Frederick Douglass Thesis

The slave era was definitely not the United States proudest moment, but luckily there were people like Frederick Douglass, who although was a slave, worked hard to make a difference. He influenced others to stand up for what they believed to be right and then went on to tell his story to freedom in his book, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. Along with telling his story, Douglass also conveys two main points which include, slavery is terrible for slaves and slavery corrupts slaveholders. Frederick Douglass strongly believes that slavery is terrible for slaves. In excerpt 1 of his narrative, Douglass tells the story of his life as a child. He explains that his mother was sold, and because of this, he was only ever …show more content…
In this excerpt, Douglass tells of the songs that the slaves used to sing while walking to the Great House Farm to receive their monthly allowance of food and clothing. The songs, which expressed both slaves “highest joys and deepest sadness,” were not always understood by Douglass and others, but now just the thought of them brings Douglass to tears. Fredrick provides an idea of the songs when he writes, “They told a tale of woe which was then altogether beyond my feeble comprehension; they were tones loud, long, and deep; they breathed the prayer and complaint of souls boiling over with the bitterest anguish. Every tone was a testimony against slavery, and a prayer to God for deliverance from chains.”(2-6)Most people who supported slavery believed that these songs were the slaves singing about how happy they were, but that couldn’t be more wrong. The fact is, slaves sang most when they were most unhappy because the songs represented the sorrows in their hearts.This shows how most people were wrong about slavery, and that all it did was cause great pain in …show more content…
In excerpt 5, Douglass tells his recollection of when he decided that it was time to escape. Fredrick, and a few other slaves, had an entire plan planned out, however, their slaveholder soon caught on, and Douglass and his friends were violently seized. The problem with this is that the constables had no reason to do so, and they treated the men terribly in the act. All three men had their hands lashed together, and were even sent to jail ,where their spirits were soon crushed, even though there was no evidence found against them. In paragraph 1, Douglass gives his reason for his efforts to escape. “On the one hand, there stood slavery, a stern reality, glaring frightfully upon us,—its robes already crimsoned with the blood of millions, and even now feasting itself greedily upon our own flesh.” They decided that they were no longer going to be forced into slavery, and had resorted to risking their lives to escape, even when they know it is not likely that they’ll make it. Then, in paragraph 10, Douglass explains how being thrown into prison has actually affected him. “I was now left to my fate. I was all alone, and within the walls of a stone prison. But a few days before, and I was full of hope. I expected to have been safe in a land of freedom; but now I was covered with gloom, sunk down to the utmost despair.” Douglass was thrown into prison for being suspected of

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