When Douglass was just a boy on a southern plantation, he witnessed his first violent whipping, which was given to his Aunt Hester. This cruel treatment, which was no doubt psychological abuse, was only a small fraction of the callous actions that took place during slavery. While he clarifies that he does not know what the particular purpose of this was, the inevitable result was “destroying the child’s affection towards it’s mother and to blunt and destroy the natural affection of the mother for the child,” (Douglass 517). It was extremely common in the days of slavery for children to be separated from their mothers during infancy. I will also explain why I believe this piece of literature is important for people of all ethnic backgrounds to read and why it should be included in grade school curriculum.ĭouglass begins his narrative by introducing himself as a motherless child. For this essay, I have taken it upon myself to read the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, and will examine the traumatic situations in which he both witnessed and experienced first-hand as a slave in America and how it still affects our country today.

History from the Black Perspective course which opened my 2017 eyes to an American history that I felt had, for the most part, been kept in the dark from me. It has not been until my college years that I have been afforded the option of taking a U.S. But, seldom were we taught in depth about the atrocities that took place long before these historical figures came into focus.

In school we learned of the likes of Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and Rosa Parks.

His literature never seemed to be included in my American Literature or U.S. Throughout my time as a student in the school system of the United States I have heard of Frederick Douglass here and there but was never taught about any of his works.

Her Wicked Angel by Felicity Heaton