This book was written by Frederick Douglass in the 1800's during slavery in America. It is the account of his life as a slave from childhood to when he esacped around the age of thirty. I wanted to read this book because it is a 'classic' and thought it would make me smarter by reading it. : ) By I soon discovered I was in for more than I'd bargained for as I read chapter after chapter of the horrors of slavery. I remember glancing at the subject of slavery in school, but not really diving into the subject. As I read through the book I kept thinking, "this is America's Holocaust." Only slavery lasted for over 200 years! Douglass' stories of beatings, rape, and outright murder were heart-wrenching, but the part that made me the most sick over slavery is what it did to the family--the backbone of society, and the human soul, all while the "church" condoned this evil.
"This is American slavery; no marriage--no education--the light of the gospel shut out from the dark mind of the bondman--and he forbidden by law to learn to read. If a mother shall teach her children to read, the law in Louisiana proclaims that she may be hanged by the neck. If the father attempts to give his son a knowledge of letters, he may be punished by the whip in one instance, and in another be killed, at the discretion of the court. Three millions of people shut out from the light of knowledge! It is easy for you to conceive the evil that must result from such a state of things."
It is truly an act of God that somewhere along the way Douglass found the true gospel and believed it! And God used him in mighty ways!
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