Essays on Douglass

Fredrick Douglas (1817-1895)-the most famous African American of the 19th century- raises some relations in regard to education, freedom and oppression. He states that the “the only way to keep people enslaved is to prevent them from learning and acquiring knowledge” (Douglas). Seeing how hard Master Hugh and his wife tried hard to prevent Douglas from acquiring education, Douglas compels a reader to the question “Is education the ultimate key to ending oppression in the society?” Douglas makes insinuates that education and oppression are bitter rivals. He presents the change in character in his mistress Mrs. Hugh who ...

“Learning to Read” by Frederick Douglass

In “Learning to Read” Frederick Douglass wrote the story of his personal experience with one of the most prohibited and dangerous acts that a slave in the pre-Civil War South could do: learning to read. It is a narrative that is both shocking and revealing of insight into the times and place where it took place, the power of the institution and practice of slavery to dictate evil into the hearts of men and women, and of the dedication and strength of the personality of Frederick Douglass. A close reading demonstrates not only Douglass' narrative techniques, but his skills ...

Fredrick Douglass’s work is a landmark writing that serves as an indicator of racism, slavery, and degrading practices used by the slave owners. While it may seem that the essay “Learning to Read and Write” depicts the struggles of a teenage boy in self-education of reading and writing, however, the work has a deeper meaning (Douglass 100). The main argument of the essay is that slavery degrades the slaves, the owners, and the entire society. By condemning individuals to miserable living, restricting their access to basic goods, and limiting their chance for education transform the owners to the ...

There are many interesting personalities in the history of humankind. Some of them amaze more than the others. There are people who have a strong will to be free and live their life independent from the others. These people are known as leaders. They create their own lives the way they see it. Frederick Douglass and Harriet Beecher Stowe are two characters that amaze people till now with their abilities to be strong in any life situation. Frederick Douglass is an African American man who managed to become free by the means of his self power. He was not ...

The rhetorical situation for Fredrick Douglass in his essay “learning to read” was that he wasn’t educated because in his times, slaves weren’t suppose to learn to read and write while the social rhetorical situation in my writing was that I couldn’t be educated because my mother couldn’t afford to send me to school. My rhetorical situation differs from that of the authors in the way that I wasn’t enforced into my situation by any enslavers. The author’s writing persuades the reader to empathize with the slaves while my writing persuades the readers ...

Telling one’s, or a community’s, story is subject to complex reductionsims of racial and sexist stereotyping. The subjugation of specific ethnicities, particularly African-Americans, and genders, particularly women, by whites and men respectively represents a clear example of unjustified exercise of power by specific groups over another. Indeed, by belittling and/or demonizing one group by another, only power can be exercised “justifiably”. There is no shortage, indeed, of lenient or more violent means by which a dominating group controls another, subjugated one. The superiority / inferiority duality is probably one most common mechanism adopted by oppressors in order ...

Question 2

Forms of slave trade resistance Resistance to the slavery act was put in a number of ways, all of which led to the abolition of the slavery as an institution in the American system during the second half of the 19th century. The slavery resistance was confronted on two main arms of resistance. The first arm is the slaves themselves. The second arm consisted of the abolitionists, who persistently called for the slave trade to come to an end in a more louder and forceful way within the last two decades of the 18th century. The Africans showed resistance ...

“What then is freedom?” Asked the famous abolitionist leader Frederick Douglass in a speech offered in the early days of the year 1865 in a gathering joined for the coming of the end of the institution of slavery and the Civil War. As Douglass states which were reported by Rubio (2001), “Freedom is the right to choose one’s employment. It is most positively anything and when individuals decide for any man he when that man should work, where he should work then the man is diminished into slavery. Affirmative Action has long been a topic of discussion for ...

Introduction

Slavery and the slave trade are timeworn practices and institutions in all continents of the world. Slavery and slave trade involved the sale of land, animals, people, etc. different scholars have given various reasons for slave trade, including the need for labor in agriculture, political reasons, commerce, among others, They claim that these reasons may have led to the rise of slavery. There are two dimensions of slavery in pre-colonial Africa: Internal and external slave trade dimensions. The slave trade across the Sahara, the Red Sea, the Mediterranean, Indian Ocean and the Arabian worlds was termed as the external ...

Du Bois introduces three concepts that portray the prototypical Black experiences in the United States. These are illustrated through the Veil and double consciousness. Double consciousness and color line are concepts that were explored by Du Bois in 1903 (Bruce Jr. pp.299). His concept is slightly different from Thomas’ Paine and recurs throughout the article. His concept on double consciousness refers to living with double identities. One is the Negro identity together with all its troubles and second is the American identity compelled on the Negro after settling in the United States. It is color line that divides the ...

Mental Health Issues Influencing Academic Performance amongst Students in Australia

It is in the nation’s best interest that youth complete as high a level of education as they are capable because dropping out of school can greatly diminish an individual’s chances in life and the ability to contribute to the community. Indeed, participation in tertiary education promotes national economy and innovation (Wierenga, Landstedt, & Wyn 2013, p. 3). The factors that compromise a young person’s ability to obtain a tertiary level education are socioeconomic disadvantage, rural location, and being an indigenous Australian (Wierenga, Landstedt & Wyn 2013, p. 4). Stafford, et al. (2007, Mental Health, para. 1) define ...

What is the Fourth of July to slaves?

Introduction “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” is a famous speech given by an African American slave fugitive at the time by the name Frederick Douglas, which was delivered on the Fifth of July, the day after the day of independence, in 1852. The speech highlighted the plight of the African Americans who were discriminated by the white population. The speech describes the Fourth of July as a paradox since the independence given to the African Americans was paradoxical. To the African American, the fourth of July was a day when the White continued to enjoy ...

Overview

Metamorphosis in Poetry and Speeches is a demonstration of how they evolve from one time to another. This paper will outline the same by using the works of three of the most inspirational African Americans. They include Douglas Fredrick’s 1852 speech, The Meaning of the Fourth of July; Malcolm X’s WeDidn’t Land on Plymouth Rock; and Tupac’s song (poem) “Keep Ya Head Up.” Since they occurred in different years, they help the development of this article in demonstrating the evolution of the metamorphosis in poetry and speech.

Douglas Fredrick’s The Meaning of the Fourth of July

Douglas speech was rhetoric, comprising a set of ...

While America is still a relatively new country in comparison to many, it has a long and deep history. The question to look at is what exactly that history is. The aspects of American history that one learns or is taught are as diverse as those who inhabit the country. Considering that America has been called a melting pot, meaning it brings together many differing cultures, religions and races, there is a myriad of lenses which one can view this country. Often the history taught is white-washed, meaning it is through the perspective of the white man. This creates ...

Traumatic experiences do not just go away. Frederick Douglass went through a variety of horrors to win his way free of enslavement and they colored him and his views for the rest of his life, some in overt ways and others in more subtle ways. Some do not appear in the course of the narrative; we never hear him say, for example, that he experienced night terrors or other symptoms associated with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and similar conditions from the time that he was “transformed into a brute” after being broken by Mr Covey, or what lingering prejudice or ...

As the United States ushered in the nineteenth century, its societies witnessed an unprecedented increase in reform movements that revolved around calls for change within its borders. Before then, protestors lasted as long as it took for them to tire of their efforts. In other words, there was no commitment to ensuring that the American populace changed its attitudes in life and for that reason, reformations were impossible to sustain in the eighteenth century. Now, in the nineteenth century, the situation changed as social protests prevailed and the people created formal organizations to communicate messages. One such endeavor was ...

Racism and class struggles are common challenges that black face in the society. The history of the African-Americans in the United States has been built on the slave trade and the lack of rights for the black race trying to survive in a white dominated society. Although many civil rights groups in the past have fought for equality among the blacks and the whites, the blacks, such as the current President of the country, continue to fight against the racial discrimination in the society. Espada’s “Litany at the Tomb of Frederick Douglas” and Blake’s “The Little Black ...

A look into the work of Fredrick Douglass and Robert Browning shows that the society around them heavily influences their work. While Douglass concentrated on larger social issues such as slavery and false use of religion, Browning looked into the interpersonal relationships of members of their societies. A common aspect of both writings, however, is the social critique that the two writers engage in. Through their work, they attempt to point out at the evils they see in their society, with the hope that their criticism will help change the situation . Fredrick Douglass, in his poem, a parody, analyzes ...

There are those who would justify the enslavement of humans by pointing to the enormous amount of wealth generated through that enslavement and that that enslavement was a sacrifice to which blacks willingly, though unwittingly, took part. If that were a valid assessment of the enslavement of so many for the benefit of so few, then its validity would sit on the testimony of those who were enslaved. However, that testimony, as found in Fredrick Douglas’ Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglas does not support such an outlandish premise. On the contrary, Douglas’ Narrative witnesses the atrocity that ...

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass is a famous autobiography that was written by Fredrick Douglas himself. He was a slave who faced many challenges from his childhood to adulthood. Douglas raised many issues in this book, and all those ideas were intended to reach those who defended slavery. In his book, Douglas tried to explain the idea of humanhood as one of his points. He tried to show the thoughts, signs, and actions that make someone a human being. According to him, there is no true humanhood in an individual that supports slavery or an action that ...

In his narrative, Douglass recalls hearing his master state that he was seventeen in the year 1835. Consequently, that would make 1818 his approximate year of birth and Tuckahoe, Talbot County, in the State of Maryland his birthplace (Douglass 1). Subsequently, while informing readers that his mother’s name was Betsey Hailey, the man goes on to state his suspicions of having a white father. Apparently, while he never managed to discover whether rumors of his white master being his father were true, it remained evident that he was half Caucasian (Douglass 2). Now, the issue of Douglass’ parentage ...

Informative Speech

Specific Purpose: Informing the audience on why college education will go a long way in helping every individual in his or her social and work life. Thesis: The education attained at the college level extends beyond the walls of the classroom, as aside from monetary benefits, the attitudes and ideologies gained in campus are significant in life.

Introduction

Attention getter: Frederick Douglass, a self-emancipated slave from the antebellum period, published a Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass a mere seven years after running away from his master. In the text, Douglass depicted what the lives of persons of African ...

Before the American Civil War of between 1861 and 1865, black slavery in the United States thrived on the pillars of white supremacy. Otherwise dubbed the antebellum period, the years ranging from 1820 to 1860 witnessed a gradual yet steady increase in the country’s reliance on slave labor. As per the ideologies of white supremacy, the dominance of white people warranted the inferiority of colored individuals and as a result, everyone belonging to the former group could hold those of the latter faction in bondage. Accordingly, the cultural norms of the country during the given era encompassed the ...

Populist culture has always played a hero in setting the standards upon which people are gauged and measured. According to the article Popular Culture and Populist Technology: The Amateur Operators, Susan Douglass seeks to delve into the issue of the media and popular culture having an effect on the everyday life of all humanity. She especially does that by way of showing how society sets standards of measurement. People are then left to compete with these superhuman heroes who are brought forth as perfect and in possession of attributes that are set as standard. It is interesting that the ...

Theme: Abolition and Education

The view of the stories exemplifies the theme of abolition. In both the works, the determination of the protagonist is to see slavery abolished. The plots all drive through the murky quest for freedom that eventually lead to the abolition of the slavery and eventual freedom to all. The long-raging battling against slavery took a different turn when protagonists to the slavery turned vile and rebellious to the subdued way of life. Douglass’ characterization of the events of slavery takes the war an artistic level with assertions and imagination of rebellion against the slave masters (Newman 127-52). However, Douglass’ ...

One of the major effects of industrialization in Southeast Asia is the emergence of the Utopian cities developed in order to cater the needs of the wealthy and the middle class citizens whose income allows them to purchase properties such as high-rise condominiums near the city centers near their workplaces. This paper explores some of the side-effects created by monopolizing the public spaces into a commodity marketed only to those people who belong to the rich and the middle class.

A Framework

Relevant Information Phu My Hung Area Located in the District 7 of Ho Chi Minh. Highly urbanized area created ...

The Name of the School

My Life as a Slave My name is Elijah Johnson and I was born a slave. I say I was born a slave because that was what became my identity for the first fifteen years of my life. It did not matter that I was a boy, a child, a brother or a son. I was looked upon as a slave and treated like one all through my formative years. I was born in the year 1850, on the 23rd of October. I know because like every other child born on the plantation my birth was recorded too. Even ...