Frederic Douglass

A detailed Summary of Frederic Douglass

The United States of America is a country that was founded on the basic principles of freedom and liberty. This often leaves it with a reputation as a land full of hope, where anything is possible as long as one is willing to work hard for it. Unfortunately, this idea is not always true. Frederick Douglas, who was born a slave, did not have the privelege of this aforementioned freedom, liberty, and social mobility. Even though he was an exceptionally bright man, he was enslaved and persecuted because of his skin color. His life represents both the failure and success of the American dream, with the failure being the extremely more dominant, because of the color of his skin.

The most fundemental of aspect of the American dream is that of freedom and liberty. Relative to other countries, America was going above and beyond the call of duty to give its citizens these freedoms and rights. The country was founded with a main focus on freedom from Tyranny. This is shown by the following excerpt from the Declaration of Independence: "The history of the present King of Great Britian is a history of repeated injuries and ununsurpations, all having direct object the establishment of Tyranny over these states." When the Constitution was wri

The final and more specific part of the American Dream is that of having equal opportunity to move up in the world. This can be looked upon as ones ability and oppurtunity to make an upward move concerning their life. This idea comes back to the reasoning that, if someone is willing to work hard enough, they can achieve anything in America. Andrew Carnegie conveys this idea in his speech given at the University of Pittsburgh called A Talk to Young Men. In this speech he talks about how to be a self made man and rise up in the upper ranks of an industrialized company. " . . . aim high . . . I would not give a fig for a young man who does not already see himself the partner or the head of an important firm." Carnegie was looking at the dream from more of an economic stand point, but it reaches deeper than that. One can work hard achieve something good in many different aspects of life. It does not always have to be looked upon as only personal gain. This embodies the one part of the American Dream Fredrick Douglas was able to achieve.

It is very ironic that when Douglass finally got his first taste of freedom he had to be deceptive in sneaking away from his owner, just as the writers of the constution were deceptive in their defintion of "man". Once Douglass escaped from slavery he was surprised to find that the north also a very racist place. Not only did the majority of northern whites still feel that blacks were inferiour, New York was full of people looking to turn in fugitive slaves. Frederick also found that his abolitionist friends were not free from this prejudice. At gatherings they often asked Frederick to tell the same stories about when he was a slave, instead of letting him express opinions and philosphies on slavery. Some even went so far as to tell Frederick to talk more like a slave so the audience could the full effect. So, though Douglas had finally escaped to a free state, he was still unable to fully pursue the happiness th

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Approximate Word count = 1320
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: People