Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (Black Narratives)

I do not jest when I say that every American should read this book. It was equally sobering and inspiring, but should not be simply relegated to a reminder or a teaching tool. This is the story of a real man whose faith and determination allowed him the freedom to tell this story, and as a result we should be both grateful and careful. Grateful that we have such accounts through which to learn what we may not have been taught. And careful not to repeat a history so brutal as to deny the humanity of any other person.I cannot but marvel that such a man could recount an experience so horrific without turning to bitterness or resentment. Maybe he felt those things outside of this writing, but he does not even hint. His desire for this work to be helpful and beneficial to readers far surpasses my expectations and leads me only to a place of gratitude, to have been among his readers.

The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass is a must read for all who want to study the history of Black people in America. This book was so important that I had to mention it in my book The Real Wakandas of Africa. The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass takes the reader through a journey of what it was like to be a slave in American society. Being an enslaved African-American meant a life of no future and no hope. Douglass details the experiences that he undergoes as he is “broken” by an overseer. This involves psychological warfare against Douglass and other slaves. It shows that slavery was more than just a physical enslavement, and that it included mental enslavement too. There are hundreds of slave narratives that were written. However, if you are only going to read one slave narrative, this is the one. In fact, this is by far the most widely read slave narrative. Without ruining the end, Douglass eventually learns how to read. Once he learns the basic aspects of reading, he does anything within his power to try to learn how to read further. Is this intellectual freedom that eventually drives him to free himself physically. Frederick Douglass became the preeminent black leader of his day. His story is indeed moving. Like his book, I also discuss slavery at length in my book The Real Wakandas of Africa. Slavery took tens of millions of the sons and daughters of Africa from her shores. I also discuss colonialism at length and connect these two errors of slavery and colonialism. However, unlike other books, I also detail the beautiful history of African civilizations before slavery and before colonialism. Referencing more than 200 sources, I discuss the fact that Africans build the tallest building in the world. This building stood for more than 4000 years as the tallest building. I also discuss the fact that Africans charted star systems that were not discovered by Europeans or Americans until the 1990s. In the sphere of medical advancement, Africans did surgery on the eye to remove cataracts 700 years ago. They performed cesarean sections with antiseptics several hundred years before it was done in Europe or America. To add to this, Africans who were enslaved brought the concept of inoculation against smallpox to the United States of America. They also smelted carbon steel 2000 years before it was done in Europe or America. Africans built a wall that is one of the most magnificent structures on the planet. I wrote a book about this called: The Great Wall of Africa: The Empire of Benin’s 10,000 Mile Long Wall. It is stories like these that are often missing from Black history. Indeed, Frederick Douglass has written a book that is a must read for all who want to learn about slavery in America. Pick up a copy of the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass today!!!

Good but a little small

Frederick’s description of slavery should be required reading for every American. Many of the descriptions of slave owners attitudes towards slaves remind me of the current bias against immigrants.

As the title implies, this short work is the narrative of Frederick Douglass, an escaped slave. He wrote it by himself, a significant fact in that his prose is so eloquent and his pathos so powerful that it seems impossible for a former slave to have composed it. In this short autobiography, Douglass recounts his life as a slave, and details some of the horrors and atrocities perpetuated on slaves by their fiendish overseers, most of whom Douglass portrays as downright evil. More than just a narrative of his life, Douglass also gives an account of how the desire to be free grew and began to burn within his bosom, and how he grew to hate that horrible institution. Above all, this is a story of a slave learning that he is, in fact, a human being.The significance of this book cannot be overestimated. In it, Douglass effectively dispels a number of popular myths about slaves and slaveholders, and forever changes the way the reader (especially one who lived while slavery still existed) looks at slavery. The theme of this book is very simple: slavery is wrong. It is evil, it is cruel, and, despite what many people thought at the time, the slaves know how cruel it is. Douglass cites several examples of the horrible treatment slaves received, one of them being separation of families. "It is a common custom...to part children from their mothers at a very early age" So it was with Douglass and his own mother.Douglass writes in a very eloquent style, and this contributes to the power of this work. Many people who thought blacks were inferior in intelligence were shown to be sadly mistaken with the coming of Frederick Douglass, a man both educated and refined. It may be said that the book is not entirely fair, for it is decidedly anti-slavery, but it is undoubtedly true for most cases nonetheless. Most of the overseers in Douglass's narrative are demonic and sadistic, but when a good overseer comes along (such as Freeland), he is fair in his treatment of him.One can imagine the fuel this book gave to the abolitionist fire, and it is not difficult to see why Douglass had such an impact on both North and South. This is, in my opinion, a definitive work, in that it shows the horrible institution of slavery in all its barbaric nature, and does it from a firsthand point of view, that of a former slave. This book was a tremendous contribution, both for the light it shed on slavery in general, and for proving that blacks were not intellectually inferior by nature, but instead were "transformed into...brute[s]" at the hands of their overseers.This is a great book, essential for anyone wanting to study the Civil War era or wanting to gain a firmer understanding of slavery.

I purchased this when the 'Black Lives Matter' protests kicked off, although I was brought up with a book that taught me 'ALL LIVES MATTER'.The book was discussed and revieved on a Melvyn Bragg radio program. It tells the story through the eyes of one who lived through the slave trade, not the Hollywood interpretation we see on the big screen.I would definitely recommend it.............but be warned some parts are not for the sqeamish as the book tells how it was and does not pull punches.

"Sincerely and earnestly hoping that this little book may do something toward throwing light on the American slave system, and hastening the glad day of deliverance to the millions of my brethren in bonds—faithfully relying upon the power of truth, love, and justice, for success in my humble efforts—and solemnly pledging my self anew to the sacred cause,—I subscribe myself, FREDERICK DOUGLASS LYNN, Mass., April 28, 1845"

Compelling and sad. Makes you ashamed to be from a country that was a part of the machinery that allowed this to have happened. Makes you angry that that in the southern states or anywhere in the world, there are still those ignorant enough to believe in white supremacy - they are little people with low intellect. Frederick Douglass and his like show us what it is to be a real man; to live with real courage and real conviction

How can you not read this book if you want to know about the struggle against slavery in the USA? Frederick Douglass was a remarkable man, clear sighted and determined, and the only reservation I had was that he seemed to tone down his comments about the complicity of organized religion and most of its adherents in the maintenance of slavery. Perhaps he did that to try and build the anti-slavery movement but I cannot see that such backtracking can ever work. The Church of England owned slave plantations in the West Indies and the failure to confront such an abomination at the time just helped the C of E to continue to this day investing in the perpetuation of misery and the toleration of racism and other nasty attitudes amongst its congregations. Douglass was one step from castigating all religion as a sponsor of slavery, and he should have taken that step. Racism continues to this day in the USA as in Britain and, despite the role of non-conformist ministers in the Civil Rights movement, I'm sure most of the racist bigots today continue to go to church, and that their church happily accepts their presence. However, this tale of Frederick Douglass' long road to freedom is utterly moving and magnificent.

This book is everything I expected it to be. I can only read it a little at a time . It is so well written it brings the brutality leaping from the pages. I was not taught in school about the horrors of slavery. I am doing my best to educate myself now.