A passage in the story of Frederick Douglas that really stuck with me was at the very beginning when he says, ” I have no accurate knowledge of my date, never having seen any authentic record containing it. By far the larger part of the slaves know as little of their ages as horses know of theirs, and it is the wish of most masters within my knowledge to keep their slaves thus ignorant. I do not remember to have ever met a slave who could tell of his birthday.” (236). I find this very impactful because when studying history, its easy to separate yourself from the stories of the past, we often forget these stories we here involve very real people, with thoughts and emotions just like us all.
To live your life not knowing your own birthday, to have something so small and simple taken away from you must be a feeling that none of us will ever understand. We must really recognize these subtleties to truly understand how cruel and evil these slaveowners were/are. Small things like this can tear down a person, and it makes you wonder how people like Frederick could have amassed the strength to beat a system like the ones they were in. It really highlights the courage it took to accomplish what Frederick did.
This passage of the story highlights the most obvious thing, but sometimes we need to be shown the obvious. This passage reminds us that these historical figures are real people, they went through some of the most unfathomable experiences, faced some of the worst people in history, and still came out on top. It’s a reminder that the human spirit can prevail through the worst conditions, but it is also a reminder of how evil that same spirit can be.