Reading Response for Frederick Douglas (Essay Sample)

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Reading Response for Frederick Douglas
Frederic Douglas was born in Tuckahoe, 12 miles away from Easton. He was a slave, his father, who was white, was his master, and this only made it worse. He had two masters because his father also had a master, who was called Anthony. He had experienced many atrocities during his time as a slave, and this made him write a book to share his life as a slave with the public. His book is like a biography, but an in-depth story of his life that outlines how slavery was carried out in those days. He speaks about how they would receive their monthly allowances in terms of food and yearly clothing. The stipend for food was eight pounds of pork or fish of the equivalent amount. It was a devastating period, and they went through hardships just to get through the days.
In the mid-19th century, Douglass used the ideology of gender to argue about slavery. He talked about his aunt called Hester who was very obedient and complied with slavery rules until when she disobeyed her master’s order of going out. For women, slavery was much tough. Therefore, gender was important in determining who does which work. Slaves were not given beds except blankets that they would, maybe, make sleeping piles to sleep on. When her Aunt disobeyed the master, Douglass found her master whipping her ruthlessly, having stripped her half naked and calling her all manner of names. This method of treatment was not acceptable, but with the respect that the master had, no one could accuse him of doing such an act.
Douglas’ point was to ensure that the world knew how they were treated inappropriately, and how slavery was conducted in those days. A lot of his emphasis was on the way the whites oppressed their victims; gave them heavy workload and paid them with food and few clothes. The best the oppressors would do was to offer blankets, the slaves would sleep on one common bed that was on the cold and damp floor, and they slept for very few hours. Each slave covered himself/herself with the tiny piece of light blanket that was offered to him or her. Douglass goes on to explain that those times were very hard. They would go to collect their allowances at the Great House Farm, and they would match there excited and singing songs that revealed the highest joy, but have...