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Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave / Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
This Modern Library Paperback Classics edition combines the two most important African American slave narratives into one volume.
Frederick Douglass's Narrative, first published in 1845, is an enlightening and incendiary text. Born into slavery, Douglass became the preeminent spokesman for his people during his life; his narrative is an unparalleled account of the dehumanizing effects of slavery and Douglass's own triumph over it. Like Douglass, Harriet Jacobs was born into slavery, and in 1861 she published Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, now recognized as the most comprehensive antebellum slave narrative written by a woman. Jacobs's account broke the silence on the exploitation of African American female slaves, and it remains crucial reading. These narratives illuminate and inform each other. This edition includes an incisive Introduction by Kwame Anthony Appiah and extensive annotations.
Frederick Douglass's Narrative, first published in 1845, is an enlightening and incendiary text. Born into slavery, Douglass became the preeminent spokesman for his people during his life; his narrative is an unparalleled account of the dehumanizing effects of slavery and Douglass's own triumph over it. Like Douglass, Harriet Jacobs was born into slavery, and in 1861 she published Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, now recognized as the most comprehensive antebellum slave narrative written by a woman. Jacobs's account broke the silence on the exploitation of African American female slaves, and it remains crucial reading. These narratives illuminate and inform each other. This edition includes an incisive Introduction by Kwame Anthony Appiah and extensive annotations.
464 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published September 10, 2010
65 people are currently reading
1947 people want to read
About the author
Frederick Douglass
1,041 books1,696 followersFrederick 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...
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...
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July 10, 2017
Frederick Douglass hardly needs to be defended, right? In case you haven't read this, and think it might be speechy or difficult to read, it's not. Douglass is smart enough to know he doesn't have to tell you how to feel; his story is plenty gripping enough without editorializing. And while he's an eloquent writer, and will occasionally engage in rhetoric, the thing's only 100 pages long; it flies. (Besides, he earns his rhetoric. Remember that hundreds of slave narratives were written. Douglass' is the classic because it's very, very good. They didn't pick his name out of a hat.) It's an amazing piece of work, and I can't imagine a reason not to read it.
This edition also includes Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs, which I reviewed here. It's smart to put them together; Incidents is very good, so this makes a great introduction to the slave narrative genre.
For some context, the best essay I read was Caille Millner's "The Slave Narrative" in A New Literary History of America.
This edition also includes Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs, which I reviewed here. It's smart to put them together; Incidents is very good, so this makes a great introduction to the slave narrative genre.
For some context, the best essay I read was Caille Millner's "The Slave Narrative" in A New Literary History of America.
July 31, 2016
I generally find writing from this time period difficult to read. Henry David Thoreau, for example, or Herman Melville, are like reading through oatmeal for me. I have long meant to read this particular book (really a long essay, weighting in at less than 75 pages), so yesterday, I did.
A few months ago in New York an eighth grade girl read this book and wrote an essay about how Douglas's words were still relevant to her experiences in a large, poor, and urban middle school. The young lady in question wrote about how teaching slaves to read would eventually lead to their freedom, and how the teachers in her school were not teaching her or her peers very much of anything in order to keep them servile as adults. From her perspective, not much as changed.
Her teachers were not pleased.
I kept that story in mind as I read, and enjoyed, this powerful book. Slavery is hard to imagine, and every time I think about it, I find myself both bemused and horrified. I simply can't imagine a world where children could be torn away from their mothers, where women could be raped with impunity, and where men (and women) could be tortured, mutilated, or murdered at the whim of someone else. It sounds make-believe, like some horror story, but it was all too real (I had a similar experience reading The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich years ago).
This was the passage that most stuck out for me:
Having worked in a difficult urban school early in my teaching career, I find that I can't truly blame the teachers who worked there. Many of them were indifferent to their students, but there were others who were deeply committed to educating the (virtually all) minority population of young people who attended. It seemed to me, and still does, that the circumstances of those children's lives--their health, economic, and social difficulties--made it almost impossible for them to thrive in the system we have set up for education in this country. Likewise, the system itself--the rules of the teachers unions, the unimaginable bureaucratic detritus, the top-down political decision making--created what educational researcher Chester Flynn calls "the blob." Our German inspired industrial school program may still work well for children who come to school with the necessary skills and supports to be successful, but for kids like the ones I worked with in Boston, or in places like the one where our determined young essayist went to school in New York...it's simply not sufficient.
Where we go from there, I just don't know. I found this story to be both moving and disturbing in equal measure. I'm glad I finally read it. As for the young woman in New York (13 year old Jada Williams)...she faced such harassment from her teachers and the administrators in her school because of her essay (and the publicity it generated) her mother pulled her out. Where she is now, I have no idea.
"A little learning, indeed, may be a dangerous thing, but the want of learning is a calamity to any people." -Frederick Douglass
A few months ago in New York an eighth grade girl read this book and wrote an essay about how Douglas's words were still relevant to her experiences in a large, poor, and urban middle school. The young lady in question wrote about how teaching slaves to read would eventually lead to their freedom, and how the teachers in her school were not teaching her or her peers very much of anything in order to keep them servile as adults. From her perspective, not much as changed.
Her teachers were not pleased.
I kept that story in mind as I read, and enjoyed, this powerful book. Slavery is hard to imagine, and every time I think about it, I find myself both bemused and horrified. I simply can't imagine a world where children could be torn away from their mothers, where women could be raped with impunity, and where men (and women) could be tortured, mutilated, or murdered at the whim of someone else. It sounds make-believe, like some horror story, but it was all too real (I had a similar experience reading The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich years ago).
This was the passage that most stuck out for me:
I have found that, to make a contented slave, it is necessary to make a thoughtless one. It is necessary to darken his moral and mental vision, and, as far as possible, to annihilate the power of reason. ...he must be made to feel that slavery is right; and he can be brought to that only when he ceases to be a man.
Having worked in a difficult urban school early in my teaching career, I find that I can't truly blame the teachers who worked there. Many of them were indifferent to their students, but there were others who were deeply committed to educating the (virtually all) minority population of young people who attended. It seemed to me, and still does, that the circumstances of those children's lives--their health, economic, and social difficulties--made it almost impossible for them to thrive in the system we have set up for education in this country. Likewise, the system itself--the rules of the teachers unions, the unimaginable bureaucratic detritus, the top-down political decision making--created what educational researcher Chester Flynn calls "the blob." Our German inspired industrial school program may still work well for children who come to school with the necessary skills and supports to be successful, but for kids like the ones I worked with in Boston, or in places like the one where our determined young essayist went to school in New York...it's simply not sufficient.
Where we go from there, I just don't know. I found this story to be both moving and disturbing in equal measure. I'm glad I finally read it. As for the young woman in New York (13 year old Jada Williams)...she faced such harassment from her teachers and the administrators in her school because of her essay (and the publicity it generated) her mother pulled her out. Where she is now, I have no idea.
"A little learning, indeed, may be a dangerous thing, but the want of learning is a calamity to any people." -Frederick Douglass
February 11, 2014
For years I have devoured anything I could about the U.S. Civil War and the sociology of the antebellum nation. I can't account for how I'm only just now reading these books.
Frederick Douglass's oratory was one of the most persuasive forces for emancipation, as well as for the enlistment of black soldiers in the Union army, and is a beautiful thing to read (Northerners couldn't believe he had ever been a slave). I thus had high expectations for the account of his life from his own pen, and was not disappointed. I could tell from the first few pages that this would be a "hard" read. The writing is clear enough, but the subject is wicked enough. Being a true account, and representative of the burden of the most "well-treated" slaves, the violence is even harder to stomach--knowing that one man did thus to his fellow. Douglass's account is punctuated by his persuasive indictments against the "peculiar institution", and is dazzling.
I assumed that Jacobs's Incidents would be interesting but not on par with Douglass's Narrative. Wrong. Have you ever cheered on the heroine and cursed the villain of a book? Read Incidents if you want that experience. Her "snippets" were written pell mell whenever she had the chance, in secret, and that format (each "chapter" lasting about three pages) adds to the urgency and motion of her story. Truth is stronger than fiction, in the details of her life and escape, to firmly plant the reader in his chair for hours, wondering how it will all end. Her life was so extraordinary that her autobiography--at publication and for years hence--was discredited as fiction (a discovered cache of letters eventually proved otherwise). Her Incidents is also notable for its breach of the social and publication taboos of the day. Namely, a black woman writing about and condemning the sexual mistreatment of women under a legal and accepted institution. Incidents is as much a feminist work as it is an abolitionist one.
Frederick Douglass's oratory was one of the most persuasive forces for emancipation, as well as for the enlistment of black soldiers in the Union army, and is a beautiful thing to read (Northerners couldn't believe he had ever been a slave). I thus had high expectations for the account of his life from his own pen, and was not disappointed. I could tell from the first few pages that this would be a "hard" read. The writing is clear enough, but the subject is wicked enough. Being a true account, and representative of the burden of the most "well-treated" slaves, the violence is even harder to stomach--knowing that one man did thus to his fellow. Douglass's account is punctuated by his persuasive indictments against the "peculiar institution", and is dazzling.
I assumed that Jacobs's Incidents would be interesting but not on par with Douglass's Narrative. Wrong. Have you ever cheered on the heroine and cursed the villain of a book? Read Incidents if you want that experience. Her "snippets" were written pell mell whenever she had the chance, in secret, and that format (each "chapter" lasting about three pages) adds to the urgency and motion of her story. Truth is stronger than fiction, in the details of her life and escape, to firmly plant the reader in his chair for hours, wondering how it will all end. Her life was so extraordinary that her autobiography--at publication and for years hence--was discredited as fiction (a discovered cache of letters eventually proved otherwise). Her Incidents is also notable for its breach of the social and publication taboos of the day. Namely, a black woman writing about and condemning the sexual mistreatment of women under a legal and accepted institution. Incidents is as much a feminist work as it is an abolitionist one.
November 21, 2019
Um livro inspirador! Frederick Douglas, um escravo, que atreveou-se a sonhar com a liberdade. Nesta autobiografia, ele narra a sua infância separado da mãe e já exposto a violência. A sua chegada a Baltimore. Como a leitura e a escrita o modificaram. Fazendo-o ganhar consciência da sua condição. Mas é apenas quando é brutalmente ferido que decide fugir.
Acaba por se tornar num grande defensor dos direitos dis negros e uma inspiração para muitos negros.
Este relato choca-nos mas ao mesmo demonstra a determinação de um homem para mostrar que a sua cor não o difere dos outros. Um dos livros sobre escravatura mais poderosos que li!
Acaba por se tornar num grande defensor dos direitos dis negros e uma inspiração para muitos negros.
Este relato choca-nos mas ao mesmo demonstra a determinação de um homem para mostrar que a sua cor não o difere dos outros. Um dos livros sobre escravatura mais poderosos que li!
June 7, 2008
These two books are sometimes very hard going, but essential reading for Americans. We probably tend to think about slavery very much in the abstract, when we even think about it, but these narratives make it painfully palpable and very human. In a way complementary to Akhil Reed Amar’s brilliant description of the way slavery thoroughly corrupted the American political system (in his America’s Constitution), these books reveal in detail the thoroughgoing and extraordinary moral perversion slaveholding caused in individual lives – to some extent those of slaves, but much more those of slave owners, poor southern whites, and complicit northerners. Of course we also see the brutality, horrors and deprivations of slave life.
Douglass’ narrative is better known than Jacobs.’ Among many other things, how he taught himself to write is a remarkable story of shrewdness and determination against all odds. Jacobs’ was an appalling life of virtually constant sexual harassment from an early age, which was undoubtedly a normal situation for many female slaves. What she went through to escape it is hard to imagine, and her single-minded determination to see her children free is incredible. The picture she gives of the distortions slavery caused in slaveholding families – lecherous men unconstrained by law or convention, angry and vengeful wives, gossip and whispering among white and black children and adults, children sold by their fathers to get the family features and relations out of sight and mind, and the increasing corruption of individuals’ characters this caused over time – again, hard going but essential reading. A peculiar institution, ordained by God, good for the slave and slaveholder alike. Indeed.
Douglass’ narrative is better known than Jacobs.’ Among many other things, how he taught himself to write is a remarkable story of shrewdness and determination against all odds. Jacobs’ was an appalling life of virtually constant sexual harassment from an early age, which was undoubtedly a normal situation for many female slaves. What she went through to escape it is hard to imagine, and her single-minded determination to see her children free is incredible. The picture she gives of the distortions slavery caused in slaveholding families – lecherous men unconstrained by law or convention, angry and vengeful wives, gossip and whispering among white and black children and adults, children sold by their fathers to get the family features and relations out of sight and mind, and the increasing corruption of individuals’ characters this caused over time – again, hard going but essential reading. A peculiar institution, ordained by God, good for the slave and slaveholder alike. Indeed.
July 22, 2016
These are the true accounts of the hardships of two individuals and their plights within the institution of slavery during the 1800's in the United States. Narrating their own stories, they also give a deep and thorough analysis of the "peculiar institution." The benefit of the two narratives being presented together gives a reader a well-rounded observation of the true nature of slavery in the U.S. With one account being from a man, and the other from a woman you learn of both of their great sufferings, but also of the sufferings that were unique to being a man, and the unique sufferings of being a woman from Harriet Jacobs' account.
The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, is short, but extremely powerful. His story is sheerly inspirational. Douglass is not just a good writer for a former slave, but he is just simply a good writer, extremely intelligent. He is straight to the point, yet, I didn't feel that his expressiveness was lacking in detail. His analysis of slavery, the psychological nature of slaveholders, and his critique of the role of Christianity in the U.S. will be some of the deepest, most accurate stuff you will ever read. He also makes it clear that he is not attacking Christianity, but yet the manipulation of it, by those who wish to do evil. I am surprised that this great work has gone unknown to me for so long until now. I also didn't not expect his critiques to be so relevant even to the times we are experiencing in the U.S. today. Favorite quote: "You have seen a man be made a slave; you shall see a slave be made a man."
Jacobs, Narrative is a bit longer, and she gives you much info on her background. In comparison with Douglass, who had few strong familial ties due to the effects of slavery, Jacobs goes more into the backgrounds of her parents, siblings, and grandmother. Her story presents a unique aspect of the effects of slavery on the family, both the slaves and slave masters, and on women (or at least more common to women) and how they were subject to sexual abuse by their masters. Jacobs presents a story of indelible strength in her enduring plight to gain freedom and keep her family together. Anne Frank lived in the annex for two years. Harriet Jacobs lived in the attic for seven! Why is this not required reading?
Both stories are deeply tragic, yet motivational and enlightening. I only wish I had read them sooner so that I could be armed with the knowledge and examples that these two writers eloquently present. I gained a new appreciation for the freedoms I enjoy in my own life, and a renewed sense of purpose to pursue the freedoms that I still wish to obtain.
The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, is short, but extremely powerful. His story is sheerly inspirational. Douglass is not just a good writer for a former slave, but he is just simply a good writer, extremely intelligent. He is straight to the point, yet, I didn't feel that his expressiveness was lacking in detail. His analysis of slavery, the psychological nature of slaveholders, and his critique of the role of Christianity in the U.S. will be some of the deepest, most accurate stuff you will ever read. He also makes it clear that he is not attacking Christianity, but yet the manipulation of it, by those who wish to do evil. I am surprised that this great work has gone unknown to me for so long until now. I also didn't not expect his critiques to be so relevant even to the times we are experiencing in the U.S. today. Favorite quote: "You have seen a man be made a slave; you shall see a slave be made a man."
Jacobs, Narrative is a bit longer, and she gives you much info on her background. In comparison with Douglass, who had few strong familial ties due to the effects of slavery, Jacobs goes more into the backgrounds of her parents, siblings, and grandmother. Her story presents a unique aspect of the effects of slavery on the family, both the slaves and slave masters, and on women (or at least more common to women) and how they were subject to sexual abuse by their masters. Jacobs presents a story of indelible strength in her enduring plight to gain freedom and keep her family together. Anne Frank lived in the annex for two years. Harriet Jacobs lived in the attic for seven! Why is this not required reading?
Both stories are deeply tragic, yet motivational and enlightening. I only wish I had read them sooner so that I could be armed with the knowledge and examples that these two writers eloquently present. I gained a new appreciation for the freedoms I enjoy in my own life, and a renewed sense of purpose to pursue the freedoms that I still wish to obtain.
November 9, 2013
The first half of the anthology is, "The Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass, an American Slave". Within this slave narrative, Douglass tells his life when he was enslaved. My honest opinion about this book is that it is interesting. I do recommend this book for those readers who find slavery an interesting topic in American history or those who have an interest in learning about equality or just believes in equal rights. About this book i really disliked the pace of the book; in my opinion the narrative spent too much time in details and not enough time on the events and the fluency of the story. Overall, the narrative was interesting but not exciting to myself. In conclusion the narrative is informing about the life of a slave with some interesting points but not as exciting to myself as others might enjoy it.
The second half of the anthology is, "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl". This narrative is of a slave girl named Harriet Jacobs; Jacobs writes about her life as a slave and the treatment after she is given to a new "master". Harriet Jacobs retells her story under a false name and gives the characters in her life different names when writing the narrative. This book is also interesting; just as the first paragraph about the first part of the anthology, I would recommend those book to those who would like to learn about slavery, and the treatment slave females endured. My opinion of the narrative is that Harriet Jacobs's life was extremely interesting with the events that she experienced, but i also believed that she added too much details to little thing in the narrative that did not have to be described. Jacobs tells of her new master's harassment and the things she endured on her journey to becoming free. Throughout the entire narrative, Harriet Jacobs tells her story to make the readers feel sympathy towards her and her life. In conclusion, the overall narrative was interesting, the events, her background, and her journey, but i feel the narrative to be to detailed and a type of sob story.
The second half of the anthology is, "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl". This narrative is of a slave girl named Harriet Jacobs; Jacobs writes about her life as a slave and the treatment after she is given to a new "master". Harriet Jacobs retells her story under a false name and gives the characters in her life different names when writing the narrative. This book is also interesting; just as the first paragraph about the first part of the anthology, I would recommend those book to those who would like to learn about slavery, and the treatment slave females endured. My opinion of the narrative is that Harriet Jacobs's life was extremely interesting with the events that she experienced, but i also believed that she added too much details to little thing in the narrative that did not have to be described. Jacobs tells of her new master's harassment and the things she endured on her journey to becoming free. Throughout the entire narrative, Harriet Jacobs tells her story to make the readers feel sympathy towards her and her life. In conclusion, the overall narrative was interesting, the events, her background, and her journey, but i feel the narrative to be to detailed and a type of sob story.
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May 24, 2022Deep Book Review For Narrative Of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave.
Written By Dale E. Myers II
Frederick Douglass, born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, was an African American abolitionist, born during slavery. He wanted to be educated at a young age, and so made friends with young boys who could teach him how to read. He then made a failed attempt to escape years later. Afterwards, he learned a trade. He then escaped and started a family. He became a leader in the abolitionist movement. He continued to fight for equality for all until his death in 1895.
Mr. Douglass wrote his narrative in Lynn, Massachusetts. Following the Narrative's publishing in 1845, he went to the British Isles. He then denounced slavery before various audiences for two years. The narrative touched many people during that time, informing them about the struggle of slavery and changing their ways of thinking. His book is still popular today, almost 200 years later.
The book’s central theme is to inform the reader about what he went through, all of his ups and downs, and to let them know what he experienced. It is like a journal, where he jotted down various points in his life. It is important because for us to understand what slavery was like, we have to view it from a slave’s perspective, and Mr. Douglass is a former slave.
The book takes place in the 1800s, on a plantation where Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey was born. It then keeps going on to chart various stages of his life, from place to place, year to year almost. It talks about what he did from his birth to his death. A brief synopsis of the book is that he is a slave in body and mind. He is educated at an early age and realizes that slavery is unjust. He then escapes from slavery to fight against it with his words.
His tone was informative and angry. I think that is because he experienced inhumane pain that he should not have experienced. He had a very cruel life of slavery, and that is what the anger is from. I believe that the informational tone is because he wants to inform the reader about slavery and what he experienced. That is what I believe.
It changed my thinking because I have an idea of what slavery was like, the pain and all. I understand how it was for Mr. Douglass to a point, and what he went through. I am saddened to see how we were treated just because of our skin color. It disgusts me to think about how some people think that they are superior to other people, because we are all humans.
I recommend this book to 14+, because of the bad language in it. It has multiple cuss words and bad terms that someone under the age/maturity of 14 should not be introduced to without proper guidance. Teenagers 14+ will be able to comprehend what is going on and interpret it to their own understanding. I still recommend this book to readers who can sit down with their parents and discuss what went on in the books, or just read it with their parents altogether.
Written By Dale E. Myers II
Frederick Douglass, born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, was an African American abolitionist, born during slavery. He wanted to be educated at a young age, and so made friends with young boys who could teach him how to read. He then made a failed attempt to escape years later. Afterwards, he learned a trade. He then escaped and started a family. He became a leader in the abolitionist movement. He continued to fight for equality for all until his death in 1895.
Mr. Douglass wrote his narrative in Lynn, Massachusetts. Following the Narrative's publishing in 1845, he went to the British Isles. He then denounced slavery before various audiences for two years. The narrative touched many people during that time, informing them about the struggle of slavery and changing their ways of thinking. His book is still popular today, almost 200 years later.
The book’s central theme is to inform the reader about what he went through, all of his ups and downs, and to let them know what he experienced. It is like a journal, where he jotted down various points in his life. It is important because for us to understand what slavery was like, we have to view it from a slave’s perspective, and Mr. Douglass is a former slave.
The book takes place in the 1800s, on a plantation where Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey was born. It then keeps going on to chart various stages of his life, from place to place, year to year almost. It talks about what he did from his birth to his death. A brief synopsis of the book is that he is a slave in body and mind. He is educated at an early age and realizes that slavery is unjust. He then escapes from slavery to fight against it with his words.
His tone was informative and angry. I think that is because he experienced inhumane pain that he should not have experienced. He had a very cruel life of slavery, and that is what the anger is from. I believe that the informational tone is because he wants to inform the reader about slavery and what he experienced. That is what I believe.
It changed my thinking because I have an idea of what slavery was like, the pain and all. I understand how it was for Mr. Douglass to a point, and what he went through. I am saddened to see how we were treated just because of our skin color. It disgusts me to think about how some people think that they are superior to other people, because we are all humans.
I recommend this book to 14+, because of the bad language in it. It has multiple cuss words and bad terms that someone under the age/maturity of 14 should not be introduced to without proper guidance. Teenagers 14+ will be able to comprehend what is going on and interpret it to their own understanding. I still recommend this book to readers who can sit down with their parents and discuss what went on in the books, or just read it with their parents altogether.
July 4, 2022
This narrative is page-turning. I found myself pausing, worried for Frederick, as he is assigned between different masters. I felt outraged for him as he suffered endless indignities and harm. And I felt sad that this narrative, written nearly two hundred years ago, is not simply a historical document that tells of a past time, but is still too relevant in these times.
While there was a civil war to end slavery, the liberation and justice needed to compensate for such profound harm have never been settled. White supremacy, so richly portrayed in these pages, is still with us. And as a result, the strife our nation is experiencing is a loud echo of the past.
We live in a time where other human bodies are under the control of the state through mass incarceration, low-wage exploitive labor, anti-abortion laws that threaten the free movement of pregnant people, and social service agencies that criminalize poverty and threaten family cohesion.
Above all, the lesson from Frederick Douglass that we must continue to pursue in the course of justice is literacy. Douglass understood that learning to read is a dangerous thing when your oppressor needs you to stay ignorant of the larger world.
While there was a civil war to end slavery, the liberation and justice needed to compensate for such profound harm have never been settled. White supremacy, so richly portrayed in these pages, is still with us. And as a result, the strife our nation is experiencing is a loud echo of the past.
We live in a time where other human bodies are under the control of the state through mass incarceration, low-wage exploitive labor, anti-abortion laws that threaten the free movement of pregnant people, and social service agencies that criminalize poverty and threaten family cohesion.
Above all, the lesson from Frederick Douglass that we must continue to pursue in the course of justice is literacy. Douglass understood that learning to read is a dangerous thing when your oppressor needs you to stay ignorant of the larger world.
February 26, 2024
Incredibly moving and eloquently written. Both accounts of life in slavery bring to light the true evils of African bondage in America. It’s not cruel enough that millions were forced into unpaid labor under frequent acts of violent and sexual trauma, the true crime is the normalization of indignity. Slaveholders paid no regard to whether a slave be lashed to death, there was no crime again killing one’s slave (and if there was a slave has no right to defend themselves in court), or the sundering of the family unit. Both account wrote about the deep heartbreak of slaveholder and slave traders who sell off children from their mothers, slave owners siring children out of their slave women for profit, delegitimizing marriages out of spite and jealousy.
It’s incredible that despite all of their personal persecutions and threat of capture that both of these accounts were published during their lifetime.
It’s incredible that despite all of their personal persecutions and threat of capture that both of these accounts were published during their lifetime.
February 14, 2020
A Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas
Published twenty years before the Civil War, the autobiography is one of the first accounts of slavery by a former slave. Douglass depicts the dehumanizing life of slavery and emphasizes the role education played in his freedom. Douglass had a small window of opportunity to learn to read after being moved to Baltimore from the cruel plantation life. Mrs. Auld , who never owned a slave ,began teaching him to read before her husband stopped her. Douglass then learned wherever he could, this included from children on the street. The book emphasizes the hypocritical Christianity of southern slave owners. The more righteous a slave owner was the crueler he could be. You also could understand how fearful it was for a slave to escape even when living in such a harsh environment.
A must read for every American.
Published twenty years before the Civil War, the autobiography is one of the first accounts of slavery by a former slave. Douglass depicts the dehumanizing life of slavery and emphasizes the role education played in his freedom. Douglass had a small window of opportunity to learn to read after being moved to Baltimore from the cruel plantation life. Mrs. Auld , who never owned a slave ,began teaching him to read before her husband stopped her. Douglass then learned wherever he could, this included from children on the street. The book emphasizes the hypocritical Christianity of southern slave owners. The more righteous a slave owner was the crueler he could be. You also could understand how fearful it was for a slave to escape even when living in such a harsh environment.
A must read for every American.
October 13, 2020
I really enjoyed the book "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass" because I believed it showed a unique first hand experience that has very important themes that can be used today. I also believe that it is a good educational tool to teach people about life in the south in the 1800's and Douglass does a good job of telling that story first hand.
Douglass explains to the reader his early life growing up in Maryland and how all his different masters treated him. He explains how he learned to read and write from Ms. Auid., (which is extremely important since he was then able to write this narrative) and what he experienced daily living on a plantation. Although he does not describe the specifics of his escape, he writes on how excited he was to finally be free of a master.
In conclusion, I believe this a very important informational text everyone should read to broaden their perspectives on other peoples experience's.
Douglass explains to the reader his early life growing up in Maryland and how all his different masters treated him. He explains how he learned to read and write from Ms. Auid., (which is extremely important since he was then able to write this narrative) and what he experienced daily living on a plantation. Although he does not describe the specifics of his escape, he writes on how excited he was to finally be free of a master.
In conclusion, I believe this a very important informational text everyone should read to broaden their perspectives on other peoples experience's.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 15, 2023
Douglass is the greatest American writer of all time and his speeches and narrative should be required reading in every school in America. Every word is carefully selected to induce the same passion and pain that he evokes in speeches. I can't stop reading his work it's that engaging and hard hitting. You can't teach or learn about American history without learning about Douglass. He flipped the abolitionist movement on its head, redefined what a freed black man "sounded like", and changed the course of reconstruction. He fought for American ideals and principles until his death, and he should be lauded as the greatest to ever pick up a pen as a result. Please don't let his legacy get washed away in the waves of time. Give this man his flowers and read this book!
February 20, 2025
Should be required reading
July 17, 2017
both of these narratives were deep, emotional, and powerful. Details on life during the Slavery period.
November 8, 2013
What do I think about The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass? This book was sensational because of douglas's emotional stories. Douglass does an amazing showing, not telling, the readers about his miserable life as a slave and the tough tribulations he had to overcome to obtain the freedom he deserved. In his story, Douglass does a fantastic job in describing to the readers the importance of education in his life and in the present society. Douglass also includes his own thoughts in the autobiography which shows the reader how he feels about the current situation he is in. The stories of this book are unbelievable and really surprising.
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl was a very insipid book. The stories lacked interest and the pages seemed endless. One could not read this book for minutes without yawning. Unlike Douglass's narative, Harriet Jacob's narrative was horrible and a complete waste of time. I would not recommend this book to my friends or anyone I know.
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl was a very insipid book. The stories lacked interest and the pages seemed endless. One could not read this book for minutes without yawning. Unlike Douglass's narative, Harriet Jacob's narrative was horrible and a complete waste of time. I would not recommend this book to my friends or anyone I know.
November 8, 2013
At first I thought this book would be like Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass. They shared some similarities but I actually found this book more interesting. Seeing the mental abuse Jacobs went through with Mr. Flint her slave master, it made me eager to see what would happen next. Jacobs got in a lot of trouble with Mr.Flint and running away only made things worse. What was interesting was that she was half white. She had children with a white man and had to figure out how to get herself and her children out of slavery. Overall, I thought this was a really good book. There were times when I was eager to see what would happen next so it's always great to get that feeling when reading a book. Like many other slave narratives you will really enjoy this book if you love reading about slavery.
May 4, 2019
Being a boomer, I was exposed to very little African American literature growing up. I've been trying for some time to fill in that gaping hole. The experience has been riveting and eye-opening. Douglass's "Narrative" is neither as long nor as complete as what we expect from an autobiography. It's not meant to be. This novella-length memoir was intended for use as an Abolitionist tract, and so its emphasis is appropriately narrow. Northerners, and even many Southerners, were dismally unaware of slavery's degrading effects. Appropriately, therefore, Douglass focuses on first-hand experiences that reveal the dehumanization cause by this despicable institution--on slaves, of course, but also on those who used and invariably abused slaves. The long range repercussions of which are still with us hundreds of years later.
Riveting, heart-breaking, and essential.
Riveting, heart-breaking, and essential.
December 14, 2017
I give out stars very sparingly--generally I give 4 stars if I think the book is really excellent, and 5 if it's one of the very best books I've ever read. If I were to critique these two books separately, I would give Douglass 5 and Jacobs 4. They're both wonderful, harrowing narratives, but I found Douglass' to be more concisely elemental. Absolutely no complainant with Jacobs' book, though. The relationship between her and her daughter I found to be particularly heart-rending. It's interesting to read both of these books, to get a better understanding of how slavery affected men and women differently. Even the writing styles between the two are very different, reflecting the stylistic differences between men and women writers at the time.
June 26, 2018
I will always be reading this book. I do not like the badge, 'HERO', but this man is certainly, heroic.
February 1, 2013
Douglass does not spare (Though neither does he dwell unnecessarily on) the harsher aspects of slave life—the routine beatings and even killings, the casual (for the owners) separations of families and beloved friends, the (often successful) attempt to keep the enslaved in a state of ignorance so deep that many cannot imagine another way. As with Harriet Jacobs, I was impressed by the literary skill of a man who risked the lash merely to be seen with a newspaper in his hand. It’s hard for me to fathom how the institution of slavery has been so easily accepted through so much of human history. As a species, we suck.
June 7, 2017
This is a very quick, but nevertheless important, read that does not withhold the horrors of slavery and reveals the ugly truth to American history.
Douglass writes in such a way that makes the reader feel the emotion and carefully constructed thought behind each word. This is a novel that everyone should read so they might get a small glimpse into the barbarity of slave-holding.
Douglass writes in such a way that makes the reader feel the emotion and carefully constructed thought behind each word. This is a novel that everyone should read so they might get a small glimpse into the barbarity of slave-holding.
April 1, 2021
it was heartbreaking to read and what happened is truly terrible. but since we read it for school i can't pick the book up anymore because we analyzed the shit out of it
April 13, 2018
The Narrative of Frederick Douglass
Education is the key element which opens up greater doors in life.
The Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass is Frederick Douglass’s gem which proved to it’s audience that slaves indeed can be successful. This autobiography focused on the whole life of Douglass, starting from his early childhood, to after his escape. Early on, Douglass was separated from his mother, and was never sure who his father was. He was moved onto a plantation which was run by a very harsh owner. He had faced many struggles at this plantation, however was soon moved to a plantation in Baltimore. In this time period, he was dedicated to educating himself, however was always doing it in secret so that none of his white masters would see. Slaves were prohibited from receiving education at the time, so Douglass was at risk while educating himself. As one who had previously studied the life of Douglass, I had expected much more information regarding his life as an orator. After Douglass makes his escape, the book abruptly ends, which had disappointed me. I was looking to see how Douglass would actually become successful. Despite the sudden ending, the stories and snippets regarding overcoming harsh struggles throughout Douglass’s youth did not fail to inspire me. Simply the title, “The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave” seems to be intended to highlight the fact that Douglass was a slave, who now has successfully written a narrative.
Frederick Douglass used the emphasis of education throughout the book to prove that success can be achieved by anyone, despite the race or social class. For majority of his life, Thompson was a slave which was considered the lowest of social classes. He was always, however, pursuing a higher education. Whenever he found a chance, Douglass would attempt to absorb more and more information to increase his knowledge. “When I was sent of 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” (33). This shows the immense amount of dedication Douglass put into educating himself. He learned how to read and write which ultimately lead him to a greater future. Reading was useful because he was now able to read signs, maps, and locations, which would lead to a great escape. In fact, an escape is exactly what had happened. Douglass had left his plantation and gone to none slave states in the north, where he eventually became a speaker. As I had mentioned before, Douglass does not go in depth in his escape experience, which I feel is a crucial missing element in this autobiography.
One of the most important themes from this piece of literature is “bravery.” Douglass stresses numerous times to be tough and stand up for yourself. Douglass had been abused by his master for years, however, his temper once boiled, causing Douglass to fight his master. After being nearly murdered, his master says he will no longer “lay a finger” on Douglass. Douglass had mentally increased hierarchy over his owner, which in my opinion, shows that with bravery comes greater doors of opportunity.
If you are interested in an easy, quick read, which still manages to greatly inspire its readers, even decades after it was written, “The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave” should definitely be the next choice on your reading list,
Education is the key element which opens up greater doors in life.
The Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass is Frederick Douglass’s gem which proved to it’s audience that slaves indeed can be successful. This autobiography focused on the whole life of Douglass, starting from his early childhood, to after his escape. Early on, Douglass was separated from his mother, and was never sure who his father was. He was moved onto a plantation which was run by a very harsh owner. He had faced many struggles at this plantation, however was soon moved to a plantation in Baltimore. In this time period, he was dedicated to educating himself, however was always doing it in secret so that none of his white masters would see. Slaves were prohibited from receiving education at the time, so Douglass was at risk while educating himself. As one who had previously studied the life of Douglass, I had expected much more information regarding his life as an orator. After Douglass makes his escape, the book abruptly ends, which had disappointed me. I was looking to see how Douglass would actually become successful. Despite the sudden ending, the stories and snippets regarding overcoming harsh struggles throughout Douglass’s youth did not fail to inspire me. Simply the title, “The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave” seems to be intended to highlight the fact that Douglass was a slave, who now has successfully written a narrative.
Frederick Douglass used the emphasis of education throughout the book to prove that success can be achieved by anyone, despite the race or social class. For majority of his life, Thompson was a slave which was considered the lowest of social classes. He was always, however, pursuing a higher education. Whenever he found a chance, Douglass would attempt to absorb more and more information to increase his knowledge. “When I was sent of 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” (33). This shows the immense amount of dedication Douglass put into educating himself. He learned how to read and write which ultimately lead him to a greater future. Reading was useful because he was now able to read signs, maps, and locations, which would lead to a great escape. In fact, an escape is exactly what had happened. Douglass had left his plantation and gone to none slave states in the north, where he eventually became a speaker. As I had mentioned before, Douglass does not go in depth in his escape experience, which I feel is a crucial missing element in this autobiography.
One of the most important themes from this piece of literature is “bravery.” Douglass stresses numerous times to be tough and stand up for yourself. Douglass had been abused by his master for years, however, his temper once boiled, causing Douglass to fight his master. After being nearly murdered, his master says he will no longer “lay a finger” on Douglass. Douglass had mentally increased hierarchy over his owner, which in my opinion, shows that with bravery comes greater doors of opportunity.
If you are interested in an easy, quick read, which still manages to greatly inspire its readers, even decades after it was written, “The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave” should definitely be the next choice on your reading list,
May 22, 2023
Most of us know about Anne Frank, the Dutch Jewish teenager who hid with her family from the Nazis for over two years. How many of us know about the American slave Harriet Jacobs, AKA Linda Brent, who hid from her rapist slaveholder for seven years in a cramped attic space? After escaping, Jacobs, like Frederick Douglass, became an anti-slavery activist. Their two narratives are included here together and give first hand accounts of the horrors of being treated as less than human.
I had to Google how Douglass escaped his painful existence since he did not want to, at the time of his writing, expose to bounty hunters those who had helped him and how his escape was accomplished. Once free, he became America's foremost abolitionist. He had this to say about Christianity and slavery: "...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. 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."
Both authors discuss the physical cruelties of everyday life of slaves, and I learned how common it was to receive lashings and whippings that drew blood. We all know, thanks to the books and movies like "Roots" that slaves received this horrific punishment at times, but it actually was a daily abuse on most plantations. Usually the torture was for minor infractions, but often it was given for no reason other than to "keep the slaves in line" through threat of like punishment. There also was rare accountability for slaveholders who killed their "property."
Both narratives are now considered classics, and I highly recommend both.
I had to Google how Douglass escaped his painful existence since he did not want to, at the time of his writing, expose to bounty hunters those who had helped him and how his escape was accomplished. Once free, he became America's foremost abolitionist. He had this to say about Christianity and slavery: "...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. 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."
Both authors discuss the physical cruelties of everyday life of slaves, and I learned how common it was to receive lashings and whippings that drew blood. We all know, thanks to the books and movies like "Roots" that slaves received this horrific punishment at times, but it actually was a daily abuse on most plantations. Usually the torture was for minor infractions, but often it was given for no reason other than to "keep the slaves in line" through threat of like punishment. There also was rare accountability for slaveholders who killed their "property."
Both narratives are now considered classics, and I highly recommend both.
December 5, 2025
Douglass
"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 a greater mistake. Slaves sing most when they are most unhappy. The songs of slaves 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…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 the other are prompted by the same emotion" (28)
"I should be false to the earliest sentiments of my soul, if I suppressed the opinion. I prefer to be true to myself, even at the hazard of incurring the ridicule of others, rather than to be false, and incur my own abhorrence. From my earliest recollection, I date the entertainment of a deep conviction that slavery would not always be able to hold me within its foul embrace; and in the darkest hours of my career in slavery, this living word of faith and spirit of hope departed not from me, but remained like ministering angels to cheer me through the gloom. This good spirit was from God, and to him I offer thanksgiving and praise" (42)
Jacobs
"I exhorted her to be a good child, to try to please the people where she was going, and that God would raise her up friends. I told her to say her prayers and remember always to pray for her poor mother, and that God would permit us to meet again" (280)
"There are no bonds so strong as those which are formed by suffering together" (314)
"Friend! It is a common word, often lightly used. Like other good and beautiful things, it may be tarnished by careless handling; but when I speak of Mrs. Bruce as my friend, the word is sacred"
"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 a greater mistake. Slaves sing most when they are most unhappy. The songs of slaves 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…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 the other are prompted by the same emotion" (28)
"I should be false to the earliest sentiments of my soul, if I suppressed the opinion. I prefer to be true to myself, even at the hazard of incurring the ridicule of others, rather than to be false, and incur my own abhorrence. From my earliest recollection, I date the entertainment of a deep conviction that slavery would not always be able to hold me within its foul embrace; and in the darkest hours of my career in slavery, this living word of faith and spirit of hope departed not from me, but remained like ministering angels to cheer me through the gloom. This good spirit was from God, and to him I offer thanksgiving and praise" (42)
Jacobs
"I exhorted her to be a good child, to try to please the people where she was going, and that God would raise her up friends. I told her to say her prayers and remember always to pray for her poor mother, and that God would permit us to meet again" (280)
"There are no bonds so strong as those which are formed by suffering together" (314)
"Friend! It is a common word, often lightly used. Like other good and beautiful things, it may be tarnished by careless handling; but when I speak of Mrs. Bruce as my friend, the word is sacred"
January 6, 2021
Oftentimes, I feel I can almost create a formula for the amount of dedication I will owe a work based on the year it was written. With anything earlier than 1960, I can add an extra 10% brain power required to understand the text with every previous decade. Something like that; the formula isn’t actually written out.
This book does not fall into such a category. Despite being two centuries old, Frederick Douglass’s account of his life is salient, cogent and vigorous. While of course the content made me ache at times, the writing itself carried me effortlessly through Douglass’s experiences in a way I’ve rarely seen emulated. I can imagine this work read out at an abolitionist convention, and absolutely can resonate with the tour de force it would inspire when people heard it from the lips of Frederick himself.
Coming off the haunches of Michelle Alexander’s seminal The New Jim Crow, I was further convinced of the use of racism as a tool to divide the working classes. Douglass has manifold examples of the way racism and slavery not only atrophy the integrity of the enslaved under its’ heel, but also the masters who squander their humanity to commit atrocity.
One of the most clear in my mind is his description of the working class white dockworkers fearing for their livelihoods as more black workers entered their vocation. Instead of banding together to demand good working conditions for all, the lower class whites were cruel and protested to remove African American dockworkers in order to save their own jobs. These exacerbated tensions came from a perceived scarcity of work and wealth; a belief that works well with the desires of the wealthy and landed elite. It makes one contemplate: how often have similar scenarios played out, and how often does it continue to? And how can we begin to root out the lies that divide us and continue to impoverish the marginalized? Douglass doesn’t provide answers, but he does provide evidence, strength, and clarity. And across the sea of years and memory I am very grateful for that.
This book does not fall into such a category. Despite being two centuries old, Frederick Douglass’s account of his life is salient, cogent and vigorous. While of course the content made me ache at times, the writing itself carried me effortlessly through Douglass’s experiences in a way I’ve rarely seen emulated. I can imagine this work read out at an abolitionist convention, and absolutely can resonate with the tour de force it would inspire when people heard it from the lips of Frederick himself.
Coming off the haunches of Michelle Alexander’s seminal The New Jim Crow, I was further convinced of the use of racism as a tool to divide the working classes. Douglass has manifold examples of the way racism and slavery not only atrophy the integrity of the enslaved under its’ heel, but also the masters who squander their humanity to commit atrocity.
One of the most clear in my mind is his description of the working class white dockworkers fearing for their livelihoods as more black workers entered their vocation. Instead of banding together to demand good working conditions for all, the lower class whites were cruel and protested to remove African American dockworkers in order to save their own jobs. These exacerbated tensions came from a perceived scarcity of work and wealth; a belief that works well with the desires of the wealthy and landed elite. It makes one contemplate: how often have similar scenarios played out, and how often does it continue to? And how can we begin to root out the lies that divide us and continue to impoverish the marginalized? Douglass doesn’t provide answers, but he does provide evidence, strength, and clarity. And across the sea of years and memory I am very grateful for that.
April 26, 2024
Frederick Douglass’ Narrative
This is the first slave narrative I have ever read, and I feel like this narrative should've been incorporated into my high school history curriculum. I never learned the whole story with Frederick Douglass' upbringing and road to freedom before this narrative, and I think this narrative could spark some interesting conversations.
Harriett Jacobs’ Narrative
This was a great read. I had to switch to listening to an audiobook because I did not have time to sit and read (it’s been a busy semester), but Harriett Jacobs’ life story is very enlightening. Learning about the role of gender in slavery is very important and was executed well through this narrative. We totally should’ve read this during APUSH my junior year, as well as emphasize the horrors of slavery in class discussions, because I feel like it is definitely underplayed in some high school curriculum. The topics are serious and not fun (obviously), but that should not be a reason to not read these narratives. Overall, the conclusions produced by each author are extremely important, so EVERYONE SHOULD READ THESE NARRATIVES. Extra points because I found a copy with two in one (how convenient).
This is the first slave narrative I have ever read, and I feel like this narrative should've been incorporated into my high school history curriculum. I never learned the whole story with Frederick Douglass' upbringing and road to freedom before this narrative, and I think this narrative could spark some interesting conversations.
Harriett Jacobs’ Narrative
This was a great read. I had to switch to listening to an audiobook because I did not have time to sit and read (it’s been a busy semester), but Harriett Jacobs’ life story is very enlightening. Learning about the role of gender in slavery is very important and was executed well through this narrative. We totally should’ve read this during APUSH my junior year, as well as emphasize the horrors of slavery in class discussions, because I feel like it is definitely underplayed in some high school curriculum. The topics are serious and not fun (obviously), but that should not be a reason to not read these narratives. Overall, the conclusions produced by each author are extremely important, so EVERYONE SHOULD READ THESE NARRATIVES. Extra points because I found a copy with two in one (how convenient).
December 10, 2018
It was my first reading of slave diaries. Fredrick Douglass and Harriet Jacobs’s narration of their life as slaves and how it shapes your consciousness of the world around you is just so shocking. Moreover, it’s so touching to notice the level of these people’s self-consciousness and their sensibility about their surroundings. The account of the difficulties they go through is so vivid and the way they portray the violence the masters impose on them while considering it their absolute rights just puts you to wonder; how can someone feel themselves in such a position to exercise such level of malice on the other beings. Both authors give a precise account of elements that consolidate such beliefs of superiority in various people. You can feel the horridness of slavery to your flesh.
This edition is very special; first of all because it is cheap! Secondly because there are two accounts, one of a man and the other a woman which helps understand the various disturbances the genders go through as slaves.
This book complled me to read more about slave narratives as an essential part of the literature of abolition.
This edition is very special; first of all because it is cheap! Secondly because there are two accounts, one of a man and the other a woman which helps understand the various disturbances the genders go through as slaves.
This book complled me to read more about slave narratives as an essential part of the literature of abolition.
June 12, 2017
I wish I could say that Frederick Douglass' autobiography deals with a problem that has long since passed; however, I can see parallels to our own time particularly in the way that religion, specifically Christianity, was used as justification for injustice and oppression. Many of Douglass' owners were "devout" Christians, yet they would not hesitate to put men and women under the lash. They even have scripture that backed them up. For example see Luke 12: 47 "The servant who knows his master's will and does not get ready and does not do what the master wants will be beaten by many blows." (NIV)
Christianity is still used today to justify war, poverty (the poor you will always have with you), and the subjugation of women and minorities.
Would we have learned by now the lessons Douglass teaches.
Christianity is still used today to justify war, poverty (the poor you will always have with you), and the subjugation of women and minorities.
Would we have learned by now the lessons Douglass teaches.
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