Frederick Douglass, A Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

Jacob Zumoff (College of New Jersey)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 3.2.5: African American Writing and Culture of the United States.
Vol. editors: Philathia Bolton (University of Akron), Patrick Chura (University of Akron), Emory Elliott (University of California, Riverside), A Yemisi Jimoh (University of Massachusetts Amherst), Stephen E. Meats (Pittsburg State University)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1845 - 1892

Places

United States (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Non-Fiction
- Autobiography (literary)

Resources

The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, Written By Himself must be seen within the context of its times. When Douglass’ first autobiography (of three) was published in 1845, slavery was still legally enshrined in practice and law in the American South. John C. Calhoun, the foremost intellectual defender of slavery, was still alive, and the U.S. was preparing to invade Mexico, in part to obtain more land for the expansion of slavery. The American Civil War still had yet to resolve the issue of slavery once and for all. Therefore, the Narrative’s anti-slavery perspective, which is today taken for granted, was very much a contentious issue in 1845. Douglass’ Narrative, besides …

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3056 words

Citation: Zumoff, Jacob. "A Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 11 August 2006 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=7059, accessed 27 November 2024.]

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