But how is it with the American slave? The slave is a human being, divested of all rights—reduced to the level of a brute—a mere "chattel" in the eye of the law—placed beyond the circle of human brotherhood—cut off from his kind—his name, which the "recording angel" may have enrolled in heaven, among the blest, is impiously inserted in a master's ledger, with horses, sheep, and swine. To eat the fruit of his own toil, to clothe his person with the work of his own hands, is considered stealing. There can be no peace to the wicked while slavery continues in the land. But what does this prove? Frederick Douglass (born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, c. 1818 – 1895) was an African-American social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. Douglass, Frederick. Another view came from a former slave Frederick Douglas who was a leading abolitionist. Goading as have been the cruelties to which I have been subjected—bitter as have been the trials through which I have passed—exasperating as have been, and still are, the indignities offered to my manhood—I find in them no excuse for the slightest departure from truth in dealing with any branch of this subject. My Bondage and My Freedom. It makes no difference whether the slaveholder worships the God of the Christians, or is a follower of Mahomet, he is the minister of the same cruelty, and the author of the same misery. Yet, my friends, I feel bound to speak truly.
From this monstrous relation there springs an unceasing stream of most revolting cruelties. For the abolitionist group, we can learn from former-slave Frederick Douglas about what they stand for. The great mass of slaveholders look upon education among the slaves as utterly subversive of the slave system. It is perfectly well understood at the south, that to educate a slave is to make him discontened(sic) with slavery, and to invest him with a power which shall open to him the treasures of freedom; and since the object of the slaveholder is to maintain complete authority over his slave, his constant vigilance is exercised to prevent everything which militates against, or endangers, the stability of his authority.
He may be in rags, but he is not a slave. slavery.
In law, the slave has no wife, no children, no country, and no home. Frederick Douglas use of antithesis explains to the audience that the abolitionist movement may be fighting the losing side, but they are fighting for the good of the country. I doubt if there be another nation on the globe, having the brass and the baseness to put such a law on the statute-book.”. The discussion of the Declaration of Independence may be why he circles back to the Constitution; he is trying to show that slavery is unjust by comparing it to what is said in some of America’s most important documents. Most who are present, will have observed that leading men in this country have been putting forth their skill to secure quiet to the nation.
Change ), Frederick Douglass and Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. yourself and those around you. There is a still deeper shade to be given to this picture. On page 13 Frederick Douglass claims that Congress “nationalized” slavery with the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, a piece of the so-called Compromise of 1850. Two such people who based By using the experience Douglas has encountered as a slave, the historical context to support his argument and certain rhetorical devices, Douglass remarks a speech in order for the citizens of Rochester to be aware of the hypocrisy, Behind Frederick Douglass ' context, Douglass was a former slave who became one of the most successful abolitionist of 19th century. his liberty of the press? I grew up to manhood in the presence of this hydra headed monster—not as a master—not as an idle spectator—not as the guest of the slaveholder—but as A SLAVE, eating the bread and drinking the cup of slavery with the most degraded of my brother-bondmen, and sharing with them all the painful conditions of their wretched lot. I think my audience will bear witness to the correctness of this philosophy, and to the literal fulfillment of this prophecy. Nor are the laws respecting this matter a dead letter. Frederick Douglas, an emancipated slave, who fought tirelessly for the abolishment of How infinite in faculties! "The Nature of Slavery."
My childhood was environed by the baneful peculiarities of the slave system. At the time in 1850’s he was an African American man who had gained his freedom from slavery.
I admit that the slave does sometimes sing, dance, and appear to be merry. In his
The slave is a man, "the image of God," but "a little lower than the angels;" possessing a soul, eternal and indestructible; capable of endless happiness, or immeasurable woe; a creature of hopes and fears, of affections and passions, of joys and sorrows, and he is endowed with those mysterious powers by which man soars above the things of time and sense, and grasps, with undying tenacity, the elevating and sublimely glorious idea of a God. In consideration of these facts, I feel that I have a right to speak, and to speak strongly. The crime of teaching a slave to read is punishable with severe fines and imprisonment, and, in some instances, with death itself. A system of measures to promote this object was adopted a few months ago in congress. When Frederick Douglass delivered his biting oration on the meaning of the Fourth of July to the American slave, a broad spectrum of northerners were infuriated by the enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850.
He discusses the American Revolution and the signing of the Declaration of Independence, which highlights a parallel between winning independence from Britain and what he talks about later, winning independence for slaves.