Instead of just thinking about the Narrative of the Life of Frederick
Douglass AS a narrative, it is also important to think about how Douglass's
writing is part of a "long conversation" that has been going on
among Americans since the beginning of our history. In the course of this
"conversation" we have used a variety of texts to debate who we
are, what we believe in, what goals we should pursue, and how we should behave.
In order to understand the role that Frederick Douglass's writing and speeches
have played in the national conversation, we should explore answers to some
of the questions below.
1) Who is Douglass's audience and what is his purpose in writing?
Study the text to find passages that allow you to develop and support your
response to this question. You may also want to look at the quotes collected
at Frederick
Douglass--The Man and the "Character" Created in the Autobiography--as an
Argument Against Slavery.
Read the Narrative
of Sojurner Truth and consider the ways in which it is like and/or unlike
Douglass's Narrative. Truth was also a former slave when her narrative
was published and knew Frederic Douglass personally. Do not assume, however,
that she is "just another Douglass." She was a woman, she never
fully learned to read or write, and she was very devout in her religous
beliefs.
Read some of Frederick Douglass's speeches and other writings and try to
compose e a summary of some of the points he seemed to be trying to communicate
to his audiences. How did his ideas change over the course of time and what
do those suggest about how America--and the movement to obtain full rights
for African-American--was (or wasn't) changing during those years? Selections
of Douglass's works can be found at most libraries, as well as at the The
Douglass Archives of Public Address, at the
African American
Pamphlets Home Page, and at the Modern
English Collection -- Electronic Text Center at the University of Virginia.
Write a brief summary of the abolition movement and include a discussion
of the main ideas which were championed by Frederick Douglass as part of
that movement. You will find useful background material at the African-American
Mosaic Exhibition sponsored by the Library of Congress. You should
probably also read some of the lectures offered by Douglass and others on
this issue; one collection can be found at the Douglass Project's
Controversy/Movement List
of Speeches and Documents.
2) Since Douglass wrote about slavery, we need to ask ourselves "What
was the nature of the nineteenth century American conversation on the subject
of slavery?"
In other words, what kinds of arguments did people make to attack or support
slavery? What kind of role do Frederick Douglass's writings play in this
conversation; in what ways is he echoing or responding to arguments which
have been put forth by others? How do his arguments connect to concerns,
beliefs, and values we have encountered in other American works? What "voice"
does Douglass use when contributing to this discussion, and why does he
choose to express his ideas in that particular voice? If you want to analyze
the way Douglass supports or attacks some of the most popular arguments
made regarding slavery in his time, you might want to begin by "eavesdropping"
on that conversation by reading some of the excerpts you can find below.
Arguments
in Support of Slavery
Arguments
Against Slavery
Frederick
Douglass: Autobiography as Argument
Read one or more of the narratives written by nineteenth century slave-owners;
you can find a selection at Documenting
the American South. How do these descriptions of slavery differ from
the one offered by Douglass?
3) How did Douglass use traditional notions
of what it means to be an American in order to build a characterization of
himself that showed slaves could be "real" Americans?
Begin by thinking once again about how Douglass depicts himself in his
writing, and then consider the ways in which other texts written by, for,
or about "self-made" men provide a context for understanding Frederick
Douglass's representation of his own life and ideas. You'll find the necessary
resources at:
Frederick
Douglass: Autobiography as Argument
Responses to Frederick Douglass--the Man
and the "Character"--as Arguments For and Against Slavery
Benjamin
Franklin's Autobiography
Nineteenth Century Conduct Books
A Popular
Nineteenth Century Book for Boys: The Bobbin Boy or How Nat Got an
Education
For
a different but thought-provoking way of inquiring into Douglass's representation
of himself as an American, think about the kinds of pictures he uses in
his autobiography and the way they parallel the images used in other popular
publications. You can find some examples at Douglass's
use of the conventions of American iconography. You can find other information
about American iconography at the E Pluribus Unum Project's The
Search for a National Symbol or Ways of
Envisioning the American Identity. If you want to compare/contrast the
pictures and icons we associate with Douglass to those images that 19th
century American abolitionists used in their fight against slavery, see
Representations
of African-Americans and African-American Culture in Late 19th and Early
20th Century America (construction in progress).
4) How did people use their responses to Douglass as a writer, speaker,
and individual, to advance their own arguments about slavery?
For information on this subject, see Responses
to Frederick Douglass.
5) Did Douglass's work represent a unique
response to the debate over slavery, or is it part of a larger body (or sub-genre)
of writing?
Frederick Douglass was not the only former slave to publish the story of
his life. In fact, a great many autobiographies of former slaves were published
in the antebellum period. If you want to analyze what these stories contribute
to the American conversation, then you might want to read some samples from
the collections of slave autobiographies listed below.
As you read, think about whether you can recognize any elements that come
up in more than jut one narrative? Can you offer any explanation for why
those elements might have been included in the stories? In other words,
what emotions and/or ideas might they provoke in nineteenth century readers?
How might these conventions function as an argument in the debate over slavery?
Is Frederick Douglass's narrative different in any respects? Why do you
think his autobiography was widely recognized in the time in which it was
written? Why do you think this narrative has become part of the American
literary and historical canon? (Are the reasons the same?)
You can explore the following sites to find resources for your work:
- North American
Slave Narratives, Beginnings to 1920,
- Slave Narratives,
- Narratives
of the Lives of Former Slaves at The University of South Carolina's
Documenting the African American Experience Collection,
- and Texts
by and About African Americans at the University of Virginia Electronic
Text Center.
-
For a different way of pursuing this question you want to go further
into these ideas, you might want to look at how the slave narratives agree
with or differ from the stories written by plantation owners available
at Documenting
the American South.
-
6) In addition to contributing to the American discussion of slavery, does
Douglass's Narrative contribute to discussion of other themes in the
long conversation about the American identity?
To think about how Douglass has contributed to the discussion of major
issues in American thought and life, you could identify passages in his
work that relate to issues such as the
The Value of Work, the Meaning of the Marketplace
Manners, Morality, and Christianity
Reading, Education, and Self-Cultivation
Social Reform, American Perfectionism and Exceptionalism
Gendered “Spheres”
Racial Roles
The Good Death
7) How can we use Douglass's speeches as a way of understanding the themes,
rhetorical techniques, and message of his writing?
Although best remembered today for his autobiographical writing, Douglass
was best known in his own time as an orator, as well as an activist and
journalist. One of the best ways to understand the nature of his arguments
and how he communicated them to audiences is to examine his speeches. For
links to a large number of Douglass orations, see The
Lyceum: Frederick Douglass, Orator
8) Does Douglass continue to have a value for the conversation on American
beliefs, behavior, and identity that continues to take place today? Should
he be included in the canon?
Whether or not you know what a "canon" is, it has probably determined
a great deal about what you have read in the course of your education and
has probably contributed in some way to the way you think about American
history, culture, literature, and life. To learn more about what a canon
is, why it matters, and how certain texts are chosen to be part of canon,
see What
is This American Canon? And Whose American Literature is This?
Then contribute your own thoughts to the ongoing debate about what belongs
in the American canon.
Additional Resources on Douglass and the American Conversation on Race
You can find the speeches and publications that helped make Douglass famous
at The
Douglass Archives of Public Address, at the
African American
Pamphlets Home Page, and at the Modern
English Collection -- Electronic Text Center at the University of Virginia.
To learn more about abolitionism, you can visit the African-American
Mosaic Exhibition sponsored by the Library of Congress. You can
read find pro and anti abolitionist speeches online at The
Douglass Archives of Public Address; go to the section arranged by Controversies and Movements.
Read one or more of the speeches of Dr. Martin Luther King and consider whether
King borrows any of Douglass's ideas or rhetorical strategies. King's speeches
are widely anthologized and can be found at the library and in many collections
of essays. One of King's most famous essays is his "Letter
from a Birmingham Jail," and that would be a good work to consider
if you wish to compare and/or contrast the writing of these two important
men. You can find King's "I
Have a Dream" speech at the Douglass
Archives of Public Address, where you can also find some biographical
information about Douglass. Pay particular attention to his "Letter from
a Birmingham Jail."
