...Being a slave, Frederick Douglass knew better than anyone the hardships of slavery. In his autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Douglass reinforced his strong beliefs against slavery first by presenting himself as a credible writer, then alluding to religious doctrines to appeal to readers logically while also causing readers to feel sympathetic towards him. Frederick Douglass began his book without the use of dates. Being such a small detail, this was able to speak volumes about Douglass, as well as portraying him as a more credible writer. Dates give people a sense of identity; dates are associated with important events—birthdays, first steps, anniversaries, etc.—that shape people’s individual character. By acknowledging his own inability to make these connections, Douglass revealed how slavery affected his ability to have a normal childhood. He showed that his master wanted to keep him ignorant. Immediately showing the direct impact slavery had on his life allowed Douglass to show his authority on the subject. He was also able to use this as a comparison for his intellectual expansion in the future. While Douglass began his life with little identity, he was able to reveal himself to be a very smart and admirable man. Although his master wanted the slaves to remain ignorant, Douglass proved himself to be very intelligent by not only outsmarting the white boys from his neighborhood into teaching him to read, but also by risking a beating—or worse—just...
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...hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal” with one huge unwritten disclaimer, “except African Americans”. Sarcastically written, this doctrine inspired many activists and abolitionists during that era to fight for freedom and equality for all. Frederick Douglass and Sojourner Truth were two of the most prominent figures of the abolitionist movement in 19th-century America. Their speeches, “What, to the Slave, is the Fourth of July?” by Federick Douglass and “Ain’t I a Woman?” by Sojourner Truth, are iconic speeches that continue to resonate with audiences today. Both speeches influence their perspective on equality for African Americans through rhetorical appeals and devices. Truth successfully gains the empathy of...
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...Freeman Brown Dr. J. Jones English 112 23 September 2013 Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, Written by Himself, is a powerful piece that flings the reader into disgust of slavery from the very instant he starts writing. In doing so, he directly appeals to the readers emotions and continues to do so at various times throughout the story. Douglass also uses a logical appeal about midways his story. Implying freedom as common sense, he begins to rhetorically provoke the reader to question the morality of slavery. Within the very first paragraph written by Frederick Douglass, the reader is subjected to tidbits of the pitiful situation he and other slaves were in. He writes “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, 17) That statement both dehumanizes them by comparing the life of a slave to that of an animal, and establishes aversion toward those who owned slaves. It makes one feel sorry for him. Perhaps, even allowing you to think, “Awe, poor guy doesn’t even know how old he is.” Douglass is indeed upset while writing this and intends to induce anger within the reader as well, for the purpose of abolishing the evil that is slavery. He is sure to expose the desires of slave masters by throwing them at fault to the deed of withholding such pertinent and common information. Surely one in high social...
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...The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass expresses various rhetorical strategies that the author, Frederick Douglass, employs in order to establish his argument regarding slavery. One such strategy, categorization, is used to categorize all slaveholders into an antagonistic role. Even though Douglass experienced moderately just slaveholders during his captivity in Maryland, Douglass' rhetoric allow readers to classify slaveholders as the enemy despite their infrequent generosity. For example, one of Douglass' masters forces Douglass to earn nine dollars a week through the shipbuilding trade; subsequently, Douglass is allotted little compensation. He states, " . . . I became quite restless. I could see no reason why I should, at the end of each week, pour the reward of my toil into the purse of my master."; furthermore, he states, "He was satisfied with nothing but the last cent." Thus, Douglass grows to detest his master; moreover, readers of The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass identify with Douglass' categorization. Frederick Douglass utilizes description as a tool to convey his rhetoric in addition to his use of categorization. In various instances throughout his narrative, Douglass depicts specific examples of the inhumane brutality associated with slavery. When Douglass was a young adolescent, two rampaging oxen narrowly miss gouging him and eventually become the cause for Douglass' master to whip him ferociously. Additionally, description is used to...
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...Human Rights: A Paine in My….Douglass? According to Frederick Douglass, a nineteenth-century northern slave, “Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet depreciate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground.” Thomas Paine, a rebellious eighteenth-century Englishman, finishes and furthermore expands this thought, saying that “those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it.” While both of these men grew up in separate worlds, miles and years apart, their idealisms and life missions are very much alike. This is evident through the investigation of Frederick Douglass’s Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass and Thomas Paine’s Common Sense. Frederick Douglass is the...
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...Frederick Douglass had a way with words. Douglass wrote many essential speeches to help win the fight against slavery. One of the most famous speeches written by Frederick Douglass is called “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” along with the time of slavery but it was hard for him to win over the white majority of the audience. The speech was used to give the idea how bad slavery was by using persuasive techniques. Douglass used many techniques such as rhetorical questions and Ethos, Pathos, and Logos. Logical claims and statements made by Douglass. Douglass is giving a logical point of view about the situation. Douglass states “There are seventy-two crimes in the state of Virginia, which, if committed by a black man (no matter how ignorant he be), subject him to the punishment of death; while only two of these same crimes will subject a white man to the like punishment.” The quote...
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...Lincoln and Douglass: Struggle between Freedom and Slavery by Feross Aboukhadijeh, 11th grade During the Civil War era there existed many factions seeking to dramatically change America. Remarkable speakers spread their ideas through oratory, thrilling their audiences through powerful speeches that appealed to both emotion and logic. Frederick Douglass, a black American, fought for black civil rights through compelling speeches like “What to the slave is the Fourth of July?” depicting the terrors of slavery in graphic detail. Abraham Lincoln, on the other hand, spoke peacefully and optimistically during his Second Inaugural Address to demonstrate his desire for peace and reconciliation with the Confederate states. Both speakers captivated their audiences through compelling diction, tone, and argumentative methods to win them over and gain their support. Lincoln’s sole desire before, during, and after the Civil War was to maintain national unity. This was his job as president and the entire reason for fighting the Civil War. During his Second Inaugural Address, Lincoln reaffirmed the purpose of the war through choice diction. He stated that the South would “…make war rather than let the nation survive…” and though the he “…deprecated war…” he would accept it “…rather than let the nation perish…” Furthermore, during the course of the war, Lincoln freed all the slaves with his Emancipation Proclamation in order to weaken the South. However, he did not want the American people...
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...Even though Frederick Douglass uses a dispassionate tone in his writing, he is still able to appeal to his audience’s emotions of pity and empathy by using heartrending personal anecdotes in his autobiography. Douglass describes his life as a slave matter-of-factly, just as any person would explain a casual life experience. His numbness to emotion and the world makes his life even more distressing to his audience. Douglas simply states, “... I received the tidings [of my mother’s] death with much the same emotions I should have probably felt at the death of a stranger” (par. 4). This reaction to the death of his mother conveys two ideas, as it illustrates both how slavery ripped Douglass from his mother and how living as a slave made him emotionally...
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...the Slave is the Fourth of July?” (1852) Frederick Douglass eloquently, yet powerfully delivers his presentation by utilizing three important strategies. He establishes his own credibility through the respect he shows to his audience; captures the audience’s feelings of national pride; and uses the reasoning behind their pride against them in order to open the eyes of white men in the United States. They then may see the injustice of celebrating freedom when so many men are still bound by chains. Douglass establishes credibility in his humble stance by grasping the audience’s attention with his story of being a former slave. He modestly introduces himself and his hard work by explaining “the difficulties to be overcome in getting from the latter to the former, are by no means slight”, the latter being the “slave plantation” and the former being “[the] platform”. By describing his path to freedom as a challenge, it gives the audience an understanding that Douglass not only speaks as a free man allowed to express himself, but as a former slave who was once held back from going anywhere. He then addresses his limitations due to his “little experience and…less learning”, but despite that, “[he was] able to throw [his] thoughts hastily and imperfectly together”. In describing these...
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...Frederick Douglass was a slave in America until the age of 20. He wrote three of the most highly regarded autobiographies of the 19th century, while he only began learning to read and write when he turned 12 years old. After an early life of hardship and pain, Douglass escaped to the North to write three autobiographies, which spaced along decades. He wrote about his life as a slave and a freeman. The institution of slavery scarred him so intensely that he decided to devote his powers of speech and prose to fighting it. Douglass wrote three biographies about his life as a politician, slave, and abolitionist. However, the historical value of these works does not remain as important as the quality of the works themselves. Frederick Douglass’ writing deserves recognition in the canon of great American authors, because his work meets the chosen criteria for inclusion in a collection of important literature. Douglass influenced many famous abolitionists with his literary works, and this impact, coupled with his desire to write an expose about oppression in America, makes him a winning candidate. Although his published works, mostly autobiographies, received much acclaim from abolitionists, this paper explores the quality of Douglass’s work from a literary standpoint. To fully appreciate the impact of Douglass’s autobiographies, we must examine violent period in which he lived. Douglass, born in 1818, grew up as a slave on Colonel Lloyd’s plantation in eastern Maryland. At the time...
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...the time period of the civil rights movement but also an emotional appeal to get the audiences attention. He wants the audience to know how he feels and wants them to feel the same. In the first attempts to teach himself how to read and write Malcolm X would become very frustrated with himself. Having to teach himself the basic abilities people learn in elementary school was not an easy task for...
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...thesis titled “Keeping Faith in Jubilee : Fredrick Douglass and the Meaning of the Civil War.”Before Yale University, he taught at Amherst College for thirteen years. He has wrote many annotated editions on slavery and as of late, he is working on another biography of Fredrick Douglass.He has received a handful of awards, these include: Lincoln Prize,Bancroft Prize,Fredrick Douglass Prize, Merle Curti award and James A. Rawley prize. Anyhow The introduction by David Blight was very well constructed and It would’ve helped if...
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...Diana L. Arias November 4, 2012 U.S. History to 1877 The Role of John Brown in the Civil War You know how they say for every action there is an equal reaction, well that holds very true in John Brown’s case. For every action he took against slavery there was an equal reaction, or a far worse reaction from his opponents (pro-slavery supporters). What led John Brown to his actions in trying to end slavery? What was the equal or far worse reaction from his pro-slavery opponents? This first action was not taken by John Brown but by Congress and the action was not anti-slavery but pro-slavery the action was The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, was passed by the United States Congress on September 18th 1850, as part of the Compromise of 1850 between Southern slave-holding interests and Northern free soils. This was one of the most controversial acts of the 1850 compromise and heightened Northern fears of a slave rebellion. It declared that all runaway slaves were, upon capture, to be returned to their owners/masters. Abolitionists nicknamed it the "Bloodhound Law" for the dogs that were used to track down runaway slaves. After this was passed by Congress, there was an equal reaction on part of John Brown, he founded a militant group to prevent the capture of runaway slaves, and he called it The League of Gileadites. In the Bible the Mount Gilead was the place where only the bravest of Israelites would gather together to face an invading enemy. Brown on leaving Springfield in...
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...Uncle Tom's Cabin - change in public opinion of slavery Uncle Tom’s Cabin is the work of Harriet Beecher Stowe. This book is a realistic but fictional perspective of slavery. The key characters in the story include Uncle Tom, George Harris and Eliza. Uncle Tom is slave that is trustworthy and pious. He does not wrong anybody and only hitherto obeys the master. Being a spiritual person, Uncle Tom does his best to do what is right and obey the Bible. On the other hand, Eliza is a very beautiful slave under the ownership of George Shelby Sr., who formerly owns Tom. George Harris is the husband to Eliza and he lives around the nearby plantation. The brilliance of George caused him to invent a machine that was utilized in the factory where he works. Consequently, his owner became so jealous and decided to demote George from the factory and made him to carry out hard labor at the plantation. The setting of the story is across the Mississippi and Kentucky states (Tang, Research & Education Association 6-20). Rarely does a single work of literature transform the society or sets it on the road to a dreadful conflict. One such catalytic story is Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe (1852). Many consider it as being among the most influential American fictional works ever published. The number of copies that Uncle Tom’s Cabin sold were numerous than any other fictional title to have been published before. Five thousand of its copies were sold within its first two days...
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...His tactics, although controversial, have motivated millions to fight for their rights. His speech, The Ballot or the Bullet, is directed at African Americans and encourages them to stand up for their rights and vote. Malcolm then goes on to state that if this is not enough they may have to resort to violence. He uses rhetoric early on in an attempt to unite all African Americans. He states, “Whether you’re educated or illiterate, whether you live on the boulevard or in the alley, you’re going to catch hell just like I am. We’re all in the same boat and we all are going to catch the same hell from the same man.” This is an emotional appeal that aims to unite people on one common ground and make them forget about their in-differences. Malcolm then exposes democrats as liars and shows that even though they have full control of the Senate and House, they still will not help out the African-Americans. “They come to our black neighborhoods giving the hope of false promises.” Yet another motivational tactic used to help unite an uprising. His statement about Uncle Sam is interesting as he tries to claim that Uncle Sam’s hands are dripping with the blood of the African American. Malcolm then calls Uncle Sam a hypocrite and how he stands as the leader of freedom, yet African Americans are not free. Providing a negative image to the country his people dwell in does not seem to...
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