Transcript Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass Cecilia H. C. Liu

Narrative of the Life of
Frederick Douglass
Cathy, Beryl, Kellie and Mindy
Cecilia H. C. Liu revised
American Literature I
03/01/2005
Basic Background
• Birth of Douglass - February 1818
• Place - Holmes Hill Farm, near the town of
Easton on Maryland's Eastern Shore
– Aaron Anthony = managed the plantations of Edward
Lloyd V, one of the wealthiest men in Maryland
• Mother - Harriet Bailey, who worked in the
•
cornfields surrounding Holmes Hill
Father – A White man , who was rumored to be
Aaron Anthony
Early Years
• Lived with Betsey Bailey
– lived in a cabin within a short distance from
Holmes Hill Farm.
– Her job was to look after Harriet's children
until they were old enough to work
• Age 6 – Brought to Lloyd Plantation
• His siblings - Perry, Sara and Eliza
Early Years 2
• When Douglass was young, he used to give
bread to poor local boys in exchange for
reading lessons.
• When he was 12 years old, he had
encountered a book called The Columbian
Orator, which contains a philosophical
dialogue between a master and a slave,
which was the first time he heard the word
“abolitionist,” which means anti-slavery
• arrived at Thomas Auld ’s place
Freedom
• September 3, 1838 – Left Baltimore and
went to Wilmington, Delaware
• September 4, 1838 - arrived in New York.
• Southern slave catchers – Looked for
fugitives in boarding houses that accepted
Blacks
Life in New York City
• Douglass met David Ruggles, who was an
officer in the New York Vigilance Committee
– He was the city's link in the underground
railroad = a network of people who harbored
runaway slaves and helped transport them to
safe areas in the United States and Canada
• September 15, 1838 – Douglass married
Anna Murray, and then moved to Port of
New Bedford, Massachusetts
Life in New Bedford
• Douglass went to work for Nathan Johnson, who
•
•
was from a well-to-do black family
Changed Bailey to Douglass, which the name
came from The Lady of the Lake, a novel by
Scottish author Sir Walter Scott
Worked as a common laborer
– sawed wood, shoveled coal, dug cellars, and loaded
and unloaded ships
• 1833 - The American Anti-Slavery Society
– a constant battle to reduce racial prejudice in the
North
Life as an Abolitionist
• August 1841 (23yrs old) – met William Lloyd
Garrison at an abolitionist meeting
– Editor of Liberator & outspoken leader of the American
Anti-Slavery Society
• "The paper became my meat and drink, my soul
•
was set all on fire."
Hired to be an agent for the society (1841~1845)
– a traveling lecturer on tours of the northern states
– Purpose - to talk about his life and to sell subscriptions
to the Liberator and another newspaper, the AntiSlavery Standard.
Continued…
• 10 years - associated with the Garrisonian school
•
•
of the antislavery movement
"He has wit, arguments, sarcasm, pathos - all
that first rate men show in their master effort"
(Herald of Freedom, Mass.)
1844 – Doubts
– "How a man, only six years out of bondage, and who
had never gone to school could speak with such
eloquence - with such precision of language and
power of thought - they were utterly at a loss to
devise”
Published Work
• May 1845 - 5,000 copies of the Narrative of the
Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave
was published
– The book had become a best-seller: a story of the
triumph of dignity, courage, and self-reliance over the
evils of the brutal, degrading slave system.
– It is a sermon on how slavery corrupts the human
spirit and robs both master and slave of their freedom.
– The book was enjoyed by the widespread popularity
in the North, and even the editions in Europe also
sold very well
Problem
• Federal laws gave Thomas Auld the right to seize
•
the property of Douglass—the fugitive slave
Frederick Bailey
Summer of 1845—decided to go to England
– By 1838 all slaves within the British Empire had been
given a gradual emancipation and were
• December 5, 1846—two English friends raised
enough money to buy back the freedom of
Frederick Douglass.
– Amount = $710.96
– Hugh Auld signed the papers that declared the 28 year
old Douglass a free man.
Life in England
• Traveled for nearly two years
throughout the British Isles
• Encountered little racial prejudice
among the British
• Spring of 1847 – Returned to America
Life in Rochester
• Fall of 1847 – Douglass decided to move to
•
Rochester, New York, which has a reputation for
being pro-abolitionist
December 3, 1847 - his four page weekly
newspaper, The North Star, came off the presses
– Motto: "Right is of no sex - Truth is of no color - God is
the Father of us all, and we are all Brethren."
• After 1851 – He published Frederick Douglass'
Weekly and Monthly, which symbolized the
potential for blacks to achieve whatever goals they
set. The paper provided a forum for black writers
and highlighted the success achieved by prominent
black figures in American society
After the Civil War
• 1860s and beyond—Douglass continued to
campaign for the right of blacks to vote
and receive equal treatment in public
places
• 1870s and 1880s—Douglass served in
government positions under several
administrations
• 1895—died of a heart attack
His Works
• 1845 – Narrative of the Life of Frederick
Douglass, an American Slave, Written by Himself
• 1855 – Revised the Narrative  My Bondage
and My Freedom
• 1881 and 1892 – The Life and Times of
Frederick Douglass
• Chronology of Frederick Douglass
• Brief Summary of Narrative of the life of
Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Written
by Himself
Slavery
• 1662 Virginia law
• “Africans would remain servants for life.”
• 1667
• “Baptism doth not alter the condition of the person
as to his bondage or freedom. ”
• 1740 Slavery system fully developed
• Virginia law “chattel personal in the hands of
their owners and possessors for all intents,
construction, and purpose whatsoever.”
The Life of the Slaves
 Being cut away from family as well as
tribal links
– Husbands were separated from wives, and
children were separated from mothers.
• “My mother and I were separated when I was but
an infant.” (970 B 2040)
 Harsh overseer and brutality was
common
– “He always rest armed with a cowskin [ . . . ] I
wish I could commit to paper the feelings with
which I behold it.” (972 B 2041-42)
The Life of the Slaves 2
The unfair treatment
- Rape is not considered to be a crime.
• “Before he commenced whipping Aunt Hester,
[ . . . ] red blood came dripping on the floor.”
(972 B 2053)
- Blacks can’t present evidence in courts.
- To teach a black to read/write is illegal.
• “Slavery soon proved [ . . . ] that educators and
slavery were incompatible with each other. (975
B 2055)
Summary I.VI.VII.IX.X
1
23
Captain
Anthony
Sophia Hugh
Auld & Auld
6
William
Freeland
5
4
7
William
Gardner
Thomas
Auld
8
Walter
Price
5
Edward
Covey
Captain Anthony
• Douglass was soon separated from his mother
soon after he has been born
– “My mother and [ . . . ] very early age.” (970 B2040)
• Father, a white man, whom was said to be
Anthony—his master
– “My father was a white man [ . . . ] the evitable result.
(970 B2040)
• The Captain frequently whipped Douglass’s Aunt
Hester for his particular sexual interest
– “He then said [ . . . ] after the bloody transaction was
over. (972 B 2042)
• Starts his poor life of slavery
Sophia Auld & Hugh Auld
• Sophia:
– A kind woman, who taught Douglass the alphabet &
words
• “My new mistress [ . . . ] her voice of tranquil.” (973 B2053-54)
– However, later on she turned her ways towards cruelty,
which was considered to be a disease of slaveholding
• “But, alas! [ . . . ] gave place to that of a demon.” (973 B2054)
• Hugh Auld:
–
When found out what Sophia did, he ordered her stop
immediately, because education ruins slaves.
• “If you give nigger an inch, he will take an ell.” (973 B2054)
Thomas Auld
• A stingy and cruel master, who gives slaves
a difficult time, for he does not give them
enough food
– “I have now reached [ . . . ] though there are
exceptions.” (978-79 B2062)
• After he has attended a Methodist camp
meetingAuld became more religious and
even more cruel
– “In August, 1832, [ . . . ] been much worse after his
conversions than before.” (980 B2061)
• Rented Douglass to Edward Covey, a poor
man with reputation for successfully taming
problematical slaves
– “He resolved to put me out [ . . . ] without any other
comprehension.” (981 B 2065)
Edward Covey
• First 6 months was the hardest time of
Douglass
– “I was now [ . . . ] midnight often caught us in the fields
binding blades” (982-83 B2065-66)
• Runaway – Sandy’s magical root
– “To please him, [ . . . ] I at first had taken it to be.” (98788 B2071)
• Fights with Edward Covey—Covey never
touches Douglass again
– “Mr. Covey seemed now to think he had me, [ . . . ] for
you will come off worse than you did before.” (988 B
2071-72)
• Move to William Freeland
William Freeland
• Worked slaves hard but fair
– “I soon found Mr. Freeland [ . . . ] and some respect for
humanity.” (990 B2074)
• Holds a Sabbath school in the cabin
– “I held my Sabbath school [ . . . ] through my agency.”
(992-93 B2076)
• This was the period when Douglass desired
to live on the “Free Land”
– “”At the close of the year, [ . . . ] I began to live upon
freeland as well as with Freeland.” (993 B2076)
• Escapes party jailThomas AuldHugh
AuldWilliam Gardner
William Gardner  Walter Price
• Severe physical intimidation from white
apprentices
• Four white apprentices attack
Douglassnearly destroyed his left eye
• Later on, he returned back to Hugh
Auldstayed in Hugh’s shipyard worked
under Walter Price, had the highest possible
wage, but had to turn back the wages to
Hugh Auld
– “In a few weeks, [ . . . ] Mr. Gardener’s shipyard.”
(998-99) B2081-82)
Theme
A. Ignorance as a Tool
of Slavery
• 1. white slaveholder control
their slaves by keeping them
ignorant.
• 2. many people believe that
slavery is a natural state of
being.
– “I lived in Master Hugh’s [ . . . ]
I were a brute.” (975 B 2055)
Theme
B. Knowledge as the Path to
Freedom
– Knowledge helps slaves to articulate the
injustice of slavery to themselves and others.
– Knowledge helps slaves to recognize
themselves as men rather than slaves.
• “Slavery soon proved [ . . . ] that education and
slavery were incompatible with each other.” (975 B
2055)
Theme
C. Slavery’s Damaging Effect on
Slaveholders
• The corrupt and irresponsible
power that slave owners enjoy over
their slaves has a detrimental effect
on the slave owners’ own moral
health.
– “In August, 1832, my master attended
a Methodist [ . . . ] it made him cruel
in hateful in all his ways.” (980 B
2063-64)
– “Slavery soon proved its ability to
divest her of these heavenly qualities
[ . . . ] She finally became even more
violent in her opposition than her
husband himself.” (975 B2056)
Symbol
A. White-Sailed Ships
• Angels
– “Our house [ . . . ] multitude of ships.”
(984-85 B 2068)
• Freedom
– The ships appear almost a spiritual and
physical low point of his first months with
Covey, as if they are a vision to Douglass
as a sign of his demoralized state.
Symbol 2
B. Sandy’s root
• A symbol of a traditional African Approach to
religion and belief
– “That night I fell in love with [ . . . ] I had first
taken it to be.” (987-88 B 2071)
C. The Columbian Orator
• A symbol not only of human rights, but also
of the power of eloquence and articulation
– “I was now about 12 years old [ . . . ] died away
for want of utterance.” (976 B 2057)
Conclusion
• Douglass progresses from uneducated,
oppressed slave to worldly and articulated
political commentator.
• However, the road he took to freedom was not
easy. Many people thought that such a
powerful young man could have been a slave.
• So Douglass wrote the book, Narrative of Life
of Frederick Douglass, and this persistence of
him took him to the final success to the land of
freedom, where he could be a real man
instead of a slave.
References
• “Slavery in America” 2 Jan., 2005
•
•
•
<http://www.simplcom.ca/lnq/mlk3/blackslavery.h
tml>.
“Theme, Motif, and Symbols” spraknotets 2 Jan
2005
<http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/narrative/>.
Frederick Douglass “Abolitionist/Editor”
– <http://www.history.rochester.edu/class/dougla
ss/home.html#contents>.
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
– <http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/narrative/>.
References
• The Norton Anthology American Literature (Page 967~969)
• “Plot Overview” Sparknotes 2 Jan. 2005
•
•
•
•
•
<http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/narrative/summary.html>
“Chapters I–II” Sparknotes 2 Jan. 2005
<http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/narrative/section2.rhtml>
“Chapters V–VI” Sparknotes 2 Jan. 2005
<http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/narrative/section4.rhtml>
“Chapters VII–VIII” Sparknotes 2 Jan. 2005
<http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/narrative/section5.rhtml>
“Chapters IX–X” Sparknotes 2 Jan. 2005
<http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/narrative/section6.rhtml>
“Chapter X (continued)” Sparknotes 2 Jan. 2005
<http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/narrative/section7.rhtml>