Introduction
Frederick Douglass was born into slavery and was a prominent abolitionist who published numerous important books after escaping slavery in 1838. The chapter “Learning to Read and Write” from his 1845 autobiography will be examined. In addition, the following papers will be reviewed: “Letter to Thomas Auld” from 1848, “The Douglass Republic” published in 2020, the 2022 article “Frederick Douglass at the Emancipation Memorial”, and “Frederick Douglass and the African American Epistle” from 2020. Additionally, Douglass’s speech “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?” was first proclaimed in 1852, and his 1876 Oration in Memory of Abraham Lincoln will be explored.
When analyzed together, these papers reveal Douglass’ radically anti-slavery position, which he was ready to give himself completely. This determination is particularly evident in “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?” which masterfully and openly deconstructs the existing order of things. Furthermore, his revelations in “Learning to Read and Write” support this idea, where Douglass mentions his impressions from Catholic emancipation literature. Finally, Douglass’ unrelenting hope for freedom for himself and other enslaved people is evident in his powerful speeches and unique epistolary style. Overall, carefully analyzing Douglass’ literary works and argument reveals his inherently individualistic views, demonstrated through his strong character and unbreakable resolve.
Douglass’s Personal Experience and Strength
Douglass has always been a follower of individual action in dismantling slavery, meaning that only personal strengths, power of will, and determination could ultimately abolish slavery nationwide. In the passage “Learning to Read and Write,” Douglass describes how he defied the regulations that forbade enslaved people from receiving an education by learning to read and write in secrecy. In “Learning to Read and Write”, he shows determination to learn as he got letter lessons from his master’s mistress before he prohibited it.
After that, Douglass started teaching himself to read and write by imitating the white children in the area and exercising on sheets of paper. Douglass’s unique style is brimming in these lines: “This bread I used to bestow upon the hungry little urchins, who, in return, would give me that more valuable bread of knowledge” (Douglass, “Learning to Read and Write” 1082). The chapter is written masterfully, showing how young Fredrick’s world becomes bigger as he gradually accomplishes little goals. Eventually, when he learned about the abolitionist struggle and the ideas of Catholic emancipation, Douglass understood that his life was up to him to change. What he got from the reading was “a bold denunciation of slavery and a powerful vindication of human rights” (Douglass, “Learning to Read and Write” 1032). It was this understanding that soon motivated him to look for his freedom.
In the spirit of his initial individualistic position, Douglass uses his own experiences and views to highlight the injustice and hypocrisy of American society while speaking from a position of profound understanding and wisdom. In his speech, “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” he says, “What, then, remains to be argued? Is it that slavery is not divine; that God did not establish it; that our doctors of divinity are mistaken? There is blasphemy in the thought. That which is inhuman cannot be divine” (Douglass, “What to the Slave is the 4th of July?”). Through these words, Douglass emanates wisdom as he dismisses all thought that tolerates or appeals to slavery by asserting that slavery has no divine attachment. Moreover, this position puts a humanistic, inherently individualistic perspective first.
Douglass’s Powerful Oratory Skills
The epistolary form, a literary technique that entails writing in the form of letters, was one that Douglass frequently employed. Amid divisions among Christians in the 1840s over the compatibility of their religion with slave-keeping, Douglass delivers in the “Letter to Thomas Auld” a kind of scriptural interventional condemnation of slavery and a defense of the natural rights tradition. With an epistolary tone, he frequently addressed white and black audiences in his writings and lectures and used his platform to refute widely held notions about slavery and racial inequity (Lynerd 5). Douglass finishes the letter with iconic words:” I am your fellow man, but not your slave” (Douglass “Letter to Thomas Auld”). With these words, Douglass further emphasizes his nature as a human and an individual above all else.
As part of his epistolary style, Douglass also uses rhetorical questions to draw his audience’s attention. In his speech “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?”, he asks a chain of questions at the beginning:
For who is there so cold that a nation’s sympathy could not warm him? Who is so obdurate and dead to the claims of gratitude that would not thankfully acknowledge such priceless benefits? Who so stolid and selfish, would not give his voice to swell the hallelujahs of a nation’s jubilee when the chains of servitude had been torn from his limbs? (Douglass “What to the Slave is the 4th of July?”).
Douglass also quotes poems, such as in “Learning to Read and Write”, he quotes: “They are, in the language of the slave’s poet, Whittier,— “Gone, gone, sold and gone to the rice swamp dank and lone,” (Comeau). This quotation highlights the captivity and inability to possess oneself as long as an individual is enslaved.
Douglass urges the audience to acknowledge the wrongness of slavery and act to stop it, contending that real patriotism and love for one’s country demand facing and resolving its injustices. “The sunlight that brought life and healing to you has brought stripes and death to me. This Fourth of July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, I must mourn” (Douglass, “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?”). In addition, Douglass highlights the government’s and the church’s participation in sustaining slavery, contending that both have fallen short of their moral and ethical obligations. He observes the paradox of praising God in hymns while enslaving others.
Douglass Strong Arguments
In the Emancipation Memorial in Washington, D.C., Abraham Lincoln is depicted towering over a kneeling slave with his right hand raised to free him from enslavement. Frederick Douglass was permitted to address the crowd when the statue was inaugurated in 1876. Douglass, though, felt conflicted about the statue and its intended message. As Brown notes:
Indeed, the art historian Kirk Savage has demonstrated that the originating impulse behind the monument was itself clouded and contradictory, as Douglass undoubtedly knew, and white popular opinion quickly deemed it the “Lincoln Memorial” until the real thing appeared (Brown 1).
Douglass recognized Lincoln’s contribution to the abolition of slavery, calling him “the first martyr President of the United States” (Douglass, “An Oration in Memory of Abraham Lincoln”). He praised Lincoln for trying to protect the Union and announcing the Emancipation Proclamation, which helped prepare the way for the eventual eradication of slavery.
Conversely, Douglass thought the statue misrepresented the conversation between Lincoln and the slaves. He thought that rather than being an active participant in his freedom, the statue showed the enslaved person as “patient” and “docile,” waiting for Lincoln to free him (Brown 1). Douglass begins the speech by noting: “In his interests, in his associations, in his habits of thought, and his prejudices, he was a white man” (Douglass, “An Oration in Memory of Abraham Lincoln”). In contrast to the enslaved people, Douglass claimed that the statue promoted the notion that white people were the heroes of the abolitionist struggle.
Douglass was an engaging storyteller who kept his audience glued to their seats by combining humor, sorrow, and a penchant for intellectual combat. In his last significant addresses, he continued to criticize his whites, “Have loyalty, honor, and patriotism enough” for their citizens to uphold their own Constitution (Asim 4). Finding strength in the oppression he endured throughout his life, Douglass became an example of a freedom fighter (Abu Taleb 75). He became a relentless critic of American hypocrisy and the critic best able to exploit the symbolism of American exceptionalism to expose the country’s ridiculous and dangerous pretexts, since he comprehended the power of narrative.
Conclusion
Frederick Douglass’ unrelenting commitment to the cause of equality and justice for all people permeated his life and work. Focusing on an individual’s strengths and power of will, Douglass repeatedly deconstructed the ideas of slavery and inequality. Employing the ideas of Catholic emancipation literature, he highlighted the oppression that black people endured and advocated for their liberation by drawing on his experiences with enslavement in his writing and speeches. He conveyed his message personally and emotionally by using the epistolary form, which made it incredibly potent. While acknowledging the significance of Abraham Lincoln’s contributions to the abolitionist movement, Douglass argued for a more inclusive historical approach that acknowledged the accomplishments of all people in the fight against slavery.
Works Cited
Abu Taleb, Hala. “From Slavery to Individuality: A Marxist Reading of Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass.” Canadian Review of American Studies vol. 53, no. 1, 2023, pp. 70-80. Web.
Asim, Jabari. “The Douglass Republic.” The New Republic, Web.
Brown, Michael T. Van. “Frederick Douglass at the Emancipation Memorial.” Raritanquarterly.sas.rutgers.edu, vol. 42, no. 2. Web.
Comeau, Raymond F. “Whittier’s Poems in Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass,” Wavelengths, Web.
Douglass, Frederick. “An Oration in Memory of Abraham Lincoln” Teaching American History, Web.
Douglass, Frederick. “Learning to Read and Write.” Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Anti-Slavery Office, 1845, pp. 1081-1085.
Douglass, Frederick. “Letter to Thomas Auld” Frederick Douglass: Selected Speeches and Writings, edited by Philip Foner, Lawrence Hill Books, 1999, p. 111.
Douglass, Frederick. “What to the Slave is the 4th of July?” Dickinson College, Web.
Lynerd, Benjamin. “Frederick Douglass and the African American Epistle.” Journal of Church and State, vol. 63, no. 2, 2020. Web.