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What can we learn about slavery from the life of Frederick Douglass?

Introduction

Slavery impacted everybody on a personal level ranging from the slaves to the persons who tried to flog the slaves into contour. Slavery appeared to impact everybody in a different way; men, women, adults and children. We may notice the several ways in which an individual is impacted by slavery by reading slave narratives such as “The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass”, where Frederick is and American slave. This book bestows the opportunity for the readers to compare the way leading characters are impacted due to slavery and the way it is divergent but akin to everyone so as to learn lessons regarding slavery. All through the book, “The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass”, we may see Douglass experience various changes in his life, from South to North, from slavery to freedom, from a youth called by several names to an a mature grown up called Frederick Douglass, hence eventually, this blessed person assisted the US to get acquainted with slavery as it actually was (Douglass, 2003).

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass and Lessons about Slavery

The novel evidently presents the bad behavior of children when they were not frequently granted. According to Douglass, their food was uncouth corn meal that they called mush. It was placed in a big trough or tray made of wood and was put to one side on the floor. Then the children used to be gathered as if they all were pigs who would come and eat up the mush greedily, some with pieces of shingle, while others with oyster shells, some with bare hands and none with spoons. The one who ate quickest would receive the most; the one who was most powerful acquired the best of place; and some returned from the tray contended (Douglass 41-42). This visibly reflects the way children were treated as if they were animals and their incapability to act like a common literate child. The slave children were deprived of several things which were taken for granted by other normal children. One amongst such things was the knowledge regarding their birth dates. As stated by Douglass, he had no precise knowledge regarding his age, he had never seen any valid testimony to confirm him about this (Foner, 2009). By that time, most of the slaves knew very little regarding their age, just like horses knew regarding theirs and majority of the masters according to his knowledge wished their slaves to remain as ignorant. It was very seldom that they came closer to it other than the fall time, spring time, cherry time, harvest time or planting time. Douglass expresses that even during his childhood; a wish for knowledge regarding his own was a means of discontent for him. While the children of whites knew and speak of their correct ages, Douglass says he could not make it why he was to be shorn of the same dispensation (Douglass 19). ...