In 1845, just seven years after his escape from slavery, the young Frederick Douglass published this powerful account of his life in bondage and his triumph over oppression. The book, which marked the beginning of Douglass’s career as an impassioned writer, journalist, and orator for the abolitionist cause, reveals the terrors he faced as a slave, the brutalities of his owners and overseers, and his harrowing escape to the North. It has become a classic of… More >>
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave: Written by Himself
The book looked so boring when I opened it. The introduction is 41 pages long, and I haven’t even started reading the actual story. The preface is 9 pages long. The historical annotation+index is 61 pages long. The actual story is 73 pages long, but the book itself will kind of give you an insight on a slave’s life. A slave who ran away and actually became someone great and well-known. It’s a story that anyone can used to pattern their life after especially when the odds seem against you.
Rating: 3 / 5
THE PICTURE OF FREDRICK DOUGLASS ON THIS EDITION IS INCORRECT.THE ARTIST MAKES HIM LOOK A BLACK GEORGE WASHINGTON!
Rating: 5 / 5
Everybody should read this book so that we don’t forget freedom is such a precious thing… for absolutely everyone (no more slavery and segregation, please).
Rating: 4 / 5
If there are any doubters about the evils of slavery, read this book. I have heard it said by some white Southerners that slavery benefited the black population, and furthermore blacks were better off in the United States than in Africa. Slavery was evil and this book proves it.
Douglass points out how slaveholders killed and mutilated their own slaves, and nobody did anything about it. When a slave outlived his/her usefulness, the slaveholder often cast them off, so they did not have to feed and clothe these slaves. Slave families were often broken up for the benefit of the slaveholder. Wives and husbands were separated. Slaves worked long hard days and then had to turn over their pay to their slaveholder. If slaves tried to educate themselves, the slaveholders would break up their classes and then punish those seeking the education. Same with those seeking comfort from the Holy Bible. Those slaves were punished.
The question was did slavery benefit the black slave population of the South. The answer is a resounding NO. Douglass does a good job of detailing the hell of slavery.
Rating: 5 / 5
This is a horrific piece of history. Mr Frederick Douglass (1818-95) was the foremost African-American Ablitionist of the Antebellum period. Born a slave-for-life, he nonetheless, devised ingenious methods of learning to read. “From that moment, I understood the pathway from slavery to freedom” Mrs Auld had begun teaching him to read until Mr Auld forcefully explained the danger of teaching Douglass. Douglass continued unabated in his single-minded desire, unassisted. “Though conscious of the difficulty of learning without a teacher, I set out with high hope, and a fixed purpose, at whatever cost of trouble, to learn how to read.” Once his mind was freed, he set himself to free his physical body, escaping to Massachusetts where he became a dominant force in the abolitionists’ crusade. This narrative was very popular. Within three years of its release in 1845, it had sold 11,000 copies, gone through nine English editions and had been translated into both French and Dutch. Not only was it a popular success, but critical response was overwhelmingly enthuastic, as well. Douglass went on to launch a journalistic career that would occupy the rest of his life. This is truly a great story about a great man who influenced the course of history. Furthermore, his words have caused me to reëxamine my own behaviours and dispositions. This is the part of this book which I find so horrific. Some may not find it inconsistent and politically unjustifiable that this institutionalised genocide was accepted practice in the “land of free, the home of the brave.” That the same men who signed a “Declaration of Independence” purgered themselves because they had no serious intention that “all men were created equal” or “granted inalienable rights” when many were slaveholders of the type and variety of those described in this narrative. How could it happen that otherwise law-abiding men and women (yes, Douglass tells us that the “fairer” sex was handy with whip and rod) murder, rape, and mutilate with impunity? Further that these same people considered themselves morally righteous, god-fearing and faithful to the teachings of the Christ, Jesus. Even more inconceivable is that their ministers were, not only supportive of this heinous crime, but also were participants as they themselves were slaveholders. These were not obscure local ministers, either, but organizations whose influence was national, both South and North. After describing these experiences, I cannot find fault in what Mr Douglass writes, “I therefore hate the corrupt, slaveholding, women-whipping, cradle-plundering, partial and hypocritical Christianity of this land. Indeed, I can see no reason, but the most deceitful one, for calling the religious of this land Christianity. I look upon it as the climax of all misnomers, the boldest of all frauds, and the grossest of all libels.” Finally, what is most amazing to me in all of this is that Mr Douglass still holds to his faith, “I love the pure, peaceable, and impartial Christianity of Christ.” he proclaims. If Mr Douglass can live through slavery and still hold to his spiritual convictions, I am strengthed in my own spiritual relationship. His example has inspired me, and I hope that reading his book will inspire you. PEACE
Rating: 5 / 5