Differences Between Frederick Douglass And Benjamin Franklin

The immensity in differences between the lives of Benjamin Franklin and Frederick Douglass were exceedingly noticeable, even in the early years of their lives. For example, Frederick Douglass was born a slave, separated from his mother at an early age, and lived the first twenty years of his life as a slave before he decided to run away to the northern colonies. Compared to Benjamin Franklin, who was born nearly a century earlier in a white house hold, with seventeen brothers and sisters, him being the fifteenth in line, was operating a newspaper business at twenty years old. Growing up in a different way can have a large impact in the self values and beliefs people hold. Although they grew up differently, they held very similar views. They …show more content…
Douglass was a slave up until he ran away to the northern states, where he met William Lloyd Garrison. Garrison thought he would fit his cause, and so Garrison hired Douglass to be a speaker for his foundation (The American Anti-Slavery Society). People that heard him speak did not believe what he said, because black people, even though free in the north, his words were still thought of as lies, due to the fact that he was ‘too smart for his own good’. This poor reception inspired him to create an autobiography, in which he used real names and not pseudonyms, brought truth to his words, but the owner he originally ran away from. His original owner from Maryland had a legal obligation to recapture Douglass, forcing him to flee from his slave drivers yet again to England this time, and when he came back around two years when friends he made in England paid for his freedom. Later when he returned to America, he was surprised to see his auto biography had gained wild popularity, to the point that it was printed around five times to meet the demand of the readers. Before the civil war broke out, Douglass campaigned for the liberties of woman and abolishing slavery. During the civil war and slightly prior to, he was the first to campaign for blacks to fight in the civil war, although they were paid less, it was clearly a step …show more content…
Being born into each a different world, one of hardship and slavery, the other of a boy who decided to be great in life. Nearly a century apart, they had the same ideals. The main differences were the time periods, where there were different current issues, when Benjamin Franklin was born, there were the issues of utilities and a proper mailing service, and also the American Revolution. When Frederick Douglass was born, there were the social issues of black people rights, slavery being abolished, and the American Civil War. These led to a difference in lives compared to one another, even though they had similar morals and