His work served the cause of abolition by humanizing the experience of slavery in a way that could easily be understood by those far removed by the experience of plantation life. In his autobiography, published in 1845, Douglass presented a graphic and personal description of life in slavery. His fame grew thanks to his skill not only as a speaker but as a writer. Douglass’s skill as an orator and the poignancy of his description propelled him into a new career as an agent for the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society. In 1841, Douglass was invited to describe his experiences under slavery at an antislavery convention in Nantucket. Douglass eluded slave catchers by changing his last name and working as a laborer for several years. He secretly taught himself to read and later escaped to New York and then Massachusetts. Use this Primary Source with the Negro Spirituals Primary Source to help students humanize the brutality of slavery.īorn enslaved on a Maryland plantation, Frederick Douglass experienced the evils of slavery firsthand.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |