The narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass documents the life of a slave and witness of many cruel events. This narrative is based on an actual real-life phenomenon which is slavery. Slavery was practiced in America from the 17th to the 19th century. As Douglass narrates, the slaves worked in plantations and farms, like the Great House Farm (slaves’ dreamed farm). During this time of slavery, children were separated from their mothers, some children’s fathers were white cruel masters, men and women were whipped until they were covered with blood, slave women were raped, basic necessities like soap were rare, slaves were not given bed; so they had to sleep on the cold floor. This didn’t seem to be a big problem because they didn’t sleep for long, their work kept them busy. Slaves also were not given good blankets, enough clothing and food. They had to survive with the little they were given, which was not fair for the lots of work they did every single day. Many white masters seemed to enjoy whipping a slave until death, it was something awful and inhuman. Everything described above is in the narrative of Frederick Douglass and also in slaves history. This narrative is an excellent documentary of how was the life of a slave and his surroundings.
Douglass also makes a point about knowledge and slaves. He argues that slaves were not given the right to have knowledge, to go to school, to learn how to read or write. They didn’t even know their birth dates. White supremacy seem to be threatened if they weren’t ignorants anymore and gain knowledge about human rights, for example. Any slave that was caught trying to read or write was punish, it was considered a crime.
Frederick Douglass escaped to the North and bought his freedom. Soon he became a abolitionist by being part of the Abolitionist Movement, which also is a real-life event. The Abolitionist Movement was simply the movement with the goal to end slavery. This movement was active from 1830 to 1870, its members wanted the emancipation of slaves, and the end of segregation and discrimination.
