Kaitlyn Grubbs

Miss Burke
Honors English 11
9 December 2016
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass Final Essay
Slavery was a major issue that led to the oppression and death of millions of Africans
between the years of 1865 and 1916. One of these slaves who was able to escape slavery and
become a public spokesperson for antislavery was Frederick Douglass. As Douglass was born
into slavery, the oppression had a major impact on his life and would limit his ability to become
self-empowered, which would later help him to become free. A main cause that would impact
Douglass was the psychological oppression that he endured while being a slave. Douglass lacked
a sense of identity, harsh treatment, and trauma from his past that would set him back in being
able to become self-empowered.
Douglass lacked his sense of identity, which can limit his ability to become selfempowered. To begin, Douglass was raised without any parental figures present. He stated, My
mother and I were separated when I was but an infant before I knew her as my mother
(Douglass 20). He also did not know who his father was, but suspected him to be a slave owner.
Taking away from his identity, Douglass did not know his own birthday. I have no accurate
knowledge of my age, never having seen any authentic record containing it (Douglass 20).
Finally, Douglass even lacks a consistent name throughout his life. Douglass was born as
Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey and would soon change it to Frederick Bailey to shorten
it. He would then become Frederick Johnson and change that to Frederick Douglass due to a

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mass amount of people with the last name of Johnson. Since Douglass does not have a full sense
of identity, it is possible that he had become depressed as a symptom of the psychological abuse
that he endured during his life, thus limiting his ability to become self-empowered.
Due to the harsh treatment Douglass received while a slave, he had the inability to trust
those around him. This would take an immense toll on Douglasss journey to becoming selfempowered because there are many things that he would not be able to do without the help of
those around him. For example, when Douglass escaped slavery and traveled to New York City,
he felt as though he could not put his trust in anyone around him because he felt as though
everyone was against him. I saw in every white man an enemy, and in almost every colored
man cause for distrust (Douglass 113). By learning how to read, Douglass gained an immense
advantage for his escape from slavery. He knew that the adults around him looked down to him,
so he would ask children to help him because they are more ignorant to slavery and are less
aware to the difference in people based on skin color that existed in their lives. The plan which I
adopted, and the only one by which I was successful, was that of making friends with the little
white boys whom I met in the streets (Douglass 52). As Douglass was unable to trust adults, he
had put his dream of learning to read and write in the hands of people who were just learning
themselves. He would have to do this all in secret, out of fear that his master would beat him for
his actions. With Douglasss inability to trust others, becoming self-empowered would be much
more difficult for him.
Life as a slave would lead Douglass to suffer from trauma throughout his life, which
would set him back from becoming self-empowered. When Douglass experienced psychological
abuse while he was a slave, he would also suffer from symptoms of trauma such as anxiety and
fear. This is present during one of Douglasss escape plans where Douglass planned out many

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small details and attempted to rid his plan of any flaws that could make it less than perfect. The
week before our intended start, I wrote several protections, one for each of us (Douglass 94). He
also decided that they should take a river route because they were likely to be assumed as
fishermen and were less likely to be stopped and questioned. His planning was so precise due to
his fear of being caught and taken back to the plantation. Another symptom of trauma that
Douglass suffered from was hopelessness. At times I would rise up, a lash of energetic freedom
would dart through my soul, accompanied with a faint beam of hope, that flickered for a
moment, and then it vanished. I sank down again, mourning over my wretched condition
(Douglass 74-75). It is evident that Douglass had feelings of hopelessness, as he felt as though he
would never be able to escape from life as a slave. The traumatic experiences of Douglasss life
would therefore hinder his ability to become self-empowered and make him feel as though he
was not able to decide what he was going to do with his life.
In conclusion, the psychological oppression that Douglass endured through lack of sense
of identity, harsh treatment, and trauma would all have a major impact in his ability to become
self-empowered. All of these would also stay with him throughout most, if not all, of his journey
to freedom and would easily cause setbacks in his plans. Among all of the forms of oppression
that Douglass endured, psychological is the most severe since it would impact him for a
prolonged period of time.