold many copies in the United States of America and Europe also.
The autobiography, The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, written in 1845 in Massachusetts, narrates the evils of slavery through the point of view of Frederick Douglass. Frederick Douglass is a slave who focuses his attention into escaping the horrors of slavery. He articulates his mournful story to anyone and everyone, in hopes of disclosing the crimes that come with slavery. In doing so, Douglass uses many rhetorical strategies to make effective arguments against slavery. Frederick Douglass makes a point to demonstrate the deterioration slavery yields from moral, benevolent people into ruthless, cold-hearted people.
The nineteenth century was a dynamic and trying time for many American citizens, politicians and unfortunately slaves. In the middle of the century one courageous slave named, Frederick Douglass confronted adversity as a slave through literacy and documenting pertinent events and feelings as a slave. Through his persistence, bravery and knowledge he was able to write two intriguing nonfiction works that provided insight and was incredibly popular. The first work of pure grit is titled, The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, written in 1845 as he in a brief, though callous way summed up his experience as a slave. As a consequence of such popularity and attention in 1855 Douglass published a second book titled, My Bondage and My Freedom
Douglass is also best known for his very first autobiography Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave (National Historic Site D.C.). Not many people be-lieved that this was possible, who could a black slave be so literate and have written such a great piece of literature. There are three versions of his autobiography, and each is just a revision of the other, adding and revising what was said in the one before. Douglass spent two years in Ireland and Britain, where he gave numerous lectures in churches. While in Britain, Douglas became le-gally free when a few British supporters raised enough money to buy his freedom from Thomas Auld.
In 1845, douglass wrote his autobiography—Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, Written by Himself— as a response to critics who argued that such a well-spoken man could never have been a
The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass; an autobiography consisting of Frederick Douglass’ search for freedom from the slaveholders who kept many African Americans captive, allowed many to understand the pain and misery in the midst of slavery. Published in 1845, Douglass conveyed the lives of African Americans and how they have suffered a great deal of pain and discomfort through a provocative tone . Throughout his autobiography, Douglass used countless metaphors to portray his life. From Mr. Plummer to Mrs. Auld, the reader could better perceive the text by visualizing the metaphors that Douglass has used. Using Frederick’s writing, youthful audiences can gain knowledge about slavery and its effects.
When Frederick Douglass published his self-written narrative, people finally got a fully comprehensive view of the life of a slave. To debunk the mythology of slavery, Douglass presents the cold, hard truth, displays slaves true intelligence,