Annotated Bibliography

Model of AB Format 3/17

MLA Citations: Consult the Wilhoit text for MLA citation (see p.288 for a database article), and MLA citations on the OWL at Purdue website searching with “MLA format.”

Writer: Elizabeth S. Martin

Frederick Douglass: The influence of Irish Activism

Thesis      While Frederick Douglass was widely acknowledged as an orator and activist before his visit to Ireland, it was during this visit that his activism expanded beyond slavery to include broader issues of social injustice, as his speaking skills were refined and strengthened.

Ferreira, Patricia. “All But ‘A Black Skin and Wooly Hair’: Frederick Douglass's Witness of the Irish

Famine.” American Studies International, vol. 37, no. 2, 1999, pp. 69–83., www.jstor.org/stable/41280919. Accessed 14 Aug. 2017.

Ferreira claims the most significant consequence of Douglass’ visit to Ireland developed as a result of his initial reluctance to discuss the human suffering he observed. She reports that Douglass was concerned that his observations would reflect his limited understanding of what he observed, and that “inaccurate perceptions” could be the basis for denying Irish human rights, as such perceptions had fueled a loss of rights for African Americans in the United States. His decision to speak on the subject of Irish suffering is a marker of significant change, of a deep shift in his self-perception. Ferreira argues that this decision is the basis for a broader activism responding to widespread oppression: rather than relegating his black experience solely to the condition of the American slave, he reconfigured his racial identity so that it was also part of the larger human condition.

Quinn, John F. “‘Safe in Old Ireland’: Frederick Douglass's Tour, 1845–1846.” The Historian, vol. 64, no. 3/4,

2002, pp. 535–550., www.jstor.org/stable/24451019. Accessed 14 Aug. 2017.

It is in his own words that the effect of Ireland on Frederick Douglass is made clear. According to the author, Douglass claims “I seem to have undergone a transformation. I live a new life” (549). Quinn explains that this “life-changing experience” resulted in his increased self-assurance and independence, allowing him to break away from key American abolitionists such as William Lloyd Garrison to assert his own political strategies and views. The author points to his “transformation from loyal Garrison disciple to independent abolitionist” due to his experiences in Ireland (550).

Rolston, Bill. "Frederick Douglass: A Black Abolitionist in Ireland." History Today vol. 53, no. 6, 2003, pp.45-51. Arts and

Humanities Citations Index. Accessed EBSCOhost. 5 March 2017.

According to Bill Rolston, Frederick Douglass’s eventual “willingness to speak out on a variety of social issues” is due to the powerful influence of Irish abolitionists he observed during his two years in Ireland, combined with his sympathetic connection to the Irish people. He points out that while slavery was abolished in Britain in 1833, the lively abolitionist lobby in the United Kingdom continued to engage in the struggle against slavery in the United States. Douglass was first deeply affected by the powerful speeches of such lobbyists as Irish politician Daniel O’Connell, whose moving speeches directly influenced Douglass’s oratory, and who, according to Rolston, “did not confine himself only to Irish political issues. O'Connell was an outspoken and lifelong opponent of slavery.”