Classic Slave Naratives, A comparison of the accounts of Gustavus Vassa and Frederick Douglass.

The stories told by Gustavus Vassa and Fredrick Douglass are very different. Even though both men were slaves, and their experiences were sometimes similar, fate played different roles in their lives. This contrast began at their births. Vassa was born a native African whereas Douglass was born into slavery in the southern United States. Vassa' family was prominent in his tribe. His father was a chieftain and he was to grow up into this position …

…making him free. Vassa sold goods for profit in order to buy his freedom from his master. Although other masters had cheated him, this man was true to his word and freed Vassa. Frederick Douglass' and Gustavus Vassa' stories are filled with details of struggles slaves endured on a daily basis. They are well written accounts of slave life. Both Authors' backgrounds and circumstances differed, but the message of the brutality of slavery is identical.