Frederick Douglas's Life and Accomplishments
Frederick Douglas's Life and Accomplishments
Frederick Douglass was an emancipated slave who passed from one master to another until he finally found the satisfaction of being his own. He went through almost as many names as masters. His mother's family name, traceable at least as far back as 1701 was Bailey, the name he bore until his flight to freedom in 1838. His father may have been a white man named Anthony, but Douglass never firmly validated or rejected this possibility. During transit to New York, where he became a free his name became Stanley, and upon arrival he changed it again to Johnson. In New Bedford, where there were too many Johnson's, he found it necessary to change it once more and his final choice was Douglass. Throughout this period, he clung to his name Frederick to, “preserve a sense of [his] identity” (Norton, 1988). This succession of names is illustrative of the transformation undergone by one returning from the world of the dead, which in a sense is what the move from oppression to liberty is. Frederick Douglass not only underwent a transformation but, being intelligent and endowed with the gift of Voice, he brought back with him a sharp perspective on the blights of racism and slavery. Dropped into America during the heat of the reformation period, as he was, his appearance on the scene of debate, and his own self-emancipation, was a valuable blessing for the abolitionists. In their struggles so far, there had been many skilled arguers but few who could so convincingly portray the evils of slavery, an act that seemed to demand little firsthand experience, but which also required a clear understanding of it. Douglass had both, and proved himself an incredibly powerful weapon for reform. The life of a slave was full of hard times along with sadness. Slaves were bought and sold at random. There slaveholders consistently whipped them were they had calluses all over there backs. When they transported the slaves they were ranked together with the horses, sheep and swine. The Slaves were breed for size and strength. While the identity of his father is uncertain, it is generally accepted that the man was white, giving Douglass a mixed ancestry. Mirroring this, he was also blessed with an eye that could bring into focus different perspectives, just as many multi-racial children today are able to speak multiple languages, with ease....