American History

Question Number 2 As a historical source, what does Douglass narrative reveal about the lives, culture, and psychological struggles of American slaves

Literature as a repository of human experience manifests the social, cultural, and psychological conditions of a particular group of people in history. Such is the case since literature serves as the locus of a condensed and social evaluation of the events in a particular period in history. As a storehouse of human experience, literary texts also participate in the discourse of defining and identifying a particular group of individuals. This is evident in African American literature as the texts within the genre provide different accounts of African-Americans struggle to create a solid ethnic identity which allows them to incorporate both the negative and positive aspects of their experiences in slavery in determining their characteristics as a people. In line with this, the following discussion focuses on Frederick Douglass account of his experiences as a slave in Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. The text serves as an appropriate historical source for determining the lives, culture, and psychological struggles of African-American slaves as the narrative and autobiographical structure of the text provides the in-depth development of the changes in an African-Americans psyche as he overcomes the restraints caused by his initial position as a slave in a racially biased society.

There is no slave narrative in American literary history that is as famous and as widely demanding of praise than Frederick Douglass narrative of his life. Anyone who is interested in getting into the mind of a slave as he travels a self-imposed journey in order to try to make sense of the peculiar institution, that is American slavery, ought to read his autobiography. The context of the life and experiences of Douglass and the plot of his narrative so closely parallel each other that the text reads as a great literary piece as well as a historical source that constitutes one of the most regrettable chapters in American history.

Douglass was born into slavery in Maryland as Frederick Bailey in either 1817 or 1818. Douglass inability to know his real birthday was a source of contention for the rest of his life. He notes, I have no accurate knowledge of my age, never having seen any authentic record containing it (Douglass 41).  In addition, he further claims, The white children could tell their ages. I could not tell why I ought to be deprived of the same privilege (Douglass 339).  This association of knowledge of ones age with privilege can be understood if one considers that knowledge of ones age enables the knowledge of ones parentage  and hence knowledge of ones roots. This type of knowledge is important since the ability to know ones roots enables an individual to locate a frame of reference for the creation of his identity. Denial of such a frame places an individual, in this case the African American slave, in an ambiguous context for the formation of his identity. In fact, one might state that the possibility of identity formation is null given such a context. It is important to consider that the denial of such a frame for identity formation is tantamount to the denial of an individuals ontology. Denial of ontology, on the other hand, leads to the objectification of the individual. The relation of the denial of ontology and the objectification of an individual may only be understood if one considers the fallacious account of the naturalized degradation of the African American slave. Such an account assumes the lack of humanity of the African American slave thereby positing African Americans as untamed savages incapable of rationality. Such an exclusion because of the said fallacy leads to the objectification of the African-American slave, the results of which led to the initial destruction of the African-American family as well as the Africa- American identity.

It is due to the aforementioned results of slavery that Douglass objected to the practice along with the ideology associated with it. He notes his experience of the manner in which the African-America family is destroyed as he recounts his own experience in the following passage

To cap the climax of their base ingratitude and fiendish barbarity, my grandmother, who was now very old, having outlived my old master and all his children, having seen the beginning and end of all of them, and her present owners finding she was of but little value, her frame already racked with the pains of old age, and complete helplessness fast stealing over her once active limbs, they took her to the woods, built her a little hut, put up a little mud-chimney, and then made her welcome to the privilege of supporting herself there in perfect loneliness thus virtually turning her out to die (Douglass 73)

In addition, Douglas notes that if a slave childs father were also his master, the mistress would treat them more severely or insist they be sold out of jealously. He claims, Slaveholders have ordained, and by law established, that the children of slave women shall in all cases follow the condition of their mothers, and this is done too obviously to administer to their own lusts, and make a gratification of their wicked desires profitable as well as pleasurable (Douglass 43). Slavery, in this sense, enabled the conception of women as property more than as individuals. This stood as a justification, in the minds of white male slave owners that African-American women could be raped and their offspring sold off in order to avoid embarrassment from their peers.

The emphasis that Douglass attributes to the denial of his heritage in his autobiography manifests his psychological desire to establish his roots because of his recognition that one of the means that may free him from the state of oppression experienced by slaves is through separation from the patriarchal structure of slavery. By continually reiterating his stance on the necessity of tracing ones origins, Douglass provides an in-depth look not only on the lives of African-American slaves and their masters but also on the psychological effects of the conditions in slavery. Within this context, one may state that although such a frame was denied to the individual, the frame of developing identity as result of the fallacious account of a naturalized savagery or irrationality, the possibility of forging and hence creating an identity of ones own was not entirely withheld from the African-American slaves. However, it is important to note that it is not the mere process of creating an identity for their selves, which is important here, but the process of creating an identity that reverberates through the succeeding generations.

It is important to note that the denial of their identities is not merely rooted in the denial of their heritage since it can also be traced to the denial of their rationality. Adherence to slavery entails ones adherence to the belief that African-Americans are irrational beings.  In the text, Douglass traces the different ways in which both the recognition and development of their rationality was denied to the African-American slaves as they were prevented from attaining education.

During the period of his enslavement, Douglass learned how to read and write. The importance of such is evident if one considers that the aforementioned skills were deemed as weapons that the slave owners went to great lengths to avoid giving to the slave. The most oppressive limits on slave education were a reaction to Nat Turners Revolt in Southampton County Virginia during the summer of 1831.  This event not only caused shock waves across the slaveholding South, but it had a particularly far-reaching impact on education over the next three decades.  The fear of slave revolts and the spread of abolitionist materials led to radical restrictions on gatherings, travel, and literacy. The ignorance of the slaves was considered necessary to the security of the slaveholders. Within the text, an example of this restriction on slave education is evident during the incident wherein Mr. Auld prevented his wife from teaching Douglass how to read and to write. Douglass claims, Mr. Auld found out what was going on, and at once forbade Mrs. Auld to instruct me further, telling her, among other things, that it was unlawful, as well as unsafe, to teach a slave to read (Douglass 63).

It is important to contextualize this in relation to its effects to the African-American slaves formation of his identity. Note that reading and writing serves as tools for the creation of an identity. Both skills are necessary for effective communication and are needed by African-Americans to converse with their fellowmen. By setting limitations to the skills that the African-Americans could develop, the slave owners also set the boundaries for their attainment of their freedom. Freedom here may be understood as enabling the attainment of both psychological and physical freedom. In its psychological form, it allows the African-American slave to retrace his roots and hence discover his origin, which he may use in the creation and or definition of his identity.  In its physical form, it enables the African-American slave to possess a viable method for effectively presenting his views.  An example of this is apparent if one considers that such tools enable an individual to participate within a discourse wherein he or she may frame his rhetoric under the very thing that makes him equal with other human beings. It is within this context of the importance of such skills that Douglass opted to continue to learn how to read after his lessons from Mrs. Auld had stopped. He notes, Whilst I was saddened by the thought of losing the aid of my kind mistress, I was gladdened by the invaluable instruction, which, by the merest accident, I had gained from my master. Though conscious of the difficulty of learning without a teacher, I set out with high hope, and a fixed purpose, at whatever cost of trouble, to learn how to read (Douglass 64).

Within this context, Douglass autobiography serves as an appropriate historical source for determining the experiences of African-American slaves during his time. The reasons for this may be traced to how Douglass text showed the interrelationship between the psychological and cultural development of Africa-Americans in relation to their experiences as slaves during the 19th century. In his text, Douglass was able to show that the psychological conflicts experienced by African-American slaves were ultimately determined by their unequal treatment in American society. In a wider perspective, Douglass narrative thereby does not merely show the African-American slaves separation from his roots, problems with determining his identity, and problems in attaining education. Such is the case since Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass provides an account of the slow and tedious emancipation of African-Americans from slavery.