Jonathan Aispuro

Ms. Zamudio, Ms. Carroll, and Mr. Kelly

9/30/18
Narrative of the life of ​Frederick Douglass ​An American Slave Written by Himself

Throughout American history there has been slavery. From Africans Americans all the
way to Native Americans. People are the cause of the problem but they can also be the solution.
Others entirely can be hypocrites in the trying to do something right or wrong. In the book
Frederick Douglass which will be used mostly throughout the paper uses this with another topic.
This other topic is religion piety and how people interpret the words of God.

In the first place, being a hypocrite is usually by mistake and many cases the person is
ignorant. For Douglass’s case it was a meeting at the time his master’s house. There were 6
people in that meeting. The names given were “ Mr. Stocks, Mr. Ewery, Mr. Humphry, and Mr.
Hickey … Mr. Cookman… Mr. Samuel” ¿(Douglass 44). These men grouped up talking about
God with how great it is to have no sin and preach the word of him. Meanwhile there are African
Americans working out in the field. Many of them enjoyed these visits since it would give them
the chance of not working as hard. Out of these men one mostly had sympathy for the African
Americans. He was Mr. Cookman but he never spoke out or acted on his thoughts about the
workers.”He could not come among us without betraying his sympathy for us, and, stupid as we
were, we had sagacity to see it”(Douglass 44). Many have seen his sympathy towards them but
it was awful to have that knowledge.

Secondly, wrongly interpreting the words of God happens in life. Some believe what they
think God is saying while others have a different opinion of what God is saying. Douglass
believes in god but is still is not open to him. Seeing the horrible things and realizing what is
happening with the new knowledge gained. With this new knowledge Douglass realized God can
change people for the best or the worst. “It neither made him to be humane to his slaves, nor to
emancipate them… it made him more cruel and hateful in all his ways; for I believe him to have
been a much worse man after his conversion than before” (Douglass 43). While many men have
become better after converting. This is not the case of that happening but instead of creating
more cruelty. This man that Douglass is talking about is Captain Auld. After his conversion
Captain Auld whipped a woman and seemed to enjoy it. While whipping he preached from the
scripture and said “He that knoweth his master’s will, and doeth it not, shall be beaten with
many stripes.” (Douglass 44).Captain Auld resisted the scripture while whipping this woman in a
bloody pulp trying to show how much he is embraces God. Thus showing the patient Captain
Auld has and interpreting God’s words as his own.

To conclude, Frederick Douglass has shown what people do to believe in God. In real life
many have done this by creating cults, murdering or getting away from crime in history. By
wrongly interpreting God the people had done dangerous and terrible things to others. Religion
Jonathan Aispuro
Ms. Zamudio, Ms. Carroll, and Mr. Kelly
9/30/18
Narrative of the life of ​Frederick Douglass ​An American Slave Written by Himself
can be a powerful motivator for many but these are just stories to make life easier and better for
all. Being a hypocrite is also a problem for many people and can stop does from doing good.