19th Century Anti Slavery and Civil Rights Compare and Contrast Essay

There is literature on everything, on aliens, on monkeys, on Antislavery, and Civil Rights. Let us compare and contrast 19th century Antislavery and Civil Rights literature. I personally believe that these two broad ranges of works are more similar than they are different, and that they both use interesting ways to pull the reader in and keep them entertained. The Antislavery movement in general is about freeing African Americans from the oppressive chains of slavery, and the Civil Rights movement is about furthering the rights of said African Americans, these two really go hand in hand.

First, let us compare an Antislavery piece of literature, and a nice long Civil Rights story. “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass” by Douglas, is an honest gut wrenching autobiography about an African American slave who teaches himself to read and write. In this true story Frederick Douglass goes to work for a horrible man who beats him within an inch of his life. The story goes on to describe how Frederick Douglass walked mile after mile to his original owners home in the hopes that he may experience a bit of relief from the grueling conditions, only to be sent back in defeat, such a frightening thing. Yet Douglass survives his horrible past to bring us this sad, empowering, narrative that appeals to anyone who would be a skeptic about the harsh conditions that 19th century slaves really did face. Now let us look at another narrative of a similar type, “Coming of Age in Mississippi” by Moody. In this tale from the south, several African American protestors decide that the segregation of blacks and whites in diners is unfair, and so a sit-in ensues. These teenagers, covered in ketchup, mustard, and many other condiments by the angry white bystanders, were hit, hassled, and beat by these local whites who did not agree with colored folks sitting at a booth. From this brief description of each piece of work, it is easy to see that the fight for Antislavery and Civil Rights...