Essay Questions

To what does Douglass attribute his transformation from “light-hearted, gleesome boy, full of mirth and play” into the man who peered into “the horrible pit” which “revealed the teeth of the frightful dragon that was ready to pounce” upon him?

A major transformative moment in the life of Frederick Douglass when he comes across a book initially published in 1797 by Cable Bingham titled The Columbia Orator. It is actually a school primer comprised of poems, speeches, and other short items designed specifically for students to memorize as part of their educational curriculum. Significant among the writings collected in the book relative to what might be called the process of radicalizing Douglass were a dialogue between a master and slave that ends with the unforced emancipation of the slave by the master and fiery speeches about justice by several British political figures which further served to ignite the revelation that his so-called "kind master" was instead--indeed--the very author of his bondage.

What is Douglass actually lamenting when he writes of how his kind mistress Mrs. Auld was forced by her husband to cease teaching him?

Douglass is, of course, lamenting the end of his education at the hands of the kindly Mrs. Auld. He certainly wishes the lessons to continue and feels a great person loss. The emotional centerpiece of this section of the text, however, is a lamentation for might what be called the unseen collateral damage of slavery. It is a testament to his great heart and massive capacity for empathy and understanding of the human soul Douglass comes to recognize that not all victims of the institution was limited to those who were among the owned. Many of those who owned slaves also became victims in the manner of becoming dehumanized. In observing that nature has no part in preparing anyone at all to become either a slave or a slaveholder, in Mrs. Auld’s case nature was especially inadequate, having “done less for her than any lady I had known.”

What does Douglass consider to be a sham, an unholy license and a bombastic fraud and deception of impiety and hypocrisy?

Near the end of the text, appended onto the autobiographical memoir, is an extract from oration delivered by Douglass on July 5, 1852. The topic is a date on the calendar; a date set aside for a unique annual celebration. For Douglass, the date is reserved for the celebration of the systemic institution of which allowed for some “to drag a man in fetters into the grand illuminated temple of liberty.” It is day of celebration marked by loud tumultuous joy which to his ears is “the mournful wail of millions” held in chains. Every year throughout America on this date are heard “shouts of liberty and equality” which acts as “a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages.” That which Douglas terms a sham and a fraud is fourth of July; Independence Day.