Frederick Douglass
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The life and times of Frederick Douglass have been chronicled by Douglass himself in Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave. Douglass’ life was a rich one, filled with many experiences and endeavors, from being born a slave to his rise in prominence as a lecturer, champion of black rights, and various political positions. In fact, one of Douglass’ most popular and most frequently delivered lecture was entitled “Self-Made Men,” who the former slave described as “men who, without the ordinary helps of favoring circumstances, have attained knowledge, usefulness, power, position, and fame in the world. The are the men who owe nothing to birth, relationship, family surroundings, wealth inherited, or to early and approved means of education” (Quarles viii). However, in Benjamin Quarles’ book, Frederick Douglass, we get a broad portrait of the man who rose from slave to prominent man of position, power and wealth. Quarles’ book gives a critical review of Douglass’ life as a slave, basically because it has been well-covered in literature and Douglass’ own account stands as the definitive version of his years in slavery. Quarles’ depiction of this era in his life is well written and provides a general overview of those years through the commentary and opinions of others. In the rest of the book, Quarles covers the broader issues and depths of the man who was Fredrick Douglass. A significant portion of the book i
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thing of thee in all these years?’ asked Elizabeth Buffum Chace, a gentle Quaker abolitionist of former acquaintance. ‘Because,’ thundered Douglass, ‘you sided with Garrison’” (Quarles 79).
Quarles gives us a good account of how Douglass was able to rise to prominence and gain power as an orator and public servant who gained credibility and influence in the championing of black rights. For example, Douglass’ years laboring as an editor were often filled with editorials and articles that were overly optimistic or outright propaganda designed solely to further the cause of black rights, regardless of whether the opinions expressed were accurate. However, Quarles reveals that the character of Douglass was of such a nature, that he would not fool himself by printing things he knew were not accurate. Instead, he was toughest as editor on his own articles, ones who honesty and objectivity helped him gain credibility and proved that he was not filled with persecutory feelings or the need to pad his cause to make its urgency and validity known, “Many of the correspondents wrote from a consistently hopeful viewpoint in order to bolster the moral of the faithful. These reports, therefore, were wistfully optimistic except those from
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Approximate Word count = 1256
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page)
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