Product Description
The powerful story of slavery that has become a classic of American autobiography, now in an authoritative edition. This dramatic autobiography of the early life of an American slave was first published in 1845, when its young author had just achieved his freedom. Douglass' eloquence gives a clear indication of the powerful principles that led him to become the first great African-American leader in the United States. *** Frederick Douglass was born into slavery in 1818, and after his escape in 1838 repeatedly risked his own freedom as an antislavery speaker, writer and publisher. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (140)

Raw and Authentic!
Frederick Douglass wrote three narratives about his life in slavery and his subsequent escape.Of the three, I recommend the first one because it's written from the heart with honesty and raw emotion.He wrote the first narrative before he became famous and I was deeply moved with his simplicity of language to express the atrocities his fellow slaves and him faced in Pre-Civil War America.The second and third editions are written after he became a famous abolitionist and lecturer, and his writing style is more fastidious, full of a new-found conceited confidence, which detracts from the brutality and hopelessness he endured as a slave in the South.I also recommend that you read "The Confessions of Nat Turner", published in 1831, which describes the first black insurrection against slavery.And, if you have not already done so, complete the cirle by reading "Uncle Tom's Cabin".

Frederick Douglass
We all know the general history of slavery and its dehumanizing effects, but reading this self written narrative of a portion of the life of Frederick Douglass was not only informative but also gave a much more personal expression of the life of a slave in those days. Douglass was indeed a strong and intelligent man.
I've now ordered his biography which will not be as personal, but will provide a more complete picture of all his efforts to abolish slavery.

really cheap looking
this book looks like a knockoff of another edition or something. the cover looks really unprofessional, and the title isn't even printed on the spine of the book. however, the text is the same, so i guess if you don't mind. kinda annoying because i have no idea what book is sitting on my bookshelf though

Awesome value!
I received my book extremely quickly and it was in far better condition than I had imagined. Thank you so much!

Fully Satisfied
Received my order much earlier than expected, in 5 days with Standard Shipping and in condition specified. Great transaction and fully satisfied! ... Read more

Product Description
The Collected Articles of Frederick Douglass - A Slave, written by legendary author Frederick Douglass are widely considered to be one of the greatest writings of all time. This great classic will surely attract a whole new generation of readers. For many, Collected Articles of Frederick Douglass - A Slave is required reading for various courses and curriculums. And for others who simply enjoy reading timeless pieces of classic literature, this gem by Frederick Douglass is highly recommended. Published by Classic Books International and beautifully produced, Collected Articles of Frederick Douglass - A Slave would make an ideal gift and it should be a part of everyone's personal library. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (9)

To be Free
Powerful and moving, Douglass's story of the horrific bonds of slavery and his escape is an excellent reminder of man's innate desire to be free and the benefits of education and literacy.

Great Edition
We had to read this in 11th grade when I was in high school. Like many people, I just skimmed it and now I regret the decision so I decided to try it again. This is a fantastic edition. First, to hear about slavery in America from a former slave's own words is powerful. Many times we just hear slavery was horrible and that's it. This narrative makes it personal. You see an individual and what has happened in his personal life and that always makes it more real. Secondly, the reason why this edition is so fantastic, is the footnotes that it provides. It tells you who the people in the narrative are and even points out mistakes that Douglas made which makes it more authentic for me. I literally read this in a few hours as it is a short book but I have gained much from the exercise.

Powerful Testimony
This is a brief life story, written in 1845, by an ex-slave. At the time of writing he was technically an escaped slave. He later had his freedom bought for him by some English people.

Douglass is a very intelligent, brave and resourceful man and he describes slavery in Maryland, a state supposedly kinder to slaves than the deep South.

Apart from the horror of the living conditions and treatment, what stands out for me is his denunciation of the Christian society which the slaveowners subscribed to. This is in the Appendix, which I think some editions don't have. (The Penguin does). According to Douglass the more pious they were, the more likely to be cruel. I hasten to add Douglass himself was a Christian too. Towards the end of the book is a long quotation from the New Testament about Philistines and hypocrites.

It's powerful stuff.

Essential American Classic
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass is one of the few books that every American should read and is also essential for anyone even remotely interested in American history, African Americans, or slavery's sad story. It is a fine piece of writing in itself and also of immense historical value - a true American classic.

The most obvious aspect is of course autobiographical. American literature has a long, prestigious autobiographical tradition, and this is one of the best entries. Douglass' account of his life is profoundly moving and immensely thought-provoking. He begins with his first memories and carries his story all the way to what was then the present. Needless to say, the inside look at slavery from a slave's perspective is the most valuable part; there are numerous such narratives, but this is surely preeminent. The story is heart-wrenching, vividly and unforgettably detailing humanity's inhumanity; we see what it was like to be a slave in regard to everything from food, clothing, and shelter to labor. Many of the incidents are almost painful to even read; actually living through them - or even being alive when such things happened - is now thankfully unimaginable. Douglass gives several examples of physical cruelty, but the most harrowing stories may well be those of psychological torture and simple denial of basic human feelings, as in the heartless breaking up of families. Such things are inherently moving, and this would be one of the most emotional works ever if it were fiction, but the stunning fact that it is not makes it all the more meaningful. The dread weight of its truth is particularly shocking when we realize that Douglass came from one of the areas where slavery was least harsh. The horrors here related are thankfully long past, but such books will always be immensely valuable as reminders of just how cruel people can be - and have been quite recently. We must never forget, lest they happen again.

Douglass in this way is more representative than individual, and he indeed took it on himself to speak for all slaves. The book was in this sense propagandistic and did its job better than anyone could have expected, laying slavery's evils bare to many who were previously unaware or unable - possibly unwilling - to believe. It was an abolitionist milestone and had a real effect in moving slavery toward its end. Yet Douglass' story is extremely interesting in itself; indeed, in many ways he was the spiritual successor of Benjamin Franklin, founder of the American autobiographical tradition. Franklin practically invented the American dream by showing how hard work and perseverance could raise one from humble beginnings to wealth, fame, and acclaim. Douglass had infinitely worse circumstances yet managed to rise far above them - not only teaching himself to read but becoming a genuine autodidact, not only escaping slavery but becoming a noted abolitionist, orator, writer, black leader, and racial authority with world fame and reverence. Few stories are more inspirational, and the work is thus on top of everything else the best kind of self-help book. Douglass unforgettably shows that it is possible to overcome even the most adverse circumstances and gives a good idea of how to do so.

One must not neglect to mention that, incredible as it is, Douglass is a premier prose stylist. Considering his circumstances, the fact that he was able to write at all is amazing; anyone would make great allowance for poor or even semi-literature writing. In fact, though, Douglass is a top-level writer; this is not only one of the very few autobiographies that is true literature but simply great writing per se. The writing is simple in the best sense; Douglass truly embodied Jonathan Swift's good style definition:"Proper words in proper places." He is admirably clear and concise. That said, he works himself up to a rhapsody when appropriate, reaching near-lyrical heights; the passage where he compares himself to the free is one of the most affecting and best-written I have seen in the hundreds or thousands of books I have read. That Douglass' Narrative has this totally unlooked for virtue in addition to all others is thoroughly impressive.

Simply put, anyone who has not read this should do so as soon as possible; few books are more important or memorable. Douglass is an American giant, and this is his enduring fame's base. No one who reads it can forget it, and that may be the highest praise of all.

Fredrick Douglass
Amazing.
Inspiration for your life regardless of the kind of trials you face.
Highly recommended. ... Read more

Product Description
This Modern Library Paperback Classics edition combines the two most important African American slave narratives into one volume.

Frederick Douglass's Narrative, first published in 1845, is an enlightening and incendiary text. Born into slavery, Douglass became the preeminent spokesman for his people during his life; his narrative is an unparalleled account of the dehumanizing effects of slavery and Douglass's own triumph over it. Like Douglass, Harriet Jacobs was born into slavery, and in 1861 she published Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, now recognized as the most comprehensive antebellum slave narrative written by a woman. Jacobs's account broke the silence on the exploitation of African American female slaves, and it remains crucial reading. These narratives illuminate and inform each other. This edition includes an incisive Introduction by Kwame Anthony Appiah and extensive annotations. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Great
I got expedited shipping and it arrived when it was supposed to in good shape, no markings and no real damage. Great quality, and a great book, highly recommend it.

You won't be able to put this book down!!!
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, by Harriet Ann Jacobs, is a first-hand account of the author's life as a slave in the early 1800's.It is also a thrilling story of Jacobs's incredible struggle to gain her freedom.The memoir begins in North Carolina when Jacobs is born into slavery in 1813, and takes her, as a young adult, to New York and Massachusetts.Using the pseudonym Linda Brent, Jacobs tells her harrowing story in a powerful voice that the reader cannot forget.What makes Jacobs's account unique is that she writes about the horrors of slavery from a female perspective, as a young woman and as a mother.

Both of Jacob's parents were light-skinned mulatto slaves, and so was she.Jacobs was bright and articulate, and she had a strong, independent spirit.Although she writes that "human slaveholders" were "like angels' visits--few and far between," she did meet a few kind white people during her hard life.One of them, her first mistress, taught Jacobs to read and spell.That ability, which was forbidden to most slaves under penalty of severe punishment, gave Jacobs self-esteem and helped her to persevere in the face of horrible adversity.In Frederick Douglass's Narrative of his life as a slave, he also explains how learning to read and write gave him the hope and inspiration he needed to turn away from despair and reach for a better life.

During the course of Jacobs's memoir, she gives birth to two children, a son and then a daughter.At the birth of her daughter, instead of being joyful, Jacobs writes, "When they told me my new-born babe was a girl, my heart was heavier than it had ever been before.Slavery is terrible for men; but it is far more terrible for women.Superadded to the burden common to all, they have wrongs, and sufferings, and mortifications peculiarly their own."

The reader understands exactly what Jacobs means by that statement when Dr. Flint enters the story.Jacobs comes to live with Dr. Flint and his family when she is twelve years old and her mother has died.For many years after that time, Dr. Flint uses psychological torture, humiliation, and threats to coerce Jacobs into having a sexual relationship with him.Although Jacobs refuses to give in to Dr. Flint's sexual demands (and eventually has two children with another white man she knows to spite her cruel master), Dr. Flint never relents and does everything he can to make Jacobs's life miserable.Once Jacobs's children are born, Dr. Flint plays on her love for them to manipulate and frighten her into becoming his mistress, but again she rejects him. That is the worst conflict that Jacobs faces.But her daily life is also a constant struggle with the feelings of hopelessness that go along with being treated as a piece of property rather than a human being.

I highly recommend this book for several reasons.For readers who love suspense, the memoir is filled with danger and excitement.Jacobs encounters many setbacks, and you do not find out until the very end if she succeeds in becoming free.Jacobs also brings her characters to life in a way that the reader really hates them or loves them.And, for readers who love history, the book provides a detailed look at a shameful period in American history.

Good Read
I had to read this in an American History course. Excellent accounts of slave life. Great read for those who like history, human rights, sociology, or who are interested in slave life or early to turn of the century Black American history.

Essential reading for Americans
These two books are sometimes very hard going, but essential reading for Americans.We probably tend to think about slavery very much in the abstract, when we even think about it, but these narratives make it painfully palpable and very human.In a way complementary to Akhil Reed Amar's brilliant description of the way slavery thoroughly corrupted the American political system (in his America's Constitution), these books reveal in detail the thoroughgoing and extraordinary moral perversion slaveholding caused in individual lives - to some extent those of slaves, but much more those of slave owners, poor southern whites, and complicit northerners.Of course we also see the brutality, horrors and deprivations of slave life.

Douglass' narrative is better known than Jacobs.'Among many other things, how he taught himself to write is a remarkable story of shrewdness and determination against all odds.Jacobs' was an appalling life of virtually constant sexual harassment from an early age, which was undoubtedly a normal situation for many female slaves.What she went through to escape it is hard to imagine, and her single-minded determination to see her children free is incredible.The picture she gives of the distortions slavery caused in slaveholding families - lecherous men unconstrained by law or convention, angry and vengeful wives, gossip and whispering among white and black children and adults, children sold by their fathers to get the family features and relations out of sight and mind, and the increasing corruption of individuals' characters this caused over time - again, hard going but essential reading.A peculiar institution, ordained by God, good for the slave and slaveholder alike.Indeed.

shatter the romance!
simply astounding!totally shatters those awful and ever-infectious civil war era romantic notions.be gone, "gone with the wind!"many thanks be to the spirits of mr. douglass and ms. jacobs for surviving their tremendous struggles to give us truth!recommend these books to others (especially the crowd that chooses to separate the "human stock" question from intellectual discussions of the civil war era). ... Read more

Product Description
Frederick Douglass, born a slave, educated himself, escaped, and made himself one of the greatest leaders in American history. His brilliant anti-slavery speeches were so fiercely intelligent, and so startlingly eloquent, that many people didn't believe he had been a slave. To prove them wrong, Douglass decided to write his own story. His autobiographical narratives stunned the world, and have shocked, moved, and inspired readers ever since. Here, complete for the first time in one authoritative volume, are the three powerful and gripping stories, now recognized as classics of American writing. Fascinating firsthand accounts of slavery and abolitionism, John Brown and Abraham Lincoln, Civil War, Reconstruction, and the emerging struggle for civil rights, they are above all the inspiring story of a self-made American: a slave who became adviser to the President, minister to Haiti, and the most influential black American of the nineteenth century. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

fredrick douglass
Narrative of the life, of Frederick Douglass was a very good book. There were a lot of surprises in the book. There were some times that didn't make to much sense but only a few parts did that. It is very cool how dedicated Douglass was to learn how to read and write. just to think about how if he did not learn how to do these things then we would never hear about the great life of Frederick Douglass. even though he did not have a great life during his young age, he still part the hard work to good use and is a very good person to tell about a life has a slave.

A Journey Back in Time
A full first-person view of a dark time in the history of America ,overcoming adversity and becoming a leader... Fredrick Douglass was a remarkable man and I believe a lyricist to the beat of life.

A Time, A Voice
Indeed this is a testimony that covers most of 19th century American history. I don't know how any person claiming to be American can legitimately do so without having read any of the autobiographies collected here. It should be a requirement for citizenship (instead of the unmerited fact of being born). If there is no doubt that Douglass was an extraordinarily talented writer, the marvelous thing is that his soul was no less extraordinary than his mind.

"Upon this pro-slavery platform the war against the rebellion had been waged during more than two years. It had not been a war of conquest, but rather a war of conciliation ... without hurting slavery."

Slavery was not a casus belli, but the right to seccede was.

"Men could say they were willing to fight for the Union, but that they were not willing to fight for the freedom of the negroes ... this was especially true of New York, where there was a large Irish population ... There is perhaps no darker chapter in the whole history of the war than this cowardly and bloody uprising in July, 1863. For three days and nights New York was in the hands of a ferocious mob ... it hanged negroes simply because they were negroes; it murdered women in their homes, and burnt their homes over their heads; it dashed out the brains of young children against the lamp-posts; it burned the colored orphan asylum".

Douglass tells things as they were, not a bit like modern journalists do: either demonizing or omitting things as their own interests dictate them. Douglass is to be praised and imitated by all those who have the power to impress the minds of readers anywhere. A courageous, good-natured, and honest man like you don't find anymore.

"I esteem myself a good, persistent hater of injustice and oppression, but my resentment ceases when they cease, and I have no heart to visit upon children the sins of their fathers."

I loved this book. Truly this man was appointed by God to speak up in that troubled time of American history.

President Lincoln's Review
President Lincoln regarded Douglass as "one of the most meritorious men, if not the most meritorious man, in the United States".Douglass thought it gossly unfair that black Union troops were getting paid less than whites.He went to the White House and managed to meet Lincoln in private to present his argument. Lincoln agreed and told Douglass that he would sign any executive order and any other documents necessary to assure that it would be done.They became friends and, to my knowledge, he was the first black man to be invited to the White House for a social engagement. He attended the evening celebration at the White House followng Lincoln's second inaugural.

Douglass spent his first 20 years of life as a slave and was totally self-educated.He purchased his freedom (with some financial assistace) and wrote two best selling autobiographies before the age of 20.Thereafter, etited his own newspaper and gave brilliant orations in the days when great orators were famous.

Douglass's home overlooking Washington is now an historic landmark open to the public.As an old man he sat in his rocker on the front porch and greeted an endless string of young black men asking him how they could further the civil rights movement.His only advice was to "agitate", "agitate" and "agitate".

As a kid I recollect walking around with an "I Like Ike" sign.Winston Churchill was around then and was occasionally interviewd.Eleanor Roosevent was a driving force in Adlai Sevenson's presidential campaign.We kids thought her voice was very strange. The only name for niggers was niggers, who lagged closely behind Jews and Catholics in the society from which I came.

It's amazingly wonderful how much society has changed during my own lifetime.Diversity is America.But it seems to me that 20th century historians writing about the civil rights movement are negligent, at best, by marginalizing, and even overlooking, the sublime accomplishments of Frederick Douglass, the man voted by President Lincoln as the most meritorious man in the United States.

Very good writing, very interesting life, kind of poor annotations
Two reasons might put one off from reading Frederick Douglass's autobiographies: (1)Douglass's life was so admirable and heroic that they are likely to contain more virtue than interest; and (2) there are so doggone many of them (after all, "autobiographies" ?! three of them?!).Don't let this happen.First, Douglass is a very good writer -- he's funny, he's earthy, he's smart, and his attitudes are surprisingly contemporary.It's almost as if your Democratic neighbor (although Douglass was a stalwart Republican -- those were the days) were to visit 19th century America and report back on what he saw.Second, reading his autobiographies seriatim allows you to see Douglass's life as he lived it: one sees how his own views of his past changed over time, and one comes to appreciate the unbelievably dramatic developments contained in the later autobiographies(I don't want to give them away).That said, three (count 'em 3!) autobiographies are a little much and, in retrospect, I would skip the second one, but do not, under any circumstances, skip the third one.Finally, the notes to the Library of America editions are really, really, really unhelpful.There aren't enough of them, and so the reader has no idea of the significance of some of the events Douglass refers to.Bottom line: Buy it used. Read it now. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (1)

A must for anyone trying to get a greater understanding of the black icon
Being an educated man of color was a true anomaly in his day. "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave Written By Himself" discusses Douglass's famous autobiography as Angela Y. Davis offers much studious insight on the matters she examines Douglass's writings and how the man embraced intellectualism and spirituality to pull himself out of his subservient life in a society that thought of him as an animal. "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass" is a must for anyone trying to get a greater understanding of the black icon. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (8)

The Man Black Leaders Want to Forget.
The more I learned of Fredrick Douglass, the more angry I became that I haven't heard more about him.
I have encountered several men my age and many young Blacks who didn't even know a thing about him, and he had done so much.
I would discribe Douglass as the Black Rush Limbaugh of the 19th Century, (Though I wouldn't say the same in reverse) as much of
what Douglass said mirrors that which Rush says today.
1) Rely on yourself.
2) Work and provide for yourself and your family.
3) Don't wait for someone to give you what you need, as you would be their Slave.

People today wait on Government (More so in the Inner Cities) to provide them with their daily needs not knowing that they
are now Slaves on the Plantation of Welfare under the watchful eyes of the Overseers Jackson, Sharpton, NAACP and others who
Promise them more and more Slave Lodgins and Slave Food if they just do what their Masters want.

Frederick Douglass, Hero
This is an inspiring book.Born a slave, it took monumental courage and tenacity for Douglass to become the scholar, activist and leader that he describes in this book.His writing is both powerful and beautiful.Despite all the brutality and injustice in his early life, he never became bitter and never gave up.He also judged men one at a time, regardless of race.If you are looking for some motivation and inspiration to spur you on in life, if you want to read about a real hero, I highly recommend this book.

Must read!
I think this is a must-read book. Douglass is a wonderful example of a man who "made lemonade out of lemons." Really, he is a terrific role model...a man of integrity, incredible intelligence, and an overflowing heart.

UP FROM SLAVERY-THE LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS
FEBRUARY IS BLACK HISTORY MONTH

At the start of the 21st century the international labor movement faces, as it has for a long time, a crisis of revolutionary leadership. That leadership is necessary to resolve the contradiction between the outmoded profit-driven international capitalist productive system and a future production system based on social solidarity, cooperation and production for social use. In America, at least, there is also a crisis of leadership of the black liberation struggle, which is tied into the labor question as well through the key role of blacks in the labor force. More happily in the 19th century in the struggle against slavery by the slaves and former slaves for black liberation there was such a leadership and none more important than the subject of this autobiography, Frederick Douglass. Even a cursory look at his life puts today `clean' black leadership in the shades.

That Frederick Douglass was exceptional as a fighter for black freedom, women's rights and as a man there is no question. His early life story of struggle for individual escape from slavery, attempts to educate himself and take an active political role on the slavery question rightly thrilled audiences here and in Europe. I, however, believe that he definitely came into his own as a revolutionary politician when he broke from Garrisonian non-resistant abolitionism and linked up with more radical elements like John Brown and the Boston `high' abolitionists like Wendell Phillips and Thomas Wentworth Higginson. This abolitionist element pointed the way to the necessary fight to the finish strategy, arms in hand, to end slavery that eventually came to fruition in the Civil War.

At one time I personally believed that Douglass should have gone with John Brown to Harpers Ferry. He would have provided a better grasp of the political and military situation there than Brown had and would have been forceful in calling out the slaves and others in the area to aid the uprising. In no way was my position on his refusal based on his personal courage of which there was no question. I now believe that Douglass more than made up for any help he would have given Brown by his work for an emancipation proclamation and for his calls for arming blacks in the Civil War to take part in their own emancipation. As such, it is well known that Douglass was instrumental in calling for the creation of the famous Massachusetts 54th Regiment, including the recruitment of two of his sons. Yes, 200,000 black soldiers and sailors under arms fighting to the death, and under penalty of death by the rebels, for their freedom is a fitting monument to the man.


Douglass, as well as every other militant abolitionist worth his or her salt, lined up politically with the new Republican Party headed by Lincoln and Seward before, during and shortly after the Civil War. However, the Republican Party ran out of steam as a progressive force fairly shortly after the war, culminating in the sell-out Compromise of 1877 which abandoned blacks to their fate in the South. Douglass, committed to emancipation, education and `forty acres and a mule' for his fellows stayed with that party far too long. When key elements of that party lost heart in the fight for black emancipation due to their racism and other factors, moved on to other more financially rewarding interests, or accepted the traditional white leadership of the South he also should have moved on to another progressive formation.Embryonic workers parties and other such progressive formations were raising their heads in the 1870's. I do not believe that office in the Consular Service in Haiti was worth continuing to support a party going in the wrong direction. Notwithstanding that point, if you want to read about the exploits of a `big man' in the history of the struggles of the oppressed, our history, when it counted this is your stop. Honor the memory of Frederick Douglass.

One of my Relatives
- As an author myself, I recommend that you purchase this book for personal study. "The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass" is a fascinating book and video that helped me understand one of my relatives.
Author. "Knowledge For Tomorrow" Quinton Douglass Crawford
... Read more

Product Description
Ex-slave Frederick Douglass's second autobiography-written after ten years of reflection following his legal emancipation in 1846 and his break with his mentor William Lloyd Garrison-catapulted Douglass into the international spotlight as the foremost spokesman for American blacks, both freed and slave. Written during his celebrated career as a speaker and newspaper editor, My Bondage and My Freedom reveals the author of the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (1845) grown more mature, forceful, analytical, and complex with a deepened commitment to the fight for equal rights and liberties.

Edited with an Introduction and Notes by John David Smith ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

A Worthy Companion to A Narrative In the Life of Frederick Douglass
I have to be honest, I never knew that Frederick Douglass published another volume of his autobiography. I foolishly believed that A Narrative in the Life of Frederick Douglass was his only book regarding is life as a slave and his life as a free man. I was so wrong. Sometimes I wonder how many other people still believe as I once did...

My Bondage and My Freedom is an exceptional example of auto-biographical writing. Douglass' mastery of the English language is superb! In reading his story and the way he's able to describe his past as a young boy, raised by his grandmother and then sent to begin working, with little knowledge beforehand that he was in fact a slave was so eye-opening.I had no idea that some children, raised during this time were actually allowed to be child for a few precious years before they were introduced to the vile world of slavery.

This book give such a detailed account of a man's struggle to unleash the genius kept constrained by the world into which he was born and raised, is just amazing. I'm still astounded by him even though it's been some time since I finished the book. While a majority of the book describes his life as a young boy and slave (told in the My Bondage section), the rest of the book (My Freedom) tells of his life after he escaped from slavery, his experiences given lectures against slavery, his time abroad in other countries where he was treated as a human being and not as a piece of property and then of his struggles to create and manage his own newspaper once he returns to the United States.

The appendix is also a treasure, as it reprints many of his speeches and lectures on the injustice against humanity that was the slavery system. A Narrative in the Life of Frederick Douglass is one of my all time favorite books and I find that My Bondage and My Freedom is definitely a worthy companion, especially if you are looking for a deeper understanding of the life of Frederick Douglass.

One thing that was missing and that I would love to come across one day, is his writing on his actual escape from slavery, as it is never fully explained in this book. As a reader you only know that he planned it and obviously executed his daring escape with help from others. That would really be a treat...

First Modern Totalitarian Police State
Historians often call the Civil War the first modern war, a precursor to the great battlefield slaughterhouses of the twentieth century. Frederick Douglass shows that America was also first to invent the totalitarian police state. It's hard to believe Stalin didn't have MY BONDAGE AND MY FREEDOM prominently positioned on his bookshelf for frequent consultation because the Soviet system of oppression had so much in common with the system of oppression in the American South. The only significant difference was that, in the Soviet system, absolute power was vested in Stalin; in the American system, absolute power was vested in each slavemaster. Each slavemaster was, in essence, a little Stalin, with life and death power over his slave property.

The slave system rigorously withheld news and information from slaves. A slave often would not know his father or even his own date of birth. He could not lawfully learn to read. He could not travel without written authorization. He could not associate freely with other slaves. He could not safely trust anyone or confide his private thoughts to anyone because planted informers were so numerous. Slaves had to avoid even certain thoughts for fear the slavemaster would see in their facial expressions what was in their minds.

Disguised slave catchers would sometimes help and encourage a slave to escape, only to capture him for the reward. The slavemaster demanded and enforced absolute, immediate, and unquestioned subservience through fear, a liberal use of the lash and the constant threat of transferring a recalcitrant slave to an even harsher labor camp in the deep South.

Yet MY BONDAGE AND MY FREEDOM is by no means a depressing book, thanks to Douglass' irrepressible courage, wit, spirit and good luck when he most needed it. There are even a few intentionally hilarious moments, which I won't give away in this review.

To avoid capture after his escape to the North, Douglass used the fees from his speeches in Great Britain and royalties from his book sales to legally buy his own freedom from his Maryland owner.

The book covers a period of American history I knew little about, the period between the War of 1812 and the Civil War. I didn't know, for example, that the abolition movement early in that period favored secession from the United States on the belief that the Constitution favored the South and backed to the hilt the slave system. An excellent recent book that supports that view is SLAVERY'S CONSTITUTION by David Waldstreicher.

Even though Douglass was a religious, believing Christian, he leveled his most scathing criticism at the way Southerners used Christianity to justify and advance the slave system. He often noted that the cruelest slave masters were also credited as the most religious members of their communities. Some of the worst even had "Rev." attached to their names. The only slavemaster Douglass credited with relative decency and kindness also happened to be an atheist.

Loyal customer
The item arrived on time and this web site was the ONLY place I could find this book as my daughter needed it for her English class at school!
Amazon really came through for me when we couldn't find the book anywhere else.Thank you, thank you, thank you.

A REAL AMERICAN HERO
THIS BOOK IS POWERFUL, ITS SHOCKING, AND IT IS ASPIRING. THERE IS NOTHING ON CHANNEL 11 THAT BRINGS THE HONEST, INSIGHTFUL, VERY REAL ACCOUNT THAT MR.DOUGLASS DOES IN HIS BOOK. FROM SLAVE TO FREE-MAN, THIS IS TRUELY AN AMERICAN SUCCESS. SKIP THE INTRO, AND JUMP INTO IT.

Frederick Douglass's "My Bondage and My Freedom"
Douglass's second, and lengthier, narrative fills in many of the gaps left in his first autobiography: we learn about his mother, his siblings, and more details about his psychological transformation from brute to man. It's quite insightful, as Douglass is careful to relate each of his personal experiences to the innate evil of the peculiar instituition, for both the slave and the slave holder. ... Read more

Product Description
This Halcyon Classics eBook contains four works by ex-slave and abolitionist Frederick Douglass, including his autobiographical 'Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass.'Includes an active table of contents for easy navigation.


Contents:

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
My Bondage and My Freedom
My Escape From Slavery
Reconstruction

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Customer Reviews (3)

The Reality of a Slave's Existence
One would expect the autobiography of any individualto be bursting with emotion, heartfelt feelings coursing through the sentences, each word blaring the author's perspective on any institution baring his/her interest. Yet, the Narrative ofthe Life of Frederick Douglass adheres not to the common stereotype of such work, relying heavily on statements of fact and observation, rather than personal standpoint and beliefs, to illuminate the cruelty and inhumanity which slavery imparts upon its host. The absence of these common aspects does not detract from the profound nature of his work, as the objectivity lends more credence to his argument in that it is not tainted by prejudice, hate, or anger. He simply describes the world as it was, not as he perceived it to be, recounting his journey from slave to freeman in a manner almost entirely numb, surprisingly detached.

The strategic style employed in the narrative grants Douglass the ability to argue, in a sense, without arguing. By merely stating fact, through details both vivid and overwhelming, the Narrative of Frederick Douglass has become a powerful testament to the devastating brutality of slavery, displaying with an unconquerable clarity the evils prevalent in both the abhorrent institution and the society which promotes it, thereby educating a people bent on callousness and inspiring the suffering minority towards hope.

The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass was fairly simple to read and thoroughly moving, as with each page my eyes grew wider and wider at the atrocities committed in the name of slavery.I am sure he must have acquired a modicum of animosity towards the slave owners, but is not present in the work and thus allows each word to ring true. In this, he is very similar to Virginia Woolf in her feminist essay, "A Room of One's Own." She felt that when one is devoid of any prejudices or anger in their work, it calls for a greater, more powerful argument. Woolf strived to write her essay in the objective style employed by Douglass in his narrative. She wrote, "The woman who wrote those pages [of Jane Eyre] had more genius in her than Jane Austen; but if one reads them over and marks that jerk in them, that indignation, one sees that she will never get hergenius expressed whole and entire . . . She will write in a rage where she should write calmly. She will write foolishly where she should write wisely. She will write of herself where she should write of her characters (ix)." The greatness of this work lies in the author's technique, his objective, thoughtful style, which remains honest and true when so much in the society he dwelled sprouted from lies.

Question the Abolitionist; Listen to the Slave
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass gives a vivid first-hand account of what nineteenth century slave life was like for one man. Unfortunately, abolitionist ideas and money steered that one man in the writing of his stories.
Douglass, a slave born in Maryland in 1818, wrote the novel with publishing and publicizing support by white abolitionists in the years following his escape to freedom. First published in 1845, the novel was clearly produced with the hopes of gaining abolitionist support in a nation being torn apart by the issue of slavery.
Knowing that these motives were behind Douglass' book, I'm led to mistrust the severity of some of Douglass' stories. Douglass tells many heart-wrenching tales about his days in slavery. His motherless childhood starts the narrative and is followed by numerous beatings and very long days of hard field work. He does counter these stories though, with stories highlighting a good side of slavery that abolitionists would not have wanted people in 1845 picturing. This allows Douglass' to regain some of his creditability.
Douglass' motives for telling his story are obviously questionable, making his content questionable, yet his narrative stands with few others as a personally written account from a slave. Douglass shines light on many aspects of slavery that blacks hid from whites and the feelings that slaves felt it necessary to keep to themselves. This inside view makes Douglass' narrative even more valuable as a historical tool.
The book is easy to read and understand, as well as being an interesting account. Taking into consideration Douglass' Abolitionist aims, his narrative still surfaces as a very valuable piece of history.

A Good Primary History Text
As a chemistry person, I sort of dread having to read boring and old autobiographies of men who thought they were God's gift to mankind (eg. Benjamin Franklin's autobiography). However, in having to read this for an Amercian Civilization class, I found it refreshing as a whole. Granted, this is my own opinion about a man writing his autobiography, but considering how impossible it was to read Ben Franklin's for the same class, this book was wonderful in comparison (if for no other reason than Douglass having not nearly so complex syntax in his writing)!

Douglass, an ex-slave gives the details of his life from the very beginning to right after his escape into New York state. For those who don't believe that slavery was an barbaric institution, this book should change your mind, as Douglass has no qualms giving vivid, and at times, graphic details of what slave-holders used to do to their "property." For any person looking for a good primary source book for a research topic relating to Pre-Civil War society, more specifically in dealing with the topic of slavery, this is an invaluable referrence book! ... Read more

Product Description
Frederick Douglass was born into a family of slavery in early America, educated himself through sheer determination and wiles, and went on to become one of America's great statesmen, writers, and orators. His story is fascinating and inspirational. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

anyone...
anyone who would actually use this cliffnotes addition better have a good reason, like language barrier or something. the actual narrative is quite short and accessible. this cliffnote is a waste of money. ... Read more

Product Description
255 Pages. ... Read more

Product Description
A former slave, orator, journalist, autobiographer, and revolutionary on behalf of a just America, Douglass was a towering figure, at once consumately charismatic and flawed. In this biography, fresh and incisive in its research and interpretation, Freeley captures the many sides of this great and complex American, and recreates the high drama of a turbulent era. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Uninspired Examination of a Monuemental Life
Looking for a biography of the former slave turned lecturer and abolitionist, I came across this work by author McFeely.The first section regarding the birth and circumstances of Douglass' flight to freedom was full of what I consider "psychobabble".The author makes too many conjectures concerning the relationship of Douglass with his owner, including possible latent homosexual feelings but never includes any information to back this claim up.The story picks up when Douglass moves to New England and becomes involved in the abolistionist causes.His travels to England and his relationship with women working for the cause of women's suffrage is particularly interesting.However, the remainder of the book seems to meander with no purpose.

I am still searching for a biography which puts this man's life into context.

Adequate Book About a Fascinating American
Frederick Douglass is an authentic American and a heroic figure. For those wishing to become aquainted with a chronicle of his life, McFeely's bookwill do the job.

Born a slave in Maryland, Douglass accomplished thedifficult task of self education in an era when slaves were not taughtunder penalty of law."Running away with himself" (asSoutherners used to describe slaves who escaped) twenty years before theCivil War, he became one of our country's great orators in telling the taleof his life as a bondsman and urging that America embrace emancipation ofall slaves.He was perhaps the anti-slavery movement's best spokesman. Not only for the sheer eloquence with which he captivated audiences, but asliving proof that a black could be educated to a level reached by fewpeople of any race.

Douglass did his part for the Union in the Civil Warand bought into Republicanism as the best political vehicle for achievingthe end of slavery and the leveling up of blacks to their rightful place inAmerican society.His hopes were frustrated after the Civil War when hisparty turned away from Reconstruction and blacks were subjugated anew byracism, indifference and Jim Crowism.

Douglass was an idealist in that hebelieved that America could be exhorted into granting slaves not only theirfreedom but their civil rights and social equality.His country failed hisvision miserably and he ended his life personnally successful (assuccessful as his skin color could take him in the 1890's) but verydistraught at the chasm between his hopes for a free America and thereality.

This is an adequate book, though dry at times. It followsDouglass chronologically.In episodes where his life was a fascinatingstory -- as a slave, his escape, his establishment in the North, as apolitician and as US minister to Haiti -- the book is a fascinating tale. Not so fascinating are long accounts of his work on the road deliveringspeeches as an agent of the anti-slavery movement.Part of the problemwith writing a biography of a man who was in large part a professionalorator is that the chapters focusing on that work are not very exciting. Mcfeely spends a lot of ink detailing his journies on the stump and hismeetings with many characters who were part of the American and Englishanti-slavery movements.Douglass's life flow, when examinedchronologically, produces a story of varying degrees of drama.Althoughany biograhpher is limited by his character, I had the feeling throughoutthat Douglass's life could be told with more verve without sacrificing thefacts.

What McFeely should have jettisoned were several parts where hedelved into psychobabble -- speculations about sexual attraction or thedepth of feeling between Douglass and several figures in his life.Humanfeelings and attractions are an important part of any biography andcertainly shaped Douglass's life.McFeeley speculates on several withoutany facts to support his views.These are relegated to the first half ofthe book and do not intrude greatly, however.

If one needs or wants tolearn about the life of this great American, McFeeley's book will fill thebill.

Excellent biography!
I, also, cannot understand why the first reader found this biography on Fredrick Douglass, racist.Personally, I found it completely the opposite.For the first time, I truly felt I understood the man behind the publicimage.

An excellent critical analysis of a Man
I am curious to know the previous reviewer found William McFeely's observations/analysis of Frederick Douglas racist. I too found a lot of overly subjective tones within the work of Mr. McFeely's analysis ofFrederick Douglas, but I also found that his analysis captured, for me,Frederick Douglas' strong positive character, and sense of universalhumanity. Mr. McFeely's analysis, while in some instances deductive, yetsubjective in others, presented a man - not a God, who held fast to isuniversal convictions, but who was also subject to human frailties. Mr.McFeely's analysis of Douglas has reinforced my admiration in FrederickDouglas even more.

One of the Worst Books I've Ever Read, Don't Waste Your Time
I was so excited to see a new book on Frederick Douglass I didn't take time to preview the book. A classic mistake.The book is full of assumptions and innuendo. It seems the author was trying to destroyFrederick Douglass' place in history.There were too many insultingstatements based on little or no fact.I tried to keep an open mind whilereading the book, but the more I read the more disgusted I became.Whatthe author may consider conservative and controversial;I consider aracist piece of trash. ... Read more

Product Description
One of the greatest African American leaders and one ofthe most brilliant minds of his time, Fredrick Douglass spoke andwrote with unsurpassed eloquence on almost all the major issuesconfronting the American people during his life.Between 1950 and1975, Phillip S. Foner collected the most important of Douglass'shundreds of speeches, letters, articles, and editorials into animpressive five-volume set, now long out of print.Abridged andcondensed into one volume and supplemented with several importanttexts that Foner did not include, this book presents the mostsignificant, insightful, and elegant short works of Douglass's massiveoeuvre. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

We need a better edition!
Douglass is great--a true American hero--and it's very nice to have a good, affordable single-volume collection of his writings. But be warned that this edition has MANY typographical errors--on nearly every other page--and does not contain the original typographical style, which I think detracts from the experience. Still, it's a very handy reference to have around.

A superb collection of speeches, writings, and reflections.
Frederick Douglas was one of the most important African American leaders of the 19th Century. He was a man who spoke and wrote with an unsurpassed eloquent on the issues confronting the American people during his life. Hiscommentaries ranged from the abolition of slavery to women's rights, Fromthe Civil War to racial lynchings, from American patriotism to blacknationalism. Frederick Douglas: Selected Speeches and Writings wasoriginally edited by Philip S. Foner and has been abridged and adapted inthis superb "The Library of Black America" edition by YuvalTaylor. Frederick Douglas: Selected Speeches And Writings will form a coretitle in any personal, academic, or public library Black Studiescollection. ... Read more

Product Description
Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln were the preeminent self-made men of their time. In this masterful dual biography, award-winning HarvardUniversity scholar John Stauffer describes the transformations in the lives of these two giants during a major shift in cultural history, when men rejected the status quo and embraced new ideals of personal liberty. As Douglass and Lincoln reinvented themselves and ultimately became friends, they transformed America.


Lincoln was born dirt poor, had less than one year of formal schooling, and became the nation's greatest president. Douglass spent the first twenty years of his life as a slave, had no formal schooling-in fact, his masters forbade him to read or write-and became one of the nation's greatest writers and activists, as well as a spellbinding orator and messenger of audacious hope, the pioneer who blazed the path traveled by future African-American leaders.


At a time when most whites would not let a black man cross their threshold, Lincoln invited Douglass into the White House. Lincoln recognized that he needed Douglass to help him destroy the Confederacy and preserve the Union; Douglass realized that Lincoln's shrewd sense of public opinion would serve his own goal of freeing the nation's blacks. Their relationship shifted in response to the country's debate over slavery, abolition, and emancipation.


Both were ambitious men. They had great faith in the moral and technological progress of their nation. And they were not always consistent in their views. John Stauffer describes their personal and political struggles with a keen understanding of the dilemmas Douglass and Lincoln confronted and the social context in which they occurred. What emerges is a brilliant portrait of how two of America's greatest leaders lived. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (18)

Real American History
Staufer's "Giants: The Parallel Lives of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln" is American history as it should be written. This book connects two great men through their whole live's experiences including their intellectual lives. It sheds light onto the importance of the arts (in this case literature) on the thinking of leaders in the fulfillment of American democracy. It is easy to visualize Lincoln and Douglass as they grow and develop.

Excellent Transaction
I'm very pleased with the condition of the book and the quality of the transaction.I highly recommend this Seller.

Giants is a superb dual biography on two nineteenth century giants: Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln
Two giants of American history. One white and one black. Abraham Lincoln (1809-65) sixteenth President of the United States and Frederick Douglass (1818-95) the orator, abolitonist, women rights advocate and a spokesman for the poor slave yearning to be free in pre-bellum nineteenth century America. In this fascinating book John Stauffer traces the rise of these two "self-made men" (to coin a phrase used by Henry Clay the Whig hero of Lincoln). They met on three occasions and Lincoln said Douglass was his good friend. Lincoln was a conservative Republican who had to be prodded to extend his support of slave liberation. Lincoln's primary goal was to save the fractured Union while Douglass was a tireless advocation of slave emancipation.
Lincoln and Douglass met in the White House on August 10, 1863 for a meeting of the minds. Douglass, who had been critical of Lincoln's commitment to freeing the slaves. urged greater use of black troops in the Union Army and sought authority to recruit African-American soldiers for the US Army. (eventually over 150,000 black troops would fight against the Confederacy). Lincoln would sign the Emancipation Proclamation on Sept. 22, 1862 which freed blacks in America on January 1, 1863.
Stauffer, in simple but beautiful prose, draws the many parallels between the two giants.
1. Lincoln and Douglass were both born poor. Lincoln a Kentucky native was considered poor white trash while Douglass was born into slavery on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. He was owned by the Auld family but sent to work at the farm of the cruel Edward Covey (who could have been cast as Harriet Beecher Stowe's "Simon Legree" in her 1852 novel "Uncle Tom's Cabin.").
2. Lincoln raised himself as a self made man by extensive reading of Blackstone's Commentaries on the Law, Aesop and the Columbian Orator. He left Kentucky to become a store owner in New Salem Illinois and a lawyer in Springfield where he became a member of the state legislature, a one term US Congressman, twice a candidate for US Senate and finally elected to the presidency in the crucial 1860 election. Douglass escaped slavery; became a caulker in New Bedford Mass (where he probably passed Herman Melville on the street) and a famous editor and orator operating out of Rochester New York. He and Lincoln read the same books and were self-educated.
3. Both men were eloquent writers and speakers. Lincoln first won fame on a national level after his debates with anti-black Senator Stephen Douglas in their 1856 senatorial debates and for his magnificent speeches while serving as US President. Douglass spoke to thousands as an orator on the abolition circuit.
4. Both men had long marriages. Lincoln to the volatile Mary Lincoln; Douglass to the illiterate Ann Murray. Douglass remarried following Ann''s death to Helen Pitts a white woman active in civil rights causes, His marriages were successful.
4. Douglass was handsome while Lincoln was ugly.
5. Both Douglass and Lincoln overcame poverty, prejudice and lack of education to make of themselves great men. Their story is an inspiration and a goad to all of us to work for racial harmony and civil rights for all Americans.
This is a great biography by John Stauffer deserving wide readership. Excellent history!

ENTIRE FREEDOM
In an 1865 speech, Frederick Douglass called Lincoln "Emphatically the Black Man's president." Douglass also has written, "In all my interviews with Mr. Lincoln, I was impressed with his entire freedom from popular prejudice against the colored race." [1881]

Lincoln's claim to being the Great Emancipator lies not just with his Emancipation Proclamation, but also with the 13th Amendment, which he insisted on including in the 1864 Republican platform, & which he sheparded through Congress. Those who feel Lincoln was insincere about freedom and equality would do well to read LaWanda Cox's Lincoln and Black Freedom: A Study in Presidential Leadership, Richard Striner's Father Abraham: Lincoln's Relentless Struggle To End Slavery, and Harry Jaffa's Crisis of the House Divided: An Interpretation of the Issues in the Lincoln-Douglas Debates, as well as Allen Guelzo's Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation: The End of Slavery in America; and James Oakes's The Radical and the Republican: Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln and the Triumph of Antislavery Politics.Lincoln felt that politics was the art of the possible. His political artistry included an acute knowledge of public opinion (and prejudices), a finely-honed sense of timing, and political discretion. Lincoln never retreated from emancipation once it was decided upon, just as he never affirmed black inferiority to be inherent. During his debates with Stephen Douglas he never said that he would never (in future) support equality. He didn't put stock in physical differences--in a well-known private memoranda he mused how anyone could be enslaved if the criterion was to have darker skin, or lesser intellect, because everyone was lighter or darker, or of varying degrees of intellect.In Chicago, in July 1858, he implored people to "discard" all their "quibbling" about supposed inferiority, and unite around the equality of the Declaration of Independence. However, a race-baiting Stephen Douglas forced him to subsequently in those debates down-play the full implications of his anti-slavery position. Again, he was a politician seeking an anti-slavery (extension) victory in a racist state [Illinois]. But, during his presidency he approved of bills abolishing segregation on horse-drawn streetcars in D.C.; for equal pay for black troops; for black witnesses in federal courts; for equal penalties for the same crimes; for the Freedmen's Bureau. He supported education for the freedmen. He had African-Americans picnic on the White House lawn; bowed publicly to a black gentleman in Richmond; welcomed (for the first time in U.S. history) an ambassador from Haiti; and met African-American leaders in the White House for discussions. Any colonization (Lincoln recognized the intransigence of white prejudice "even when freed") was to be voluntary, and was later dropped, whites and blacks having to "live out of the old relation and into the new." Sojourner Truth said that she had never been treated with more "kindness and cordiality" by anyone. Lincoln called for the vote for educated blacks and soldiers [a first step].John Wilkes Booth was in the audience, and told a companion that that meant "N-- citizenship" and vowed it would be Lincoln's last speech. He was assassinated 3 days later. Lincoln was a friend of freedom and equality, but he worked as a politician. Stauffer's book needs to be supplemented with others to gain a more rounded view of Lincoln's record on race.

Linclon - Douglass Relationship
Outstanding purchase and great transaction.Received a great hardback book for less than softback price.This is a wonderful book to investigate the relationship of President Lincoln and Mr. Douglass. ... Read more

Product Description
Named a Smithsonian magazine "Notable Children's Book" and a Hungry Mind Review "Children's Books of Distinction" Finalist, this inspiring story exemplifies how--as Douglass himself said--books and learning are "the pathway from slavery to freedom." A teacher activity guide is available to accompany this book. Full color. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Frederick for children
Easy to understand, but not shirking the harsh reality that Fredrick Douglas faced.The illustrations were tasteful and not too graphic.I would recommend it for children six and up.

The pictures don't make up for bad bio
This is the worst illustrated biography for children I've ever read. Let me first say that the illustrations are beautiful... but the book, like the previous reviewer said, is full of inaccuracies. Frederick Douglass did not spend his days working in the fields, and he did not wear overalls. The author states that he had little leisure time and only one day a week... Douglass himself states in his Narrative that slave children such as himself had much time free because they were too young to work as adults did. They wore little clothing- basically only shirts- because pants were for adults. He also spent much of his childhood and adolescence inBaltimore, not on a plantation. There are further inaccuracies. The author did not do adequate research for this book, or did and ignored it.

It's a fine slave story... but for the author to pass it off as Douglass' story is wrong. The one star rating goes to the nice illustrations.

Revisionist History
Am I the only one who knows that Mr. Douglass lost his mother at an early age and that contrary to this book, she was not a major influence in his life? The author didn't do his homework. This book is full of inaccuraciesabout Douglass' life. ... Read more

Product Description
Douglass overcame his beginnings as a slave to become the first black man to hold a diplomatic office. He was a great orator and also wrote several books. This play emphasizes his contributions. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

a Must read
fredrick Douglass was a Ground Breaking Pioneer who wanted to better himself. He truly overcame so much in such a short time to overcome the harsh Realitys of slavery.He taught Himself to read. RIP to Ossie Davis who always was a champion of Black History. a good start to the New reader of Fredrick Douglass. ... Read more

Product Description
Born into slavery in 1818 and raised on a Maryland plantation under brutal conditions, Frederick Douglass, against all odds, grew up to become a famous orator, journalist, author, and adviser to U.S. presidents. Many contemporaries found it hard to believe that he was an escaped slave with no formal education. Douglass was also controversial. He urged slaves to revolt and befriended the radical abolitionist John Brown. A pivotal figure in U.S. history, he helped Abraham Lincoln issue the Emancipation Proclamation and was an ambassador to Haiti. Timeline, chapter notes, bibliography. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Richie's Picks: FREDERICK DOUGLASS
"On New Year's Day 1863, Frederick Douglass was in Boston.He and more than three thousand others, mostly African Americans, had crowded into Tremont Temple, a Baptist church sometimes used for public events.They were excited, anxiously waiting news from Washington.Close to midnight, someone rushed from the telegraph office with a message.The long-awaited Emancipation Proclamation had become law."

To internalize the eighty-six pages of FREDERICK DOUGLASS: A NOBLE LIFE that precede this particular passage is to understand what the Emancipation Proclamation becoming law really meant.Reading these pages that so graphically detail the nightmarish, sometimes lethal brutality to which Frederick Douglass and countless other slaves were subjected daily, makes all the difference in our ability to really grasp the true effect of that particular moment in history upon millions of American lives.In fact, I have to think that the impact of the Proclamation upon America far exceeded the import of Pearl Harbor or walking on the moon or 9/11.With the enactment of the Proclamation's provisions the lives of slaves were changed far more than were the lives of free whites when the Declaration of Independence was signed on the fourth of July in 1776.

Having being raised a slave who learned to read and write, Frederick Douglass escaped to became one of the most articulate and significant Americans of the nineteenth century.David Adler repeatedly quotes from the wealth of words spoken publicly and written by Douglass over the course of his lifetime.The author also presents relevant, parallel highlights of American history so that readers can better understand the political and social climate in which Douglass was living -- as a slave, as an escaped slave, and as a free man.

And what was Frederick Douglass's primary focus after that New Year's of rejoicing in Boston?He fought for the right to vote, so that everyone would have a voice in America.In his mind, (and as an attendee of the 1848 American women's rights conference in Seneca Falls, New York), this right should have also extended to women.

As a writer and sometimes-activist with never-ending hopes of doing a little something to change the world, I found FREDERICK DOUGLASS: A NOBLE LIFE to be an inspiring read about an inspiring American hero who made history and did change the world.

Rutgers University Project on Economics and Children
Frederick Douglass, a brilliant author, speaker, journalist, and activist, spent his childhood and teenage years enslaved in Maryland. Not only did he endure the oppression of having to work as a slave without any of the privileges enjoyed by whites, he was also subjected to physical violence, hunger, and other forms of brutality at the hands of several particularly cruel owners.

Escape by train to the northern states brought Douglass the precious freedom he had craved for years, but life was very difficult for a fugitive slave with no home, no job, and virtually no money. Douglass took a variety of odd jobs until his speaking skills caught the attention of noted abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison.After their meeting, Douglass began to use his gifts with words to contribute to the abolitionist cause and raise awareness about the atrocities of slavery. He spent the rest of his life advocating for racial equality, women's rights, and social justice.

This new biography provides a highly readable and informative account of Frederick Douglass's life as an enslaved child and long-term opponent of institutionalized discrimination.His influential speeches, publications, and actions made an invaluable contribution to the end of slavery and the promotion of human rights for all.This contribution shines through in the book's comprehensible text, candid subject matter, and striking selection of images.
... Read more

Product Description
Here in one omnibus edition are all three of Frederick Douglass' landmark autobiographies. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass is one of the most influential autobiographies ever written. This classic did as much as or more than any other book to motivate the abolitionist to continue to fight for freedom in American. Frederick Douglass was born a slave, he escaped a brutal system and through sheer force of will educated himself and became an abolitionist, editor, orator, author, statesman, and reformer. This is one of the most unlikely and powerful success stories ever written. In Frederick Douglass' autobiography My Bondage and My Freedom we can see the power of literacy and belief. Douglass transforms himself from slave to an abolitionist, journalist, orator, and one of the most powerful voices to emerge from the American civil rights movement with little more than force of will. His breadth of his accomplishments gave hope to generations of people who came after him in their fight for civil rights. The Life and Times of Frederick Douglass was Douglass' third autobiography. In it he was able to go into greater detail about his life as a slave and his escape from slavery, as he and his family were no longer in any danger from the reception of his work. It is also the only of Douglass' autobiographies to discuss his life during and after the Civil War, including his encounters with American Presidents such as Lincoln, Grant, and Garfield ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

autobiography of Frederick Douglass
Awesome!!!!!! This book should be a read for all high school juniors and seniors. They need to understand the importance of education and continuing their education. the book was very clear, concise with valuable information on the struggle and perserverance.

thanks!
one knick on the book made me a little disappointed, but all in all fairly fast shipping. thank you!

Very easy, quick delivery!
Once again, amazon came through. Very easy, quick delivery. Book in mint condition as promised. Thanks! ... Read more