Frederick Douglass:

An Exceptional Escape from Slavery, an Exceptional Author, Citizen and Man

How did Frederick Douglass' personal experiences illustrate 19th century American race relations? Was Douglass' life typical or exceptional? What was his legacy for future generations of Americans?

Frederick Douglass often presented his life as typical. The narrative structure he applied to his own literary efforts as well as his efforts as a speaker and as a lecturer suggested that his life was normative and comparable to many an American slave's life. Its horrors were used as proof of the evils of slavery and Douglass' lust for freedom was seen as proof of the typical desire to be free that existed in the heart of every man, including every enslaved Black man's. Other slavery narratives of Douglass' day were popular in the literary consumption of much of the North and Douglass' own autobiography made use of many similar...
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