In the year 1817, Frederick Douglas was born as Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey. He was born in a plantation, in Talbot County, Maryland. The different names can be explained by his status at the time of his birth, he was born a slave. He taught himself to read and write and when he escaped he played a major part in the Abolitionist movement. His testimony and his autobiography opened the eyes of many that the right to own slaves is not a God-given privilege. He exposed the wickedness of the slave masters and the suffering of the Negro slaves. In this manner Douglas was instrumental in the abolition of slavery in the United States of America.
The Abolitionist Movement
The goals of the abolitionist movement can be simplified into two:
- to abolish slavery; and
- to show that slavery could not be justified due to the negative impact it has on both slaves and slave masters.
Douglas began his narrative by explaining that slaves were treated a little higher than animals. The author intimated that he had no idea how old he was. Douglas said that just like the farm animals that were utilized as resources in the plantation, slaves had no idea when they were born. Their inability to celebrate their birthdays when they were kids is the least of their worries because their masters, the white men and women who owned them would like to control them like tools that cannot talk, reason or rebel against them.
It was therefore imperative that they remain ignorant, no knowledge about reading and writing. No free education and all the things that other children take for granted. The introductory statements alone are enough to picture an unhappy childhood. This suffering would progress into hard labor and the realization that every part of their being is owned by their slave masters and this included their family, their wives and their children. It was easy for their masters to separate the little ones from their mothers if there is an offer that they cannot refuse. It was common for children to be sold to another plantation that may be thousands of miles away and these children will never see their parents or their brothers and sisters again.
It was just the beginning. The horror of slavery was made plain in the first few chapters of his autobiography but there is more. Douglas was able to ascertain that his father was white. It may have been obvious to him and to others considering that he has mulatto features and other prominent characteristics of a child born from a white father and a slave mother. It is therefore a grave injustice not only that he was a child growing up under such horrible circumstances but also the fact that his father was a free man and yet he suffered the same fate as other Negro children. This is another illustration as to the kind of discrimination practiced in the South and Douglas had to tell the world about it.
It Was as Injurious to Them
Douglas was able to score a home run because he was not only concern about the plight of the slaves but he was also concern about what slavery is doing to the white slave masters. The Negroes suffered terribly at the hands of their owners but the white folks were transformed by their actions. In their attempt to subdue the slaves they have to become like animals themselves. Douglas was able to illustrate that slavery is such an evil practice that even those who are on top of the food chain, so to speak, are not immune to its sting. Douglas was able to show that it is not only the Negro slaves that needed salvation from the deadly plague of slavery. In this manner Douglas was able to secure sympathy from those who have the power to support the abolitionists’ cause.
Conclusion
Frederick Douglas was an eyewitness to the atrocities that were committed inside the plantations. He was a former slave. He was also half white. His testimony is therefore not only convincing but riveting. It was rare to have an eyewitness account of what actually happened in the fields and in the homes of the slaves. This is because slaves have no access to education and there is no way for them to learn how to read and write. In other words they could not communicate to outsiders.
But Douglas was smart enough to learn these skills and he was able to explain very well that slavery is not good for both slaves and their masters. Most people, especially Douglas audience – white Americans who live in the Northern states – believed that slavery is all about farming and nothing more. Douglas made them understand that a wicked system is operating in the South and that all the freedom-loving people of America must do everything in their power to destroy it.
Douglas’ description of how slaves were, maltreated coupled with the psychological and emotional burden that slave masters had to bear, created a powerful argument that slavery is something that must not be tolerated. Through his autobiography he was able to garner support not just from fellow blacks but also from highly-educated white folks who can really support the cause of the abolitionists. His clear prose was like a guided tour to the hidden world of slavery.
His writing was like a bright light that exposed the evil deeds of the masters as well as how their actions were slowly eating them up. For the slaves who were in bondage, Douglas was their hero who championed their cause; for they too are created in the image of God and have the same rights and privileges as citizens of the United States of America.
Bibliography
Douglas, Frederick. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas, An American Slave. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.