The foundation of slavery was harsh and miserable. Slavery provokes many good people to do bad things. Slave owners provided dreadful conditions for these slaves. Throughout Fredrick’s narrative, he provided his own experience as being a true slave. Fredrick argument is shown through his understanding and his telling of his experiences in the institution of slavery. Experiences such as being parted from his mother, witnessing the whipping of his aunt, and treacherous moments as being treated as a tool instead of being human. Douglass argument against slavery has shown to be more effective as he grows up from an ignorant child to an experienced self.
Throughout the narrative, Douglass describes his experiences in a way that lets the reader feel the indignity of being of being owned by another person. For instance, in chapter 1 where he writes “I have often been awakened at the dawn of day by the most heart-rending shrieks of an own aunt of mine, whom he used to tie up to a joist, and whip upon her naked back till she was literally covered with blood”(3). Based on this quote, Douglass experience of watching his own aunt being whipped so hard that blood…show more content… Since slaves had never been able to speak about their experiences due to lack of literacy and the law, this was a milestone for slaves as it conveyed a message to America that life as a slave was horrific. Douglass begins to establish his ethos in the opening in chapter one where he writes “The white children could tell their age, I could not tell”(1). From this quote Douglass explains that he doesn’t even know his own birthday, unlike white citizens, who know all the details of their lives. This fact establishes that Douglass can be trusted because of his direct personal