The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, is

unique because Douglass, an escaped slave with no formal education, wrote

the entire account himself. As a result, Frederick Douglass is one of the

originators of the uniquely American genre, the slave narrative.

Douglass' literary works are influenced greatly by his first book,

written by Caleb Bingham. Douglass' first book purchase, The Columbian

Orator did more than teach him to read and write; The Columbian Orator

gives Douglass his first contact with vocalized anti-slavery issues and

influences Douglass' orator skills allowing his words to reach a much

broader audience.

As a young boy, Frederick Douglass is sent to Baltimore to remain with

relatives of his master, Thomas Auld. His new mistress, Sophia Auld,

began to "teach [Douglass] the A, B, C" and "assisted [Douglass] in

learning to spell words of three or four letters" (1776). This "kind and

tender-hearted woman" (1776) instructs Douglass despite her husband, who

argued that educating slaves was unlawful. Though Mrs. Auld is not able

to continue teaching Douglass, she "had given [Douglass] the inch and no

precaution could prevent [him] from taking the ell" (1778). Once Douglass

acquires The Columbian Orator, his search for knowledge blossoms for he

knew the institution of slavery is wrong and these words on the page

"gave tongue to interesting thoughts of [his] own soul" (1779). Douglass

realizes that the "power of truth overpowers "the conscience of even a

slaveholder" (1779). By studying this work, Frederick Douglass becomes

convinced of the injustices of slavery and the right for all people to be

free.

One story in The Columbian Orator would forever be an inspiration to

Frederick Douglass. It is the story of a slave who argues so well with

his master on the ills of slavery that he is set free. Douglass read of

an event he had never heard of in his life. A slave talks back to his

master with eloquent speech and is let go? To his astonishment, Douglass

observes that:

[T]he slave was made to say some very smart as well as impressive things

in reply to his master- things which had the desired though unexpected

effect; for the conversation resulted in the voluntary emancipation on

the part of the master. (1779)

This one story is monumental in effecting Douglass' life because, much

like the slave in this story, Douglass stands up to his master and gains

a respect other slaves only wish they have. Douglass continually reads

this book for it gives him inspiration.

Besides the dialogue Douglass read in The Columbian Orator, Douglass is

introduced to proper, eloquent orator skills. This popular schoolbook

stresses the importance of an orator's ability to communicate through

eloquent speech and proper body language. Caleb Bingham, writer of The

Columbian Orator, says the effects of eloquence serve:

[T]o scatter the clouds of ignorance and error from the atmosphere of

reason; to remove the film of prejudice from the mental eye; and thus

irradiate the benighted mind with the cheering beams of truth, is at once

the