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What Is Frederick Douglass's Role In The Civil War

Decent Essays

Discuss the representation of the Civil War in the work of one or more writers on the course.
In this essay I will discuss the works of a man named Frederick Douglass and illustrate his hugely important role in the civil war and in particular his opinions and views on slavery. I will also discuss his role in the demolition of slavery and the means by which he used to abolish slavery.
In Douglass’ Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (1841) we get an account of Douglass’ life of enslavement during the American Civil War. Douglass becomes a voice for countless slaves who couldn’t read or write and he ultimately shocks the nation with his chilling account of his enslavement. It was believed that black people couldn’t write such literary texts but Douglass purposely wrote this text with the use of literary devices and techniques to convey to the people that when blacks are educated they can address important issues like why in a country that believes ‘all men are equal’ is it that black men are excluded from this equality. People didn’t believe that Douglass was in fact an ex-slave because he was wrote like a white intellectual, there was a common belief that all slaves were illiterate because it was illegal to teach slave how to read and write.
In his narrative Douglass captured the gruelling torturous events that …show more content…

People could empathize with him and his journey as they had faced or were still facing the horrifying torture of slavery. The liberation Douglass felt through his literary expression was particularly important in the civil rights movement because it encouraged slaves to have their voices heard even if they could not escape the realities of daily life, literary expression proved as an escape in itself. For a slave in the south, all kinds of identity were stripped from them. All of their self-worth and aspirations were ‘lost’ and in order for them to be found they must free

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