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4.14 AVERAGE
4.14 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
i enjoyed reading this book more than i thought i would. it wasn’t boring, instead it was really fascinating. often times disturbing, and upsetting but i really liked how frederick douglass interpreted his experiences. it was really insightful and eye opening.
I loved this book. Seems an odd thing to say since the story itself is pretty awful, but the author's writing style is superb. The narrative was well done. I felt drawn into the story quickly and never looked back.
challenging
informative
sad
fast-paced
emotional
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
As if I would have the chutzpah to review Frederick Douglass. Instead, I'll share the paragraph that struck me most and still has relevance for 21st-century America:
"I assert most unhesitatingly, that the religion of the south is a mere covering for the most horrid crimes,--a justifier of the most appalling barbarity,--a sanctifier of the most hateful frauds,--and a dark shelter under which the darkest, foulest, grossest, and most infernal deeds of slaveholders find the strongest protection. . . . For of all slaveholders with whom I have ever met, religious slaveholders are the worst. I have ever found them the meanest and basest, the most cruel and cowardly, of all others" (79)
Lest readers think Douglass is opposed to all religion, in the Appendix, he contrasts the religiosity he suffered under in the south with the "pure, peaceable, and impartial Christianity of Christ" that he found in the north. In citing these sections, I certainly don't mean to imply "south bad/north good." These days, the religion of the "south" is everywhere and it's used to justify offenses against humanity that are only fractionally less repugnant than slavery itself.
"I assert most unhesitatingly, that the religion of the south is a mere covering for the most horrid crimes,--a justifier of the most appalling barbarity,--a sanctifier of the most hateful frauds,--and a dark shelter under which the darkest, foulest, grossest, and most infernal deeds of slaveholders find the strongest protection. . . . For of all slaveholders with whom I have ever met, religious slaveholders are the worst. I have ever found them the meanest and basest, the most cruel and cowardly, of all others" (79)
Lest readers think Douglass is opposed to all religion, in the Appendix, he contrasts the religiosity he suffered under in the south with the "pure, peaceable, and impartial Christianity of Christ" that he found in the north. In citing these sections, I certainly don't mean to imply "south bad/north good." These days, the religion of the "south" is everywhere and it's used to justify offenses against humanity that are only fractionally less repugnant than slavery itself.
Douglass's autobiography here does an excellent job of depicting lives experienced by enslaved people in Maryland during the antebellum period. I was particularly interested in the way that Douglass became literate--a topic in which he offers a lot of depth--and the way in which Douglass found his freedom--which had notably less depth (for a fully understandable reason: he didn't want slaveholders to crack down more heavily on their slaves).
I also found it curious that Douglass remarks that freed people often lived in more wealth than the average southern slaveholder. On one level, this makes sense, as slaveholders basically relied on credit for every purchase they made--fronting future revenues, their property, and slaves as collateral (see [b:River of Dark Dreams: Slavery and Empire in the Cotton Kingdom|16241458|River of Dark Dreams Slavery and Empire in the Cotton Kingdom|Walter Johnson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1361744745l/16241458._SY75_.jpg|22253117] for more on this). Yet, I'd be really interested in seeing a comparative study of socioeconomic conditions between slaveholders, enslaved peoples, northern yeomen, and northern merchants, if at all possible.
I also found it curious that Douglass remarks that freed people often lived in more wealth than the average southern slaveholder. On one level, this makes sense, as slaveholders basically relied on credit for every purchase they made--fronting future revenues, their property, and slaves as collateral (see [b:River of Dark Dreams: Slavery and Empire in the Cotton Kingdom|16241458|River of Dark Dreams Slavery and Empire in the Cotton Kingdom|Walter Johnson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1361744745l/16241458._SY75_.jpg|22253117] for more on this). Yet, I'd be really interested in seeing a comparative study of socioeconomic conditions between slaveholders, enslaved peoples, northern yeomen, and northern merchants, if at all possible.
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
slow-paced