Persuasive Essay Based on Douglass

Persuasive Essay Based on Douglass

The slavery subject has been debated for ages, and seemingly, this debate might never end. Assessing the written narratives by slaves has played a significant role in comprehending the actual happenings during the slave era. Frederick Douglass was one of the narrative writers who seemed to have strong feelings about white people and slavery. He was born a slave but died as a free man. The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas is an autobiography detailing his memories of slavery and his journey toward freedom. He expresses the negative encounters at the hands of the white people and the horrible things they did to the slaves. Undoubtedly, Frederick Douglass’s attitude towards white individuals is repulsive, and he considered slavery unjust and immoral.

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Typically, his perception of the white persons was disgust since they consistently made wicked choices, knowing very well that their actions were vicious. Douglass states that once he learned how to read, he also started grasping how awful the white people had been. He says that as he continued to read, he was highly led to loathe and detest his enslavers. During the realization, the writer denotes the white persons as the meanest. He explains how he saw his young brother (Douglass’s younger brother) being gripped by Master Andrews by the throat, tossed to the ground, and stomped upon the head till blood oozed (Douglas 337).

Additionally, Douglass expounds how Mrs. Hamilton would sit in the middle of a room holding a cowskin, hitting her enslaved females as they sauntered in front of her (Douglas 332). He also comments on the “festering sores” that these women had (Douglas 332). Consequently, such incidents demonstrate white people’s animosity towards black people, and Douglass experienced it all. White women and men were accustomed to punishing slaves devoid of any explanation. The white people misused the authority they obtained and tortured innocent individuals every day.

Moreover, Douglass is seemingly bitter about his encounters as a slave. It is difficult for anyone to go through such traumatic experiences, not forgetting his loved ones and other people going through worse, and fail to feel some level of bitterness. The narrative has been presented in a factual and simple tone with few emotions, but in a way, it manages to outrage the reader. As such, his underlying tone is bitter, particularly regarding his white father creating him and deserting him to become a slave. He narrates how the white men with influence were raping the black women and other maltreatment. Having gone through all the negative experiences at the hands of the white people, Douglass is bitter and sees slavery as inhumane and degrading to humans.

Even more apparent is that Douglass condemns the society that was in support of slavery as wicked. He enthusiastically debated against slavery and intended to showcase that it was unfair, immoral, cruel, ungodly, and unnatural. He argues how America had solely controverted religions, thus manipulating them into slavery. He states ‘”I love the pure, peaceable, and impartial Christianity of Christ, and I, therefore, hate the corrupt, slaveholding, women-whipping, cradle-plundering, partial, and hypocritical Christianity of this land (Douglas 118). Through this quote, it is clear how Douglass felt about slavery. He hated it and thought it was evil and unethical.

Furthermore, Douglass recognizes that white supremacy was dishonest since they were labeling themselves holy and Christians yet, at the same time, forcing slavery and racial humanitarian perceptions on other people. He says, “we have men-stealers for ministers, women-whippers for missionaries, and cradle-plunderers for church members” (77). This only means that the whites were claiming and pretending to be holy, yet they dared to practice such inhumanity on the blacks. His perception of slavery as immoral and condemnation of the practice was clear. In the narrative, the author speaks about Auld, his enslaver. He expounds how this master called himself a Christian merely to transmit a similar slavery perception as other slave possessors. The author describes Auld’s virtuous conduct, which, as it began manifesting, he gained confidence. He could hold other people against their will and maltreat his slaves in any manner he saw appropriate. Douglass observed Auld’s incidences mentioning his church. As a Christian, Auld gained benefits from the money attained through slavery. Douglas referred to the religion of the land as the peak of all contradictions, the grossest of all defamations, and the daring of all deceptions.

In conclusion, Frederick Douglass has a repulsive attitude towards white people, is bitter about the negative encounters as an enslaved person, and thus condemns and regards slavery as immoral. Typically, his discernment of the white persons was disgust since they consistently made wicked choices, knowing very well that their actions were spiteful. Furthermore, Douglass is seemingly bitter about his encounters as a slave. His underlying tone is bitter, particularly regarding his white father creating him and deserting him to be a slave. Douglass strongly debated against slavery and intended to showcase that it was unfair, immoral, cruel, ungodly, and unnatural. He distinguishes that white supremacy was being dishonest since they were labeling themselves holy and Christians, and at the same time, forcing slavery and racial humanitarian insights on other individuals.

Works Cited

Douglas, Frederick. “Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglas, an American slave written by himself.” Nina Baym, Norton anthology of American literature (1845).

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Please Note:
Does not require any research
(Douglass):

What, on the whole, is Douglass’s attitude toward white people?
Examine his statements about them and establish as far as possible his feelings regarding their character. Is he bitter about his slavery experiences?

Does he condemn the society that supported slavery as having been immoral? (Jacobus 174).

https://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/douglass/douglass.html

Please Note:
* Your thesis should state a direct answer to the question. In your thesis, try to give a capsule version of your analysis. The point of view you express should reflect the complexity of the text. The subsequent questions can be answered as you progress in the essay—don’t feel you need to cover all the questions in your thesis.

* In the body of the essay, each point should be tied to a close reading of relevant parts of the text. Examine the author’s examples, statements, and word choices carefully for their connotations or what they suggest. What do you believe the author is saying between the lines or implying? What can a reader infer?

*Link each of your main points to short quotations. Avoid quoting more than a sentence or two; often, just a few words are enough to make the point. Be sure that your quotes are integrated grammatically with the parts of the sentence you write yourself.

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