Remarkable, of course. Eloquent, and a bit wordy in 19th century style, but Douglass needed to prove that a Black man could match the rhetoric of his white peers.I was most interested in Douglass’s comments on the expropriation of the product of labor. In skimming a couple of internet pieces on the availability of Marx’s writing in America, it appears Greeley published some of his writing in the early 1850s. My Bondage and My Freedom was published in 1854, when the impression left by the 1848 re...

Read for school. Remarkably powerful, especially the first half, before he was free. There's a reason this was the first reading in my African American Political Thought class.

My Bondage and My Freedom is unparalleled in its complete scope of the utter destructive effects of slavery upon individuals and the larger group. There is NO other narrative, fiction or non, that describes the African American experience of bondage quite like this -- or in fact, at all. Other great African American thinkers (such as Du Bois or Washington) are able to examine the effects of slavery on society through observation; their accounts are mostly of African Americans' experience post-em...

Rowena of Reading for Pleasure suggested I read this book. Once upon a time,someone read this book in a US American slavery readings course. But that someone was decidedly not me. So I took the plunge, and I am glad I did.I felt Frederick Douglass' dignity and determination at every turn. Made decisions and kept making decisions, being an ever-evolving spiritual force for Good. Kept talking about slavery once he escaped because slavery, as all lies, die in the Light of Truth Wisdom. Freedom begi...

5+ stars & 6/10 hearts. Having read the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass back in January, and become an ardent admirer of Douglass, I then decided to read the Life & Times of Frederick Douglass , his third biography, in November. Which meant, of course, I had to read his second autobiography in December. I was a little worried it would be too much “old news” to be enjoyable, but found it had plenty of new information that neither Autobiography 1 nor Autobiography 3 had. It also...

“In thinking of America, I sometimes find myself admiring her bright blue sky, her grand old woods, her fertile fields, her beautiful rivers, her mighty lakes, and star-crowned mountains. But my rapture is soon checked, my joy is soon turned to mourning. When I remember that all is cursed with the infernal spirit of slaveholding, robbery, and wrong; when I remember that with the waters of her noblest rivers, the tears of my brethren are borne to the ocean, disregarded and forgotten, and that her...

This book should be required reading in high school / college. Frederick Douglass is an American hero bc he understood man's need for liberty, justice, humanity, and truth. And he pursued and fought for those ideals relentlessly.

**3.5-4**This is an absolutely beautifully-written historical narrative. History is not my strong point, but this book's eloquence captivated me. Admittedly, some scenes felt a bit overwritten, with entire paragraphs dedicated to food or room description. My rating would probably be higher if I had had the leisure to slowly work through all of that detail rather than having deadlines for reaching specific chapters for my class. I love Douglass' perspective and way of thinking, and I appreciate h...

A book that changed my life, and made me rethink what it is to have an iron will. Just amazing.

What is the necessity of making laws criminalizing teaching a slave to read unless they are humans? The slave states had laws about teaching no slaves to read. This is one of Douglass’s illustrations that in their own hearts, slavery proponents knew that the people they were using for their own greed were indeed human. No slavery proponent would want their own liberty taken away! He calls out the great American hypocrisy about”freedom and liberty for all!” This is a profound book written by one...

An impressive book and an astounding life story. This is a tale of bravery, endurance, unrelenting curiosity, audacity and endless resilience. I am confused as into why this is not a figure better known and I say this aware of his current importance but to my limited knowledge Douglass seems to be relevant enough to be cited aside with any prominent figure (i.e. MLK, JFK) and this is rarely the case. Maybe evidence of this is the fact that the current President recently stated FD was still alive...

My Bondage My FreedomWritten By: Frederick DouglassPublished By: Public Domain (Amazon) Kindle EditionMy Bondage My FreedomI have read in the past about Frederick Douglass the famed abolitionist, orator, statesman, and writer. However, until reading this autobiography I knew nothing about him before he became famous. This autobiography was published in 1855 and thus covered approximately thirty-seven (37) of his early years. Being born a slave, Douglass could only approximate the year of his bir...

I experienced this book as a combination of audible.com as well as an e-book. The e-book went beyond the audible book in that it included a number of speeches that Douglas gave in the 1850s that were alluded to in the book. This is the second of several autobiographies that Douglas wrote in his lifetime. This book is a significant expansion of the first autobiography which was relatively short. Although it recovers the territory of the first book it is a stunning presentation of the man's early

This is one of the most memorable books I could ever possibly read. My praise can’t possibly match the eloquence and power of a single one of his lines. But I can’t help praising anyway. As a writer wannabe myself, I'm in awe.The turns of phrase are fantastic, and they just kept coming. Here’s just one.The fact is, such was my dread of leaving the little cabin, that I wished to remain little forever, for I knew the taller I grew the shorter my stay. (7)The metaphors were beautiful. Here’s just o...

I read Frederick Douglass’s first autobiography while I was studying abroad in Tanzania. I was taking malaria medication at the time, which seemed to affect my emotional state quite a bit. Both my imagination and my sensitivity were amplified, leading to higher highs and lower lows. It was at this time, for example, when I read Uncle Tom’s Cabin, a book that annoyed me more than any book should have the power to do. But when I read The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass on the same trip...

" The remark is not unfrequently made, that slaves are the most contented and happy labourers in the world. They dance and sing, and make all manner of joyful noises—so they do; but it is a great mistake to suppose them happy because they sing. The songs of the slave represent the sorrows, rather than the joys, of his heart; and he is relieved by them, only as an aching heart is relieved by its tears." – Frederick Douglass, My Bondage and My Freedom I’ve never read such a detailed and insigh

This book should be required reading for all American students. Frederick Douglass' account of his years as a slave and the early years of his public advocacy as a freeman is among the most poignant and morally forceful works I've ever read. Highly recommend it to anyone.

My Bondage and My Freedom reads like the best of historical fiction. Douglass' story is full of lively characters--even the minor figures are vividly drawn. The descriptions transport us instantly to a particular place and moment in time. For the first eight years of his life Douglass was raised by his grandmother who had charge of the young slave children. They all shared a cabin with a vegetable garden and the children mostly ran free on the plantation. As he describes it he was "a spirited, j...

I read Douglass's first autobiography and found it very interesting. This one, however, was written years later when Douglass had matured and had accomplished much more. His style of writing had matured by now and it is a great read.

This is a great book, by a great American. Skeptics looking at that statement might think, well sure you think that reading his own account. Except I've found autobiographies unintentionally revealing in fascinating ways. Within the last year I read autobiographies and memoirs by Ghandi, Dian Fossey and Booker T. Washington. The first book lessened my admiration and liking, the second made me absolutely hate the woman because of her own words, and the last left me ambivalent. And in the case of