Frederick Douglass’ first autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, chronicles his years spent as a slave and his subsequent escape to freedom. The book has historical significance for several reasons. First of all, it presents a first-hand, historical account of life from the slave’s point of view: it was written entirely by Douglass with no assistance from others. Also, it exposes slavery in Maryland, a state that sided with the Union during the Civil War and is not as well known for slavery and plantations. However, the most important historical significance is the fact that the book was used as a propaganda tool for Douglass and his cause, the abolitionist movement. While the story Douglass presents us with is a true account of his own life, the manner in which he describes his early years is designed, by its propagandist nature, to appeal to human sympathy and sway public in favor of his cause.
One method Douglass uses to subtly influence the reader involves the allegorical names of plantation overseers. He reserves this tactic for the harshest cases and uses regular, or possibly the real, names for all the normal (sill harsh, mind you) overseers. For example, Mr. Savage is described in a most savage manner: “He seemed to take pleasure in manifesting his fiendish barbarity” (Douglass, 15). Mr. Hopkins follows Mr. Savage, and his name would not imply excessive violence or evil; this is how Douglass describes the man himself: “He whipped, but seemed to take no pleasure in it. He was called by the slaves a good overseer” (Douglass, 15). The Master soon replaces Mr. Hopkins with another brute: Mr. Gore, whose name again implies bloodshed and carnage. Douglass, again, provides us with more details to prove this point: “He was cruel enough to inflict the severest punishment, artful enough to descend to the lowest trickery, and obdurate enough to be insensible to the voice of a reproving conscience” (Douglass, 20). Later in the story, and after much contemplation of escape, Douglass introduces us to Mr. Freeland, a fair man and one who Douglass described as, “the best master I ever had, ’till I became my own master'” (Douglass, 52). The inclusion of “Free” in Mr. Freeland’s name allows Douglass to continuously remind the reader that he is enslaved, as well as reflect on his own aspirations of freedom while living there: “But, by this time, I began to want to live ‘upon free land’ as well as ‘with Freeland,’ and I was no longer content, therefore, to live with him or any other slave holder” (Douglass, 52). The name Freeland provides Douglass with a nice segue to outline his flight for freedom.
Douglass uses this tactic for many of the overseers who play smaller roles in his life. Those who are more influential and play a larger role retain their original names: Auld, Covey, et cetera. Douglass chooses these names for the indirect and suggestive impact they will have on the reader; if these names were indeed the true names of these individuals, it would be an amazing coincidence.
Douglass’s most harsh criticism of slavery is outlined by the hypocrisy of his religious Masters and overseers. By its nature, religion tends to be very personal for each individual. When Douglass points out details of so many evil and inhumane deeds that are performed by those who claim to be deeply religious, numerous readers would be touched at a deep and personal level. Throughout the book, Douglass very clearly makes his case for religious hypocrisy and slavery, and it is a very powerful tool in the anti-slavery campaign.
While living with Master Thomas Auld, Douglass feels Auld is a horrible Master who never gains the respect of his slaves. He does not ration them enough food to the point where they are forced to beg and steal. Douglass feels Auld can be best described as mean: “and, like most other mean men, he lacked the ability to conceal his meanness” (Douglass, 36). But when Master Auld attends a Methodist camp meeting and finds religion, Douglass is hopeful that the Aulds’ slaves will be set free or at least fed better. Instead, the slaves were still viewed as property by the Aulds, and not as humans. The Aulds are portrayed as hypocrites who starve their slaves while presenting feasts to visiting preachers: “His house was the preachers’ home. They used to take great pleasure in coming there to put up; for while he starved us, he stuffed them” (Douglass, 37).
Thomas Auld even uses Christianity to justify his punishment of slaves. At one point after he found religion, he found a need to punish a young, lame woman slave: “and, in justification of the bloody deed, he would quote this passage of Scripture–‘He that knoweth his master’s will, and doeth it not, shall be beaten with many stripes'” (Douglass, 38). Douglass proceeds to describe repeated lashings against this helpless creature, all performed behind the pretense having the authority of the Bible.
Douglass is soon shipped to live with Mr. Covey, also deeply religious: “Added to the natural good qualities of Mr. Covey, he was a professor of religion–a pious soul–a member and a class-leader in the Methodist church” (Douglass, 39). However, Mr. Covey proves to be a sneaky and untrustworthy man: “Every thing he possessed in the shape of learning or religion, he made conform to his disposition to deceive” (Douglass, 41).
Douglass uses these examples and many more to prove that the trade corrupts anyone associated with slavery, at any level. He proves this to be true regardless of whether the person presents himself or herself to the community as a deeply religious person or not. Douglass, as is the case with human nature, actually has deeper respect for slaveholders and overseers who do not pretend to have religion of any kind, rather than be known as a hypocrite, because he is honest and forthcoming. Douglass even prefers a non-religious overseer or master, as opposed to a religious one: “Were I to be again reduced to the chains of slavery, next to that enslavement, I should regard being the slave of a religious master the greatest calamity that could befall me” (Douglass, 49).
It is the institution of slavery itself that had, by 1845 when this book was originally written, allowed slaveholders and overseers to think of themselves as pious and religious when in fact, they committed the most gruesome acts against other humans. Their justification was that the slaves were not human; they were considered property, just like livestock. Therefore, they were considered no better then sheep, horses, or oxen: “There were horses and men, cattle and women, pigs and children, all holding the same rank in the scale of being, and were all subjected to the same narrow examination” (Douglass, 33).
It is Douglass’s mastery of reading and writing, and subsequently, writing and publishing this book, that allows the reader to come to the realization of just how wrong this comparison is: horses, cattle, and pigs could never write a book such as this. The reader can then come to the realization that the slaves are humans with intelligence and the ability to learn and think.
Douglass himself makes a distinction between his own view of religion and what he calls, the religion of the South: “…between the Christianity of this land, and the Christianity of Christ, I recognize the widest possible difference–so wide, that to receive the one as good, pure, and holy, is of necessity to reject the other as bad, corrupt, and wicked” (Douglass, 70). He is able to recognize the hypocrisy of Christian slaveholders, give relevant examples so that others can see the hypocrisy as well, and persuasively make his argument throughout the book. Whether the reader is Christian or not, upon reading his story, he or she can easily understand Douglass’s point of view and sympathize with the abolitionist movement.
How ironic it is that Douglass writes his story so articulately when he is a former slave. He is a person who, along with all slaves, was purposefully not taught to read or write in order to keep him in his place. This is a common tactic used in society in order to keep a group submissive and obedient. A little knowledge can be dangerous, as was the case with Douglass and his masters: “As to himself, it could do him no good, but a great deal of harm. It would make him discontented and unhappy” (Douglass, 26). Once he was able to learn how to read and write, a whole new world opened up to Douglass. He learned that there was actually a movement afoot to abolish slavery, a thought that excited him very much. Once he started down the road of knowledge, he was not able to turn back.
When this book was published, this would be a fairly new concept for many of the readers. The African-American slaves were not considered intellectual equals to the white men, even amongst the abolitionists. But after reading Douglass’s book, they would realize that the slaves are indeed capable of learning, and that they even thirsted for knowledge and sought it out: “The plan which I adopted, and the one by which I was most successful, was that of making friends of all the little white boys whom I met in the street. As many of these as I could, I converted into teachers” (Douglass, 29).
Douglass was not the author of all the propagandist material in the book. In the Preface, William Lloyd Garrison offers his call to arms: “Be faithful, be vigilant, be untiring in your efforts to break every yoke, and let the oppressed go free” (Garrison, 6). A letter from Wendell Phillips is also included in the Preface. Both these authors are famous abolitionists who were respected by many in their communities and regions. By including these two items in the original publication, Douglass, was given credence by the white men of the North.
Through his clear writing and excellent first-hand accounts, Douglass allows readers to enter the world of American slavery in the mid-Nineteenth Century. Regardless of their point of view prior to reading his autobiography, readers are bound to be influenced by his use of imagery and vivid details to further his cause. While his book definitely falls into the category of propaganda, it has proven to be successful in not only in the abolitionist movement, but as an historical document that Americans should read. His book, without a doubt, will continue to expose and educate people of the atrocities that existed in the time of slavery.
Work Cited: Douglass, Frederick. 1845 Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave.
