1. What is the significance of the information Douglass provides about the early years of his life?
2. What does he mean, on p.238, when he describes the first whipping he witnessed as, “the blood-stained gate”?
3. What have you learned from reading this narrative that you didn’t already know about slavery in America?
4. Explain the significance of literacy for Douglass?
5. How does Douglass feel about Southern Christianity? Why?
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What is the significance of the information Douglass provides about the early years of his life?
To show how the early years truly shaped his later life. In particular, when he goes to Baltimore, he says that this changed his views and gave him hope for freedom. He says if not for his trip to Baltimore, he may still be enslaved back at Master Lloyd’s house.
4. Explain the significance of literacy for Douglass?
When Douglass overhears Mr. Auld tell Mrs. Auld that she shouldn’t be teaching slaves to read and write, he understands that becoming educated is the key to his freedom. Auld says that black people should be trained as slaves to only know to obey their masters. Douglass understood this to mean that if he were to learn things besides obedience he would learn how to live on his own and eventually become a free man. To Douglass, literacy would lead to freedom; literacy would be the first step on his path to freedom.
Agree with him,
First, Mrs. Auld did not have any slave before. Douglass was the first slave. She was teaching him how to read and write. His master found out that Mrs. Auld teaching him.Mr. Auld told her why it would be not a good idea to teach a slave how to read and write. He tells her that if he become literate he will find out how escape from being slave. He said to her that the master should be as cruel as they can be towards their slave. After listening their conversation Douglass found that Literacy would be the only way to get freedom.
What is the significance of the information Douglass provides about the early years of his life?
Douglass tells that he had a poor childhood, he does’t know his age, and who is his father. He only see his mother for few times. Master treat slaves as animal. Slaves have to work hard, and have no right to speak up and protect themselves. This kind terrible living condition and situation that make Douglass to became a national leader of the abolitionist movement. Frederick Douglass knew the inequality of slavery, so he escape from slavery and use his power to help other slaves to get freedom.
Explain the significance of literacy for Douglass?
Douglass mentioned in his work: “I understood the pathway from slavery to freedom.” Literacy is the pathway that helps Douglass get rid of slavery because literacy makes him understand the content in the book. He would be able to read everything about slavery. After he realized the darkness of slavery, he knows what he was suffering right now is not fair. He would find a way to escape or he could use his literacy ability to write down how people struggle under the slavery. He can use his words to tell people slavery is not what we supposed to do for whole life. He can use the power of writing to let people know they have right to be free and it is also became Douglass’s powerful weapon in the war against slavery.
What does he mean, on p.238, when he describes the first whipping he witnessed, “the blood-stained gate”?
When Douglas was 7 years he saw his aunt being whipped by the owner, at that moment he realizes the life that he was getting into. He understood what slavery was and no one could disobey the owner’s rule. He saw the ” white ” power during that time.
4. Explain the significance of literacy for Douglass?
The significance of literacy paved the path to freedom for Douglass. Literacy exposed the deceitful nature of slavery, revealed the hypocrisy of White slaveholders in the South, aided in the plans for escape, created fellowship among slaves, white sons, and sons of slave owners. It helped fabricate how truly vile Douglass’s experience with slavery was, illustrated the heinous ideology behind slavery, and conveyed into powerful words how absolutely repugnant slavery is.
5. How does Douglass feel about Southern Christianity? Why?
Within Frederick Douglass’s autobiography, there are many references to the Bible and Christianity in the South. These references include examples of the justification the religion invoked for slaveholders.
A rather distinctive example is when Douglass alludes to the story of how God cursed Ham by making him black. Therefore, all black people are descendants of this cursed man and deserve to be dehumanized so “American slavery is right.”
Unfortunately, this ridiculous story is just one of many that Southern Christians used to justify the cruel practice of slavery in their daily lives. Nonetheless, Douglass cooly points out these hypocritical beliefs that represent the thoughts of many slaveholders at the time. An illustration of this is Douglass’ parody on a popular Christian hymn that extraordinarily reveals the horrible deceitfulness of priests and slaveholders alike. The beginning of it reads “Come, saints and sinners, hear me tell / How pious priests whip Jack and Nell.” The straightforward way Douglass renounces the Christians discloses the raw honesty that he exudes and only forces one to respect him more.
1. What is the significance of the information Douglass provides about the early years of his life?
Frederick Douglass provides information about the early ages of his life to show that he was treated like an animal. He told us about his life as a slave and did not know any of his rights. When he was younger, he believed it was normal to be treated that way. When Mrs. Auld tried to teach him how to be literate, his master brought him down and told her not to. As he tried to find books to read, he understood that what he went through was not acceptable and that he could find a way to be freed.
4. Explain the significance of literacy for Douglass?
For Douglass, literacy is his only way out of slavery. The only reason he even knew about the abolitionist movement was because of the fact that he can read. He was disconnected to the world before this but now he knows that he’s not alone. There are like minded people that are trying to help people like him. Also he could influence other slaves by writing about his experience and how he taught himself how to read and write.
I agree. Being able to read and write allowed Douglass to learn more about abolition. His literacy also created an avenue for him to become an abolitionist himself and be able to advocate for the slaves based off of experience. Literacy of slaves was seen as a threat because they could use it to their advantage to communicate, start uprisings and eventually over throw their masters.
Explain the significance of literacy for Douglass?
Literacy is the only reason why douglass became the person he is. Him learning to read and write from a young age wether it was from his slave holding’s wife or young white kids that taught him how to write gave him the insight of slavery and how its wrong. Literacy made him come to the conclusion that the slaves holders were not in the right as they preached but completly in the wrong in every way possible. Literacy gave him the passion to keep working on and not to be broken and continue for his freedom and one day he did just that.
3. What have you learned from reading this narrative that you didn’t already know about slavery in America?
Before studying this reading, I just know that the slaves were not free at that time. Douglas described his childhood that I felt in a more direct sense of the suffering of a black slave. They were not free as well as treated like animals. They didn’t have their own thoughts and can’t learn knowledge. They believed that they were born to be slaves. Douglass realized the unfair until he started learning. I believe that knowledge can change fate. If there were no slaves who knew the rebellion at that time, American history may totally different.