My Bondage and My Freedom

Historians often call the Civil War the first modern war, a precursor to the great battlefield slaughterhouses of the twentieth century. Frederick Douglass shows that America was also first to invent the totalitarian police state. It's hard to believe Stalin didn't have MY BONDAGE AND MY FREEDOM prominently positioned on his bookshelf for frequent consultation because the Soviet system of oppression had so much in common with the system of oppression in the American South. The only significant difference was that, in the Soviet system, absolute power was vested in Stalin; in the American system, absolute power was vested in each slavemaster. Each slavemaster was, in essence, a little Stalin, with life and death power over his slave property. The slave system rigorously withheld news and information from slaves. A slave often would not know his father or even his own date of birth. He could not lawfully learn to read. He could not travel without written authorization. He could not associate freely with other slaves. He could not safely trust anyone or confide his private thoughts to anyone because planted informers were so numerous. Slaves had to avoid even certain thoughts for fear the slavemaster would see in their facial expressions what was in their minds. Disguised slave catchers would sometimes help and encourage a slave to escape, only to capture him for the reward. The slavemaster demanded and enforced absolute, immediate, and unquestioned subservience through fear, a liberal use of the lash and the constant threat of transferring a recalcitrant slave to an even harsher labor camp in the deep South. Yet MY BONDAGE AND MY FREEDOM is by no means a depressing book, thanks to Douglass' irrepressible courage, wit, spirit and good luck when he most needed it. There are even a few intentionally hilarious moments, which I won't give away in this review. To avoid capture after his escape to the North, Douglass used the fees from his speeches in Great Britain and royalties from his book sales to legally buy his own freedom from his Maryland owner. The book covers a period of American history I knew little about, the period between the War of 1812 and the Civil War. I didn't know, for example, that the abolition movement early in that period favored secession from the United States on the belief that the Constitution favored the South and backed to the hilt the slave system. An excellent recent book that supports that view is SLAVERY'S CONSTITUTION by David Waldstreicher. Even though Douglass was a religious, believing Christian, he leveled his most scathing criticism at the way Southerners used Christianity to justify and advance the slave system. He often noted that the cruelest slave masters were also credited as the most religious members of their communities. Some of the worst even had "Rev." attached to their names. The only slavemaster Douglass credited with relative decency and kindness also happened to be an atheist.

THIS BOOK IS POWERFUL, ITS SHOCKING, AND IT IS ASPIRING. THERE IS NOTHING ON CHANNEL 11 THAT BRINGS THE HONEST, INSIGHTFUL, VERY REAL ACCOUNT THAT MR.DOUGLASS DOES IN HIS BOOK. FROM SLAVE TO FREE-MAN, THIS IS TRUELY AN AMERICAN SUCCESS. SKIP THE INTRO, AND JUMP INTO IT.

Douglass's second, and lengthier, narrative fills in many of the gaps left in his first autobiography: we learn about his mother, his siblings, and more details about his psychological transformation from brute to man. It's quite insightful, as Douglass is careful to relate each of his personal experiences to the innate evil of the peculiar instituition, for both the slave and the slave holder.

My Bondage and My Freedom, one of Douglass' several autobiographies, a very important book that should be read by anyone interested in United States history generally, or the crucial and often tragic role race has played in that history. Douglass, a former slave, was one of the few African-Americans who achieved prominence in the largely white, new england abolition movement. Douglass was an eloquent writer and (by historical accounts) speaker. His recounting of his experience as a slave, and his reflections on his role as a black former slave in America, are powerful.