Frederick Douglass Realism - 1838 Words

Frederick Douglass truly transformed American society by using realism and powerful rhetoric within his speeches. Douglass’s speeches and slave narrative not only clarified, but described in full detail real and life changing events of slavery that changed the tide of the Civil War. One of the greatest orators, Frederick Douglass, was first a slave. Frederick was born on â€Å"the Holme Hill Farm near Chesapeake Bay, Maryland† under the slave owners, the Alnuds (Pinkney 27). Frederick’s parents were Harriet Baily and an unknown man. Harriet was â€Å"as black as molasses† and his father was â€Å"as white as the moon† (Pinkney 27). Fredrick was taken away from his mother and sold to a different master on a farm. Frederick’s duty as a slave started very†¦show more content†¦Now approximately twenty, he escaped with his wife to New Bedford, Massachusetts. Eventually Frederick was offered a job. â€Å"When leaders of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society asked Frederick to join their group, he immediately agreed to become a member† (Pinkety 32). In 1841, Frederick Douglass joined the â€Å"Convention of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society† (Pinkey 31). He â€Å"delivered his oration at a time of growing division in the United States† (Marcus 298). Frederick created an autobiography and it was an instant hit among those who read it. His book â€Å"was published in May 1845†¦. People as far away as Europe purchased the book† (Pinkey 33). After his book was published, he traveled to England and Ireland to talk about his experiences. Yet still a slave, the people in England raised money to pay for Frederick’s freedom from the Alnuds. On December 5, 1846, the Anuld’s signed official papers for his release. There was a political side to Douglass’s life. The People thought it would be best to send a colored man to a white government. Frederick Douglass was in the running to be the minister to Haiti, but Ebenezer D. Bassett was chosen instead. Many questioned why Bassett was chosen over Douglass. Senator Sumner and J. Sella Martin both agreed that Douglass was the best man for the job of minister to the people of Haiti. Failing at becoming a minister in the government, â€Å"Douglass turned his attention to launching a movement toShow MoreRelatedAdvocates for the Abolition of Slavery: Olaudah Equiano vs. Fredirck Douglass902 Words   |  4 Pagesslaves Frederick Douglass and Olaudah Equiano documented their horrifying experiences and published accounts of them. The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass and The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano highlight the cruelty towards slaves during the era of realism. Although these autobiographies contain many similarities in the manner of their composure, including abolitionist motives and a focus on the separation of families, the dissimilar lives of Equiano and Douglass exposeRead MoreThe Life Of A Slave Girl By Harriet Jacobs And Frederick Douglass1618 Words   |  7 PagesRealism creates an authentic image of daily endeavors, notably most if not all that slaves faced, and constructs a bridge that connects the gap between the readers to the slaves who are subjected to the endeavors and hardships as seen through autobiographies of many former slaves such as Harriet Jacobs’s and Frederick Douglass’s. Jacobs’s â€Å"Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl† and Douglass’s â€Å"Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass† both illustrate great examples of the obstacles and barriersRead MoreThe Intelligent Civil Rights Activist By Frederick Douglass1084 Words   |  5 PagesThe intelligent civil rights activist Frederick Douglass was born into slavery in Maryland on February 1818. His born given name, Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, seemed to be a fairytale name to an unusual life because his father was a white planation owner who was most likely Douglass s first slave master, named Captain Anthony. Possibly it was Harriet Bailey who gave her son Frederick such a distinguished name wishing that his life would be superior than hers. His mother couldn’t imagineRead More The African-Ameri can Nightmare Exposed in Black Literature Essay2231 Words   |  9 PagesAfrican-American Nightmare Exposed in Olaudah Equiano, Narrative of Frederick Douglass, Song of Solomon, and Push    The American Dream was founded on the concept that all men are created equal(Jefferson 729) and that everyone has the capability and resources to pull themselves up by their bootstraps. The Declaration of Independence was written so Americans could achieve this dream, but was not written with the African slave in mind. The African slave was never intended to be a part of thisRead MoreNarrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass Essay1102 Words   |  5 PagesNarrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass Writing in the favor of black people has always remained controversial from the very beginning. Critics regard such writing as â€Å"a highly conventionalized genre† indicating that â€Å"its status as literature was long disputed but the literary merits of its most famous example such as Frederick Douglass s Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass†¦are widely recognized today.† (Ryan:537) Despite of such severe resistance, writers like Douglass have penned down theirRead MoreRomanticism And Realism727 Words   |  3 PagesRomanticism to Realism in literature in the 1800’s. Both styles of literature we’re revolutionary in their time and are still two of the most popular styles of writing today. While Romanticism seems to focus on metaphors and emotions Realism mostly focuses on the character and the aspects of everyday life. Although these two styles are very different it is easy to see how Romanticism lead to the Realism style of writing. Usual ly in Romanticism the characters tend to be un realistic while in Realism the charactersRead MoreRealism and Freedom in Literature of Dwight D. Eisenhower1948 Words   |  8 PagesRealism and Freedom Dwight D. Eisenhower once stated, Freedom has its life in the hearts, the actions, the spirit of men and so it must be daily earned and refreshed-else like a flower cut from its life-giving roots, it will wither and die (Rather 1). The meaning of the term freedom is often open to interpretation, and can represent different meanings to different groups of people. Up until the Realistic time period, many Americans viewed freedom as being able to enjoy the rights given to themRead MoreLife of a Slave Girl and Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass1524 Words   |  6 Pagesthe freedom of choice. Two of the most seminal and timeless pieces of literature written about slavery, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl written by Harriet Jacobs and Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass both do a tremendous job of showing the harrowing effects of slavery. Jacobs and Douglass had to endure the hate of a society that despised their race and mistakenly encouraged the existence of sla very in society. These two stories present two different perspectives of people from theRead MoreNarrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass Essay1792 Words   |  8 PagesAfrican American Literature Midterm Exam 1. Define who Frederick Douglass was and provide a summary of his book, narrative of the life of Fredrick Douglass: an American slave 1845. Frederick Douglass was an African-American social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. Frederick Douglass was the most important black American leader of the nineteenth century. He was born in February of the 1818 and died February 20, 1895. Douglass was a firm believer in the equality of all peoples, whetherRead MoreSlavery s Toll On A Man2236 Words   |  9 Pagestrade. Economizing black slavery caused this servitude to prevail in American society as necessity that turned into carelessness and inhumane treatment of blacks. Born into slavery, Frederick Douglass has a first hand account of the struggle against white supremacy and the treatment of blacks during his time. Frederick Douglass’s determination to fight the notorious enslavement of blacks manifests from an initial aim to depict the immorality of slavery through his vivid experiences brought on by a