November 29, 2002
Problematic:
Why was it so important for slave owners that their slaves should remain ignorant and what strategies did they use to achieve this goal?
“If you give a nigger an inch, he will take an ell. A nigger should know nothing but to obey his master—to do as he is told to do”, a sentence said by Mr Auld in the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas, written by himself (Boston 1845).
Since last year, I have been interested in slave narratives and I read some about them. And each time, or almost, I noticed many common features in those books. As we already know, slaves were generally ill-treated, whipped
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Otherwise, what could justify this condition of slaves? Once more, in order to justify their ownership of other human beings, slave owners must constantly deny the humanity of their slaves. To convince themselves that their slaves are not quite human, slave owners treat them inhumanely. Even if some slaveholders were deeply convinced that black people were white men’s equal, they had to deny it or else slavery would stop. This is what Frederick Douglas called “the evil of slavery” in his narrative when good-natured slave owners had to forget their own feelings and to behave very severely toward them for the continuation of slavery. In treating their slaves like beasts, the masters became one themselves.
Then, slave owners separated young slaves from their family very early so as to avoid strong alliances among the slaves which could be a serious threat to their hold on power. On the contrary, they wanted to develop a sense of individuality and rivalry among slaves, they were trying to divide them. For example, slave owners rewarded slaves for giving information on one another. This is how they partially prevented slaves from forming organized rebellions. There is an example which shows the efficiency of this practice in Frederick Douglas’s narrative since he is betrayed, probably by one of his closest friend on his first attempt to escape
Picture this going through life without the ability to read or write. Without these abilities, it is impossible for a person to be a functioning member of society. In addition, imagine that someone is purposely limiting your knowledge to keep a leash on your independence. Not only is an American slave raised without skills in literacy, he cannot be taught to read unless someone breaks the law. In Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, the reader is given a detailed explanation of why slave masters keep their slaves ignorant and the effects such a strategy has on the slaves’ lives. In his autobiography, Douglass describes how the knowledge he obtains has substantial positive and negative effects on his psyche. He is given renewed passion and hope for freedom while struggling with the burden of enlightenment of his situation. Ultimately, however, education shapes his fate, and he achieves freedom and prominence as an advocate for abolition.
Greed is the undertone upon which Douglass states that slavery “corrupted souls” and “turned good people into bad people.” The institution of slavery was based on the ultimate control and power over a human to whom he is stripped of all of his identity and becomes sub-human. Consequently, the institution forces slave holders had to buy into this concept in order to justify any and all cruelty toward slaves. Douglas states “Slave holders resort to all kinds of cruelty” and later describes various ways of torture and punishment “all are in requisition to keep the slave in his condition as a slave in the United States” (Douglass 272). Slave holders showed no mercy when reprimanding slaves. The brutality and cruelty of these punishments were more of a statement of power and control and often times the punishment was worse than the offense.
Frederick Douglas, which is the famous leader in American slavery movement, and also he was the first slave that escaped from the south part of America, then he decided to write down his selves’ legend. In 1845, he published his first autobiography Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglas. In this book, he written down the specific detail about his life of being a slave, and introduced his life experience in this book. He was a half-blood which his father was a white man mother was a black slave. As the same as we are watched the movie Twelfth year’s a slave, the baron or the master could have relationship with random slaves if he wants, because in the land he is the only right, even though god is existent. Because of his identity bring him a lot of trouble and lucky. The trouble is he could not have escaped the identity that his mother gave him, and could not get normally love from
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.
During the enslavement of Fredrick Douglas, he began to educate himself in the field of language and writing. Quickly this became a burden as well as a blessing, as Fredrick had to duck and hide at every turn to ensure that no one who could be a threat to his being found out that he possessed the ability to read. As Fredrick slowly grows with each piece of new material he can acquire, it becomes more evident that Fredrick has also consecutively began to become depressed. Though gifted with the ability to read and even write, later on his life, he now possessed enough knowledge to understand the severity of his situation. He was a man trapped with no way to escape. This began to wear on Fredrick and pushed him into the dark depths of
In the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, the dehumanization of slaves often occurs, as white plantation owners view slaves as objects undeserving of humane treatment in order to uphold power and warrant their unjust practices. Limiting knowledge and prohibiting education for African Americans was one strategy common among slave owners, as “it is the wish of most masters within my knowledge to keep their slaves thus ignorant” (17). Due to their lack of intellect, slaves could not recognize the injustices of the slavery system and had little chances of escaping. When Mrs. Auld attempts to teach Frederick Douglass how to read and write, Mr. Auld claims, “A n***** should know nothing but to obey
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
knowledge would lead slaves to question the right of whites to keep slaves. Lastly, by keeping
Amongst the injustice and brutality of slavery is the exclusion of education and knowledge. The slaveholder would tactically deprive the slaves of any knowledge because it would expose them of slavery’s injustice. This act dehumanized the slaves to a great extent, and at the same time forbade them to pursue any form of freedom, physically or spiritually. Hugh Auld, Douglass’s master reasoned that “it was unlawful, as well as unsafe, to teach a slave to read” and believed “If you have a nigger an inch, he will take an ell.” (Douglass 40, 41) Auld advocated his reasoning by calling a slave “unmanageable,” “unhappy,” and “discontented” if enlightened. Douglass however understood differently. The withdrawal of literacy and knowledge, he believed, was one of the greater factors keeping blacks inferior to whites in society. The Narrative also documents the many physiological effects of slaveholding. Douglass carefully explains the masters whipping their slaves when they least deserve it, and overlooking their deeds when they most deserve it. The killing of a slave is also considered the least of an offense or crime, and is simply gone
Like many others demoralized cultures during the Atlantic Slave trade period, Africans fell victim to the sixteenth century discovery of Columbus' so called "New World." Europeans used the Atlantic Slave Trade to capitalize on Columbus' so called "Discovery." For more than three centuries, the regions of Africa were in a state of destabilization. More than thirty million Africans were taken out of Africa and put in the Americas and surrounding countries.
Slavery as a Cruel Institution Cruelty can be defined as an inhumane action done to an individual or group of people that causes either physical or mental harm. Slavery, at its very core, was a cruel and inhumane institution. From the idea behind it to the way that it was enforced, it degraded the lives of human beings and forbade the basic liberties that every man deserves under the Constitution of the United States. Three major areas where cruelty was especially prevalent were in the slaves working conditions, living conditions, and loss of fundamental freedoms. Working conditions for slaves were about as bad as can possibly be imagined. Slaves worked from dawn till dusk and sometimes even longer. Solomon Northrup describes his
treated them harshly. The masters’ perception of blacks was that they lacked self-discipline and morality. They justified slavery by claiming that they were training the slaves to master self discipline through work and also train them in the precepts of God. Not all masters were harsh and cruel. Some treated their slaves with kindness and subsequently were well loved. However, it still emerges that a majority of even the kindest masters still did not attach much humane value to their slaves. This has been exemplified in that despite
As a young child, Frederick Douglass was introduced to the acts of violence towards the slaves including the all too common whippings. He says, “I have often been awakened at the down of day by the most heart-rendering shrieks of an own aunt of mine, whom he used to tie up to a joist, and whip upon her naked back till she was literally covered with blood.” One could only imagine the horrid pictures that slaves would have seen on a daily basis of other slaves nearly being beaten to death by their masters. For the black children growing up on the plantation, the master was seen to be a man of great power and not to be taken lightly. This was exactly
The slave masters did not care whether their children or relatives were undergoing the harsh conditions of slavery. It is believed that Douglass’ father owned the slaves, “the opinion was whispered that my master was my father; but of the correctness of this opinion I know nothing.... My mother and I were separated when I was but an infant” (p 10). Slave masters use totalitarianism as a means of monitoring their subjects. The slaves are required to behave in a particular manner when they are interacting with their masters. Slaves themselves encounter cruel interaction among their peers and slave holders. Slave masters administer fears among the slaves, since this is what keeps them going. When they speak the truth, they are penalized by their owners.
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.