My Bondage and My Freedom - Hardcover

Douglass, Frederick

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1605204161 ISBN 13: 9781605204161

Publisher: Cosimo Classics, 2008

Synopsis

If I ever wavered under the consideration, that the Almighty, in some way, ordained slavery, and willed my enslavement for his own glory, I wavered no longer. I had now penetrated the secret of all slavery and oppression, and had ascertained their true foundation to be in the pride, the power and the avarice of man. -from Chapter XI: "A Change Came O'er the Spirit of My Dream" He is one of the greatest Americans in the history of the nation: editor, orator, author, statesman, and reformer FREDERICK DOUGLASS (1818-1895) arrived on the national scene in 1841 to such universal acclaim that it seemed impossible for his admirers to conceive that he had been born and raised within chains. The first of his three autobiographies, 1845's Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (also available from Cosimo), was written mainly to explain how he accomplished this astonishing feat. This, the second of his life stories, was published in 1855, and offers a more in-depth and-though seemingly impossible-even more thoughtful exploration of his life as a slave and his journey to escape it than his first book had. Douglass also discusses the challenges of life not only as a free man but as a famous one much in demand, as a public speaker in the Northern States and in Great Britain as well. This edition also includes the original publication's appendix, which features letters and speeches by the great man. A foundational work of African-American literature and a vital document of 19th-century American history, this is the extraordinary tale of a personal battle for freedom that became a fight for the very soul of a nation.

About this title

Review:

""My Bondage and My Freedom, besides giving a fresh impulse to antislavery literature, [shows] upon its pages the untiring industry of the ripe scholar."--William Wells Brown

""My Bondage and My Freedom," besides giving a fresh impulse to antislavery literature, [shows] upon its pages the untiring industry of the ripe scholar."--William Wells Brown

""My Bondage and My Freedom", besides giving a fresh impulse to antislavery literature, [shows] upon its pages the untiring industry of the ripe scholar."--William Wells Brown

"My Bondage and My Freedom," besides giving a fresh impulse to antislavery literature, [shows] upon its pages the untiring industry of the ripe scholar. William Wells Brown"

My Bondage and My Freedom, besides giving a fresh impulse to antislavery literature, [shows] upon its pages the untiring industry of the ripe scholar. William Wells Brown"

"My Bondage and My Freedom, besides giving a fresh impulse to antislavery literature, [shows] upon its pages the untiring industry of the ripe scholar."--William Wells Brown

-My Bondage and My Freedom, besides giving a fresh impulse to antislavery literature, [shows] upon its pages the untiring industry of the ripe scholar.---William Wells Brown

From the Back Cover:

"I have never placed my opposition to slavery on a basis so narrow as my own enslavement, but rather upon the indestructible and unchangeable laws of human nature, every one of which is perpetually and flagrantly violated by the slave system." -- Frederick Douglass
Born and brought up in slavery, Frederick Douglass (1818-1895) experienced the horrors of bondage but gained freedom and world renown as a lecturer, editor, and one of the most important men behind the American abolitionist movement. This book is the deeply moving story of his life -- as a slave, and as a free man.Douglass wrote three autobiographies, of which the 1855 edition is the most detailed on his life as a slave. In it, readers are not spared the fullest and most graphic descriptions of the cruelty of slavery. Douglass describes his life on a Maryland plantation: the excitement and danger of teaching himself to read and write, his demoralization under a cruel master, and his daring escape.In the second part of his tale, Douglass, now a fugitive, settles in Massachusetts and joins the anti-slavery movement. He recounts his travels to the British Isles and his first taste of freedom without prejudice, and his return to America to work as spokesman for his oppressed people. In addition to recording his sufferings and his protests, Douglass also provides a keen analysis of the effects of slavery on its victims as well as on society at large.

About this edition

• Publisher: Cosimo Classics
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 1605204161
• ISBN 13: 9781605204161
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 472