Introduction
The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas was written by Douglas, not only as a means to recount his story, but in order to raise awareness about the predicament of the people who suffered from slavery. It was his belief that through his works, people will have a better understanding of the slavery and the need for its complete abolition. Douglas thought that, being a former slave himself, he was in the best position to tell the truth about slavery. Accordingly, the author provided some arguments in his books, a) he argued that slaves must be allowed to read and write as literacy is the only means that can help in the attainment of freedom, b) the slave owners who proclaim themselves to be Christians were criticized, for a person cannot be a slave owner and a Chrisitan at the same time, c) slavery damages the humanity of the slave owners as it does the slaves. Douglas’s narrative showed how one man who was once a slave, and having no chance of achieving freedom, has nevertheless risen to prominence and inspire his people to carry on fighting for freedom.
Slavery, Literacy and Freedom
Having experienced the liberating feeling that comes with literacy, Douglas believed that the slaves and the free Black Americans must strive to improve themselves through education. While he pointed out that all men are created equal and must be treated so, the blacks must work towards the achievement of freedom and equality. It is to be noted Douglas has no formal education when he was young, and learned only to write and read by resorting to different stratagem (Douglas, 38). Further, he cited how the slave owners deprived the slaves of literacy for fear that learning will eventually lead them to revolt, and that they can no longer held. Thus, in order to maintain their hold of their slaves, the slave owners must employ the only strategy to control the slaves, that is of “shutting out the light of education from their minds, and brutalizing their persons” (Douglas, 233). Douglas exemplified the life of a slave who make every effort to be free. He first expanded his horizons through reading despite being physically bonded, and he eventually acted on the idea of freedom that was inspired by literacy by planning his escape.
Slave Ownership and Christianity
In narrating about slavery and religion, Douglas expressly criticizes the slave owners who professed to have a deep Christian faith. According to him, slave ownership and Christian are two opposing things, and that no person can be both a Christian and a slave owner. He also wrote about the fact that slaves were not allowed to marry, mentioning that the law of the land of American denies this to one sixth of its population, referring to the slaves who were deprived of the sanctity of marriage. He criticized America by writing about what kind of nation it is that boast of its liberty, “boasting of its humanity, boasting of its Christianity, boasting of its love of justice and purity and yet having within its borders three millions of persons denied by law the right of marriage?” (Douglas, 231). Further, in his writing, the reader is exposed to a part where the author appeared to mock the slave owners. For instance, he wrote about how the auctioneer’s bell and the church bell chimed with each other, referring to the slave auctioneers and the church goers. For him, it was an apparent show of hypocrisy because women, men and children were sold to support missionaries and the works of the church.
Slavery and Slave Owners Humanity
Douglas also argued that the institution of slavery was not only damaging to the slaves, but also to the slave owners. Initially, he was only aware of the dehumanization of slaves, but it was during his stay in Baltimore and his encounter with the kind Mrs. Auld that he realized how the institution of slavery can also rob the owners of their humanity. It was Mrs. Auld, who taught Douglas how to read, but during the progress of his learning, Mr. Auld found out and hindered his wife from further teaching the young Douglas. This was when the dehumanization of Mrs. Auld started, upon the instruction of her husband, she transformed and “lab-like disposition gave way to one of tiger-like fierceness” (Douglas, 38). She eventually ceased teaching Douglas, and far from the woman who encouraged him to read, she forbade him from further holding any literary pieces.
Conclusion
Through eloquence in writing, Frederick Douglas successfully depicted the predicaments of slaves. While he was able to free himself from slavery, he never stopped from thinking of ways to help the slaves who were left to be oppressed in the South. He wrote the narrative of his life to reach out and make people understand the truth about slavery. Through his writings, he made several arguments such as the need for the slaves educate themselves, the hypocrisy of the slave owners in professing their Christianity, and the dehumanization, not only of the slaves, but also of the slave owners. Through all the contents of his narrative, Douglas was a worthy example of a slave who was able to rise to the challenge of slavery.
James McPherson
Introduction
The book entitled What They Fought For by James McPherson revealed so much about the character of the civil war, and what the war means to the country. In his book, McPherson expressed, how the war was a tragic war of brothers, setting aside the class and status that highly segregated the people during that time. While some scholars pointed out that the tragedy of slavery in the South was extremely exaggerated, the book showed how the blacks suffered, not only from poverty, but from the institution of racism. It was under these extreme difficulties that the concept of the civil war was developed.
The book pointed out how the militants from the south saw the northerners as tyrants and oppressors who, at any time will impose their will to the south. The northerners were compared to the monarch of Britain during the colonial times, when it imposed its will to tax the American colonies without due consideration. The perceived tyranny of the north, sparked the anger of the southerners who were more than willing to take arms to fight for what they thought was right.
On the other hand, the north fought during the civil war on the premise that they were fighting for what their forefather fought for during the American Revolution. Just like the Southern militants, the northern militaries thought that they are fighting for liberty, just like the heroes of the Revolution. They perceived the southern militants as threats to the freedom in the United States, and that they were traitors who stepped on what the forefathers had fought for during the American appraisal against the monarchy of Great Britain. Moreover, the northerners believed that they fought by the blessing of their forefathers who bravely defended the Amerian freedom.
Reference
Douglas, Frederick. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas, an American Slave. Written by Himself. London. H.G. Collins. 1881
McPherson, James. What They Fought For, 1861-1865. Louisiana State University Press
