Raquel Carlton

26 January 2016
Sarah Hunt
Block C
Fredrick Douglas Essay

For decades slavery has branded blacks in America as life long

servants to their white counterparts. An unordinary man by the name
of Fredrick Douglas decided that he would not serve as a slave for his
whole life, but that he was determined to serve and fight for a better
purpose. Douglas knew that it was imperative for him to make a
significant change in his life or he would be bound to the shackles of
slavery for the rest of his life. His experience as a slave had an
everlasting impact on Douglas and prompted him to alter his life.
Education, justice, and freedom motivated Fredrick Douglas to make
the major change in his life that will ultimately transform him from a
slave to a free slave activist.
Education heavily influenced Fredrick Douglas to make a
significant change in his life because it made him conscious of the
history and beginning of slavery. Prior to being literate, Fredrick
Douglas like other slaves knew that slavery was unethical but they
were unaware of how slavery started and how its conditions
contradicted many of Americans beliefs. Once Douglas learned how

unjust slavery was from books and stories it made him want to change
his current condition of servitude. The Columbian Orator, a book that
discussed the origins of slavery and an argument against slavery
between a slave and his master, informed Douglas about bigger issues
and topics that explained their situation. The moral which I gained
from the dialogue was the power of truth over the conscience of even a
slaveholder. What I got from Sheridan was a bold denunciation of
slavery, and a powerful vindication of human rights.(Chapter 4, The
Narrative of Fredrick Douglas) Basically, education was one of the
most important factors that inspired Douglas to change because the
information gathered from books like the Columbian Orator exposed a
deeper truth behind slavery. Obviously as a slave Fredrick Douglas
experienced the cruelty and inhumane conditions, but he was
astonished to learn that people came to his ancestors homes in Africa
and brought them to a foreign land reducing them to slavery. Education
motivated Doug to change his life because he began to learn more
about his state of enslavement and he decided that he had to make a
change to stop the exploitation of the slaves.
After learning about the history and arguments against slavery
Fredrick Douglas was fascinated by the notion of freedom. Douglas
briefly explains his journey to freedom careful to not reveal details that
would expose the Underground Railroad to slaveholders. He also
reflects on how it felt to escape the wretchedness of slavery and reach

the blessedness of freedom. I have been frequently asked how I felt

when I found myself in a free State. I have never been able to answer
the question with any satisfaction to myself. It was a moment of the
highest excitement I ever experienced In writing to a dear friend,
immediately after my arrival at New York, I said I felt like one who had
escaped a den of hungry lions. (Chapter 11, The Narrative of Fredrick
Douglas) The feeling that Fredrick Douglas described was the feeling
he imagined while he was still enslaved that ultimately encouraged
him to make the daring escape. Douglas knew that the only way to end
his conditions as a slave was to escape the hatred of the South and
attain freedom.
Once Fredrick Douglas truly understood the immoral system of
slavery and was a free man he wanted justice for the previous, current,
and future slave generations. Although Douglas achieved freedom he
wanted to make a difference in the way blacks were treated in the eyes
of the law and as humans. At the end of his narrative Fredrick Douglas
gave a speech to a group of abolitionists while attending an antislavery
convention in Nantucket on August 11, 1984. Fredrick does not expand
on the details of the speech but he goes on to say from that point on
he became an activist who challenged the concept of slavery. I spoke
but a few moments, when I felt a degree of freedom, and said what I
desired with considerable ease. From that time until now, I have been
engaged in pleading the cause of my brethren--with what success, and

with what devotion, I leave those acquainted with my labors to

decide. (Chapter 11, The Narrative of Fredrick Douglas) Essentially,
Douglas learned and experienced the injustice of slaves and he knew
that he had to make his freedom count. The idea of serving
righteousness to his fellow slaves and those to come inspired Fredrick
Douglas to become an activist. Douglas wanted justice to prevail for
the thousands and thousands of slaves who have endured slavery and
were still apart of its vicious cycle.
The three things that motivated Fredrick Douglas to make a
major life change was the power of knowledge, the desire for freedom
and the will to help slaves seek justice. The information that Douglas
learned through books enlightened him and made him want to become
free. His desire to reach freedom had motivated him to making a
daring escape to the North where he would have a better life. His will
to fight for justice for the other slaves motivated him to become an
activist. All of these things resulted in Fredrick Douglas making a major
change in his life.