The Columbian Orator

Frederick Douglass spent most of his early childhood in Colonel Lloyd’s plantation, a place where he had seen the most gruesome treatment white men had committed towards slaves. After a couple of years in the plantation, he was shipped to Baltimore and arrives at the home of the Hugh and Sophia Auld. At first, Mrs. Auld was kind of enough to teach Douglass the ABC’s, some words and a bit of writing but it did not last long. Mr. Auld did not agree with his wife’s actions and forbid her to…

Identifying a Community over the Individual Specifically, in Frederick Douglass’s autobiographical book, The Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass, he characterizes his younger self as overcoming the label, an American slave, as a communal identifier, an identity inherited to him by slaveholders, and in turn, reciprocates self-taught techniques of personal autonomy back to the slave community. That is to say, Douglass observes and adapts his master’s power, namely his individualism, in…

“Knowledge makes a man unfit to be a slave.” This is a simple, empowering quote once said by Frederick Douglass. Frederick Douglass was a man born into slavery who eventually became known for much more than that. He was a writer, abolitionist, social reformer, and historical legend. He was a leader in the abolitionist movement in New York and Massachusetts, and is widely considered one of the most influential people of his time. Douglass’s biggest contributions to the world we now know came from…

In his book The Columbian Orator in 1797, Caleb Bingham refers a conversation between a slave and a master. In part of the dialogue, the master said that “it is in the order of Providence that one man should become subservient to another.” The slave responded that “the robber who puts a pistol to your breast may make just the same plea. Providence gives him a power over your life and property.” This dialogue states a significant concept that the slavery is not natural because that just a kind…

slaves from their oppressors was that slaves lacked any form of education whatsoever; "[education] opened my eyes to the horrible pit, but offered no ladder upon which to get out” (24). At a young age, Douglass got his hands on the book, “The Columbian Orator”, this book further educated him by opening his eyes to the harsh reality of slavery. Douglass states, “The reading of these enabled me to utter my thoughts, and to meet the arguments brought forward to sustain slavery…” (Douglass, 24).…

One of the many incident that motivated Frederick Douglass to run away, was when he witnessed the murder of his Aunt Hester by his old master Anthony. Who disobeyed Anthony one night and went out to see Ned Roberts who was otherwise known as Lloyd’s Ned. Anthony, who favored and wanted Hester all to himself, took this as a sign of unfaithfulness and unloyalty. Filled with envy and rage, who took it upon himself to set an example and to fill his bitter void heart with what he thought was deemable…

Break Every Chain “A battle lost or won is easily described, understood and appreciated, but the moral growth of a nation requires reflection, as well as observation, to appreciate it.” – Frederick Douglass In February 1818, Frederick Douglass was born into slavery as Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey to Harriet Bailey, on Colonel Lloyd plantation. The identify of his father is unknown, but it is believed to be Captain Aaron Anthony, a slaveholder. During this time, he was sent to be raised…

states due to the powers destroying them before they ever got into the slave 's hands; however Maryland is not in the deep south, so getting ahold of anti slave writings was not a hard task for Fredrick, the specific text read by him was The Columbian Orator. Slaveholders feared when they got into the hands of slaves that could read these paper 's ideas would spread like wildfire. The ideas of freedom often times caused slaves to try to escape or in extreme instances to…

refers to Mrs. Auld, the wife of his former slave master, who is forced to stop the educating of a younger Douglass as it was “unsafe, to teach a slave to read.” This preoccupation is justified when Douglass describes his experience reading The Columbian Orator. Douglass recalls how the slave in the story uses impressive speech to win the respect of his master in order to gain emancipation. Furthermore, he depicts the effects that the story has on him through his reading of Sheridan’s…

The Path to a Higher Education “Without education, you are not going anywhere in this world” (Malcolm X). In both Frederick Douglass’ article “Learning to Read” and in Malcolm X’s article “A Homemade Education” they discuss the challenges and obstacles that they had to overcome. Frederick Douglass was a man that was born in the horrors of slavery and later became a famous abolitionist speaker in the north. Malcolm X may not have been a man born into slavery, but he was still treated poorly…