Frederick Douglass' later account of both his life as a slave and his life as a freeman. This autobiography is different from his earlier versions not only because it is longer and includes an account of his life as a freeman, but also because, in it, Douglass was free to theorize in his own voice about a number of themes, such as the nature and causes of slavery, the nature of freedom, and what it is to be a good person.

Themes

• the experience of slavery

• slavery as a structure or system that distorts people on both sides

• comparison between life under the system of slavery and life under the system of work as a freeman

• what is freedom?

• what makes someone a good person?

Closely Related ATLAS Texts

• Cugoano, Ottobah Quobna. Thoughts and Sentiments on the Evil of Slavery and other Writings. 1787.
• Davis, Angela. “Unfinished Lecture on Liberation II.” 1983.
• Equiano, Olaudah. The Interesting Life of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavas Vassa, the African. 1789.
• Jacobs, Harriet. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. 1861.
• Mills, Charles W. "White Supremacy as a Sociopolitical System." 2003.
• Truth, Sojourner. Narrative of Sojourner Truth; A Bondswoman of Olden Time, With a History of Her Labors and Correspondence. 1850.
• Williams, Eric. Capitalism and Slavery. 1944.