Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave

By Frederick Douglass and Poetose Press

In this powerful autobiography, originally published in 1845, Frederick Douglass recounts his time as a slave and escape to become a free man. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave is an essential read for those wishing to have a greater understanding of the cruel

• Language: English
• Publisher: Poetose Press
• Release date: Apr 20, 2021
• ISBN: 9781646723171

Frederick Douglass

Frederick Douglass was born into slavery in Maryland in 1818. He was separated from his mother as a baby and lived with his grandmother up to the age of eight, when he was sent to live as a house servant, a field hand and then a ship caulker. He escaped to New York in 1838 and seven years later published Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an autobiography of his life as a slave, which became an instant bestseller. Douglass rose to fame as a powerful orator and spent the rest of his life campaigning for equality. He became a national leader of the abolitionist movement, a consultant to Abraham Lincoln in the civil rights movement and a passionate supporter of the women’s rights movement. He died in 1895.

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Reviews for Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave

[podocyte_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Compelling

[jonbrammer-788089 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is the archetypal narrative of slavery, capturing both the physical and psychological damage of owning humans as property. Rivals Wiesel's Night as a document of human cruelty. Points with laser accuracy at the hypocrisies of Christianity and American democracy. Douglass has a greater stature than the founders in American history, as his life was dedicated to correcting our crimes against humanity.

[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.

[clintwrede · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book tells you something you already know--slavery was, and is, evil--and tells you in the politest of ways, and yet still manages to be shocking in Douglass's calm, first-person account of his life as a slave.

[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.

[darthdeverell · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Frederick Douglass wrote this narrative shortly after his escape from bondage and, as such, it focuses primarily on his life as a slave without much detail on the means by which he effected his escape as such information could put those who helped him in danger. The volume includes a preface from William Lloyd Garrison that outlines the abolitionist goals of the narrative. Douglass' longest chapter details the brutality of slavery, from beatings and whippings to the manner in which slaveholders bred their slaves. Douglass' narrative was first and foremost an abolition narrative with a stated goal. He concludes that he wrote "sincerely and earnestly hoping that this little book may do something toward throwing light on the American slave system and hastening the glad day of deliverance to the millions of my brethren in bonds" (76). While that does not discount the accuracy of what he wrote, readers should read this volume in the context in which Douglass wrote in order to better appreciate the argument he was making for abolition.

[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.

[sgerbic · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Reviewed August 2006 I had often heard mentioned Frederik Douglass, I know he was asked to advise Lincoln twice and I have a nice portrait of this man taken at the Lincoln museum. Now I have so much more knowledge - to read his accounts of slavery are jaw-dropping. I want to travel to Maryland and look the descendants of these slave-owners and whip them. Douglass is very clear in his idea of Christianity - there is real Christianity that follows Gods teachings. Then there is the Christianity of the slave-owners, the hypocrisy of that time and place. To beat a slave and quote the Bible while doing it sounds so insane. Douglass gives us much detail in some accounts and leaves out much about his wife and what happened to many of the slaves he left. Now I am very curious to read what were the reactions after this book came out. Where are the descendants of Douglass now? I want to know more. 21-2006

[deanc_35 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In 1845, only a few years after escaping the clutches of slavery, 27-year-old Frederick Douglass published this poignant account of his life through the auspices of the Anti-Slavery Office of Boston. The book was influential in advancing the cause of abolition in ante-bellum America. He describes his early years as a slave, which includes his account of learning to read by stealth with the help of white school-age boys he met in his Baltimore neighborhood. The more he read the more he learned of the world of freedom and, consequently, the more he yearned to be free. Repeatedly in these pages, Douglass reveals his contempt for so-called “Christian” slaveholders. He wrote, “For of all slaveholders with whom I have ever met, religious slaveholders are the worst. I have ever found them the meanest and basest, the most cruel and cowardly, of all others.” He went so far as to say that he could see “no reason, but the most deceitful one, for calling the religion of this land Christianity.”As with most of the Dover Thrift Editions, this copy does not include an index or footnotes, but that doesn’t diminish the powerful impact of this little book.

[danielstj · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A fine book.

[janemarieprice · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Douglass’s memoir really amazed me. I was expecting something more alone the lines of Uncle Tom’s Cabin where the reader is brow-beaten with the message – I think this style was needed in the time it was written but makes for a difficult read at times today. The memoir, however, is a very practical piece. He tells his story frankly, without delving into morality, because the simple facts of his life are enough for one to form an opinion. A really beautifully told story – I highly recommend it to anyone who hasn’t read it yet.

[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.

[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.

[meditationesmartini · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

As a white Canadian, I think I have a not very admirable tendency to abstract the hell out of American slavery--to make it about the revolting idea of people owning other people (which it is) and then somehow less about what that meant: the sheer incomprehensible mass of abuses, from the daily sneer to the atrocities of casual, consequenceless rape and murder. Frederick Douglass is the antidote to that, one of the great testifiers to slavery's evil, and a hell of a man. This one's good to read (as a white North American person) any time you start to get tired of bringing to your relations with race, and with race relations, and with your friends and neighbours of other races all your gathered sincerity and humility and care.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[ohernaes · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Frederick Douglass' powerful account of the slave condition and freedom. Starts with the bloody details of slave holding, then the even sadder aspects of slave mentality - singing proudly about errands to "the great house farm" and quarreling over who's master is the richest or most powerful - before gradually the yearning for freedom and will to be free take over the story. Argues that slavery corrupts both the slave and the slave holder, that religion in the South is mostly shallow. Emphasizes the importance of literacy in making slaves rise.

[evanroskos_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Still a wonderful read, even when you are forced to read a bunch of emancipation narratives all at the same time thanks to an English degree. I read this again in a graduate program and it lost none of its power.

[ritabk1966 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Frederick Douglass writes in detail about his early life as a slave and how he was determined to learn to read and escape slavery. It is an inspiring and fascinating read.

[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.

[teagueamania · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

One of the most worthwhile American history books you can read, written by a completely self-taught slave, who reveals our current education system as a farce, much as he did the governmental, religious, and social structure of his time for accepting chattel slavery. Short and easy to find free online.

[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.

[sullywriter_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

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

[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.

[musicmom41 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Several members of LT have praised this book and since it seemed it would interesting background for my Civil War category and fit into my Biography category I decided it would be a good addition to my list this year. I will have to join the chorus of those praising this memoir of the years of slavery endured by Fredrick Douglas. His writing style is clear and engaging; he describes the horrors of slavery in a matter of fact manner that somehow makes more of an impact than an impassioned harangue would have; and he is fair in recounting the times that he felt that his masters treated him with fairness or kindness. He emphasizes how dehumanizing slavery is and how most masters used that technique to keep slaves docile. He also illustrates how the culture of slave holding was deleterious to masters as well as to the victims. Intellectually, we all know that the institution of slavery was an abomination. Reading Douglas’ Narrative we learn to understand emotionally just how devastating that system was to both slaves and masters.The edition I bought was published by the Yale University Press in 2001. In addition to the Narrative this edition includes a chronology of Douglas’ life and an extensive Introduction discussing, among other issues, the use of slave narratives by the abolitionists to drum up support for their cause and the difficulties in demonstrating the accuracy of those accounts. Douglas’ Narrative was unique at the time because he dared to name names, give dates, and describe in detail incidences that could be checked, thus putting himself in physical danger of retaliation. My edition also included responses of readers of the day to the Narrative and extensive historical annotations demonstrating the accuracy of his story. Highly recommended as an important document in the history of the USA. 5 stars

[brian3gunderson · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is a powerful autobiography of a man who would not be kept down. It is really powerful to hear him talk about the desire to learn to read and the power it unleashed for him. I also think the description of the change he felt when he decided he would never be whooped without striking back again is compelling. Civil rights struggles wrestle with the idea of violent or non-violent resistance and both have practical hang-ups. As an individual, Frederick Douglass decided that he would not be a passive sufferer of beatings any longer, and it seems to have also changed his demeanor and attitude before situations got to the point of him getting assaulted.

[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.

[doowatt34 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I used to hear negative things about frederick bailey, johnson douglas but after reading his first narrative autobiography I thought of him as a brave, intellegent, thought ful and wise young man. I was truly fascinated by the way that he tricked the young boys in his baltimore neighborhood into teaching him how to read, the way he gave his master the beat down of his life, the type of planning that he did to get things done, the strength and courage that it took to stand up to rouge cowards, and his constant analysis of his condition as well as his friends, family and colleagues. Although the total narrative was very focused on the events of his life you cannot help but wonder about other things that made the civilization, look astoundingly backwards.Things such as the proletariate violence, the child abuse, the rape of woman, the wonton murder and the labor practices. By the way the narrative explains the work practices, the freedman, the working class were as much in bondage as the slave. There had to be high unemployment and when the slaves were eventually emancipated everyone who was not wealthy and didn't own anything was without a doubt emancipated also, else headed for the same plight as the people in bondage...I enjoyed this narrative....

[john257hopper · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A wonderfully evocative account by this former slave of his sufferings, his self-education and growing sense of self-worth and dignity prior to his successful bid for freedom in 1838 (he withholds details of his escape in this first version of his autogiography, so as not to make it harder for other slaves to escape by the same route from Maryland to New York). The author is a very good writer, with a straightforward, yet powerful and moving prose style The white man's view that the black slave is less than human and a mere chattel comes across very clearly in numerous incidents, as does the hypocrisy of much of 19th century American Christianity in upholding the slave regime. A great read.