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Tommy Rae
Miss Burke
English 11
10 January 2018

Struggle is Necessary for Progress

Frederick Douglass’ has struggled throughout his entire life. There were many things he

had to endure while he was a slave. A person cannot achieve without adversity. This is shown

through Frederick Douglass’ experiences and struggles. During his time in slavery, Douglass was

beaten and worked until he couldn’t work anymore. These struggles are what pushed him into

doing what he needed to free himself from slavery. Some struggles that Frederick Douglass had

to endure includes being physically abused and not being able to read or write.

The first struggle that Frederick Douglass had to face was being physically beaten as a

slave. Slaves during this time were not treated with much respect and many of the owners took

advantage of them and pushed them until they could not continue to work. An example of this is

when Mr. Covey whipped Frederick Douglass for the first time because he crashed the cart twice

and also disobeyed him. Mr. Covey began to beat Frederick for every small thing he did wrong.

These events led to progress because it began to give Frederick the confidence to fight Mr.

Covey and stand up for himself later on. Mr. Covey was coming to beat Frederick Douglass

while he was working, when he decided to take action, “I resolved to fight; and, suiting my

action to the resolution, I seized Covey hard by the throat; and as I did so, I rose.” (Douglass

130). Mr. Covey began to tremble because he was so surprised that Frederick had done

something like this. They continued to fight for nearly two hours until they both let go of each

other and Covey told Frederick that if he had not fought back, he would not have whipped him

half as much as he did. Another example of this type of struggle is when Frederick Douglass

went to go work with the white men in the shipyard. These men were carpenters who did not
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agree that free colored men should not be encouraged to work because it would put all the poor

white men out of jobs. One day, the workmen came upon Frederick Douglass armed with sticks,

stones, and heavy handspikes. Frederick was beaten from all sides of him by these men.

Frederick was struck on the head and fell down. The men began to beat him with their fists but

then, “I let them lay on me for a while, gathering strength. In an instant, I gave a sudden surge,

and rose to my hands and knees.” (Douglass 159). This quote explains how Frederick was being

beaten by these men but then he gained the strength and confidence to stand up and fight even

though he was out numbered. This certain event also led to progress because it caused Frederick

Douglass to gain the strength and confidence to fight the workmen.

Another struggle that Frederick Douglass had to face was not knowing how to read or

write. Without this ability, Frederick was left in the dark and could not move forward in life or

on his journey to making his escape. Frederick would use many tactics to learn how to read and

write. He knew only a few letters from working in the shipyard. Since he knew this, “After that,

when I met with any boy who I knew could write, I would tell him I could write as well as he.

The next word would be, ‘I don’t believe you. Let’s see you try it.’ I would then make the letters

which I had been fortunate as to learn, and ask him to beat that.” (Douglass 97). This is how

Frederick Douglass got some good writing lessons. This led to progress because he now knew

how to write much more than just the letters from the shipyard. Another tactic Frederick

Douglass used was when he would give bread to the poor boys in his local community in

exchange for reading lessons. Frederick needed to increase his knowledge so he would be better

prepared for the future. In doing so, Frederick would seek out the boys in the street, “With their

kindly aid, obtained at different times and in different places. I finally succeeded in learning to

read.” (Douglass 91). This quote shows how Frederick Douglass would essentially hire the boys
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in the neighborhood to teach him how to read while repaying them with bread. Even though

people take reading and writing for granted it is still important in everything one does. This

shows progress for Frederick Douglass because he is now better prepared for what is to come

and it will make it easier for him to be successful in his life during slavery and after he escapes

from slavery.

A great outside example of how struggle leads to progress and how progress leads to

success is World War I. World War I lasted for 4 years and there were many stalemates that

came along with it. At many times during this great battle there were struggles for both sides.

The Allies struggled the most, at the beginning of the war, because Germany and the rest of the

Central Powers had been so much more technologically advanced than them. Even though they

were most likely out-numbered and out-gunned, the Allies still held their own. The Germans

then made a huge mistake causing America to join the war. America came into the war relieving

the Allies from most of their struggles by bringing them new supplies and soldiers that were

fresh and ready to be used. This event gave the Allies the advantage they needed to begin to push

through German territory and cause them to start retreating. In 1918, Germany made a huge

mistake causing that cost them the war and caused them to surrender on November 11, 1918.

All of these examples show how it is close to impossible to progress without struggle.

Frederick Douglass had to endure many struggles to progress and eventually succeed in his life.

The Allies were struggling at first and then America joined the war which made them progress

them in the war causing them to succeed in which they defeated Germany and the rest of the

Central Powers. Struggle Is necessary for progress and progress is necessary to succeed.
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Works Cited

Douglass, Frederick, and Angela Y. Davis. Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass: an

American slave: written by himself. City Lights Books, 2010.