Evil is Evil
Frederick Douglass was a slave and his life was very difficult. He was to do what he was told no questions asked. If he did ask questions or even defend himself, he was beaten. He even attempted to fun away and failed, but that did not stop him he tried and seceded at running away the second time. it is obvious that slavery largely affected blacks, but the white man was also affected to.
White people were not affected to the extent of being beaten. They were the ones doing the beating. It is difficult to understand why and how they could sole, beat, even kill another person. The people that did not do those things might have been talked into thanking that it was ok. If they were in the country if the beat there slaves it was praised “killing a slave or a colored person, in Talbot country, Maryland, is not treated as a crime, either by the courts or the community”. (page 14) In the city they didn’t beat them as much because people talked. If a person didn’t believe slavery was not right it might have been difficult to fight against it. They might have worried what people thought. “those who sympathized with me were not prepared to do this. It required a degree of courage un known to them to do so; for just as that time, the slightest manifestation of humanity toward a colored person was denounced as abolitionism, and the name subjected its bearer to frightful liabilities”. (page 58) They were afraid to stand up. All of them were afraid.
It was also bad for
The effects of slavery continue to be seen in the world to this day, but its time of full force was during the time of Frederick Douglass, an American slave who eventually learned to read and write. He escaped from slavery and began to tell his story, which became very famous for its raw description of the conditions of slavery. Although many think that slaves were the people most affected, Frederick Douglass reveals that the slaveholders were also greatly changed by the institution. In The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Douglass highlights the dehumanizing nature of slavery, both physically and mentally in both the slave and the slaveholder by providing insight into his relationships and experiences with
Frederick Douglass, the author of the book “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass”, said “I saw more clearly than ever the brutalizing effects of slavery upon both slave and slaveholder” (Douglass, p.71). Modern people can fairly and easily understand the negative effects of slavery upon slave. People have the idea of slaves that they are not allow to learn which makes them unable to read and write and also they don’t have enough time to take a rest and recover their injuries. However, the negative effects upon slaveholder are less obvious to modern people. People usually think about the positive effects of slavery upon slaveholder, such as getting inexpensive labor. In the book “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass”, Douglass
He notes that, the slavery institution made them forget about their origin, and anything else that entails their past, and even when they were born. The slaves forgot everything about their families, and none knew about their family because, they were torn from them without any warning. Douglass explains how they went without food, clothing and even sleep because their masters were cruel to them. American slavery took advantage of black laborers as they were beaten mercilessly without committing any offense. They were not treated as human beings, but as property that could be manipulated in any way. The slavery institution was harsh for the Africans especially women who were regularly raped, and forced to bear their masters children and if they declined, they were maimed or killed.
One of the key arguments in “The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass” as well as in other narratives about slaves is inequality. Douglass attempts to show us how African American slaves were still human beings like their white counterparts, there have been numerous instances where it is shown that many whites did not want to accept slaves as true humans. Frederick
Slaves suffered but weren’t the victims of slave holders. They suffered from slavery. Frederick Douglass wrote a narrative of his position in slavery and as clearly as the sun in the sky, is against it, bringing together those who were too scared to voice their opinion and those who were willing to change. In his narrative he wanted to spread awareness about the American slave system and that it corrupts slave holders as well as harming slaves with his personal experience.
Throughout Douglass's autobiography, he described what slavery does to white people. The stories he told are true yet so inconceivable that many readers were shocked how
Slavery has been a heavily encourages and practiced in the American society. From poor white farmers to supporter of abolishing slavery has seen it with their eyes. They all know that what they were doing to the African American slave was wrong. Slavery transformed the way society sees their life and liberty. In order to truly understand the impacts that slavery had on American society was to be a slave yourself. Frederick Douglass, an escaped slave and fighter for freedom wrote his book based on his experience of being a slave. He was an African American who taught himself how to read write and gain more knowledge to learn that he was a worthy living human. With his autobiography, Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass: An American slave written by himself, Douglass protected his experience by using different tones and styles to capture the reader's mind and show an example of what a slave had to face.
Douglass threw light on the slave system not only through argument but through his autobiography. Douglass talks about the things he saw as a slave. The text says,” The louder she screamed the harder she whipped.”[Douglass, pg,4] That shows how his book showed some of the torture slaves went through. He then talks about how
There is so much damage happening in Douglass’ story that it is challenging to grasp how such an inhuman thing can happen not so long ago from today. Douglass illustrates how dehumanization of black slaves by the whites played a significant role in the timeline of slavery and the brutal occurrences that seemed to expand with it. Whether it was before, during, or after slavery, the slaves were dehumanized in many ways. Without dehumanizing the black slaves' society we would be unable to preserve the experience of violence in order to keep slaves thrive intact situated. But on top of that slaves were punished in extreme manners physically and mentally which this would have caused them to come to a sort of break and become a brute. Not only keeping
Frederick Douglass, a prominent figure in America's history, was born into slavery in 1818. He would go on to engage in many revolutionary ideas after escaping from his master in 1838, such as writing many influential books on what slavery is like and how it should be ended. Writing as an African American during this time was very risky because it was illegal. Though the idea of not allowing people to advance their educational status is immoral, it was not completely the fault of the people of Douglass' time period, but the society that was created ever since slavery came into place. White people's entire view on black people came from the environment they were raised in, and that was in most cases treating black people as their inferior or as if they were animals. No one is born to hate or undermine other human beings, but due to their upbringing, that
To African Americans then meant they had freedom. Frederick Douglass could have been caught by hunters or sold out by southern whites. If he had been caught, he would have been severely punished by his master who no longer had a slave working for them. Because Douglass escaped and he knew how terrible the slaveholders were he had a major impact on the
In other words, Frederick Douglass does not hate nor blame the Christian Church, he loathes those who use it as an excuse to justify their actions. Their religion does not dictate their persona, there are good Christians and there are bad Christians.
Douglass’s own personal experiences reveals just how quickly slavery can change a life. On January 1, 1833, Douglass was reassigned to Mr. Covey, a sadistic man who enjoyed catching slaves doing something wrong off guard. In just six months, Douglass was forced to work under all circumstances. He proclaims that “it was never too hot or too cold; it could never rain, blow, hail, or snow, too hard for us to work in the field” (pg 37). The results of this treatment were devastating. Deprived of time to rest and stripped of his dignity, Douglass was “broken in body, soul, and spirit” (pg 38). Eventually, it appears as if Douglass becomes depressed as his “intellect languished”, his “disposition to read departed”, and “the cheerful spark that lingered about his eyes died” (pg 38). From Douglass’s personal experience, readers can see how just minimal exposure to slavery can dehumanize a man into depression. Additionally, Douglass literally says that he was “a man transformed into a brute!” (pg 38). Through Douglass’s experiences, readers can certainly see that slavery dismantles the lives of its poor
Frederick Douglass gave countless examples of the effect that slavery had on the slaves, as well as on the masters. One specific example of how slavery has an effect on the masters is Sophia Auld. Sophia had never owned a slave before Frederick . Douglass described Sophia as “a woman with the kindest heart and finest feelings.” Before owning a slave, she was the nicest person he had ever come across. She began to teach him the alphabet and how to read. Eventually, Mr. Auld found out and forbade her to teach him.
In the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Written by Himself, Frederick Douglass establishes for us the many factors that lead to the continual enslavement of the black race by connecting his own plight to that of other slaves as a plea for the abolition of slavery. The evil of slavery infected every master to pervert the truth to his own satisfaction and Douglass explains how slavery corrupts the humanity of both slave and master. The legal system was also not an option for slaves to turn to for help because they had no legal rights. The fear of losing friends and never being able to trust anyone again was enough to keep many back in bondage. And the lack of education left their minds dulled to any