Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

By Frederick Douglass

The “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass” is an 1845 memoir of slavery and escape and a treatise on abolition written by the writer, orator and former slave Frederick Douglass. Describing in gripping detail the circumstances of his upbringing, his brutal treatment at the hands of slave-owners, and his narrow escape from Maryland to freedom, the book is one of the most famous works of American literature and provided fuel for the abolitionist movement of the early 19th century in the United States.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dreamscape Media
• Release date: Jan 22, 2019
• ISBN: 9781974939312

Frederick Douglass

Frederick Douglass (1818-1895) was an African American abolitionist, writer, statesman, and social reformer. Born in Maryland, he escaped slavery at the age of twenty with the help of his future wife Anna Murray Douglass, a free Black woman from Baltimore. He made his way through Delaware, Philadelphia, and New York City—where he married Murray—before settling in New Bedford, Massachusetts. In New England, he connected with the influential abolitionist community and joined the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, a historically black denomination which counted Sojourner Truth and Harriet Tubman among its members. In 1839, Douglass became a preacher and began his career as a captivating orator on religious, social, and political matters. He met William Lloyd Garrison, publisher of anti-slavery newspaper The Liberator, in 1841, and was deeply moved by his passionate abolitionism. As Douglass’ reputation and influence grew, he traveled across the country and eventually to Ireland and Great Britain to advocate on behalf of the American abolitionist movement, winning countless people over to the leading moral cause of the nineteenth century. He was often accosted during his speeches and was badly beaten at least once by a violent mob. His autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave (1845) was an immediate bestseller that detailed Douglass’ life in and escape from slavery, providing readers a firsthand description of the cruelties of the southern plantation system. Towards the end of his life, he became a fierce advocate for women’s rights and was the first Black man to be nominated for Vice President on the Equal Rights Party ticket, alongside Presidential candidate Victoria Woodhull. Arguably one of the most influential Americans of all time, Douglass led a life dedicated to democracy and racial equality.

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Reviews for Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

[podocyte_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Compelling

[lydia1879 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

“You have seen how a man was made a slave; you shall see how a slave was made a man.”

This is the incredible story of Frederick Douglass' education and subsequent escape from slavery. This is very easily read, considering how antiquated it is, and I fully believe that is due to Douglass' writing.

He is honest, humble, vulnerable and desperate to live a life he feels he deserves. When he wrote of his isolation, of his loss, of his hunger for freedom, for respect, I felt every moment.

Interesting that there were times in the text that I felt had certainly been touched by white editors. A mention of so-and-so's house (the finest house in Baltimore) and his masters number of horses, the condition of the stables and I knew.

I didn't care about horses or houses. I wanted Douglass' life, but instead I'm having to read about what white editors in 1845 considered important. I admire editors a lot and think they do a very necessary and unnoticed job, but I felt like these editors tampered with his work.

Of course, Douglass' words still often came through, ringing out like a bell in the darkness. But every once and a while I would pause and ask myself what a different this book would be if white people had left it well alone.

We're so lucky Douglass survived and even luckier this book also survived.

[scottjpearson · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Obviously, this work belongs to history rather than to a shelf of recent releases. Nonetheless, it is clearly written, interesting, and provides much insight into the mind of nineteenth-century Americans in the North, in the South, and in slavery. I found Douglass's writing abundantly lucid and to the point.

It's interesting how American in many ways represented two societies at the time - one free, the other deeply tainted by slavery. The claim Douglass makes in this account 15 years before the Civil War is that slavery does not make humanity moral. It cheapens everything.

In the closing chapters, Douglass describes what freedom in the North was like. He suspected that there would be no rich people in the North because there was no slavery. The only rich people in the South were those with slaves; those without slaves in the South struggled to make ends meet. However, he found that the freedom of the North allowed human freedom to extend into more noble virtues. Life was simply better there.

One wonders if there are parallels to our much-divided politics today. But that would turn this book review into a political tome. So instead, I will merely say that freedom begets freedom, whether in antebellum America or in a globalized village. I think Douglass's account can take us thus far.

[goofyocean110 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas, was AMAZING. I really feel like I missed out in high school because this wasn't required reading along with Uncle Tom's Cabin. Frederick Douglas was incredible articulate and explained, very reasonably, what it was like to grow up a slave in Talbot County, Maryland, to live in Baltimore, and what the social conditions were. His denunciation of empty and hypocritical religiosity in the appendix was spot on and can ring true even today.Frederick Douglas is an example of someone who was able to use adversity as motivation for self-improvement at whatever cost. Efforts to dissuade him from learning to read and write made him that much more committed to not just learning, but to doing so excellently. Efforts to keep him from escaping only made it inevitable that he would do so. Frederick Douglas can serve as an inspiration to so many of us and an example of perseverance and discipline. He was smart enough to recognize that when something wrong is going on, it's not enough to endure, but one must make efforts to end the problem. Highly highly recommended, and I wish it were required reading for everyone in school everywhere.

[danielstj · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A fine book.

[mjspear_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

First-hand account of African American orator Frederick Douglass' early years as an enslaved person. Essential reading for anyone interested in the history of slavery in America.

[msaucier818 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is one of those books I should have read years ago as a history teacher. I have read excerpts of this and many other slave narratives like it, but I enjoyed this read. Having a good background in the history of the time period, there is nothing new here for me and his story mirrors those of many others. The obvious exception to that would be how he spent his life after he gained his freedom, but this story does not cover that time period.

I imagine that this book had a great impact at the time it was published. Douglas was such a large presence in American politics and abolitionist circles. This book is a great introduction to his story and I would recommend it to any students of history.

[calavari · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Today it seems like common sense that slavery was a horrible institution of which no good follower of Christ could possibly participate in but that was clearly not always the case.

Ok, well, I'd agree with Douglass that though there may have been plenty of slave owners who called themselves by that name, it's hard to believe someone could really understand what it means and participate in a system that routinely oppressed and abused the poor and the orphans and the widows. The idea that people will use any means to justify their horrible acts isn't limited to Christianity nor slavery, and unfortunately not even eras gone by.

I knew coming into the narrative that it would be terrible. Its a book reputed even now to have a played a major role in ending slavery, so there was no way that it was a book that would call entertaining. It doesn't entertain. It informs the reader of the harsh realities of being a slave without signs of embellishments. That said, there was a lot to truly appreciate about Douglass sharing his story and the way in which he did so. Douglass didn't simply share the events of his life but took time fully explaining the surrounding events that contributed to his thoughts and feelings about the situations that he was presented.

As an example of what I mean, he not only talks about each of the employers his owner sent him to work for as a slave, but also discussed at length the differences between them and the way these differences played out in the treatment of slaves as well as the general slave response to them. He also explains the treatments that he was given with both his assumptions about what his owner or employer was attempting to get from and what he actually got from the experience. This level of awareness seems rare these days.

[anisadara36 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

One of my favorite historical figures! Loved learning about his life.

[ebt1002 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is a must-read. Written shortly after Douglass escaped from slavery, it chronicles his experiences as a slave. Written from both the head and the heart, Douglass' narrative effectively communicates the despair and rage experienced by one whose life is not his own and the longing for simple self-determination. He also provides a deep insight into the dynamics of slavery as it played out in his various masters, the impact on their humanity, the deceit of self and others, and the deep hypocrisy necessitated by the institution of human bondage. Slavery was not an abstract institution. Conscious human beings were deprived of the most basic human needs, dignity, and ownership of their own selves. To read about the experience by one who grew up in its shackles far exceeds any and all intellectual or philosophical musings on its evil.

[slmr4242 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Brilliant. Glad I finally read this!

[jeeps-4 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

What really struck me was how the introductory texts in the preface (written by Douglass's contemporaries and included in the original publication, so I believe they will be in all editions), while sincere and correct, are still fairly inaccessible and overwrought as far as the language is concerned, which has the effect of highlighting the clear, concise wisdom of Frederick Douglass. If you've never read this before and worry it will be dense or inaccessible, don't let that be a stumbling block; the writing is powerful but uncomplicated. Personally, I've read sections of it before in school, but this was my first full read through (even then it's quite short, 122 pages on Kindle). I've always found the idea he presented of slavery itself as a corrupting influence on whites even if they start out with "good" intentions to be really intriguing, so I was hoping for a deeper exploration of that and didn't really find it in the full text. I also completely understand why he omitted the details of how he escaped slavery (the safety of other fleeing slaves who might take the same path), but given that the whole narrative was heading in that direction, it does create an unfortunate disconnect with his story as a narrative at that point. But otherwise the importance of this text is obvious and moving.

[breic-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Interesting story. I only wish there were more details, and that the story went on longer. I especially appreciated Douglass's thoughts on how he changed as a slave, and on how slavery changed individual slaveholders, their society and their religion.

[ashryan_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

"From that moment, I understood the pathway from slavery to freedom...Though conscious of the difficulty of learning without a teacher, I set out with high hope, and a fixed purpose, at whatever cost of trouble, to learn how to read."One of the greatest books ever written. If you have yet to read it, you are depriving yourself of one of life's finest experiences.

[tw0h3dz · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Essential reading for any student of American history. Douglass writes with elegance, passion, and experience. His views on America's version of Christianity are, unfortunately, as true now as when he penned them in 1845; I can't recommend a quick read of the Appendix enough.

[finalcut_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

can't recommend it highly enough. Some of the surrounding text such as the preface and the appendicies weren't that interesting but in conjunction with Douglass's stirring tale they fit in nicely. However, it isn't the story of Douglass that is so worth the read as it is the effect it has on the reader.

[sullywriter_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Excellent introduction to Douglass's life and times for young readers.

[read4to4live · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

For my reading-while-driving I'm dependent on the library audiobook selection, which has very little overlap with anything I'd ever chose on my own. But amidst the dreck there are serendipities, books I never would have tried if not for the lack of any other option -- worlds opened to me that I never would have known otherwise. I certainly never would have considered reading the Narrative of Frederick Douglass -- not from any prejudice or lack of curiousity, but just from the general unexamined assumption that it would not be very interesting. Where do I get these ideas? Anyhow, this is a stunning book, clearly written, with riveting descriptions of life in slavery. It's one of those books -- I also said this about The Bookseller of Kabul -- that opens your eyes and heart to a greater understanding of those facts you already knew. The descriptions of the rags young Frederick had instead of clothes, the constant cursing heaped upon him, his dawning awareness of his own humanity and dignity, his willingness to fight for himself -- this is an eye-opening book that should be read by everyone studying American history.

[erinjamieson · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a wonderful book to read in order to get a glimpse of what being a slave was actually like, because it is written by a slave who taught himself how to read and write. Every person, especially in the United States, should read this book.

[selfcallednowhere · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Wonderfully eloquent and by turns horrifying and inspiring.

[arielfl · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I probably wouldn't have gotten around to this if it hadn't been assigned to my daughter as part of her summer reading for the IB program. I always read the books with her to help her out and fill in the gaps in my classic literature. I wasn't expecting too much from this but now that I finished it I can see why people would still read this over a hundred years later. The autobiography starts out with Douglass's early life on a plantation and goes to the time when he is able to escape from slavery. The descriptions of slavery are as brutal as you would expect. He doesn't sugar coat anything. This is the part where I think this wasn't the best choice for a twelve year old to read. Some of the men really seem to enjoy inflicting pain of the women slaves which makes me think they might have been classified as sexual sadists in today's psychological speak. There is also a description of how a woman was purchased so she would produce slave children to increase the master's wealth. The slave holders stripped the slaves of any vestige of humanity. In many cases they were treated worse than the animals. Douglas lays out all of the horrors of slavery for the reader to digest. Even people who started out with the best intentions were corrupted by the institute of slavery. I can see why Douglass's narrative as well as his speeches made for powerful evidence for the abolitionist movement of the day. Another issue Douglas brings to light is the hypocrisy of the Christian slaveholders. They go to church and claim to follow God but they keep people as slaves and treat them horribly. At one point the slaveholder and his wife are upstairs praying to God for abundance while they let food rot rather than give it to their starving slaves. Douglas points out that he does not despise the Christian religion as a whole, just the people who claim to be holy while sinning. I suspect that God does not like them either.Although the narrative is short, around 120 pages there is so much to digest. I almost wish that my daughter had been assigned this book in high school because her reaction so far to it has been that it is boring which it anything but. Possibly the old fashioned language is off putting to her but once you get reading it is not difficult to understand. I think you have to experience some things in life to fully appreciate Douglass's words. I recently read Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand about the life of Louis Zamperini and in particular his treatment by the Japanese when he was captured by them and put in a prison camp. A lot of what he experienced at the the hands of the Japanese was similar to what Frederick Douglass experienced as a slave. Both men were systemically starved and worked past the point of exhaustion. Both the slaveholders and the Japanese dehumanized their prisoners in order to make them easier to control. Also both Frederick Douglass and Louis Zamperini had a man who took special pleasure in breaking them. For Douglass it was the slave holder Covey and for Zamperini it was the prison Guard nicknamed The Bird. Both men somehow survived their torture and went on to do great things with their lives. Both men even came to forgive those who had abused them. Before Douglass's slave master died he had a change of heart and on his death bed met with Douglass where Douglass offered him his forgiveness. Likewise Louis Zamperini went back to the prison camp after the war and offered forgiveness to the men who imprisoned him. Both acts of forgiveness were extremely cathartic to those involved. Even though the experience of Frederick Douglass and Louis Zamperini took place a hundred years apart and in two different cultures their experiences were remarkedly the same because the common denominator is humanity. Throughout the dawn of time man has been inhumane to man. The lesson presented by both men is that while bad things will happen, sometimes even spirit breaking, the way out of a prison of hatred is through forgiveness. Forgiveness allowed both men to move on from the pain they endured and allowed them to create great things out of their suffering. It is not an easy lesson to learn but as both men proved, it is worth it in the end.

[auntmarge64 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

It's interesting how the story of one person can have a greater impact than the history of a people or event. In this extraordinary autobiography of abolitionist and escaped slave Frederick Douglass, we are given an intimate window into the everyday world of slavery, and it is ugly. I have read only one other book that made me feel so profoundly the lack of humanity and the evil of which humans are capable, and that was "People of the Lie" by M. Scott Peck, in which he describes parents who, for Christmas, gift their surviving son the rifle used by another son to kill himself. Reading Peck's description of a truly evil person, it seems he could have just read Douglass' book: (Adapted from Wikipedia):- Consistently self-deceiving, with the intent of avoiding guilt and maintaining a self-image of perfection- Projects his or her evils and sins onto very specific targets while being apparently normal with everyone else - Commonly hates with the pretense of love- Abuses political (emotional) power - Maintains a high level of respectability, and lies incessantly in order to do so- Is consistent in his or her sins. Evil persons are characterized not so much by the magnitude of their sins, but by their consistency of destructiveness. - Is unable to think from the viewpoint of his or her victim- Has a covert intolerance to criticismDouglass tells his story of being born and kept as a slave, and his escape to the North in his early twenties, in a style that highlights the evil he experienced and/or observed in Maryland:- being removed from his mother's care by the age of one, with almost no contact allowed with her for the rest of his life- being clothed as a child only in a knee-length shirt, summer or winter, and going naked if the shirt wore out before the annual clothing allotment - having no provision for beds or bedding except for a single blanket - routine rape of women to increase slaveholders' assets and wealth- deliberate near-starvation of slaves, with stock animals being well-cared for and slaves whipped for any perceived lack of attention to the animals' well-being- slaveholders' (both men and women) and overseers' enjoyment of frequent, repeated, and lengthy slave whippings, often for no reason than satisfaction- old slaves being put out into the forest to fend for themselves - the inevitable degeneration into depravity of whites who were new to slaveholding (thorough marriage, for instance) The book skips over the exact method Douglass used to escape, in order to protect others and not give slaveholders any tips, but in his final autobiography, after the Civil War, he did give a detailed account. The book ends with him in New Bedford, MA, with a new bride and making his way among the wonders of freedom, irrespective of the hostility shown blacks by northern whites afraid for their jobs. There's also an epilogue Douglass wrote to clarify his comments on the "Christianity" he observed in both the South and the North. It's not pretty. Ministers going home to rape, preachers spending the rest of the week whipping humans, respectable citizens spending their time finding new ways to force compliance, whether it be though intimidation, murder, or forcible separation of families. More than anywhere else, this is where Douglass expresses his anger.

[ted_newell-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

All racists and unwitting racists should read this book and be changed. I see why it made the huge difference it did when it was written before the U S Civil War. If absolutely everyone had read it maybe the war would nt have been fought. Naive maybe and I know there's a literature on the book and similar titles like Twelve Years a Slave. Still. Fifteen years later and I remember turning page after page agog.

[danlai-1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This book is not bad, but I've had to read it so many times for school, in so many different classes, that I don't want to see this book ever again.

[jimmaclachlan · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Very short & to the point, Douglass paints the picture of being a slave better than any other book I've read on the subject. His first hand account blows away 'Roots' or even the 'Confessions of Nat Turner' with its simple, understated prose. Huge thanks to Nancy, a friend here on GR, that recommended & gave me the book.

Why would a man remain in slavery when there was any chance of escape? This is a question I've always wondered about. He tells us. The courage & determination that it took him to make that leap was incredible. His simple account of what people can endure is heart wrenching.

The only reason this book didn't get 5 stars was the editor. I can't recall his name, but he is a professor at Columbia University & must think his audience is a bunch of idiots. His long winded introduction basically tells Douglass' entire story. It was a spoiler & redundant. The original publication had another introduction that is also included. This was doubly redundant due to the first, but would have been far better if just it was included.

The editor's constant footnotes, defining well known words that are well used in context, were distracting & occasionally incorrect. The end notes were better, but should have been footnotes instead. I was left with the impression that the editor was trying to impress me rather than help me understand Douglass' story. Blech!

Douglass has written his autobiography in several versions. This was his first. I'd be interested in finding a later one, especially with a different editor. In any case, for all the faults of the editor, the basic story is something that I recommend everyone read.

[csweder · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I purchased this book with the intent of using an excerpt of it in class to show students the importance of knowing how to read and write.

I waited too long over the summer, and didn't get around to reading it until a week before school started. It's a quick read, about 100 pages. I tried at first only to skim through it, looking only for something to use in class. But I got caught up. I had to stop skimming, go back to the beginning and read the entire thing. (Didn't take long, as it is short.)

Thinking about this book, and how Douglass overcame his obstacles...well, I've decided to not 'skim' it, but buy a copy for my students, and it will be the first book that we read.

[mgeorge2755 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A simple read for history buffs. This book offers a glimpse into the life of Fredrick Douglas, not a full biography, but an idea of where he came from and how he was prepared for the role he would play later in life. 

[jeffcarver · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The Narrative of The Life of Frederick Douglass is a paradigm-shifting autobiography that delivers a firsthand account of the horrific injustices that Douglass experienced while enslaved in the American south. Upon first glance it is possible to miss the significance of the cover text, which states, “written by himself,” but within a few pages it becomes clear that knowledge was the spark that ignited Douglass’ quest for freedom. Douglass’ descriptions of the dehumanizing conditions through which he lived are difficult to read, and furthermore, the narrative poses larger questions about humanity that are impossible to untangle; yet, still there is hope in his story. Somehow, in the midst of the terrors that surrounded him, Douglass continued to find reasons to persevere toward freedom. The major turning point of the book occurs when Douglass refuses to be whipped. “You have seen how a man was made a slave; you shall now see how a slave was made a man.” (52). From this moment on, his transformation and influence reaches awe-inspiring peaks. For reasons of safety, the details of his actual escape to freedom are left undocumented, but in many ways, his arrival in New York is just the beginning of his journey. I’m incredibly interested to dig further into his writings as a free abolitionist and would be honored to teach this book in my class someday. This is a critical piece of American literature, and I cannot believe it took me this long to read it.

[fristar7406 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

M. Douglass has been able to transport us to his time thru his narrative. The way this book is writing keeps you asking for more. The only negative is the absence of details on how he manage to get free, which is pretty understandable. As he put it himself he did not want to jeopardize any other slaves' tentative to free themselves. Presently I am reading a few 19th century books, unlike other travel or explorers narratives this is not a boring description of facts, landscape or political scenes but a vibrant personal experience...

[tjwilson_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A gripping narrative full of terror, fear, triumph and luck. A bold thing to have written at the time. A good reminder of what humans are capable of on both sides of the spectrum.