ipl-logo

Frederick Douglass Hypocrisy

410 Words2 Pages

Hypocrisy towards the “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass” Frederick Douglass expressed a multitude of ways of the hypocrisy of slavery in his narrative. One of which was when Douglass was sent to Edward Covey by Master Hugh. Covey was known as the “negro-breaker”. Slave owners would send their “misbehaved” slaves to Mr. Cover for a year to put them back into shape. Covey was born as a poor white man who could only afford to buy one slave. So all he had was his “reputation for being a first–rate overseer and negro-breaker.” Around six months after living with Mr. Covey, Covey entered the stable that Douglass was working in with a rope and took a hold of Douglass's legs. Douglass had a random urge to fight back. Covey was losing this fight and with no help from Mr.Hugh due to Douglass weakening him with a kick and no help from Bill who also came into the stable but refused to help because he was hired out to work and not to help fight Douglass, Covey would get it bad. …show more content…

Covey. Mr Covey had never laid a finger on Douglass again, neither sending him away to be punished for his actions to a place where he would be whipped constantly. Douglass had said, “That reputation was at stake; and had he sent me-–a boy about sixteen years old—to the public whipping-post, his reputation would have been lost; so to save his reputation, he suffered me to go unpunished.”All Mr. Covey was known for being able to break the enslaved. Without that title Mr. Covey would go back to being a poor white man who can't afford

Show More
Related

Summary Of Frederick Douglass Battle With Mr. Covey

359 Words | 2 Pages

Douglas spent a year with Covey, during which he was frequently and brutally whipped. Having spent considerable time in the city, Douglass was not familiar with farm instruments and techniques. Because of this unfamiliarity, he made mistakes and was continually punished. Covey pushed his slaves to the limit, making them work long

Read More

Comparing Douglass Narrative Of My Bondage And My Freedom

350 Words | 2 Pages

Frederick Douglass published two similar versions of his fight with the ‘slave-breaker’ Edward Covey in the tenth chapter of his The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave, and in the seventeenth chapter of My Bondage and My Freedom. By comparing the two accounts it is possible to see an evolution of his thoughts on abolishing slavery and person hood which occurred in the years which transpired between the two works, 1845 and 1855. In the first account which Douglass wrote at around the age of 27 he narrates a physical confrontation where he refuses to allow himself to be whipped. Douglass struggles for two hours with Covey and also fights off Covey’s cousin at the same time.

Read More

How Is Frederick Douglass Broken

510 Words | 3 Pages

He states that “ Mr. Covey gave me a very severe whipping, cutting my back, causing the blood to run…” This is the first cruel incident, of many to come, that Douglass is involved in. Deserving or not, he will be forced to endure these hardships until the end of his bondage or death, whichever comes first. Soon after, Douglass and Covey fight for nearly two hours. In doing so, Douglass concludes that he, only in mind, is no longer a slave, “ I now resolved that, however long I might remain a slave in form, the day had passed forever when I could be a slave in fact.”

Read More

The Genius Of Fredrick Douglass

1578 Words | 7 Pages

Douglass had been very defiant in Coveys mind recently and he decided Fredrick needed to be tied up and beaten. Normally a slave would take it, but he had enough of the beatings, so he lashed out and began to fight Mr. Covey they fought for what he says was two hours, which is impressive in of its self. The more amazing thing is Douglass had the opportunity to kill his master and be done with the abuse, but he thought to him self “I can this white man I will surely be killed.” He was one hundred percent correct in this string of thought; if he killed, he surely would have died a brutal death.

Read More

How Is Frederick Douglass Relevant Today

526 Words | 3 Pages

The Narrative of Frederick Douglass is a very great perspective for people of today to understand what it was like to be a slave in the 1800’s. It tells the story of the slave Frederick Douglass and how he began as an uneducated slave and was moved around from many different types of owners, cruel or nice, and how his and other slaves presences changed the owners, and also how he educated himself and realized that he shouldn’t be treated so poorly It was at the point later in the book that I realized how some slaves might have felt during slavery in the 1800’s. When Douglass is sent away to Mr.Covey he is treated pretty badly but eventually he stands up to Mr.Covey and demands that he stopped being treated like an animal.

Read More

Frederick Douglass's Arguments Against Slavery

1080 Words | 5 Pages

In “The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass”, Douglass narrates in detail the oppressions he went through as a slave before winning his freedom. In the narrative, Douglass gives a picture about the humiliation, brutality, and pain that slaves go through. We can evidently see that Douglass does not want to describe only his life, but he uses his personal experiences and life story as a tool to rise against slavery. He uses his personal life story to argue against common myths that were used to justify the act of slavery. Douglass invalidated common justification for slavery like religion, economic argument and color with his life story through his experiences torture, separation, and illiteracy, and he urged for the end of slavery.

Read More

Frederick Douglass And Their Eyes Were Watching God Analysis

822 Words | 4 Pages

Such as, the fact that Douglass was a slave, meant he was treated solely as owned property and his basic human rights were deprived from him. Additionally, that delayed him from receiving education for the time he was held captive. Therefore, it goes to show that knowledge is power and he was at a disadvantage because of that, which meant that he got out of slavery later on to advance. Additionally, Covey rented him for a year, he made him perform rigorous labor while whipping him to the point that he was soulless basically. As a result, he altered and fought back which would make Covey never to dare make contact him ever again.

Read More

Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass Dehumanization Examples

819 Words | 4 Pages

Covey, and he is known for “breaking” slaves which means working them hard and getting them into shape. Mr. Covey puts Frederick through a lot of difficult work, and he just wants to stop learning how to write and read, and also doesn’t want to live anymore. Frederick talks about he no longer feels like a man, and feels like a little brute. This example shows that the dehumanization can make someone feel like they aren’t wanted anymore, it can make them not want to live anymore and that’s what is happening to Frederick. Frederick has no human rights and Mr. Covey doesn’t care with what he has to say because “black slaves” don’t matter and they are only used for working, and being slaves to the white people.

Read More

Turning Point In Frederick Douglass

633 Words | 3 Pages

In Frederick Douglass’s book, he writes accounts of his time in slavery and beyond. Throughout the book, Douglass writes about not only the physical hardships slaves endured, but the mental and emotional hardships as well. In Chapter X, Douglass describes a battle he had with a temporary slave owner named Mr. Covey. After the fight concludes, Douglass writes, “This battle with Mr. Covey was the turning point in my career as a slave. It rekindled the few expiring embers of freedom, and revived within me a sense of my own manhood.

Read More

Frederick Douglass Hypocrisy Essay

1049 Words | 5 Pages

It is a common argument for Christian slaveholders to make “…that God cursed Ham, and therefore American slavery is right…” (5). this argument exposes their hypocrisy as it conveys how they attempt to stretch small pieces of scripture to justify the violence of the American slavery. Douglass thus asks if it is humane to use a small piece of writing to damn an entire race to hardship and subhuman treatment. This case of blasphemy is amplified by the observation that Douglass makes of one of his slave masters, Mr. Covey, in that “he seemed to think himself equal to deceiving the almighty” (61).

Read More

Frederick Douglass Born Or Made Essay

1605 Words | 7 Pages

Will primarily be used as evidence. The quote put forward by Frederick Douglass describes himself as being broken by Mr. Covey and tells us that before his fight for Mr. Covey, he was broken, and henceforth a slave. Similar to the quote in the last paragraph, Douglass does not state himself as being a slave, but through context clues, somebody can determine how Douglass was made a slave, and what it means to be made a slave. One can see that Douglass states himself as being "...broken in body, soul, and spirit. "(Frederick

Read More

Frederick Douglass Moral Development

985 Words | 4 Pages

This shows how Mr. Covey only wants his own needs fulfilled. It angers him when he doesn’t get his way. Mr. Covey is by far the weakest character in this book because he relies to much on the false power of the masters of the slaves and the harsh power of a whip. His need for power is problematic due to the fact that it makes slaves, who he already has power over, more vulnerable to his

Read More

Examples Of Violence In Frederick Douglass

1636 Words | 7 Pages

Resolving to fight back against Covey thrusts Douglass into manhood and is the first instance of justified violence seen in the novel: “It rekindled the few expiring embers of freedom, and revived within me a sense of my own manhood...and inspired me again with a determination to be free” (68). Although up to this point the violence described was portrayed as completely unjust and terrible, here the reader is to understand that, for the slave, this type of violence may not only be necessary, but completely justified when attempting to gain

Read More

Frederick Douglass Turning Point

301 Words | 2 Pages

In the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Douglass's battle with his master Covey is a turning point in his career as a slave in that he resolves to no longer be docile and subservient as a slave. In fighting back against Covey, Douglass frees his mind from the psychological effects of slavery. Douglass's battle with Covey marks the end of Douglass being obedient and not questioning the word of authority like he was brought up to do. Douglass vows that "the white man who expected to succeed in whipping, must also succeed in killing me." (Douglass, 83) By refusing the role of an obedient slave, Douglass also refuses the slave mindset and liberates himself.

Read More

American Identity In Douglass, And I Celebrate Myself

1523 Words | 7 Pages

Obviously, a slave is bound to his master , so when Douglass hits Mr. Covey it speaks a powerful message to the general public. He feels at ease, and almost free when he disobeys his master, a path which many slaves wouldn't dare to take. Douglass also was taught to read and write, a forbidden task among slaves as it could make them have status and plot ways to escape their masters, by Mrs. Auld, a former mistress of his. So when Douglass was “sent of errands” he always “took his book” with himself and “by going one part of “ his “errand quickly” he would find “time to get a lesson” before he returned to the Aulds household (Douglass). When Mrs. Auld taught Douglass how to read, it brought his perspective of life as a slave to a whole new level.

Read More

More about Frederick Douglass Hypocrisy

Open Document