Dehumanizing Slaves

Douglass got his passion to promote freedom for all slaves after he escaped from slavery and ultimately had an end goal to “abolish slavery in all its forms and aspects, and promote the moral and intellectual improvement of the coloured people and hasten the day of freedom to the three million of enslaved fellow countrymen”. He also wrote several autobiographies describing his experiences as a slave. One of the autobiographies in particular, ‘Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave’ published in 1845 was a best-selling and was extremely influential for promoting the cause of abolition. The narrative shows a compelling argument to basic human rights thus making it extremely influential as the narrative clearly possesses features and linguistic skills, which for most white people, negated their common perception of black people being illiterate in the 19th century.

Slavery is a humongous topic involving both slaves and former slaves. The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave Story is one such story. Douglass suffered punishments, and watching others get punished, he uses those experiences to make his argument against slavery.Douglass’ tone in the narrative is sarcastic and dark. Frederick Douglass successfully uses vast quantities of rhetorical devices, illuminating the horror and viciousness of slavery, including the need to eliminate it.

In the Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass: an American Slave, written by himself, the author argues that slaves are treated no better than, sometimes worse, than livestock. Douglass supports his claim by demonstrating how the slaves were forced to eat out of a trough like pigs and second, shows how hard they were working, like animals. The author’s purpose is to show the lifestyle of an American slave in order to appeal to people’s emotions to show people, from a slave’s perspective, what slavery is really like. Based on the harsh descriptions of his life, Douglass is writing to abolitionist and other people that would sympathize and abolish slavery.

In a Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave written by himself, the author argues that no one can be enslaved if he or she has the ability to read, write, and think. Douglass supports his claim by first providing details of his attempts to earn an education, and secondly by explaining the conversion of a single slaveholder. The author’s purpose is to reveal the evils of slavery to the wider public in order to gain support for the abolition of his terrifying practice. Based on the purpose of writing the book and the graphic detail of his stories, Douglass is writing to influence people of higher power, such as abolitionists, to abolish the appalling reality of slavery; developing a sympathetic relationship with the

After about nine chapters detailing his slave life, he says, “You have seen how a man was made a slave; you shall see how a slave was made a man.” (Douglass, 75) He then goes on to describe the turning point for him that sparked his quest for freedom. By structuring his narrative this way, he reveals both sides- how slavery broke him “in body, soul, and spirit” (Douglass, 73) and how it eventually “rekindled the few expiring embers of freedom” within him (Douglass, 80). In doing so, he gives the reader an insight into how he became himself, and reinforces the evils of slavery in the way it shapes a man’s life. Douglass’ use of diction and structure effectively persuades the reader of the barbarity and inhumanity that comes as a result of slavery.

The “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass” is an autobiography in which Frederick Douglass reflects on his life as a slave in America. He writes this book as a free slave, in the North, while slavery was still running its course before the Civil War. Through his effective use of rhetorical strategies, Frederick Douglass argues against the institution of slavery by appealing to pathos and ethos, introducing multiple anecdotes, using satirical irony, and explaining the persuasive effects of slavery and reasoning behind keeping slaves uneducated.

Perhaps one of the strongest elements of slavery is honor. Honor has had a wide range of impact in history, whether it was shaping major dynasties and hierarchies, deciding an individuals’ role in society, or family ties and marriages. This sense of worth, high esteem, or virtue was also manipulated by slave masters in order to control their slaves. “The slave could have no honor because of the origin of his status, the indignity and all-pervasiveness of his indebtedness, his absence of any independent social existence, but most of all because he was without power except through another” (p 6). This element is not just a physical force, such as coercive power, which one can heal and

Starting from a slave’s birth, this cruel process leads to a continuous cycle of abuse, neglect, and inhumane treatment. To some extent, slave holders succeed because they keep most slaves so concerned with survival that they have no time or energy to consider freedom. This is particularly true for plantation slaves where the conditions of slave life are the most difficult and challenging. However, slave holders fail to realize the damage they inadvertently inflict on themselves by upholding slavery and enforcing these austere laws and attitudes.

Dehumanization can be described as the deprivation of an individual’s control over their actions and stripping them of their basic human rights and qualities. The act of dehumanization transpired in the 1800s when amputation, abuse, and other brutal means of punishment became a way to control slaves, leaving physical and physiological trauma on both the slave and the slaveholder. The relationship of the master and the slave is criticized and questioned continually as it is both wrong and unjust in society. The Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass, an American

Frederick Douglass’ “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave” is a brief look into what it means for a slave to be free during the nineteenth century, and how a slave can hope to achieve liberty through literacy. As Carson describes, Douglass employs “the use of certain literary strategies to emphasise the importance of writing in general as the only means for the slave both to overcome his social status of bondage and to acquire a true sense of self” (20). Douglass demonstrates the link between literacy and liberty with his mastery of the written word, and its connection to spiritual and mental enlightenment. Throughout the novel, he also shows us that his success and freedom came directly from his learning, and how

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, brings to light many of the social injustices that colored men, women, and children all were forced to endure throughout the nineteenth century under Southern slavery laws. Douglass's life-story is presented in a way that creates a compelling argument against the justification of slavery. His argument is reinforced though a variety of anecdotes, many of which detailed strikingly bloody, horrific scenes and inhumane cruelty on the part of the slaveholders. Yet, while Douglas’s narrative describes in vivid detail his experiences of life as a slave, what Douglass intends for his readers to grasp after reading his narrative is something much more profound. Aside from all the

Douglass confirms that slavery dehumanizes mankind. Douglass’s narrative confirms that slavery does take a dehumanizing toll on slaves and their masters.

The treatment and conditioning of slaves in the antebellum south was one of the most inhumane and merciless accounts in human history. Slaves were auctioned, sold and bought as if they were nothing more than livestock. They were fed with monthly rations—eight pounds of pork or fish. They were given one pair of shoes, two shirts, two trousers, and one jacket intended to last for an entire year. Seldom it was to ever hear of a slave whose shoulders and back weren’t mutilated by a cow skin, a popular form of punishment handed out to slaves accused of committing even the slightest misdemeanor. The life of a slave was not treated as a human life at all. The life of a slave was seen as so insignificant, that the murder of one rarely led to any ramifications, legal or otherwise. The worse that was to be expected from the murder of a slave was the expenses; either from the loss of labor, or the debt yet to be paid off from the purchase of the slave. Though, many times slave-owners would be expunged of even that consequence, for if it was the government that carried out the killing of a slave, they would reimburse the respective slave’s master. And though the international slave trade was outlawed in 1807, slaves were still being produced at a stable rate either through rape, or the use of “breeder” slaves.

Slavery was one of the most horrid times in our American history. People crying for freedom and liberty from tyranny built a nation out of greed and unethical acts. We took people of a different color and forced them to obey our commands. Quickly we turned slaves into a massive industry and had millions of captured humans circulating our newly founded nation. Slaves were treated as if they were an animal. They had no rights and were beaten on a regular basis. Giving them no rights allowed masters to have overall control without the fear of a retaliation by his Negro. We also see whipping as a major power point, inflicting such harm on to someone pose fear into their eyes. In Harriet Jacobs first-hand tool, written in Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl: Written by Herself, we are able to relive her emotional story that shows the dehumanization, and also some of the strength that slaves had. In this short essay, we will look into some of the power that slaves were able to have even if they were forbidden.

Until recently, the historical and sociological focus on slavery had been limited to that of what the slaveholders did to the slaves and how they were treated. The new focus on “what enslaved men, women, and children did when the owners were not around,” (Schwartz 2001: pg 2) offers a new perspective on the community most affected by the institution of slavery. Having a more complete view of this institution provides greater context for understanding the ripple-affect of oppression within the African American community from the past into the present and future.