Frederick Douglass and the Power of Knowledge
Frederick Douglass (1818-1895) was an influential African-American writer, news paper editor, orator, civil rights activists, and diplomat. He was born into slavery and had a deprived and tragic childhood, which he has described in his Narrative of Frederick Douglass. Once he escaped the suffocating chains of slavery he proved himself an intelligent and powerful figure, and become the symbol of the abolitionist movement, which was blooming in the North during the 19th century.
The most powerful message we can take from Douglass’ Narrative is the immense power knowledge has, and on the contrary the colossal power of withholding knowledge that slave-owners practice. The institution of slavery was …show more content…
The first paragraph in the Narrative says: “I have no accurate knowledge of my age, never having seen any authentic record containing it. By far the larger part of the slaves know as little of their ages as horses know of theirs, and it is the wish of most masters within my knowledge to keep their slaves thus ignorant” (Douglass, 1). This is a powerful way to start the Narrative; Douglass immediately shows that slaves are denied even the most basic claim on their own identity - their age. Moreover, it directly compares slaves with horses, thus showing the reader that for the slave-owners their slaves were worth no more than farm animals. He, also, promptly points out that this occurrence is no accident, the masters withhold this information on purpose; they want their slaves to live without any idea about themselves and their own identity. Another thing masters deny slaves is family, most slaves do not know who their parents are, and even if they do, they have barely any contact with …show more content…
He wrote: “My mother and I were separated when I was but an infant - before I knew her as my mother. It is a common custom, in the part of Maryland from I ran away, to part children from their mothers at a very early age.” (Douglass, 1). This shows us, the reader, that slaves were not only denied the agency of knowing their own age, they were also denied family relations among themselves. Slave-owners separated mothers from their children, thus withholding from slave children the option of knowing love and care. Children were raised without human touch, which we know is of great importance in early development, and thus never formed healthy human relationships. No one ever conducted a study of the psychological health of slaves, but it is not hard to assume that they probably had many mental issues regarding empathy and connecting with other people due to the neglect they were exposed to while young. When Douglass’s mother dies he admits to feeling no sadness or hurt about it because he had no connection to
Frederick Douglass (1818-1895) was an influential African-American writer, news paper editor, orator, civil rights activists, and diplomat. He was born into slavery and had a deprived and tragic childhood, which he has described in his Narrative of Frederick Douglass. Once he escaped the suffocating chains of slavery he proved himself an intelligent and powerful figure, and become the symbol of the abolitionist movement, which was blooming in the North during the 19th century.
The most powerful message we can take from Douglass’ Narrative is the immense power knowledge has, and on the contrary the colossal power of withholding knowledge that slave-owners practice. The institution of slavery was …show more content…
The first paragraph in the Narrative says: “I have no accurate knowledge of my age, never having seen any authentic record containing it. By far the larger part of the slaves know as little of their ages as horses know of theirs, and it is the wish of most masters within my knowledge to keep their slaves thus ignorant” (Douglass, 1). This is a powerful way to start the Narrative; Douglass immediately shows that slaves are denied even the most basic claim on their own identity - their age. Moreover, it directly compares slaves with horses, thus showing the reader that for the slave-owners their slaves were worth no more than farm animals. He, also, promptly points out that this occurrence is no accident, the masters withhold this information on purpose; they want their slaves to live without any idea about themselves and their own identity. Another thing masters deny slaves is family, most slaves do not know who their parents are, and even if they do, they have barely any contact with …show more content…
He wrote: “My mother and I were separated when I was but an infant - before I knew her as my mother. It is a common custom, in the part of Maryland from I ran away, to part children from their mothers at a very early age.” (Douglass, 1). This shows us, the reader, that slaves were not only denied the agency of knowing their own age, they were also denied family relations among themselves. Slave-owners separated mothers from their children, thus withholding from slave children the option of knowing love and care. Children were raised without human touch, which we know is of great importance in early development, and thus never formed healthy human relationships. No one ever conducted a study of the psychological health of slaves, but it is not hard to assume that they probably had many mental issues regarding empathy and connecting with other people due to the neglect they were exposed to while young. When Douglass’s mother dies he admits to feeling no sadness or hurt about it because he had no connection to