Slave narratives, abolitionist literature, Frederick Douglass, William Lloyd Garrison, The Liberator, Harriet Beecher Stowe
In the middle of the 19th century, the young USA had to go through one of the most violent and dangerous periods in its history. Indeed, the question of slavery became more and more burning every day, and finally demanded a solution. As you know, when writing the Constitution, the Founding Fathers had said nothing about it, knowing that such a difficult problem would go against the union that they wanted to create and strengthen. The black slaves (just like the Natives), therefore, remained unconcerned by the Constitution and by the rights that the Constitution guaranteed to the other US citizens, that is to say, the white population.
[...] Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811-96) Another name that remained famous in the white abolitionist world is that of Harriet Beecher Stowe, the most famous author of Uncle Tom's Cabin, published in 1852. The book was so important, had such an impact (it was an international best-seller) that it can be said to have indeed changed the course of American history. Even President Lincoln paid a tribute to Stowe when he declared, on meeting her: "So this is the little lady who made this big war " Stowe was born and educated in the North, and therefore had no precise knowledge of life in the South. [...]
[...] White Abolitionist Literature A. William Lloyd Garrison (1805-79): The Liberator (1831) One of the major voices of the abolitionist movement was that of a white man, a journalist and editor, whose name is William L. Garrison. Garrison was a very impressive man who devoted his life to the struggle against slavery; he was extremely vocal, very violent in the hundreds of articles that he published on the subject, relentlessly accusing his country, the South and the slaveowners, relentlessly denouncing the corruption and hypocrisy at the heart of US society. [...]
[...] In 1855, he published his first autobiography, The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, and the book was extremely successful. It was republished several times, translated in several languages, and rapidly became a classic. Douglass then wrote two other autobiographical narratives, in which he developed other points in his life, giving several (and sometimes slightly different) versions of his experience as a slave. The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave is a very impressive book. Douglass writes about his childhood, his years of working in the fields and then as a house-slave in town. [...]
[...] Slave narratives And Abolitionist Literature In the middle of the 19th century, the young USA had to go through one of the most violent and dangerous periods in its history. Indeed, the question of slavery became more and more burning every day, and finally demanded a solution. As you know, when writing the Constitution, the Founding Fathers had said nothing about it, knowing that such a difficult problem would go against the union that they wanted to create and strengthen. [...]
[...] He also very brilliantly analyzed the humiliations imposed to the slaves, but also the ways those slaves reacted (sometimes with no courage, sometimes with an amazing fidelity towards their white masters). Douglass hides nothing, disguises nothing; he wants to be as clear as possible about a system that perverted everything and everyone — blacks and whites alike. The book, therefore, is full of scenes that are either moving or frightening, always fascinating. The voice is that of a very clever man who is perfectly able to tell his life of course, as many former slaves did, but also to consider and analyze an institution which was the greatest shame of US society. [...]
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