Frederick Douglass Biographical Paper Example

Who was Frederick Douglass?

According to the narrative by Frederic Douglass, he describes himself as a slave who was able to escape from slavery that was happening in America in the 18s. He was born and raised in Tuckahoe in Maryland to her mother by the name Harriet Bailey who was then a slave woman who was attracting many due to her skin complexion. His mother was black with a loving demeanor. The young boy Frederick Douglass was in great confusion as he did not know who his biological father was. He also did not understand the reason why his father made a cruel decision of separating from his mother. This confusion was a bother to him for several years as he had no place to get the answers to his confusion. Frederic Douglass spent his childhood living in mystery as he was growing in the house of his mother's master and he did not get a chance to feel and enjoy the warmth of the love from his mother nor her protection.(Douglass,13).

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Douglass recalls his separation from his mother's presence, care, and love for several reasons. One of these reasons is his attempt to persuade his readers through appeals involving the use of strong emotions to portray the level of injustices and inhumanity that was directed to slave. His mother later died when he was only seven years old, and he was now left as an orphan without any care from the mother or the father. Following the injustices that slaves were facing especially the women slaves, Douglass chose to become an advocate for women rights when he finally became an adult. His work served as an encouragement for movements that advocate for civil rights in the 1960s.

Why did He Write the Autobiography?

Frederic Douglass's choice to write an autobiography was based on several reasons. Some of these reasons were to increase inspiration to the movements that fight for civil rights and to spearhead his advocacy on the rights of women following what he had already witnessed with his mother who was going through a hard time in the hands of his master when she was a slave before she died. This autobiography was a description of his struggle to fight for freedom against prejudice directed to the blacks as well as oppressive and brutal perpetration of slavery in the southern institution. Through this autobiography, Douglas depicts the horror of slavery by exposing the inhumane things that the slaves were suffering.

The autobiography of Frederic Douglass majorly touches about his own life and suffering that he went through in the absence of his mother who was a slave and having separated from his father. The mother dies while he was seven years which subjected him to more pain as he recounts as he was growing under the care of the maternal grandmother. The other part of his autobiography dwells much about slavery and the impact it had on the slaves. The autobiography has much about inspiring and advocating for the freedom to the slaves and to end slavery in America. A significant part of the autobiography seeks to enlighten and sensitize movements for civil rights to stand and fight prejudice against races, brutality, and oppression towards the slaves. His passion for advocating for the rights of women and slaves dominates the autobiography. He captures a lot of information about what was happening to the slaves especially the women slaves who seem to have suffered the most in the hands of their masters as seen with his mother who he suspects was impregnated by his master.

Similarities between Men and Women in the Autobiography

Several similarities between men and women can be drawn from the autobiography by Frederick Douglass. Both men and women were subject to oppression and brutality that their white masters directed to them as slaves. The prejudice was all the same in men and the women from the black race. This is evidenced by Frederick's motivation to fight for freedom against brutality and racial discrimination. However, women were subject to more pain in the hands of their male masters who were sexually harassing them. In this narrative, Douglass seems to get agitated by racial discrimination as all the slaves were blacks who were facing prejudice. His mother is a black person which depicts that the reason she was working as a slave in Maryland was her color as the only way she could get there was through being sold as a slave to work in the plantations of her master.

Similarities between Benjamin Franklin and Frederick Douglass

Although Benjamin Franklin and Frederic Douglass came from diverse circumstances of life, there are however several similarities between the two men. Both Benjamin Franklin and Frederick Douglass believe that education is a critical way of empowering people. Secondly, both Douglass and Benjamin suffered cruelty in their lives. Benjamin faced brutality from his half-brothers while Douglass, on the other hand, experienced the cruelty of separation from his mother and that he did not know his biological father was a cruel fact that hit his childhood life hard. Both Benjamin and Douglass faced the life as slaves at some point when Benjamin was sold off as a slave by his half-brother which was a norm when a slaves master sired a child. Additionally, both gentlemen were sired by the master of their mother, and this is the reason why Benjamin was sold off by his step-brothers which were the norm. Douglass, on the other hand, suspects that he was the son of the master who had bought her mother as a slave to work in his plantation. Finally, in his youthful age, Douglass finally gets his freedom, and he advances himself well through education. Similarly, Benjamin runs off as a youth and eventually improves his life significantly through acquiring education.

Work Cited

Douglass, Frederick. The Complete Autobiographies of Frederick Douglass. Simon and Schuster, 2013.