Fredric Douglas the power of words to humanity

 Fredric Douglas used his words to touch the hearts of many. On many different occasions, he describes the difficulties African American slaves of the 19th century faced, the use of this opens one's eyes to listen to his call to action. Douglas does not just dictate the issues but describes them in a way that gives empathy and makes one want to make a change. The use of certain diction allows Fredric Douglas to paint a very negative image in the minds of readers, which opens the door for him to introduce the idea of active abolitionism to the readers with reason. An example of this is when Douglas states "I do not remember having met a slave who could tell of his birthday. They seldom come nearer to it than planting-time, harvest time, cherry time, springtime, or fall time." (Douglas 57) This sentence allows the reader to feel a sense of empathy towards the slaves, the idea of a birthday shows the day you were given life and having people who do not even know such an important yet simple day makes one think how much more of a struggle did slaves go through but was not said to the people. 

Douglas does not shy away from painting a very in-depth and gruesome picture for the readers to understand that the things he is discussing are not things that are not happening anymore, but things that are still happening. When describing the actions of Mr. Plummer and his treatment of women, he states "[t]he louder she screamed the harder he whipped, and where the blood ran fastest, there he whipped longest. He would whip her to make he scream, and whip her to make her hush, and not until overcame by fatigue, would he cease to swing the blood-clotted cowskin"(Douglas 58) The syntax of this sentence emphasizes the fact that the actions of slave masters were always premeditated and not from the mind of humane behaviours, this automatically allows the reader to think of humanity and poke at the emotional bag that all humans have. 

Fredric Douglas is a great example of success, he may not have been successful in wealth, knowledge or family, but he was successful in influence. The way in which he chose to write allowed him to make an impact decades later, he made a name for himself by fighting for his people tooth and nail. Not to make himself successful but to bring change for his people, but along the way he was deemed successful in his own way.