Summary: The Case Of Frederick

1. Douglass opens his novel by talking about the ambiguity he faced in his life as a slave. He didn’t know when he was born, how old he was, or who his father was. Douglass begins the novel this way to exhibit how as a slave, his personhood is marginalized. His marginalized personhood encompasses what it is like to be a slave; and shows how slaves are treated more like property than humans. Because slaves don’t know much about themselves, they are deprived of things that humanize them, such as birthdays.

A comparison of the narrative of Douglass and the narrative of Jacobs was very interesting to me because, they vividly establishes the full range of burdens and conditions many slaves experience. I couldn’t help when I read the first half of these narratives to notice the similarities they both share and make the connection between them, as I relived their experiences through the lenses of a mixed male and a black female slaves with a white lover; that was also raped by her white master. Mr. Douglass was born in Talbot County, Maryland, and he expresses is frustration for not knowing or not being allow to know his age. The show this when he stated in his narrative by saying; “A want of information concerning my own was a source of unhappiness to me even doing childhood. The white children could tell their ages. I could not tell why I ought to be deprived on the same privilege.”(pg. 17) Douglass explain this is the fate of many slave of this time, they were not told or had any ideas of where and when they were born.

The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave was written by Douglass himself, giving a detailed description of the slaveholders cruelty. Douglass was born in Tuckahoe, Maryland, and he makes known that he does not know his specific birthdate, “... no accurate knowledge of my age, never having seen any authentic record containing it.” (47), but it was approximately around 1818. Once being enslaved, and then escaping in 1838 he became known as an eloquent speaker for abolitionists, being able to deliver passionate speeches about the role of a slaveholder and their relationship to their slaves, especially since he was one of them. Douglass even discovered the true meaning of the songs sung by enslaved people, “ 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.” (27). The book is not an easy read for those who believe in equal rights, as Douglass put into painful words the description of brutal whippings, signs of no mercy, and people being taken advantage of because if they had shown mercy they believed they would have lost their dignity.

The narrative begins with Douglass being oblivious to the identity of his father. This theme of Frederick Douglass being young and naïve is continued throughout the beginning. The idea of slaves being young and naïve is seen in almost all slave narratives. One of the ways slave owners kept slaves captive is through keeping the slaves ignorant. It is nearly impossible for a slave to escape slavery if they cannot read and write. Slave owners knew how impossible this was so they kept them ignorant, they kept them from learning. Since ignorance is what seems to hold slaves captive, one could easily conclude that knowledge is the key to freedom. Douglass figured this out at a young age. He starts learning from Mrs. Auld but eventually ends up

Fredrick was always troubled by the lack of information slaves knew about themselves. He didn’t have an identity beyond knowing he was born a slave. “By far the larger part of the slaves know as little of their ages as horses know of theirs, and is the wish of most masters within my knowledge to keep their slaves thus ignorant.” (217) Although, this information was not peeve to slaves nevertheless, it was a source of unhappiness for Douglass. In addition, Fredrick like most slaves never developed a relationship with his mother. He was certain it was deliberate on the part of the master, “to hinder the development of the child’s affection to mother, and to blunt and destroy the

Douglass was quick to show the first act of how a slaves were dehumanized. Children were separated from their mothers at very young ages ; “ Frequently, before the child has reached its twelfth month, its mother is taken from it, and hired out on some farm a considerable distance off, and the child is placed under the care of an old woman, too old for field labor, “ ( Douglass, 2). This act is like what happens to animals, they are taken away from their mothers at young ages so they can adapt to their new environments while they are still young, much like what happened to the slaves. Like Frederick many of the slaves did not even know their mothers that well because they only got to see them a few times in their whole lifetime. Without the slaves knowing their backgrounds, they did not tend to know their actual ages.

Douglass Freedom Having learned how to read and write, Frederick Douglass changed himself from a man slave into a widely respected writer. This freedom was set forth by his luck in receiving a mistress, Mrs. Auld, who would begin Douglass revelation of learning how to read and write. Reaching adulthood and speaking in English fluently, Douglass perception of freedom changed. As a child, he could not really explain all of what he experienced and how he felt about himself, as a slave. But as he matured and developed his writing and reading skills, the quality of his thoughts, and the level of understanding had transformed his ideas of freedom. Since birth, Frederick was immediately exposed to the harsh realities of slavery, which included of knowing what his self-identity, which was a slave. Freedom was mentally shaped for slaves, as to prepare them for their long years of hard laborious service

In The Life of Frederick Douglass An American Slave, written by himself the author asserts that the way to enslave someone is to keep them from learning at all. Douglass supports his claim by, first, when Frederick was small he was never able to tell his age or the date, and secondly, they were never allowed to be taught how to read that was something always hidden from him as a young child. The author’s purpose is to inform the reader that as a slave there were so many things they were not allowed to have that we may take for granted, in order to make it very clear that we should not take our education and opportunities for granted. Based on The Life Of Frederick Douglass An American Slave, Douglass is writing for the white people who believed that slavery was right, he wanted to make it very clear that the slaves and Douglass had nothing handed to them.

In Frederick Douglass’ case, he was born into which for him was slavery and his youth years he was isolated away from his mother because slave owners wanted slaves to have no emotions towards their family, but he was one of the Master’s children. In the excerpt Douglass stated, “ My Father was a white man. He was admitted to be such by all i ever heard speak of my parentage. The opinion was also whispered that my master was my father; but of the correctness withheld me. My mother and I were seperated when I was but an infant-- before I knew her as my mother.” He is a young black slave who at first did not have the ability or knowledge to read and is very naïve in understanding his situation. As a child put into slavery Douglass

The problem of identity plagues Douglass. Unable to establish a sense of self, Douglass questions his age and parentage. From the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, he states, "I have no accurate knowledge of my age [...]" (1824). Douglass' concern about his age is a sign that he lacks knowledge important to who is he. For Douglass, his age would confirm the years he has been in bondage. By questioning his age, Douglass characteristically connects to the American Renaissance's quest to examine and explore oneself in society. Douglass further inquires about his parents:

In his youth, Douglass felt inferior to other boys his age because of his slave status. Frederick Douglass was often whipped by his masters and suffered from hunger and cold. As an outcome from being a child and not old enough to work in fields yet, Douglass often had leisure time which include keeping Master Daniel Lloyd company. To his advantage as the master’s son being attached to him, he would not let Douglass be “made fun of by older kids and would shares his sweets with him” (Douglass, 5). Even as child, Douglass knew he would never be able to enjoy life like his master’s son. He knew slaves were not given the same amount of freedom like citizens or indentured servants. Slaves were not permitted by law to read or write. A slave could not go anywhere with a written consent form from his or her master. There were no laws that stop a white slave owner from abusing their African slaves. The slaves worked more intensive labor for less benefits of an indentured servant because of the law. A slave would cook and clean, tend crops, and do other assignments from dawn to dusk (Sewall, The Sin of Slaveholding, 3). These hours were much longer than an indentured servant. Although the son was the same age as him, Douglass would be always a lower status than him.

Frederick Douglass was a North American slave whose environment killed any intellectual stimulus. He was denied all access to knowledge, even that which concerned his own life. Douglass demonstrated his lack of self-understanding when he wrote, "I have no accurate knowledge of my age...By far the larger part of the slaves know as little of their ages as horses know of theirs, and it is the wish of most masters within my knowledge to keep their slaves thus ignorant" (Douglass 255). This excerpt form Douglass' narrative illustrated how the North American slave was given no opportunity for obtaining an education. These human beings were lowered to the level of beasts under the wicked institution of slavery. Their masters felt that a slave's only means for existence was to serve, therefore, it was only important to know how to perform thier duties. A child growing up in such harsh conditions would surely come to see himself as inferior. There was also an enormous amount of violence a slave had to witness. In Douglass' first encounter with violence he witnessed the beating of his own aunt by the overseer, in which "the louder she

Frederick Douglass, originally Frederick Bailey, was born into slavery in or around 1818 in Talbot County, Maryland, though Douglass himself was never sure of his exact date of birth. While his mother came from Native American descent, his father came from African and European descent. Until the age of six where he was sent to live and work on the Wye House Plantation, Douglass lived with his maternal grandmother, after his mother left him. Initially, Douglass was given to Lucretia Auld, but then Thomas Auld, her husband, sent him to Baltimore with his brother, Hugh. At Baltimore, Hugh's wife taught Douglass how to read and write. Soon, he taught himself more and began teaching other slaves. As a result, Douglass was sent to Edward Covey who

Today almost all children grow up knowing their parents. It is a crime to take children away from their parents under most circumstances. Reflecting back to slave times, taking the slave children away from their parents is dehumanizing to the parents and children. Douglass uses these descriptions in his narrative to convey how poorly slaves were treated. He never really finds out who his father is, but knows he could have been the master, regardless Douglass knows no matter whom his father is, he would still be a slave.

Douglass was separated by his mother after she gave life to him and that is when he was introduced into slavery. He stated, "The white children could tell their ages. I could not tell why I ought to be deprived of the same privilege."(1.1) As a child, he felt confused in why he cannot know his own age, which makes him proved to us how slavery is a nonsense institution. Douglass later said, "This is the penalty of telling the truth, of telling the simple truth, in answer to a series of plain questions. (3.5) With this statement we can see how a