Frederick Douglas gave me a different perspective to think about slavery and the hardships that the slaves went through. When I think of slavery I think of many of the hard physically enduring things they had to go through, but I often don’t think of smaller things that bothered Frederick Douglas, and I’m sure bothered many others as well.
The first detail that I had never thought of was the fact that he didn’t know his birth date, or even how old he was. At first I didn’t look at this as a big deal, but began to think of the way that the slaves were treated. This was just a minor detail as far as I’m concerned, but when you relate it to the whole problem it gives it much more meaning. Frederick Douglas knew that the white people of the area knew their birthday, and I think that was why this bothered him so much. It probably gave him a worthless feeling, and an understanding that he is not allowed to be equal. I don’t necessarily think it would have affected him positively if he did know his birthday, but I do believe that it was easy to dwell on the negative due to the fact that he was not given the chance to be equal with others.
Another issue that I thought was minor but made a very big impact was when he learned the word abolition. While you wouldn’t think that learning the meaning of one word could be so important, this word may be what eventually led to his freedom. This word changed Frederick Douglas’ entire outlook on his future. It allowed him to listen to the comments made around him by white people, and better understand what was going on. Once he learned that slaves were escaping, and others were trying to free the slaves, it allowed him to think very differently. As he stated, “From this time I understood the words abolition and abolitionist, and always drew near when that word was spoken, expecting to hear something of importance to myself and fellow-slaves.” (p.190) I believe from this point on he had a much more positive outlook on escaping, as he did not want to be a slave for life.
8 comments:
Yes, not knowing your own birth date is a pretty big deal I would say. It does show how badly the slaves were treated. Also abolition is an important word because it means freedom. That's was an important word to Frederick Douglass because he desperately wanted slavery to be abolished as well as every other slave. Once that happened it was a whole new life for them.
Douglass' learning the word abolition was definitely a turning point for him, as we can figure out from the rest of his life. During the Civil war he was one of the north's leading abolitionists and led black soldiers from all across Massachusetts into fighting in the Union army to bring an end to the oppression they had escaped in the south. He was a close ally of President Lincoln's and wrote tons of editorials in Northern newspapers. I guess you could say if it weren't for his learning the word "abolition," none of this may have happened.
When most of us think of slavery, we think of beatings, being starved, working in harsh conditions, even being killed. We rarely think of the little things that they went through. The little things that they were stripped of- family, birthdays, education- further wear them down. As if having a regular beating or watching others be beaten doesn't degrade one enough, they are robbed of things that everyone else takes for granted. When we think of slaery, most people are grateful that they weren't beaten or starved or cold, but who is thankful for their family, their identity, their privacy, their feelings of self worth. Be glad you know who you are.
I agree that not knowing his birthday had a big effect on him. i think it influenced his outlook on life and way of thinking of himself. he said in the end how the only piece of identity that he had was his name frederick. he didnt care about his last name, as it was changed many times, nor did he know his mother or any ties from his child hood. I think that this would change a person if not cause them to be lost. If he didnt have freedom to look forward to, then i think he would have nothing. this is why that word, abolition is so important.
By reading about the life of Frederick Douglas, I also developed a different perspective about slavery. It was hard for me to read some of the pages in his writing because I couldn't stand to hear how bad slaves were treated. I can't understand how a person can be so cruel to someone else. By being born into slavery, Douglas went thru so much hardship.
I also thought it was interesting that he seemed to dwell on the fact that he didn't know his birth date. Douglass was very bothered by it, but now I understand why because it is a main component of identity. Like I mentioned in class I don’t know who my real father is and I had my mother’s maiden name until after my mom got married the second time and her husband offered to adopt me that was an important day to me because I found my identity because I felt I belonged in my family.
We definatly got a different perspective from this book than we are usually given. For some reason it seems as though we never get the whole/real story.
I think the reason behind not letting him know his birthday may have been another way for the slave holders to dehumanize the slaves, and treat them more like animals or the property that they viewed them as.
The learning of the meaning of abolition was a major turning point for Douglas. This is when he started contemplating his life and the thought that he may be a slave for life. This is also when he began to not want to live anymore. This must be a horrible feeling. You would think that this word would give him hope, not make him want to die.- strange!
I can understand where you are coming from when it comes out that Douglas didn't know his own birth date or his age. it had to bother him while he watched the children of the manors that he worked at had their birthdays and the other slaves had birth celebrations. It is interesting how these people who raised him didn't find out this information about Douglas or anything esle.
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