Slave Narrative

During the 18th and 19th centuries, an afflux of slave narratives were published in forms of books, pamphlets, and memoirs, capturing the disheartening experiences of the slaves while being imprisoned at plantations and mines.   The assaults engraved on their minds and bodies are recaptured in such narratives with the purpose of exposing slavery’s partiality, oppression, and dehumanization.   Nearly six thousand former slaves printed an account of their lives while being enslaved.   Much of what was published of their enslavement reported stories of hardships, general spiritual journeys, and religious redemption.   In spite of every narration being horrendously truthful, The Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass, an American Slave not only narrated the anguishing journey of imprisonment, but also left an impassioned affect on the audience as it fueled political movements, particularly the abolitionist movement of the early 19th century.   Furthermore, Frederick Douglass’s remarkable spread of literacy and knowledge encompassed much of The Narrative’s success.   The Narrative’s simple, coherent truth and credibility opened the eyes of many, and doors to a new perceptive of slavery.
Prior to enlightened thinkers criticizing the violations of the rights of man, the antislavery sentiments were continually suppressed.   Many of the narratives published by slaves were less enthused in political movements, but aspiring only to be heard by other
fellow slaves.   Douglass, conversely, sought escape and freedom after recognizing the motifs behind keeping blacks enslaved, illiterate, and handled like brutes.   At the age of thirteen, Douglass was a ‘ready listener.’   At thirteen, he understood if a slave did “anything wrong in the mind of a slaveholder, it was spoken of as a fruit of abolition.”   (Douglass 46)   The word abolition depicted freedom, a pathway, and a destination to Douglass.   After obtaining ‘freedom’, a goal Douglass had been building on in secrecy, Douglass...