| Title | : | Life and Times of Frederick Douglass |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 1853265691 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781853265693 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 400 |
| Publication | : | First published January 1, 1881 |
Life and Times of Frederick Douglass Reviews
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I became interested in Frederick Douglass in high school, for the most shallow of reasons: I saw his picture in my history book and thought he was awfully cute.
Since then, he's popped up here and there throughout my life and whatever I learn about him is fascinating.
This narrative is no different, he seems to have been an inspiring, strong, thoughtful, analytical person.
It's time I start reading more of his work. -
I finally read this book after a long time getting to it. The story is well written by a humble, intelligent, literate and soulful person. A true American icon and hero. It was an honest rendition of his life with aplomb, grace and kindness. He recorded important events for history for which all should be familiar. Yet, we tend to repeat our mistakes, over and over again.
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Considering the slave Frederick Douglass was never allowed to set foot in a school, the exact and proper prose in this incredible story demonstrates the depth of his self-education. He learned to read on the sly, having been (illegally) taught the alphabet by a kindly master's wife. Douglass's story includes more 'humane' masters as well as an incredibly cruel one. The drudgery of daily slave life and the horror of whippings come through vividly in this biography that starts in Maryland.
Douglass eventually escapes, and this part of the autobiography is written with literary flourish. He arrives penniless in New York State and works his way up. In Massachusetts, he joins the abolitionist cause. In Rochester, NY, he'd publish an abolitionist newspaper. His personal experiences with prejudice, even in the north, are very interesting; Douglass was a man of great inner power who stood his ground, when most black slaves were docile by habit, reinforced by the whip.
A large part of Douglass's story is his abolitionist efforts, his involvement in politics and his personal interactions with John Brown, Charles Sumner, William Lloyd Garrison, and, especially, Abraham Lincoln. Douglass was involved in early Republican Party politics and was also an early, leading advocate of women's suffrage. His fascinating life included forays to Canada and Europe, at first to stay ahead of escaped slave catchers.
This book is excellent, being a fascinating story that is well written. That it was penned by an entirely self-educated man adds to its reading pleasure. There are so many 'wow' moments herein. I strongly recommend Life and Times of Frederick Douglass. -
Wonderful autobiography. The only slightly silly reason I gave it 4 stars and not 5 stars, is because "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass," and "My Escape from Slavery" were compact power-punches of writing. By contrast, this one was long enough that it had time to meander, for example, into topics like Douglass's relation to the Freedman's Savings Bank that to a modern reader isn't as interesting.
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Like many of the reviewers of this book, I found this quite a chilling story. I was pleasantly surprised by the simple and very readable writing, not as flowery as other writers of the times. And the story of Douglass’ resourcefulness in working his way to freedom was really key. The part of the book that really struck me was near the middle, where Douglass is describing the first of his masters to be mean. He repeats the word mean many times over within a few pages in his descriptions of this master and his behavior. I have teen daughters that over-use the word “mean” to describe the many other girls and boys that have slighted them, and the word had lost meaning to me. But the repetition here tells the story of a master that permanently scarred Douglas, and the way he told this really made the story hit home and to bring back the strength of the word “mean” to me to include the truly heinous. Looking forward to reading other Douglass books.
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Read this in under 4 hours for a research paper, it's Frederick Douglas's final biography written after the civil war. An old man now, He goes off and visits his former slave-masters.
Tl;DR Slavery is over but racism is alive and strong, and will try to rienstate it if it has its way. -
It is mentioned in the introduction that Frederick Douglass was a better orator than writer, well he must have been quite the speaker.
Fabulous writing, even more so given the manner of how he came to learn English. Such righteous determination of spirit. His mind was full of insight and and a keen sense of justice from an early age, and his impassioned, skillful arguments that pepper the work stand the test of time. His humble and piercing view that the system of slavery subjected both slaver and enslaved to misery takes a leap of thought that I fear I could not have made if such terrors had been inflicted on me.
He is unafraid to call out the hypocrisy inherent in both the US Constitution and of American Christianity, not easy to do so at the time. Making incendiary yet valid comparisons between his time under the tyrannical monarchy of England where he was treated as an equal, and his third class at best treatment even in the free states of his republican and fair homeland. Similarly his criticism of the Christianity professed to be practiced by those whom then inflict such injustice stands out for one who comes across as a true believer, having had to fight repeatedly to be allowed that privilege too.
He splits the book into the sections of his life, first begins with his childhood and his slow realisation and horror that he is considered different, and that he is a slave. Then with the general yet shocking brutality and injustice of the various jobs of his slave life, leading up to his escape. The entire section is riveting.
Mr Douglass in another act of self acknowledgement favourably looks upon his own hardships when compared to either full time field slaves or even worse, those enslaved in the deep south. Not that any part of his enslavement should be downplayed, true wickedness inflicted on mind and body, systematically, to all around him and millions more. He combined superhuman drive to constantly improve himself and others with what lucky breaks he found to excel in the most arduous of circumstances.
We move onto his initial life as a Freeman, interesting though not as gripping. His move into the abolition movement again ignites the interest, especially with the coming of the war.
Following Lincoln's assassination again we wind down a little, and the original work ends. There is a touching section I must mention where he meets both the children and even his old master on his deathbed, quite wonderful. The version I read was an updated some years after the initial run, adding a decade or so of political machinations and a leisure trip to Europe. It adds very little to the overall work, and could be removed. There are many thanks and names that are wasted on people of later centuries like myself.
I would like to see a modern biography to see both the import and validity of those later, quite political years. As well as wider thoughts on his overall life, work, and influence. A true American titan. -
This is such a fine work, and I regret that I have not read it sooner. In addition to being some of the best prose written by an American, it offers relevant and irreplaceable historical commentary during a very important and turbulent time for the United States, and it does so while chronicling the unlikeliest of stories: the rise of Mr. Douglass himself. Should be required reading for every American, but that's a lost cause: Americans prefer television and sports to learning about the great characters of their past. Douglass is an eloquent proof that what is needed is not more "schooling," for he had none, but simply an abundance of reading and education in the school of life. It is by constant exposure to great speeches and writings that Douglass developed his own sonorous, unique, and powerful voice, both in the speech hall and in the printed page.
"A man's troubles are always half disposed of when he finds endurance the only alternative." (p. 16)
"For diseases of the body, Epsom salts and castor oil; for those of the soul, the 'Lord's prayer' and a few stout hickory switches." (p. 19)
"A man's character always takes its hue, more or less, from the form and colour of things around him." (p. 21)
"He was whipped oftener who was whipped easiest. That slave who had the courage to stand up for himself against the overseer, although he might have many hard stripes at first, became, while legally a slave, virtually, a freeman." (p. 27)
"...I always measured the kindness of my master by the standard of kindness set by the slave-holders around us." (p. 37)
"The pigs in the pen had leaves, and the horses in the stable had straw, but the children had no beds." (p. 43)
"Nature never intended that men and women should be either slaves or slave-holders, and nothing but rigid training, long persisted in, can perfect the character of the one or the other." (p. 50)
"He had written his character on the living parchment of most of their backs." (p. 64)
"To make a man a slave was to rob him of moral responsibility." (p. 71)
"The guilt of a slave was always and everywhere presumed, and the innocence of the slave-holder, or employer, was always asserted." (p. 93)
"My master, whom I did not venture to hope would protect me as a man, had now refused to protect me as his property." (p. 95)
"To enslave men successfully and safely it is necessary to keep their minds occupied with thoughts and aspirations short of the liberty of which they are deprived." (p. 106)
"But the kindness of the slave-master only gilded the chain, it detracted nothing from its weight or strength." (p. 113)
"The thought of being only a creature of the present and the past troubled me, and I longed to have a future - a future with hope in it." (p. 113)
"We were plotting against our, so-called, lawful rulers, with this difference - we sought our own good, and not the harm of our enemies." (p. 117)
"Cases have been known where freemen, being called upon to show their papers by a pack of ruffians, and on the presentation of the papers, the ruffians have torn them up, and seized the victim and sold him to a life of endless bondage." (p. 120)
"The fact that he gave me any part of my wages, was proof that he suspected I had a right to the whole of them: and I always felt uncomfortable after having received anything in this way." (p. 140)
"The second week passed, and I again carried him my full week's wages - nine dollars; and so well pleased was he that he gave me twenty-five cents! and bade me 'make good use of it.'" (p. 144)
"I remember about two years ago there was in Boston, near the southwest corner of Boston Common, a menagerie. I had long desired to see such a collection as I understood was being exhibited there. Never having had an opportunity while a slave, I resolved to seize this, and as I approached the entrance to gain admission, I was told by the doorkeeper, in a harsh and contemptuous tone, 'We don't allow niggers in here.' I also remember attending a revival meeting in the Revd Henry Jackson's meeting-house, at New Bedford, and going up the broad aisle for a seat, I was met by a good deacon, who told me in a pious tone, 'We don't allow niggers in here.' Soon after my arrival in New Bedford, from the South, I had a strong desire to attend the Lyceum, but was told, 'They don't allow niggers there.' While passing from New York to Boston on the steamer Massachusetts, on the night of the 9th of December 1848, when chilled almost through with the cold, I went into the cabin to get a little warm. I was soon touched on the shoulder, and told, 'We don't allow niggers in here.' A week or two before leaving the United States, I had a meeting appointed at Weymouth, the house of that glorious band of true abolitionists - the Weston family and others. On attempting to take a seat in the omnibus to that place, I was told by the driver - and I never shall forget his fiendish hate - 'I don't allow niggers in here.' Thank heaven for the respite I now enjoy! I had been in Dublin but a few days when a gentleman of great respectability kindly offered to conduct me through all the public buildings of that beautiful city, and soon afterwards I was invited by the Lord Mayor to dine with him. What a pity there was not some democratic Christian at the door of his splendid mansion to bark out at my approach, 'They don't allow niggers in here!' The truth is, the people here know nothing of the republican negro-hate prevalent in our glorious land. They measure and esteem men according to their moral and intellectual worth, and not according to the color of their skin. Whatever may be said of the aristocracies here, there is none based on the colour of a man's skin. This species of aristocracy belongs pre-eminently to 'the land of the free, and the home of the brave.' I have never found it abroad but in any but Americans. It sticks to them wherever they go. They find it almost as hard to get rid of as their skins." (p. 187-188)
As a historical document, Douglass' bill of sale is as astonishing as it is instructive:
"To all whom it may concern: Be it known that I, Hugh Auld, of the city of Baltimore, in Baltimore county in the State of Maryland, for divers good causes and considerations, me thereunto moving, have released from slavery, liberated, manumitted, and set free, and by these presents do hereby release from slavery, liberate, manumit, and set free, MY NEGRO MAN, named FREDERICK BAILY, otherwise called DOUGLASS, being of the age of twenty-eight years, or thereabouts, and able to work and gain a sufficient livelihood and maintenance; and him the said negro man, named FREDERICK DOUGLASS, I do declare to be henceforth free, manumitted, and discharged from all manner of servitude to me, my executors and administrators forever.
In witness whereof, I, the said Hugh Auld, have hereunto set my hand and seal the fifth of December, in the year one thousand eight hundred and forty six.
HUGH AULD
Sealed and delivered in presence of T. Hanson Belt, James N.S.T. Wright (p. 197) -
“The Life and Times of Fredrick Douglass” is at once a fascinating journey back to a pivotal time in American history, a chronicle of the practical indignities of American racial oppression and an enduring monument to the constancy of human dignity.
Douglass was a remarkable man whose life is worthy of exploration. Born into slavery, he endured its humiliations for almost twenty years. Yet as a young man, he grew indignant over the notion that he was less than anyone else and, over time, slowly summoned the skills, resources and courage necessary for him to escape. Once free, he quickly came to the attention of abolitionists who were impressed by his obvious intelligence and ability to speak in a compelling fashion to crowds about his life in bondage. He progressed up the ranks of the abolitionist movement to become, in addition to being a popular public speaker, an owner and editor of his own newspaper. By the outbreak of the Civil War, Douglass was an internationally renowned public figure who was either loved or hated by anyone who knew of him. During the War, Douglass agitated tirelessly for the ennoblement of the war’s carnage by means of emancipating America’s slaves. Despite frustration with Lincoln’s maddening reluctance to free the slaves, Douglass nonetheless used his public presence to actively encouraged blacks to join the northern ranks and fight for their own freedom. Ultimately, Douglass became a kind of distanced confidant to Lincoln - a sort of moral voice to which Lincoln allowed himself to occasionally be exposed.
As remarkable as his tremendous accomplishments were and his personal story is, what I found most interesting were the “little things” written in the margins of his narrative that help to make the abstract notion of slavery and its consequences that are so assiduously documented by historians real to the reader. For example, the details of Douglass’s description of his youth breathe life into the definition of slavery – “the permanent, violent domination of natally alienated and generally dishonored persons.” provided by Orlando Patterson in his seminal work “Slavery and Social Death”. The reality of this “natal alienation”, or disassociation with the enduring institutions of family, is made heart-wrenchingly real by his description of having been raised by his maternal grandmother until he was old enough to be put to work, at which point she walked him to the master’s plantation and left him in the care of the community of the master’s slaves. Or, as described by C. Vann Woodward in “The Strange Career of Jim Crow”, the prevalence of Jim Crow that Douglass routinely experienced in the North decades before it was systematized by law and custom in the “Redeemed” South (e.g. Jim Crow cars on trains or the difficulty he had finding hotel accommodations in cities throughout the North on his abolitionist speaking tours).
What was also remarkable was the degree of compassion Douglass expressed for his oppressors. For example, Douglass was taught the rudiments of reading from his then-mistress who, being young and naïve, had been excited by the project until she was harshly reprimanded for it by her husband. After this, she grew angry with Douglass when she caught him trying to read, and became vigilant about his activities, determined that her “error” not be compounded by Douglass’s continued reading improvement. Douglass seemed to feel genuinely sorry for the woman and the way that her accepted role in the institution of slavery had reduced her from being a kind, well-meaning person into a demonstrably mean, petty human being. Slavery, Douglass rightly believed, was a moral horror to anyone involved with it, regardless of their role. Along a similar vein, Douglass frequently expressed gratitude for the “courage” of various whites he met throughout his life who, in contravention of custom, came to Douglass’s defense or treated him not as a “black man” but rather, as a “man”. Our modern sensibilities would see these acts not as expressions of courage, but rather, as manifestations of simple and rather unremarkable human decency – yet Douglass, living in his time, saw them as revolutionary acts that were worthy of praise and acknowledgement.
Although the book was excellent and contributed to my understanding of America’s racial history, it’s important to note that it’s written in the prosaic style of a mid-19th century speech writer. Moreover, one has the sense of Douglass writing to future generations in order to secure his place in history and occasionally he lapses into discussions of petty controversies about which it was important to him to get his side of the story “on the record”. Sadly, these discussions have not aged well and, as someone ignorant of the details and full context of some of the controversies he discusses, I found that his discussions of them often made him appear petulant. Notwithstanding these minor deficits the book was outstanding and represents critical reading for anyone interested in American history in general, and America’s racial history, in particular. -
DNF. The life-story is fascinating, but this autobiography is hard to listen to because of the old-fashioned writing style that seems overly complex even to my nerdy ears.
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5+ stars & 7/10 hearts. I read the
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass earlier this year and was extremely impressed. So when I discovered he had two other autobiographies, I decided to read them all. I should have read them in order, since he added more details to each, but no matter.
This autobiography was written after the Civil War, when he could be more open about his former life & acquaintances, his method of escape, and his actions leading up to and during the Civil War. (Although I have read a lot of CW books, they failed to inform me of how involved Douglass was!) It was a long book, but very interesting and easy to read. Douglass’ writing style is amazing—vigorous and full of emotion; at times pathetic, others indignant, still others quietly sarcastic, and at yet other times very firm and matter of fact. Definitely a style worth studying.
As a man, Douglass is a fascinating personage and definitely not talked about half as much as he should. Character-wise, he was definitely an upright man and very conscientious, although it's hard to judge if he was a born-again Christian or not. He was very truthful and yet shrank from sharing all the evilness and wickedness he had to share, out of very shame of speaking of such pollution. He was very just and could not be accused of hypocrisy, double-dealing, or hypocrisy. He was also patient and very forgiving. I was blown away by his kindness.
As a personage, Douglass had plenty of weight. He moved the world he lived in and was not blind to his own power, taking it upon himself to blaze a way for his people to follow. In his lifetime, this man was a slave, a Sunday-school teacher, a father, a speaker, a writer, a newspaper editor, and United States Marshal. He endured a good deal of racism and saw it through to a time when he would be treated equally.
The value of this book is not just in its recap of Douglass’ fascinating, varied life and great personality. It also lies in the picture it gives of the state of affairs for black people between 1817 and 1892. The stories he tells of racism cured and endured, at home and even abroad, are eye-opening. Douglass’ commentaries on the people of his time is also fascinating. And finally, have you ever heard of John Brown’s life before his infamous raid? Douglass’ two or three chapters on John Brown and the Harper’s Ferry are absolutely amazing. I have never heard this side of the story before.
There is plenty to ponder in this book. I do not pretend to agree with all of Douglass’ options; but much of what he said was true and good, and at any rate he gave me much food for thought, and about much more than just slavery/liberty, justice/cruelty, or racism. Again, he is definitely a character worth studying.
Content: Douglass does not whitewash things. There are plenty of mentions of physical cruelty, although never graphic; and some mentions of immoral conduct forced upon slaves. May also contain some blanked-out language.
A Favourite Quote: ...for no man who lives at all, lives unto himself; he either helps or hinders all who are in anywise connected with him.
A Favourite Humorous Quote: Men do not like to buy runaway horses, nor to invest their money in a species of property likely to take legs and walk off with itself. -
"The Life and Times of Frederick Douglass: Written by Himself" by Frederick Douglass is an outstanding autobiography of the former slave and abolitionist. Frederick Douglass is a larger-than-life figure and one of the most important leaders of the 19th Century United States.
I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in U.S. history or slavery.
[I hope to expand this review in the future when time permits.]
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Notes:
Audiobook:
Narrated by: Richard Allen
Length: 21 hours and 35 minutes
Release Date: 2012-02-07
Publisher: Dreamscape Media, LLC -
My review of Life and Times of Frederick Douglass, and a little American history:
http://greatbookstudy.blogspot.com/20... -
This is the third and longest of the autobiographies of Frederick Douglass and it raises some interesting questions for the reader. Like Leaves of Grass, Whitman's sprawling poetic opus, this book serves to update the reader's understanding of the life of Frederick Douglass not by building onto the previous volumes that the author had written but rather by seeking to replace it with another tale going back to the beginning of the author's life and going to the present. This reader, at least, wonders whether Douglass kept on going over the same events over and over because of a few interrelated reasons, including the traumatic effects of slavery on his self-conception, on his realization that it was his life in slavery that accounted for the interest that others had in his life, and therefore he did not think he could sell many copies of a work that neglected such important and such relevant aspects of his life by merely writing about his war and postwar experiences as a supplementary volume to his previous writings. The end result is an impressive autobiography, but one which is in some areas redundant when compared to his other works as well as open to questions about the author's omissions and changes from previous versions.
This book is two parts and forty chapters long and, as a bit of a large print edition, goes to more than 500 pages in length. After illustrations and an introduction, the book begins with an account of the author's birth (1), his removal from his grandmothers' place (2), the troubles of growing up in slavery (3), a general survey of a slave plantation (4), the character of his master (5), his reasoning as a child (6), life at the great house (7), characteristics of overseers (8), a change of location (9) to the city, learning to read (10), growing in knowledge (11), and the awakening of his religious nature (12), as well as the troubles of slave life (13) including getting passed around among various slaveowners in the same family, and his hunger at St. Michael's (14) as well as his experiences with Covey, the slave breaker (15), and some of his experiences in flogging (16, 17), as well as a change of masters (18), an unsuccessful effort at running away (19), life as an apprentice (20), and his escape from slavery (21). The second part of the book then explores the author's life as a free man, starting with his escape (1), his arrival at New Bedford (2), his introduction to abolitionists (3), the recollections of old friends (4), his frequent attendance at conventions (5), his impressions of life abroad (6), his triumphs and trials (7), his thoughts about John Brown and Harriet Beecher Stowe (8), his thoughts about politics (9, 10), his discussions about the Civil War and its changes (11, 12), thoughts about his postwar life and political activity (13, 14, 15), as well as chapters dealing with his efforts at reconciliation and his reflection over the course of his life (16, 17, 18, 19), after which there is an appendix and the close of the book.
Ultimately, this is an interesting book but it provides the reader with some questions. The author is very detailed about what he did as a slave and how he got his freedom, but the detail drops considerably as the author gets older. Indeed, this book offers the rather unsettling look at someone's decline from working hard for the benefit of others to a brief period of working hard and productively for his own benefit, and then a lot of years spent sponging off of the largess of wealthy abolitionists or the federal government. I got the sense in reading this book that Douglass would have been better off as an obscure person working decently and raising his family to work productively rather than to be celebrities of the free black world where there was the entitlement expectation that they would be well off and live like elites, all of which prompted resentment and hostility from others. Alas, Douglass and his family made their choices, and those choices are partly responsible for why this book is still read and still in print even after more than a century and a half after the Civil War has ended. -
This is one of the greatest books in American literature. As critical a read as The Autobiography of Malcolm X and Benjamin Franklin. It's just so good. And Douglass moves through every station possible in human society, from the most maltreated and oppressed to the most empowered. He never turns his back on the cause for Black (and female) liberty no matter how elevated he gets.
The man's perspective on Lincoln is the most informed view of that complicated white man I've read (see FD's 1876 speech at the unveiling of the Freedman's Memorial in DC). In 10 pages he captures the pros and cons of Lincoln better than all the white scholars with their millions of words.
As we tear down memorials to shitty racist Klansmen and Confederates, let's replace those holes in the ground with memorials to people like the great Freddy D.
Note: this edition "The Life and Times" I recommend above "Narrative of the Life" and "My Bondage and My Freedom." "Life and Times" was his last edition. It includes everything of those former books and his last 10 years as well. -
What an incredible time through which Douglas lived. Fascinating hearing first hand accounts of the pining and agitating for slavery abolition around the young nation and new territories, the movements toward secession by the southern states, the war that followed, and the ultimate liberation of millions of humans. Makes me want to read first hand accounts of those freed from the oppression of soviet communism behind the iron curtain in my time.
And, what an inspirational individual was Douglass, freeing himself from slavery, self-educating, and publishing and speaking out for human liberty. It was interesting hearing of his admiration for Abraham Lincoln as an individual and thinker, but how critical he was of Lincoln’s policies as US President. -
It’s one things to learn about slavery from a text book or even a historical fiction novel, it’s another to hear a first hand account. This book is fascinating and heartbreaking and hope-giving. The narrative is digestible and gripping. I have another glimpse into the past.
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Frederick Douglass is one of humanity’s greatest, as evidenced by his actions and words recorded here.
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One cannot call themselves a student of American history without reading this book.
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Each August, members of our neighborhood book group nominate books for the following year. With more than twenty members in the group, we usually have between 15-20 books to consider when we vote in September. This year one of the ten chosen books was Frederick Douglass’s third autobiography, The Life and Times of Frederick Douglass which was published in 1892.
Before I started to read the book, I expected it would help me better understand American history. I was shocked, however, to discover the relevance of the book to our own time.
This is, however, a difficult book about which to write. Not only is it long, but it also covers a long life of a man who changed the world. Not only is it about the past, but it also explains the present. Not only is it about what it was like to be an enslaved man, but it is also about that man’s unceasing efforts on so many fronts to bring an end to enslavement.
I cannot do justice to this book in a few pages. In fact, I cannot do justice to it in reading it only once. The best I can do is encourage you to read The Life and Tines of Frederick Douglass.
Over the last few years, the world has watched a president and many of his supporters openly embrace and legitimize race prejudice and discrimination. It has witnessed intense efforts to suppress votes and to pass anti-critical race theory bills often titled something like Ohio’s House Bill 327 “to prohibit school districts, community schools, STEM schools, and state agencies from teaching, advocating, or promoting divisive concepts” or Ohio House Bill 322 “regarding the teaching of certain current events and certain concepts regarding race and sex in public schools.”
Without defining “critical race theory” these legislators and governors misuse the term in the hope it will frighten their supporters, win votes, and stifle discussion of race. They make unfounded claims that CRT makes white children feel bad about themselves and that it promotes division. They argue that racism exists because of a few “bad apples” and that the country itself is not fundamentally racist but is a land of freedom and justice for all persons.
Though critical race theory is something far more likely to be discussed in a graduate or law school course than in an elementary school as proponents of these bills often claim, and though there is no single agreed upon definition of the concept, it is possible to find some generally agreed upon tenets.
According to Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic, two of the early developers, “Critical race theory not only dares to treat race as central to the law and policy of the United States; it dares to look beyond the popular belief that getting rid of racism means simply getting rid of ignorance or encouraging everyone to “get along.”
They go on to write in the third edition of their book, Critical Race Theory: An Introduction, that basic tenets of CRT include: 1) “racism is ordinary…the everyday experience of most people of color in this country,” 2) “racism is difficult to address or cure because it is not acknowledged,” 3) because racism advances the interests of both white elites (materially) and working-class whites (psychically), large segments of society have little incentive to eradicate it, “ 4) “race and races are products of social thought and relation,” 5) racism is embedded in the fabric of our laws, traditions, institutions, and more, often without our recognizing it. In short, race is everywhere.
Many of these ideas can be seen in Frederick Douglass’s third autobiography. In that book he shares with readers his experience as an enslaved person in Maryland and his later efforts to expose the horrors of slavery and bring it to its end.
More than 130 years ago, Douglass explained in chapter 19 of the second part of the book that he told his story because “The time is at hand when the last American slave and the last American slaveholder will disappear behind the curtain which separates the living from the dead and when neither master nor slave will be left to tell the story of their respective relations or what happened to either in those relations. My part has been to tell the story of the slave.”
He went on to write that “The story of the master never wanted for narrators. The masters, to tell their story, had at call all the talent and genius that wealth and influence could command. They have had their full day in court. Literature, theology, philosophy, law and learning have come willingly to their service, and, if condemned, they have not been condemned unheard. "
As I continued reading Douglass’s autobiography, I was struck by his observation in the same chapter that “in most of the Southern States, the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments are virtually nullified. The rights which they were intended to guarantee are denied and held in contempt. The citizenship granted in the fourteenth amendment is practically a mockery, and the right to vote, provided for in the fifteenth amendment, is literally stamped out in face of government. The old master class is to-day triumphant, and the newly-enfranchised class in a condition but little above that in which they were found before the rebellion. Do you ask me how, after all that has been done, this state of things has been made possible? I will tell you. Our reconstruction measures were radically defective.”
In short, with his book Douglass pointed at the role American capitalism played in American slavery and showed how our institutions came together to justify the unnatural and cruel practice of enslaving people. He also makes clear that no one escaped the institution of slavery. That history is the history of us all and is a history that continues to shape us today.
Though The life and Times of Frederick Douglass is lengthy, it is a book we all should read and reread. As Frederick Douglass noted in 1883, even though “Liberty has supplanted slavery…I fear it has not supplanted the spirit or power of slavery.”
Despite current attempts to keep us from seeing the United States as a country shaped by racism, seldom a page goes by that Douglass does not make clear how slavery was tied to the need for “cheap labor,” how the enslavement of people needed justification, and how that justification found its way into all our institutions and made us blind to its existence.
Despite current attempts to pass into law bills that will suppress the vote and drive some persons to the outside, we should remember what Frederick Douglass said when the United States Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional the Civil Rights Act of 1875, an act that forbade discrimination in hotels, trains, and other public spaces:
“The strength and activities of the malign elements of the country against equal rights and equality before the law seem to increase in proportion to the increasing distance between that time and the time of the [Civil] war…
To-day our Republic sits as a queen among the nations of the earth. Peace is within her walls and plenteousness within her palaces, but he is bolder and a far more hopeful man than I am who will affirm that this peace and prosperity will always last. History repeats itself. What has happened once may happen again…Our legislators, our Presidents, and our judges should have a care, lest, by forcing these people outside of law, they destroy that love of country which in the day of trouble is needful to the nation's defense.”
Remember, strong forces are at work today to whitewash our history and to deny the inequality and injustice of our present day. Strong forces are at work to preserve white privilege and dominance, and to drive those not made in their image to the fringes.
Though Frederick Douglass died more than 120 years ago, he calls to each to remember and to take action knowing “that a wrong done to one man is a wrong done to all men. It may not be felt at the moment, and the evil may be long delayed, but so sure as there is a moral government of the universe, so sure as there is a God of the universe, so sure will the harvest of evil come.” -
Everyone who discusses slavery should read this memoir (or maybe one of Douglass' later autobiography's which I haven't read). Frederick Douglass was amazingly perceptive beyond even his era, not to mention what would have been expected of a self-educated man. Among his more noteworthy observations:
The kindnesses of Plantation owners were not kindnesses at all, but were the "safety valve" for keeping slaves from becoming discontent and persuading them to remain in slavery. True kindness would have set an enslaved person free without monetary considerations.
The worst slave owners were religious people. They were crueler than those who did not pride themselves on their "Christianity." Douglass, a professed Christian himself -- which is amazing in view of all he suffered -- does a devastating analysis of the horrible corruption of the Christian message by anyone who called themselves Christian but condoned slavery. It should be required reading for every Christian!
He credits his early passion to learn to read and write as much to the kindness of a mistress who started teaching him how to read, as to her husband who -- in Frederick's presence -- scolded his wife and lectured her on how slaves must not be allowed to read because of the effect such knowledge would have on their continuing as slaves.
This audio book, though well read by Jonathon Reese, would have been better in the voice of an African American. Reese sounds like the polished voice of an older white radio commentator. Especially odd was his pronunciation of "Baltimore" which, far from having any southern inflection, was pronounced "BALT- imer" -- maybe that's how people in Baltimore today say it (I don't know but I doubt it) -- I just can't imagine Frederick Douglass saying it that way. -
This book was utterly engrossing, even as an old audio edition. I haven't read a real page turner in awhile, but this was exactly that for me. I didn't expect a book this old to be so utterly engaging, but I found myself relating so well to Frederick Douglass--not truly understanding his struggles, obviously, but relating to the feelings behind them--his outrage at injustice and determination to better himself and others and set things right. He was so clearly passionate about the subject of slavery, even after he himself was free and successful and relatively safe. He couldn't bear that anyone could continue in that state, and this book reflects that passion beautifully. Sometimes hearing his blunt recounting of the treatment of slaves (and even simply of African-Americans) that he witnessed and/or experienced was almost unbearable, and yet I couldn't stop reading. As a Christian, hearing the way southern slave holding Christians behaved specifically almost made me ill. So utterly against the message they thought they knew. (I also loved Douglass's clarification about his views on true Christianity at the end of the book. I loved that he learned to see that they did not represent the true faith, and that he said so boldly.) He told the truth so that others would know, and could better understand why the institution of slavery (and of racism) needed to be stopped. Reading works like this helps put even more context for the works of modern-day writers I've read recently, Ta-Nehesi Coates and D. Watkins and others. I know Douglass wrote a number of books, and I'll be looking them all up to read, and soon.
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This one was a page turner for me. It is a fascinating (nearly) contemporaneous account of the decades before and after the Civil War. Frederick Douglass is a new hero for me as one of the figures in American history whose courage and conviction matched the monumental challenges of his times. The broad outlines of his story are well known but the details were entirely new to me and they were riveting. My favorite passages in the book describe Douglass' encounters with Abraham Lincoln. Also fun to read Douglass' reflections on his emotional experience and feelings of "now what do I do with myself?!" immediately after the end of slavery and achievement of his life's work. Less fun is the realization that 150 years later the echoes of slavery are an enduring challenge in American society.
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“I could think of nothing scarcely but my life, and in thinking of my life, I almost forgot my liberty. I have observed this in my experience of slavery that whenever my condition was improved instead of it increasing my contentment, it only increased my desire to be free and set me to thinking of plans to gain my freedom. I found that to make a contented slave, it is necessary to make a thoughtless one, and it is necessary to darken his moral and mental vision, and as far as possible, to annihilate the power of reason. He must be able to detect no inconsistencies in slavery; he must be made to feel that slavery is right, and he can brought to that only when he ceases to be a man.”
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A very good book with illustrations, pictures, drawings, etc. from the time of Frederick Douglass. A wonderful autobiography of slavery, escape, abolition, and love of Freedom. He speaks well of Lincoln and worked for the freedom of black slaves. He advocated citizenship and all that it meant for former slaves. He labored for fair treatment of his people. His writing style is very good considering he had practically no education and was mostly self-taught. A great book on his lifespan and times.
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this is a must read. seriously, if you haven't read this book you should.
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Very insightful. This man was amazing.
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could skip past the first half of the book if you read book 2. appreciate this book’s 2nd half because it addresses his life after escape (political career).
