The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (Volume 3)

The Autobiographies #1

by Frederick Douglass

The premier publishing of Frederick Douglass' bestselling autobiography was in 1845, wherein he documents his life as a young slave learning to read, his subsequent escape from slavery, and how he established himself as a freeman under a false name. Douglass was forced to flee the country to evade recapture after the original pressing and only returned after buying his freedom. Two more autobiographies were published, in 1855 and 1881, where Douglass told of his life as an abolitionist, advisor to the president, and newspaper editor.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Classics, Biography, Memoir, School, Autobiography

176 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1845

About the author

Frederick Douglass (né Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey) was born a slave in the state of Maryland in 1818. After his escape from slavery, Douglass became a renowned abolitionist, editor and feminist. Having escaped from slavery at age 20, he took the name Frederick Douglass for himself and became an advocate of abolition. Douglass traveled widely, and often perilously, to lecture against slavery.

His first of three autobiographies, The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave, was published in 1845. In 1847 he moved to Rochester, New York, and started working with fellow abolitionist Martin R. Delany to publish a weekly anti-slavery newspaper, North Star. Douglass was the only man to speak in favor of Elizabeth Cady Stanton's controversial plank of woman suffrage at the first women's rights convention in Seneca Falls, New York, in 1848. As a signer of the Declaration of Sentiments, Douglass also promoted woman suffrage in his North Star. Douglass and Stanton remained lifelong friends.

In 1870 Douglass launched The New National Era out of Washington, D.C. He was nominated for vice-president by the Equal Rights Party to run with Victoria Woodhull as presidential candidate in 1872. He became U.S. marshal of the District of Columbia in 1877, and was later appointed minister resident and consul-general to Haiti. His District of Columbia home is a national historic site. D. 1895.

More: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederic...

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p1...

http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/exhi...

http://www.loc.gov/collection/frederi...

http://www.nps.gov/frdo/index.htm

http://www.cr.nps.gov/museum/exhibits...

Reviews

[Stephen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you Mr. Douglass…this was a life changer for me. You are a true American hero and the fact that there are not more monuments, government buildings, holidays or other commemorations of your life seems to me an oversight of epic proportions.

How often is it that you can honestly say that you’ll never be the same after reading a book? Well, this life story of a singular individual has changed me....irrevocably. I will never be able to sufficiently express my gratitude to Mr. Douglass for that extraordinary gift of insight. I’m just not sure how to properly express how deeply this story impacted me both with its content and its delivery. Impressive seems such a shallow word. I guess I will call it a unique and special experience and simply state that this autobiography has been added to my list of All Time Favorites .

Being a fan of history, in general, and American history, in particular, I was somewhat familiar with Frederick Douglass and his reputation for being a great orator and a tireless opponent of slavery. However, this is the first time I’ve actually read any of his writings and I was blown away, utterly, by the intellect, character and strength of this American hero. And make no mistake, this man was a HERO in every sense of the word. I can imagine few people in a generation with the combination of intelligence, strength of character, sense of morality, charity and indomitable will as Frederick Douglass.

Here is a man who, as a slave with little or no free time to himself, spent every spare moment he had teaching himself to read and write. Think about that. In a very telling passage, Douglass says that he knew how important it was to educate himself because of how vehemently his master was opposed to it. I’m paraphrasing, but his message was, ‘What my master saw as the greatest evil, I knew to be a perfect good.’ Such determination and clarity of thought boggles the mind. Rarely have a come across a person whose moral fiber I admire more (John Adams being the other historical figure that jumps to mind).

On the issue of slavery itself, I am resolved that there could be no better description of the horrendous evil of slavery than this book. I previously read Uncle Tom's Cabin and, while an important novel, that story had nowhere near the effect on me that this one did. Again, thank you Mr. Douglass.

While there are many aspects of the narrative that are worthy of note (the quality of prose, the excellent balance between details and pace and the fascinating events described), the most memorably impressive thing to me was the tone used by Frederick Douglass to describe his life and the people he came in contact with during his time both as a slave and after securing his freedom. Despite having seen and personally endured staggering brutality at the hands of white slave owners, Douglass never, NEVER comes across as bitter or hate-filled towards all white people. Had I been in his position, I am not sure I could have been so charitable with my outlook.

He speaks frankly and in stark terms about the evil and brutality suffered by himself and his fellow slaves. He sees great wrong and he confronts it boldly with his writing. However, he never generalizes people beyond his indictment of slavery and slave holders. He doesn’t stereotype or extend his anger beyond those whom he rightfully condemns. That is a person of great strength and even greater charity. The dignity of the man is humbling to behold.

After finishing this inspirational, never-be-the-same autobiography, Frederick Douglass has joined my pantheon of American heroes right along side George Washington and John Adams. I plan to read further works by Douglass and can not more strenuously urge others to do the same.

6.0 stars. HIGHEST POSSIBLE RECOMMENDATION!!!

[Petra X · Rating 5 out of 5]

Time for a reread! What I like more about Douglass than anything else at all is his clear thinking on subject peoples. He saw that the discrimination against blacks and women was from an identical stance. That white men were imposing a structure of equality and entitlement that placed them at the top, and everyone else far beneath them. Indeed America's much lauded equality didn't apply to Blacks as they property not people. It hasn't changed much in very many countries, if not all, but you can change the descriptive'white' to whichever group of men have ensured they are sitting at the top of the economic and social freedom tree. But it is always men.

In the UK, where Douglass was on a speaking tour with William Wilberforce, he emphasised that the emancipation of slavery had also to include that of women whose condition was also as owned property with few rights.

There is a quote I very much like:

“I asked them why when they persecute men, for religion or colour it was seen by the world as oppression and when they persecute women, it was dismissed as tradition.” The Goodreads author, Emer Martin

The real reason I am going to reread this book is this wonderful review,

"I love the review on here that says, "This book was kind of hard to get into because of the high level words used in this book." In the 21st century a grown adult/product of the USA's educational system finds the vocabulary of a self-taught 19th century slave beyond their comprehension, seriously? God Bless America."

[Sean Barrs · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Once you learn to read you will forever be free"

This is powerful, so, so powerful. This is a remarkable achievement considering it is written in such a straight forward manner by a man who taught himself to read. There is no embellishment or dramatic imagery here; it is simple, straightforward, harrowing, fact. It is such a strong narrative that I’m extremely glad I read. I recommend it to everyone.

Moreover, to emphasise the sheer depravity, and brutality, these slaves were subjected to, the forward of the book suggests that Douglas had it easy. It was written by a close friend of his who argues that in comparison with other tales of slavery, Douglas’s subjugation was mild and not too bad. This, in itself, speaks volumes because this narrative relays an awful series of events. It does make you wonder what awfulness the others contained if this is considered a lesser form of evil treatment. Douglass had an awful childhood:

I do not recollect of every seeing my mother by the light of day. She was with me in the night. She would lie down with me, and get me to sleep, but long before I waked she was gone

From a very young age he had no sense of closeness with anyone. He was separated from his mother at the incredibly young age of ten months. When his mother later dies, he simply doesn’t care. He’s not formed a lasting bond with her, so her demise is like the passing of a stranger: she means nothing to him. They didn’t have enough time together for Douglass to have conceptualised who this person was to him. Indeed, he has very little conception of the world outside his slavery. He doesn’t fully conceive the harshness he is enduring until he is into his early teens. To his mind one of the overseers is a “good” man because he takes no pleasure in the whippings he exacts. In his later life he does fully realise how he’s been controlled and forced to think certain things, but at the time he just wasn’t ware of the full extent of his situation. He doesn’t even know his own age. The slavers loved to keep their chattel in ignorance, so they’d work harder and have fewer dreams of freedom. If they don’t have the knowledge, then they cannot question their masters.



However, Douglass became wise to his enforced ignorance; he quickly learnt that his path to freedom resided in his education. So, after a few brief lessons with a kind, and temporary, mistress he set about learning how to read in any way he could; he learnt from dockworkers and poor white children, and began to see a route to liberty through his increasing knowledge of the world. In this respect, his friend was right about the mildness of Douglass’s treatment. At this point in his life, he only witnessed barbarity rather than being subjugated to it. In this he was lucky, but that luck was to quickly run out. As he grew older his learning opportunities dwindled, as did his hope. He was contracted out to a brute of an owner who was the very image of a sadist slaver.

His new master was terrible and vicious. He almost broke Douglass, but his strength of will bounced back and managed to keep him on his feet. He learnt to strike back with such vigour that his master, who had a reputation for breaking unruly slaves, actually began to fear Douglass. He quickly got rid of him, and fortune sent him into the hands of a former, and gentler, master. Luck was in his favour again. It seems rather ironic to speak of a slave as having such luck, but when considering that very few successfully escaped their bonds it becomes clear that Douglass had a very fortunate opportunity in front of him. In truth, very few were allowed such liberty, and in the process presented with a narrow window of escape, which Douglass quickly leapt through. It took him many years to achieve every slave’s dream, but he got there nonetheless.

This is such an interesting narrative; it is frank, clear and powerful. There are no literary embellishments here. Instead, Douglass provides you with the harsh, and straightforward, truth of his life. The quote I placed at the start of the review says it all for me, it’s also one of my favourite quotes altogether in literature, after reading this it made really appreciate the importance of reading in this world.

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is not an important historical document to be placed in a glass case and venerated during Black History Month. It should be read by all, regardless of race or creed, as a warning against prejudice and oppression.

Douglass' description of the cruel conditions of slavery is mind-searing. His analysis of the system which fostered and condoned it shows amazing depth. He shows that slavery made wretched the lives of the victims but that it also warped the perpetrators, and created a regime in which people were afraid to object to injustice.

That a man could rise from such abject conditions, get an education, and not only share his knowledge with others but become a guiding star of the abolitionist movement is remarkable. That he could be a good Christian and remain untainted by racial prejudice is a testament to his greatness of soul.

[Jon Nakapalau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every once in awhile you read what I call a 'satori' book...you see things from a perspective that will never let you go back to your previously held beliefs. This book really opened my eyes to slavery and the toll it took on countless human beings. Frederick Douglass is truly one of the great intellectuals of American history.

[Paul Haspel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Narrating the unthinkable was a task to which Frederick Douglass was more than equal. A self-taught polymath, Frederick Douglass was an enslaved man who secured his freedom by outwitting and out-thinking his captors, and by outdoing them in sheer determination and inner strength as well. Once he gained his freedom, Douglass testified to what he had seen and endured, in speeches and writings that helped to awaken the conscience of a nation, and to turn a growing number of hitherto-indifferent whites in the North against slavery. He lived to become a friend and adviser of Abraham Lincoln, and to see the abolition of slavery in the United States via the 13th Amendment to the Constitution in 1865. And all of that was before he held U.S. Government positions like Recorder of Deeds for the District of Columbia, and Consul-General to the Republic of Haiti!

Frederick Douglass lived one of the most distinctive and inspiring lives in all of American history, and over the course of his long life he told his story in three different autobiographies. All three are classics of American literature; but the first of those autobiographies, which he published in 1845, is the one that is most widely read today. Slavery may have been abolished in the United States in 1865, but injustice is still a problem here and in all countries; and as long as such is the case, readers will continue to draw inspiration from this very short book with a rather long title: Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Written by Himself.

The Written by Himself portion of the title is important, because in 1845 there were a great many white Americans who would have been prone to doubt whether any African American, much less an African American raised in slavery, could write his own story, as Douglass did. It is for that reason that, when Narrative of the Life of an American Slave was written, it was prefaced with introductions by white abolitionists William Lloyd Garrison and Wendell Phillips. It is a scarring indictment of the racism of those times that many readers would have needed testimonials from two white men to believe that a black man had written his own book.

Along with horrifying and painful descriptions of the cruelty and savagery of slavery in the 19th-century American South, Douglass provides a careful setting-forth of how he learned to read and write. His becoming literate might have seemed improbable, given the circumstances of his birth and upbringing. Douglass was born into slavery on a plantation belonging to a Colonel Lloyd who was one of the wealthiest planters in Talbot County on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Douglass chronicles how chattel slavery meant, among other things, that he barely knew his mother (his father may have been a slaveholder with power over the plantation area where Douglass was born); and he makes clear that one’s status as a child did not exempt one from seeing the cruel and brutal punishments to which enslaved people could be subjected at a slaveholder’s whim.

Yet a decisive inflection point in young Frederick Douglass’s life occurred when he was taken from the Eastern Shore and sent to live with a couple named the Aulds, related to the Lloyds but living in Baltimore. Douglass found that slavery in a city like Baltimore, while it was no less unjust, was generally not as openly cruel and abusive as slavery in a rural plantation area like the Eastern Shore. When “Master Hugh” Auld reacted angrily to his wife’s attempt to teach Douglass some rudiments of reading and writing, Douglass knew at once that learning these skills was vital to his future prospects for any future life beyond bondage. Accordingly, Douglass applied great ingenuity, and utilized his time in the shipyard trades around Baltimore’s Fell’s Point area, to learn how to write:

When a piece of timber [for a ship] was intended for the larboard side, it would be marked thus – “L.” When a piece was for the starboard side, it would be marked thus – “S.” A piece for the larboard side forward would be marked thus – “L.F.” When a piece was for starboard side forward, it would be marked thus – “S.F.” For larboard aft, it would be marked thus – “L.A.” For starboard aft, it would be marked thus – “S.A.” I soon learned the names of these letters, and for what they were intended when placed upon a piece of timber in the ship-yard. I immediately commenced copying them, and in a short time was able to make the four letters named. After that, when I met with any boy who I knew could write, I would tell him I could write as well as he. The next word would be, “I don’t believe you. Let me see you try it.” I would then make the letters which I had been so fortunate as to learn, and ask him to beat that. In this way I got a good many lessons in writing, which it is quite possible I should never have gotten in any other way. During this time, my copy-book was the board fence, brick wall, and pavement; my pen and ink was a lump of chalk. With these, I learned mainly how to write. (p. 50)

Douglass’s Narrative of the Life of an American Slave thus works not only as a denunciation of injustice and a plea for universal human rights, but also as a literacy narrative.

Eventually, young Frederick was sent back to the Eastern Shore, where the slaveholder who “owned” him found him insufficiently deferential. Therefore Douglass was sent to the plantation of one Edward Covey, a “slave-breaker” who deliberately used random cruelty in an attempt to break the spirit of any African American who seemed disposed to try to resist the slave system.

I last returned to Narrative of the Life of an American Slave in the context of a Chesapeake Literature course that I was teaching at George Mason University in Virginia. Perhaps the most famous description of Chesapeake Bay in all of American literature occurs in these passages from Douglass’s Narrative. Looking back to his time at Covey’s “slave-breaker” farm, Douglass recalls how “Our house stood within a few rods of the Chesapeake Bay, whose broad bosom was ever white with sails from every quarter of the habitable globe”, but then adds that “Those beautiful vessels, robed in purest white, were to me so many shrouded ghosts, to terrify and torment me with thoughts of my wretched condition” (p. 67). In the passage that follows, young Frederick apostrophizes the ships on Chesapeake Bay, and reaffirms his determination to be free:

You are loosed from your moorings, and are free; I am fast in my chains, and am a slave! You move merrily before the gentle gale, and I sadly before the bloody whip! You are freedom’s swift-winged angels, that fly round the world; I am confined in bands of iron! O that I were free!...It cannot be that I shall live and die a slave. I will take to the water. This very bay shall yet bear me into freedom. The steamboats steered in a north-east course from North Point. I will do the same; and when I get to the head of the bay, I will turn my canoe adrift, and walk straight through Delaware into Pennsylvania. (pp. 67-68)

One of the most inspiring passages in Narrative of the Life of an American Slave occurs when young Frederick stands up to the “slave-breaker” Covey, fighting back against his cruelty and abuse. Covey, a coward like all bullies, never again tried to beat or abuse young Frederick, and Douglass eloquently recalls how the episode changed his point of view:

This battle with Mr. Covey was the turning-point in my career as a slave. It rekindled the few expiring embers of freedom, and revived within me a sense of my own manhood. It recalled the departed self-confidence, and inspired me again with a determination to be free….I felt as I never felt before. It was a glorious resurrection, from the tomb of slavery, to the heaven of freedom. My long-crushed spirit rose, cowardice departed, bold defiance took its place; and I now resolved that, however long I might remain a slave in form, the day had passed forever when I could be a slave in fact. (p. 73)

Eventually, young Frederick did indeed escape from slavery; and writing seven years later, Mr. Douglass recalls how, “on the third day of September, 1838, I left my chains, and succeeded in reaching New York without the slightest interruption of any kind.” But he adds that “How I did so – what means I adopted – what direction I travelled, and by what mode of conveyance – I must leave unexplained” (p. 100). The year was 1845, after all, and Douglass keeps his method of escape secret because he wants to be sure that other enslaved people could follow the same path to freedom. One can learn the specifics of Douglass’s escape by consulting Douglass’s later, post-Civil War writings, or by reading biographical works like Dickson Preston’s Young Frederick Douglass: The Maryland Years (1980).

This Penguin Books edition of Narrative of the Life of an American Slave also includes a couple of other writings by Douglass. One is his speech “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?” This oration, delivered at Rochester in July of 1852, powerfully sets forth the hypocrisy of a nation celebrating liberty while four million of its people are held in bondage. Another welcome addition is Douglass’s novella The Heroic Slave (1853) – a based-on-fact account of when Madison Washington, an enslaved man, led a slave revolt on board the slave ship Creole while it was en route from Virginia to New Orleans in 1841. Under Madison Washington’s leadership, the Creole was sailed to Nassau in the Bahamas – where, under British law, more than 100 enslaved people immediately gained their freedom.

It makes sense that Frederick Douglass would want to tell the story of the most successful slave revolt in U.S. history. Douglass captures well the inherent drama of the story, and I was struck by his description of Madison Washington:

Madison was of manly form. Tall, symmetrical, round, and strong….His eye, lit with emotion, kept guard under a brow as dark and as glossy as the raven’s wing. His whole appearance betokened Herculean strength; yet there was nothing savage or forbidding in his aspect. A child might play in his arms, or dance on his shoulders. A giant’s strength, but not a giant’s heart was in him. His broad mouth and nose spoke only of good nature and kindness….He was just the man you would choose when hardships were to be endured, or danger to be encountered – intelligent and brave. He had the head to conceive, and the hand to execute. (p. 152)

As with Edgar Allan Poe’s delineation of Roderick Usher’s appearance in “The Fall of the House of Usher” (1838), I can’t help thinking that Frederick Douglass’s depiction of Madison Washington in The Heroic Slave is a case of an author (perhaps unconsciously) describing himself as he describes his character.

With a helpful introduction by Ira Dworkin of the American University in Cairo, this edition of Narrative of the Life of an American Slave is an excellent way to get to know one of the most important books ever written by an American.

[Cheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

"…My copybook was the board-fence, brick wall, and pavement; my pen and ink was a lump of chalk. With these, I learned mainly how to write."As with Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, I feel as though I should start by reiterating these simple truths about the narrative: Yes, Douglass did write this book himself; No, he was not against Christianity, only a staunch opponent of hypocritical Christians; No, he did not promote hatred of man - his hate was of slavery.

The hearth is desolate. The children, the unconscious children, who once sang and danced in her presence, are gone. She gropes her way, in the darkness of age, for a drink of water. Instead of the voices of her children, she hears by day the moans of the dove, and by night the screams of the hideous owl. All is gloom. The grave is at the door.

This is Douglass' grandmother he speaks of, the woman who after raising generations of her "master's" family, after increasing her "master's" wealth by training generations of her family, she is sent out into the woods in her old age, to live her remaining years alone, while her family is taken away from her and sold. After all, she is of no use to him now.

The more I embrace slave narratives, the more I learn that the good ones always teach new things the big screen hasn't fully capitalized upon. So this one again highlighted the horrific chaining and whipping of slave women who stirred jealousy within their slave owners, but it goes a step further into showing how the wives of slave owners were also brutal murderers and slave beaters. We don't see this highlighted too often, just as we don't see this too often: those black slave women given the separate concubine's houses in the country, where the children were raised.

I tried to envision how a slave like Douglass could ever become close to a woman, after viewing the treatment of his mother, aunt, and grandmother (later, his wife and daughter will die before he did). How could generations of black families survive, let alone thrive, in such environments? In that case, why expect this narrative to be anything less than the brutally honest, passionate, indignant pathos that it is? Douglass lived with siblings but didn't even see them as family - always wanting to get away, always seeking freedom, always distrusting of others.

He saw education as his ticket out of slavery, but once he became educated, he realized how much of a burden it was: "I would at times feel that learning to read had been a curse rather than a blessing. It had given me a view of my wretched condition, without the remedy…in moments of agony, I envied my fellow slaves for their stupidity. I have often wished myself a beast…anything, no matter what, to get rid of thinking!"

After the publication of this book, he feared for this identity so he fled to Europe because of The Fugitive Slave Act; still he spoke against slavery. He didn't believe in revealing too many secrets of his escape (at times even referring to how the underground railway had become the uppergroundrailway), or of the abolitionists and teenage friends who helped educate him.

I read this years ago but once I started reading, the language and tone lured me and kept me involved until the end. To read this American classic and historical treasure, I suggest the Barnes and Noble Classics Edition for the great notes and letters from abolitionists, the time outline, and scholarly introduction and notations.

[Paul Bryant · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?

(Rom 13:9, Luke 10:29)

This short intense painful powerful book shows us very clearly that the regime in American slaveholding farms in the 19th century was similar to Nazi concentration camps. Severe whippings were dished out arbitrarily to induce a state of permanent terror. If an owner killed a slave there were no consequences. Starvation-level food was grudgingly allowed. There was grossly inadequate clothing and shelter. And the only way out of this totalitarian regime was by dying. One difference (aside from scale) was that the Nazis were deliberately working the camp inmate to death, and the slave owners wanted to extract maximum work from their victims. So life on the plantation was probably marginally better than life in Dachau. Oh yes, another similarity was that both the Nazis and the slave owners were Christians.

Frederick Douglass has some severe things to say about religion in 19th century America

I therefore hate the corrupt, slaveholding, women-whipping, cradle-plundering, partial and hypocritical Christianity of this land. Indeed, I can see no reason, but the most deceitful one, for calling the religion of this land Christianity. I look upon it as the climax of all misnomers, the boldest of all frauds, and the grossest of all libels.

Later on, he clarifies what he means :

What I have said respecting and against religion, I mean strictly to apply to the slaveholding religion of this land, and with no possible reference to Christianity proper; for, between the Christianity of this land, and the Christianity of Christ, I recognize the widest possible difference—so wide, that to receive the one as good, pure, and holy, is of necessity to reject the other as bad, corrupt, and wicked.

Christians of today may say well, individuals may be corrupted and gravely misunderstand the meaning of the gospel but they must sadly note that the in the slave owning states the church was part of the problem, there was no outright condemnation, it was all considered to be Biblically sanctioned, and the daily beatings, rapes and murders were politely ignored by all right thinking people.

[The examples of American slavery and Nazi concentration camps also indicate that on this earth there is never a shortage of sadistic men, but that’s a whole other subject.]

HOW FREDERICK LEARNED HIS LETTERS

The controlled fury of the author makes every other paragraph of this remarkable book worth quoting. I will limit myself to two very moving passages. Young Frederick, I think he is around 11 or 12 at this time, is sold to new owners.

Very soon after I went to live with Mr. and Mrs. Auld, she very kindly commenced to teach me the A, B, C. After I had learned this, she assisted me in learning to spell words of three or four letters. Just at this point of my progress, Mr. Auld found out what was going on, and at once forbade Mrs. Auld to instruct me further, telling her, among other things, that it was unlawful, as well as unsafe, to teach a slave to read.

“ Now," said he, "if you teach that n---- how to read, there would be no keeping him. It would forever unfit him to be a slave. He would at once become unmanageable, and of no value to his master. As to himself, it could do him no good, but a great deal of harm. It would make him discontented and unhappy."

So this is the slave owner’s very sensible view. The genius of Frederick Douglass was that as a boy he realised that reading and writing was crucial. So he slowly and painfully taught himself. One of his tasks takes him regularly to a shipyard where the joiners write letters on the finished timber pieces to indicate where they are intended for. S for starboard, L for larboard, etc.

I soon learned the names of these letters, and for what they were intended when placed upon a piece of timber in the ship-yard. I immediately commenced copying them, and in a short time was able to make the four letters named. After that, when I met with any boy who I knew could write, I would tell him I could write as well as he. The next word would be, "I don't believe you. Let me see you try it." I would then make the letters which I had been so fortunate as to learn, and ask him to beat that. In this way I got a good many lessons in writing, which it is quite possible I should never have gotten in any other way.

We may describe this as literacy by stealth.

THE ORIGINS OF BLACK MUSIC IN AMERICA

And finally, as a fan of black music from the 20s and 30s, this passage was both beautiful and sad for me to read. Here, slaves are returning from the day’s work

While on their way, they would make the dense old woods, for miles around, reverberate with their wild songs, revealing at once the highest joy and the deepest sadness. They would compose and sing as they went along, consulting neither time nor tune. The thought that came up, came out—if not in the word, in the sound;—and as frequently in the one as in the other. They would sometimes sing the most pathetic sentiment in the most rapturous tone, and the most rapturous sentiment in the most pathetic tone.

I have sometimes thought that the mere hearing of those songs would do more to impress some minds with the horrible character of slavery, than the reading of whole volumes of philosophy on the subject could do….

They told a tale of woe which was then altogether beyond my feeble comprehension; they were tones loud, long, and deep; they breathed the prayer and complaint of souls boiling over with the bitterest anguish. Every tone was a testimony against slavery, and a prayer to God for deliverance from chains. The hearing of those wild notes always depressed my spirit, and filled me with ineffable sadness. I have frequently found myself in tears while hearing them.

Just one last quote :

I have often been utterly astonished, since I came to the north, to find persons who could speak of the singing, among slaves, as evidence of their contentment and happiness. It is impossible to conceive of a greater mistake. Slaves sing most when they are most unhappy. The songs of the slave represent the sorrows of his heart; and he is relieved by them, only as an aching heart is relieved by its tears.



'Slaves Waiting for Sale' by Eyre Crowe (1861). Heinz collection, Washington DC

[Jason Koivu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Powerful, eloquent and utterly moving, especially considering it was written by a man who taught himself how to read and write while a slave.

The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass regrettably does not go into detail regarding the particulars of Douglass' escape to freedom. Having written his memoirs while slavery was still ongoing, he was afraid to reveal his methods for fear of endangering the lives of those who assisted him, as well as potentially shutting down an avenue of escape for other slaves after him. The reader must respect that and be satisfied with his well articulated descriptions of life in the south while serving under white masters.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book Review
I first read the biographical introduction about Frederick Douglass and learned many new things. I knew he wrote a few autobiographies, but I never knew that he spanned them over 40 years of writing and that he lived for close to 80 years. I then read both the preface by Garrison and the letter to Douglas. They were excellent introductions to the narrative by Frederick Douglass. They set the mood and get you ready to experience a whole new set of emotions when you read Douglass’ Life of an American Slave, etc. It really prepares you for the glory in the words and language. You realize how much Douglass meant to the enslaved people. It also gives you an overwhelming sense of sullen melancholy. You almost can’t believe that something like “this” happened to Douglass. It is very powerful and emotional.
Douglass work definitely is effective. It moves the reader deeply. All I can say about book 1 is that I was utterly repulsed by what I read. How any person could do that to another human being because their skin is a different color is absolutely hideous. I was so angry that I wanted to just scream out profanities to the slaveholders. Douglass’ memory and description is so vivid. I could see the apple red blood drip to the floor almost like it was an IV at times when he whipped her so much there was hardly any blood left. I wonder though if this was an exaggeration. Garrison claims that it isn’t, but it is so vile and disgusting that it can’t be real. Can it? In Book 2, at least we learn that the slaves are treated a little better at times. They go for a walk to the Great Farm House if they are a representative which gives them some time to themselves without the fear of a whipping. They sing songs and have a little bit of fun at least: although Frederick says that they never had any real joy with it, not tears of joy or happiness. I was so upset by this. No joy and forced to go through all that they did. It is horrible. Also, the rations they received were so minute. I wonder how they ever survived.
In Book 3... The garden that was near the plantation was nice. It would give the slaves something to look at, except that it also tempted them to steal some fruit and vegetables, which would result in severe punishing. And all of this so far, happened when Frederick was still just a child. I often thought that it was just a game to see how many times they could whip a slave or get him/her to do wrong. It was almost as if they purposely set them up using spies, etc. To try and catch them in the act. I think that is incredibly inhumane and awful. If I have this many feelings about the narrative so far, it just shoes how great an author Douglass is. He is able to capture attention and make you yell out in angst against the evil masters and overseers. By the end of Book 6, we learn that Douglass has learned how to read and write. He has also learned what an abolitionist is. He begins to see more out into real life, rather than the life of a slave. He has been through several new masters, some good and some bad. Also, during this time, he tells the readers that it is better off to be dead than to be a black slave in 19th century America.
In later books we learn that it is especially horrible when you have been treated nicely as a slave and then you go to a plantation where they treat you despicably. Douglass is extremely effective at showing his audience this. Douglass also tells how he was shipped all over the place whenever his masters died or got tired of him. I see how it becomes a game again. I also see that maybe the slaves could be compared to the life of a nomad who has no one common place to stay.

Not an easy one to read, but important to understand how bad the situation was. Hearing about it or knowing of it is one thing. Reading specifics is entirely another.

About Me
For those new to me or my reviews... here's the scoop: I read A LOT. I write A LOT. And now I blog A LOT. First the book review goes on Goodreads, and then I send it on over to my WordPress blog at https://thisismytruthnow.com, where you'll also find TV & Film reviews, the revealing and introspective 365 Daily Challenge and lots of blogging about places I've visited all over the world. And you can find all my social media profiles to get the details on the who/what/when/where and my pictures. Leave a comment and let me know what you think. Vote in the poll and ratings. Thanks for stopping by.

[Jenna ❤ ❀ ❤ · Rating 5 out of 5]

("Portrait of Frederick Douglass as a younger man", engraving by J.C. Buttre, 1855)

"You have seen how a man was made a slave; you shall see how a slave was made a man.”

Why is this book not required reading for American high school students?? It is a difficult book to read, to be sure, but ought still be required reading, Frederick Douglass' story should be known to all Americans, representative as it is to the suffering of the thousands upon thousands of people who built this nation.

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass is a brief book, written about Mr. Douglass' life as a slave as a child and teenager, before escaping the cruel clutches of slavery as a young adult. Mr. Douglass writes of the horrors he both witnessed and had inflicted upon him, of the indignity of being a slave, of the powerlessness and at times hopelessness he experienced. I could not read this book in one sitting or even two, brief as it is. I could only read a chapter at a time, sometimes less, so overcome with emotion I was. I have read books about slavery before of course, and yet this one was even more difficult because it was written by one who was once a slave, written of his own experiences. It is written with dignity and grace, and Mr. Douglass analyzes both the mindset of the cruel slave owner, and the mindset of a slave -- most notably, what it takes to make a slave: the fear, the degradation, the violence which must be heaped upon an individual to break him. How humans can do such things to other humans is beyond me, but many have and many would still do. For this reason, it is important to bear witness to the suffering of the past. If humanity is not to repeat our history, we must first know it.

(I'm aiming to read a classic a month in 2019. This was my February pick and I'm glad it was.)

[William2 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent. It’s an end in itself, of course, but I’m also reading as a kind of preface to Caryl Phillips’s Crossing the River, Jesmyn Ward’s Sing, Unburied, Sing and as an afterword to David M. Oshinsky’s Worse Than Slavery: Parchman Farm and the Ordeal of Jim Crow Justice. The writing is marvelous. On to My Bondage and My Freedom.

[mark monday · Rating 4 out of 5]

An absorbing account of the mind of a man. This is not a book of action but rather one of contemplation, as Frederick Douglass maps the deepening of his perspective throughout his life as a slave, and a little of his life as a free man. The reader is provided multiple examples of the psychotic brutality of slavery, of course. But the book's underlying goal - outside of chronicling the key pivot points in a man's life while on his path to freedom - is to illustrate how it feels to have your life controlled not just by a system, but by fellow humans who do their best to see you as less than. This is all too relatable - to anyone, in any time period. Douglass understands the ways that a person can rationalize their immorality and how a desire to control others is linked to self-esteem, to a sense of worth; he understands how those controlled can rationalize their inaction by identifying with their controller's status; he understands that systems of control require the enforced ignorance and bits of reward that will keep those controlled compliant. Through it all, he seethes, while never forgetting the fallible humanity of both enslaved and enslaver. The reader seethes as well, while perhaps finding it more of a challenge to view those enslavers with the same level of equanimity. No surprise there: Douglass's equanimity and his perfect grasp of human nature, along with his keen intelligence, were all more important traits than his understandable anger: they were what made him such a great man.

Also includes the scathing poem "A Parody" that lampoons the hypocrisy of the Christian slaveholder. That was a surprising way to end this Narrative. Loved it.

[Kevin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Frederick Douglass was a man of faith, and as such he wanted to believe that all men of faith were, at their core, decent men.

“In August, 1832, my master attended a Methodist camp meeting held in Bay-side, Talbot county, and there experienced religion. I indulged a faint hope that his conversion would lead him to emancipate his slaves, and that, if he did not do this, it would, at any rate, make him more kind and humane. I was disappointed in both these respects...”

Experience taught Frederick Douglass some hard lessons...

“If it had any effect on his character, it made him more cruel and hateful in all his ways... Prior to his conversion, he relied upon his own depravity to shield and sustain him his savage barbarity; but after his conversion, he found religious sanction and support for his slaveholding cruelty.”

...experience opened his eyes...

“I assert most unhesitatingly, that the religion of the south is a mere covering for the most horrid crimes, a justifier of the most appalling barbarity, a sanctifier of the most hateful frauds, and a dark shelter, under which the darkest, foulest, grossest, and most infernal deeds of slaveholders find the strongest protection.”

...experience shaped his perceptions.

“...I should regard being the slave of a religious master the greatest calamity that could befall me ...religious slave holders are the worst. I have ever found them to be the meanest and basest, the most cruel and cowardly, of all others.”

And in the end, he saw the light...

“I love the pure, peaceable, and impartial Christianity of Christ: I therefore hate the corrupt, slaveholding, women-whipping, cradle-plundering, partial and hypocritical Christianity of this land.”

[Raya راية · Rating 4 out of 5]

"ليس مُهمٍّا تحت أي اصطلاح مزيّف تتستّر العبودية، فإنها لا تزال بشعة وبها ميل طبيعي حتى للعصف بكل مَلَكة نبيلة عند الإنسان."
-دانيال أوكونيل



لم ولن أفهم أو أستوعب كيف يمكن لإنسان أن يقوم باستعباد وإذلال إنسان آخر، لا لشيء سوى أنه مختلف عنه باللون أو بالعِرق أو بالدين أو باللغة! من الذي قرر بأن الإنسان البيض يمتلك أفضلية عن الإنسان الأسود! لقد جاء الأبيض من آخر العالم، وغزا أفريقيا بحجة نشر الحضارة والتقدّم ونشر تعاليم الدين، لكنه بالحقيقة جاء لينهب ثروات هذه القارة الغنّية ويلسب شعبها حرّيته!

نحن أمام وثيقة مهمة تصوّر بدقة فظاعة نظام العبودية الوحشي الذي لا يقرّه أي دين أو عُرف. وثيقه كتبها فريدريك دوغلاس، الذي وُلد وكَبُر تحت مظلة هذا النظام الغاشم، وشاهد وقاسى ألوانًا شتى من العذاب والظلم والاستبداد. ونبتت فكرة التحرر من العبودية في عقله منذ أن كان صغيرًا، وبقي يسقيها بماء العلم والقراءة والتمرّد على سادته، حتى حان وقت قطاف ثمرة هذه النبتة، وبالفعل نجح دوغلاس بالهروب وبتحقيق حلمه بالحرية. وقام بفضح ممارسات نظام العبودية في كتابه هذا. وظل حتى نهاية عمره يدعو لتحرير العبيد وفضح السادة المتوحشين.

أكثر ما يثير حيرتي واستغرابي واشمئزاري كذلك، هو وجود الكثير من السادة المُستَعبِدين المتدينين! كيف يستطيع أن يصلي ويركع لله بقلب خاشع ويطلب الرحمة والرزق، وهو يجلد الضعفاء ممن يستعبدهم، يجلد الطفل والمرأة والشيخ المسن! يحرمهم من الطعام والكساء والدفء والنوم! يجلدهم ويعذبهم ويغتصب حريتهم بقلب قاس وروح متجمّدة! أي إنسان هذا! وأي دين يقبل هذا! أَلا إن جميع الأديان لهي براء منه!

كتاب مؤثر بلا شك، فلا يمكنك أن تقرأه دون أن تغرورق عيناك بدموع الألم والضيق، وأن ينقبض صدرك، على كل ما عاناه أولئك البؤساء المساكين!

...

[Beverly · Rating 5 out of 5]

A magnificent appeal to the heart and soul of a nation, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, is one man's experience as a slave and how he freed himself. Not only is it a daring tale of his escape, it is also a story of his belief that living as a slave was unendurable and he would rather die trying to escape, than suffer another moment under its tyranny.

It was published in 1845, twenty years before the end of the Civil War. I never knew that. I thought he wrote and published after slavery had been abolished. Under The Fugitive Slave Act, he could have been captured and returned to his owner, so it was a brave act to even write this, let alone print it. He actually did have to leave the country for a couple of years, because of his fear of recapture.

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a powerful piece of writing this is. Slavery is such an ugly part of American history, and this narrative tells all of the ordeals that Frederick Douglass had to overcome, including whippings, beatings, hunger, tyrannical masters, backbreaking labor, and horrible living conditions.

Douglass was born in Maryland in 1818, but even that year is a guess because slaves were generally not allowed to know their birthdate. He knew little of his mother because the master sent her away, and then she died while Douglass was still a child. It was whispered that his father was the master, but he had no way of knowing for certain.

There are some horrifying stories in this narrative. But there is also inspiration, because we know Douglass was able to escape and live freely. My favorite part was when Douglass explained how he learned to read and write after he was shipped off to a master's house in Baltimore. He was very clever and had to learn in secret, because his master had said that slaves shouldn't learn to read because it would make them miserable and unmanageable. But Douglass couldn't stand the thought of being a slave for life, and he knew he had to learn to read if he wanted to run away.

"The plan which I adopted, and the one by which I was most successful, was that of making friends of all the little white boys whom I met in the street. As many of these as I could, I converted into teachers. With their kindly aid, obtained at different times and in different places, I finally succeeded in learning to read. When I was sent on errands, I always took my book with me, and by going one part of my errand quickly, I found time to get a lesson before my return. I used also to carry bread with me... This bread I used to bestow upon the hungry little urchins, who, in return, would give me that more valuable bread of knowledge."

However, when Douglass read newspaper articles about slavery or about the abolitionist movement, he became even more upset:

"The more I read, the more I was led to abhor and detest my enslavers. I could regard them in no other light than a band of successful robbers, who had left their homes, and gone to Africa, and stolen us from our homes, and in a strange land reduced us to slavery. I loathed them as the meanest as well as the most wicked of men. As I read and contemplated the subject, behold! that very discontentment which Master Hugh had predicted would follow my learning to read had already come, to torment and sting my soul to unutterable anguish. As I writhed under it, I would at times feel that learning to read had been a curse rather than a blessing. It had given me a view of my wretched condition, without the remedy. It opened my eyes to the horrible pit, but to no ladder upon which to get out. In moments of agony, I envied my fellow slaves for their stupidity. I have often wished myself a beast."

Fortunately, Douglass had a plan to escape, and he was able to flee his master's home in Baltimore and make it to New York, which was a free state. He was able to marry and became a passionate advocate for abolition. I highly recommend this narrative.

Memorable Quotes:
"I have often been utterly astonished, since I came to the north, to find persons who could speak of the singing, among slaves, as evidence of their contentment and happiness. It is impossible to conceive of a greater mistake. Slaves sing most when they are most unhappy. The songs of the slave represent the sorrows of his heart; and he is relieved by them, only as an aching heart is relieved by its tears. At least, such is my experience. I have often sung to drown my sorrow, but seldom to express my happiness. Crying for joy, and singing for joy, were alike uncommon to me while in the jaws of slavery. The singing of a man cast away upon a desolate island might be as appropriately considered as evidence of contentment and happiness, as the singing of a slave; the songs of the one and of the other are prompted by the same emotion."

[On masters who profess to be good Christians] "I assert most unhesitatingly, that the religion of the south is a mere covering for the most horrid crimes — a justifier of the most appalling barbarity — a sanctifier of the most hateful frauds — and a dark shelter under, which the darkest, foulest, grossest and most infernal deeds of slaveholders find the strongest protection. Were I to be again reduced to the chains of slavery, next to that enslavement, I should regard being the slave of a religious master the greatest calamity that could befall me. For of all slaveholders with whom I have ever met, religious slaveholders are the worst. I have ever found them the meanest and basest, the most cruel and cowardly, of all others."

[Ruxandra (4fără15) · Rating 4 out of 5]

O, God, save me! God, deliver me! Let me be free! Is there any God? Why am I a slave? I will run away. I will not stand it. Get caught, or get clear, I’ll try it. I had as well die with ague as the fever. I have only one life to lose. I had as well be killed running as die standing. Only think of it; one hundred miles straight and I am free! Try it? Yes! God helping me, I will. It cannot be that I shall live and die a slave. It may be that my misery in slavery will only increase my happiness when I get free. There is a better day coming.

[Foz ☀️ · Rating 3 out of 5]

" إن قتل زنجي يساوي نصف سنت، ونصف سنت لتدفنه"، هذه هي مذكرات تعود لعبد أمريكي مضطهد في أمريكا في 1800s، حيث كان قديماً وتحديداً في الجنوب يجلبون السود لرعاية مزارعهم وتربية الماشية وزراعة القطن والقمح وقطفها وأعمال أخرى كثيرة، لكن كانوا البيض أي أسيادهم/ ملاكهم يضربونهم على أبسط الأمور الرجال والنساء، ويستخدمون أدوات عدة لتعذيبهم وقتلهم حتى، الكاتب يعيش هذه المأساة ويرويها من جهته، وقارن بين التعذيب في الجنوب وفي الشمال، فالشمال كان أرحم، أبسط الحقوق وهي التعلم والقراءة كانت مرفوضة لكنه وبأعجوبة تعلم القراءة والكتابة.
الترجمة كانت مزعجة وتحديداً هناك بعض الأخطاء، وطباعة بعض الفقرات مرتين.

[Howard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Third Reading

“I prayed for freedom for twenty years, but received no answer until I prayed with my legs.” ― Frederick Douglass
******

Frederick Douglass was born a slave in Maryland in 1817 (or 1818). After several failed attempts he managed to escape to the North in 1838. He became an ardent and effective abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman.

He had learned to read and write as a slave, first aided by the wife of one of his masters, until her husband stepped in and convinced her that teaching slaves to read and write was dangerous because literacy would make them dissatisfied with their bondage and make them more likely to plan escape attempts, which, of course, was true.

******
“Once you learn to read, you'll be forever free.” – Frederick Douglass
******

That did not stop Douglass from continuing his studies. He would later say that white boys on the streets in Baltimore had aided him in his quest and that he later was able to teach himself.

After his escape, he gained notice when he gave a famous speech to a white audience about his experiences as a slave. The speech was so eloquent and so powerful in describing the evils of slavery that abolitionists held him up as an example, an example that argued that slaves did possess the intelligence to live and function as free and independent American citizens.

However, some people – even in the North – found it difficult to believe that such an articulate speaker could have spent his childhood and adolescence in bondage.

Douglass would eventually write three autobiographies, beginning with Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave (1845).

The book was a firsthand account of what it was like to be born a slave, to live as a slave, and to escape from slavery, and it would become his bestselling book and the most beneficial to the abolitionist cause. It received many positive reviews, but, similar to the response to his earlier speech, it was so well written that some people were skeptical that such a book could have been written by an ex-slave.

Nevertheless, in the first three years it was reprinted nine times, was translated into French and Dutch, and had 11,000 copies circulating in the United States, which for the times was a huge number.

Up to this point in Douglass’ life, he had spent almost a decade as an escaped slave and as such was subject to the Fugitive Slave Acts, which allowed runaway slaves to be seized and returned to their owners. But a year after the publication of his book its sales allowed him to accumulate enough money to purchase his freedom. (The Fugitive Slave Acts were not repealed until 1864.)

Douglass was also a champion of the rights of women. In fact, he was the only black person to attend the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848, which was the first women’s rights convention. He spoke at that gathering saying that as a black man he would never be able to accept the right to vote as long as women did not have that same right and that the world would be a better place if women were able to cast votes.

When he died in 1895, his funeral services were held in the Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C. Thousands of people passed by his casket in order to show their respect for a man born a slave who was able to overcome cruel odds that hardly any free persons could even fathom, but if they chose, they could learn about them by reading Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass.

******
“Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is made to feel that society is an organized conspiracy to oppress, rob and degrade them, neither persons nor property will be safe.” – Frederick Douglass

[ولاء شكري · Rating 5 out of 5]

( لتصنع عبداً قانعاً فمن الضروري .. أن تصنع عبداً لا يفكر ..من الضروري أن تُغرق رؤيته الأخلاقية والعقلية في الظلام .. وبقدر إعدام قوة العقل لن يكون قادراً على اكتشاف أي عيوب في نظام العبودية .. بل سيظهر له أن العبودية وضعاً صحيحاً ويتوقف عن أن يكون إنساناً )

" فريدريك دوجلاس " يحكي قصته .. إنها قصة قديمة مضى عليها أكثر من قرن ونصف القرن من الزمان لكنها لم تزل حية نابضة .. فهي تصور الحياة في المزارع الواسعة في الجنوب الأمريكي تحت مظلة العبودية، وتضرب عميقاً في النفاذ إلى جوهر العبودية والأعمال اللا إنسانية لمُلاك العبيد، وتصور كيف كان عذاب الكاتب وهو يتطلع إلى الحرية، والمجهود الجبار الذي فعله ليتعلم القراءة والكتابة، وما قاساه حتى إستطاع الهروب و الحصول على حريته ..

كتاب يستحق القراءة والتأمل ❤

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

I kept this small PB in my purse to pull out to read when out lunching alone or waiting in the lobby for an appt. It was hard to put away when my time was up. A powerful first-hand account of slavery by an amazing man who endured being enslaved for 20 years, taught himself to read and write, escaped and became a celebrated voice in the anti-slavery movement after a couple of years of freedom in New England.
What didn't I know or had been baked in about my thoughts on slavery that were uninformed? If I am being honest, it's that many of those who labored in the fields or other outdoor work on farms were barely clothed, fed & sheltered. Why did this surprise me? I thought whether you bought (no matter how odious that thought is) or hired a workforce you would want them to be able to do that work. Providing enough food, clothing and shelter to even barely sustain a person would get the most bang for your buck, wouldn't you think? I guess if I really think about how cruel the institution of slavery was it shouldn't surprise me as most did not view slaves as people/ human beings.

Although there is nothing good in the abhorrent institution of slavery (despite DeSantis's comments), for a very short time one of his mistresses, when Frederick was a child, did begin to teach him spelling. His master found out and forbid it with words which were to forever gain a hold in Frederick's heart " it would forever unfit him to be a slave."

He used every opportunity he could to learn to read and write although it often made him feel the depths of despair I would sometimes feel learning to read was a curse rather than a blessing. It had given me a view of my wretched condition, without the remedy. It opened my eyes to a horrible pit but to no ladder upon which to get out. In moments of agony, I envied my fellow slaves for their stupidity. It was this everlasting thinking of my condition that tormented me.

There are far more eloquent reviews to be read than what I could write, and without highlighting the graphic horrors, I will just pull out a couple of quotes that blared out at me.

I have often been utterly astonished, since I came north, to find persons who would speak of the singing, among slaves, as evidence of their contentment and happiness. It is impossible to conceive of a greater mistake. Slaves sing when they are most unhappy. The songs of the slave represent the sorrows of his heart; and he is relieved of them, only as an aching heart is relieved by its tears. Crying for joy, or singing for joy, were alike uncommon for me while in the jaws of slavery.
After the death of an owner when he was about 10 or eleven years old, all the slaves were gathered to be valued, divided and sold. I have no language to express the high excitement and deep anxiety which were felt among us poor slaves during this time. Our fate was now to be decided. We had no more voice in that decision than the brute (animals) among whom we were ranked. A single word from the white men was enough - against all our wishes prayers, and entreaties - to sunder forever our dearest friends, dearest kindred, and strongest ties known to human beings.

The appendix that he wrote to the narrative does clarify some of Douglass's comments about Christianity. It was the hypocrisy of those who espoused being followers of Christ that he hated. I can say his comments on this topic are still all too true today.

I appreciated the introduction in this edition by Houston A. Baker especially about the evolving slave narratives during the height of the abolitionist movement and highlights of what happened in the life of Douglass after gaining his freedom which was beyond the boundary that the narrative encompasses.

In the increasing racial & wealth divide of today, I will keep this on my shelf to remind myself of what those enslaved people endured and how important civil rights causes of all people are in our current political landscape.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very brief first volume of a three volume autobiography. It is moving, powerful and horrific portrait of slavery in one of the so-called more humane slave states in the 1820s and 1830s.
It is an important historical document, but is also much more than that; published in 1845 it opened a window for the general public in the north who knew little about the inner workings of slavery. Douglass does not know his birthday, who his father was and was separated from his mother very early in life (this was usual). He describes the brutality, whippings, the deaths of other slaves and the attitudes of various owners. Some are crueller than others; in general the most pious and religious were the worst, especially when it came to whipping. Douglass does not describe how he escaped as this was written before slavery was abolished and he did not want to give slave holders information which might prejudice the escape of others.
This is a book that demands to be read; it is passionate and eloquent. It really should be better known here in the UK and ought to be mandatory reading in any serious study of slavery and racism. It is interesting to look at the history of the time and the reactions of slave-owners to Douglass’s book.
The rest of Douglass’s life is fascinating as is his political career; he was also a noteworthy supporter of women’s rights;
“In this denial of the right to participate in government, not merely the degradation of woman and the perpetuation of a great injustice happens, but the maiming and repudiation of one-half of the moral and intellectual power of the government of the world”
Highly recommended.

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most remarkable stories of our history is about one of the most extraordinary persons of American history, Frederick Douglass, "written by himself." It's remarkable enough that he was able to escape bondage, but he also became a powerful leader of the abolitionist movement.
It was amazing enough that, as a slave, he was able to teach himself to read and write ( and remember it was a crime for a slave to read or write, punishable by death) and he became an eloquent orator as well as writer against the evil of slavery. Because he had that experience as a slave and could reveal the horrors of life as a slave based on his own experiences, he was all the more effective in his work to abolish slavery in America.
One of the strongest points about slavery that he made was about the sheer hypocrisy of slaveowners, who defended having slaves based on their religion, Christianity. As he states in one passage: "I have seen him ( the slaveowner) tie up a lame young woman, and whip her with a heavy cowskin upon her naked shoulders, causing the warm blood to drip;and, in justification of the bloody deed, he would quote this passage of Scripture--' He that knoweth his master's will, and doeth it not,shall be beaten with many stripes.'" In the case of that young woman, she was regularly whipped by the "good Christian" as he couldn't stand her lameness and I think he wanted to indulge his sadism. A horrific economic and social system indeed in which human beings had no protection from psychopaths and sadists.
This book is all too short. My edition is only 125 pages. But this book is a powerful one indeed. It is hard to believe in this year of 2021 that there was a time in this country when some people treated other people like property, to dispose of as they pleased...but it not only happened, we are still dealing (or not dealing ) with the bitter legacy of slavery.
Frederick Douglass believed he was born in 1817 and he died on February 20, 1895.

[#AskMissPatience · Rating 5 out of 5]

Frederick Douglass’s Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave is gut-wrenching and meaningfully poignant.

Narrated by Jonathan Reese on the library overdrive app. Was very disappointed this man didn't sound as though he is Mr. Douglas. It sounded like the content was read. Not performed to be genuine.

I'd like to hear someone who acts or does theater give Mr. Douglas depth of feeling. This man suffered greatly. And, is a brilliant mind deposit his circumstance of abuse and deprivation.

Frederick Douglas is a hero of mine. Enamored or his observations. Relate personally to a few of his perceptions.

When Mr. Douglas discovered the truth of literacy fell deeper in love with his intellect and ability to create an outlook to free himself upon such unfortunate circumstances.

As Mr. Douglas teaches himself to read as a boy find myself cheering him on.

I'm infuriated at Mr. Douglas's treatment by Christians and his experience as fear of Christians because they're the worst type.

Mr. Douglas, sir, I know you are past a long time. From the bottom of my heart in the name of the God, I devote my life to, I apologize for all the pain thrust on you by any demon claiming to be a believer. They most definitely were not.

Thank you for your inspiration. I will make certain to tell others about you and include your story in the work I'm doing. Including the curriculum I’m creating, with people of color as advisors, honoring you and others who suffered.

Thank you for sharing your truth, sir. Your heart will go on.

Kind warm sincere regards,
Patience Phillips

To read the story here is a free copy of the book. For audio conversion I recommend Speechify if you don't have text yo speech. 👇🏼

https://www.ibiblio.org/ebooks/Dougla...

Highly recommend this autobiography. Especially if you're interested in actual reality and experiential history through the heart of a slave to a freeman.

If you are not disgusted with American history you're reading the sins of omission version. We can not improve what we don't acknowledge.

America is not so beautiful until we take back what is truth. And, validate what we have systemically perpetuated to erase equity.

We the people have been treated in a way that has rendered us ignorant to continue the violence dressed up in pretty words that I've since discovered hurt people. Not help America heal and build better forward.

Why in school are we taught there are different colors for crayons. But also teach ’color doesn't matter’ or equality exists meanwhile create affirmative action to attempt to create equality without equity and think this works or is okay?

I'm very thankful for the preservation of works such as this. No longer will these historical facts be buried. I won't allow it.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💯

[Shaimaa شيماء · Rating 3 out of 5]

هل حب السيطرة طبع في الإنسان؟ ينتظر الوقت والظروف المناسبة ليظهر!!

هل يقسو الإنسان ويتجبر كلما أحس بضعف الآخر؟؟

هل يظهر الوحش الكامن إذا أتيحت له الفرصة؟

لماذا نتعجب من سلوكيات بعض الناس إذا اعتلوا المناصب وشاهدنا منهم مالم نتوقعه؟؟؟

مذكرات عبد أمريكي كتاب يحكي عن العبودية، وما أقسى أن تكون عبدا، ولكن هل انتهت حقا العبودية؟؟؟ أم ان الإنسان يحاول أن يمارسها بأي شكل من الأشكال؟؟؟؟

الاب الذي يقسو على أبنائه ويحرمهم ويفرض سيطرته عليهم.

الأم التي تستغل ضعف أبنائها فتقهرهم وتسيطر عليهم.

صاحب العمل الذي يفرض ظروفا بالغة القسوة على من يعمل عنده..

المعلم الذي يفرض وجهة نظره على طلابه ويعطل تفكيرهم في سبيل الموافقة على رأيه.

أليس هذا كله اشكالا من العبودية؟

كانوا في ذلك الزمان يستخدمون سلاح الجهل في السيطرة على هؤلاء العبيد، لأن العلم بداية طريق الحرية.

وحتى في زماننا هذا، العلم هو بداية طريق الحرية.

[Luke · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5/5

Unlike many on this site, if one may judge from the reviews and most popular tags of this work, I did not encounter this in school. This is unfortunate, as exposure to this at a younger age may have made my frame of references less solidified, Moby Dick over here and slavery narratives of there and all the usual sorts of aborted cross-reference and false literary linearity. These days, I am not as suspect to being fenced in by required reading in academia, but there are some still some sickening traces of surprise at how a specific author was writing at a certain time that really does need to be gotten over. If there's one thing I learned from my concurrent reading of Dhalgren, it's that I have a very restricted view of how writing of "quality" comes to be that, ultimately, is very harmful indeed.

So, what constituted that elitist surprise? On the whole, it was the matter of how this read very much like a psychological bildungsroman with a wonderful sense of prose and a swift and easy manner of outer description and inner self. Frederick Douglass not only had a keen interest in presenting his own life, but also in how slavery continues to work itself into the framework of society and its social animals. The result is a piece which, if any white person at the time had wanted to write in a similar vein, would be comparable to a memoir that continually focused on the effects of US conceptual "freedom" on the memoirist's growth to maturity. While there's probably a few out there that come close to the mark (you can't step into the surface knowledge of the 1800's without squashing a few dozen names of physiognomic worth and solipsistic character), it's doubtful any achieve a comparable moral imperative. Being the person I am, that manner of thematic engagement matters a lot, so deal.

That does it for the general level. On the more specific level, passages of note include Douglass' analyses of holidays in lands of legalized slavery, his imbibed assumption that a society could not be well-off without the (overt) systematic owning of human beings, and his scorn for, in his words, the "upperground" railroad; or, Liberal White People Fucking Over Others With "Help" Since 1845. He remains as eloquent throughout this face-palm as he does in his fervent condemnation of the machine that controlled his upbringing, which reads well so long as once doesn't prescribe it in a fit of respectability politics to those who continue his efforts today. Things have changed since Douglass' day, and protests of a different nature are required for making this modern day public squirm.

[Tom LA · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book should be mandatory reading for every American citizen, and it should be considered one of the 4 or 5 most important classics in American literature.

No disrespect to Melville, but if I had to choose which one to save between the two works, Moby Dick would end up in smoke.

As an Italian, I reflect on the slavery period in the US and wonder how it’s possible that some States - about 300-200 years ago, which is not that long ago - went back to a level of barbarism that even in the late Roman Empire, in some regions, was not allowed and seen as “backwards” (in the 6th century, emperor Justinian made killing a slave equal to murder).

We’re talking about an almost 2,000 years jump backwards in terms of civilization. That’s insane.

What strikes me the most is Mr. Douglass’s matter-of-fact tone. His voice is so clear, strong, quiet and dignified. The exact opposite of how the majority of people today write on Twitter / X.

His speech to Congress on 4th of July — which is an addition to this edition as it’s not part of the autobiography — should be read every year on July 4th. It’s so beautiful, so genuine, so full of love for America, despite being unflinchingly honest about its dark side (in his times).

Of course, there are many dark sides of today’s America, as well, but Douglass reminds us that it would be stupid to give up on that central love just because of that darkness.

More importantly, his testimony reminds all of us the IMMENSE amount of privilege and blessings that we can enjoy today as US citizens. This should put in perspective those complaints that too many Americans bloat out of proportion, forgetting that — while complaining and protesting is always legitimate — first of all, they should be constantly grateful.

Rest in peace, Frederick Douglass, and thanks for leaving this document to us. It encourages us to be the best version of ourselves that we can be.


———


As an aside note: I read the gorgeous golden Folio Society edition of this book (a very special gift that I recently received), and after 25 pages of introduction, a Kwame Dawes thought it was an intelligent idea to echo some silly gossip about Trump in his introduction: apparently, some years ago Trump said: “Frederick Douglass is an example of somebody who’s done an amazing job and is being recognized more and more, I notice.”

While Trump was obviously acknowledging Douglass’s growing recognition and legacy, and nothing more, many on the left enjoyed some stupid giggles as they gossiped: “He is implying that Douglass is still alive”.

Dawes ends his introduction chuckling about this slander, as a punchline to his general message: “we live in the most racist of times because Orange Man Bad and because of white christianity”.

I am not here to defend Trump, whose well-known aversion to reading is only one of an innumerable list of flaws and may indeed have led him to speak without full historical context.

Rather, I must — once more — regrettably highlight the left’s asphyxiating dominance of the contemporary literary world, where even a respected scholar and poet is permitted to indulge in such low-brow asides in the preface to an edition from a venerable publisher.

Shame on you, Kwame Dawes, for smuggling tabloid gossip into the hallowed preface of a Folio Society classic, and shame on the editors who let a scholar’s voice descend to the level of partisan snickering.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I was reading this book, several things jumped out at me but one part in particular struck me:

“As I writhed under it, I would at times feel that learning to read had been a curse rather than a blessing. It had given me a view of my wretched condition, without the remedy. It opened my eyes to the horrible pit, but to no ladder upon which to get out.” (Chapter VII)

This truly struck me, mostly because it was so familiar to the sentiments shared by a man I follow on TikTok - Oliver James - who has been teaching himself how to read. It has been a beautiful journey, one I’m grateful to be a witness of, but a few months ago he had an emotional break-througb. These words shared by Douglass and the feelings they encompass were exactly what Oliver had expressed. Oliver persevered and so did Douglass because Douglass knew that reading is knowledge, and knowledge is freedom. This book was powerful, and I’m honored that Douglass wrote this and that it still exists today for people to still learn from.

Other quotes that stood out to me:

“I assert most unhesitatingly, that the religion of the south is a mere covering for the most horrid crimes,—a justifier of the most appalling barbarity,—a sanctifier of the most hateful frauds,—and a dark shelter under, which the darkest, foulest, grossest, and most infernal deeds of slaveholders find the strongest protection.” (Chapter X)

“The dealer gives his blood-stained gold to support the pulpit, and the pulpit, in return, covers his infernal business with the garb of Christianity. Here we have religion and robbery the allies of each other—devils dressed in angels’ robes, and hell presenting the semblance of paradise.” (Appendix)

[Cinzia DuBois · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is just the first volume of a three volume autobiography which paints a horrific portrait of the so-called “humane” slave states in the early 1800s.

Douglas’ eloquent and powerful narrative details brutality of slave existence, from being separated from their mothers at a young age, to rape, whippings, abuse and denial of any human rights or sense of self.

His autobiography shares various, intricate details to the nuanced experience of slavery. He gives us glimpses into the various attitudes towards him from various slave owners as well as slaves. This first volume reveals how Douglas’ determination to become educated steered his life towards his political career as an advocate for human rights and racial justice.

I don’t understand why this isn’t mandatory reading in schools. There’s nothing written in here that I couldn’t have been exposed to by senior school, and the insight was far more visceral and important to read than anything else I was given. Douglas’ struggle and conquering of his fate deserves to be celebrated and read by everyone.