Frederick Douglass Slave Life

The Life of a Slave

Slavery, as inhumane as it sounds, was during the 19th century, a legal institution that literally made a whole race inferior to another. Sadly, slavery was a practice that has been around for a long while and wasn’t considered to be an injustice. Slaves proved to be an aid to production for the American colonies through the 1700s to the 1900s. Slaves were forced to do hard labor in fields with terrible working conditions regardless of what gender they were. Slaves were degraded and treated so badly that many stayed and endured their ill fate. On the other hand, many slaves fought back and challenged the white supremacy that ruled over their life. One man that set a perfect example of that was Fredrick Douglass.

Some of the southern states made laws that prevented the unjust treatment against slaves and improved their living conditions. This were different in urban and rural areas. Slaves had food provided by their owners, wild games, and were able to hunt animals in the forest. Douglass mentioned that “not to give a slave enough to eat, is regarded as the most aggravated development of meanness, even among slaveholders.” Slaves however in rural areas were treated differently than those in urban areas. Slaves like Douglass had to work on plantations and endure hard working conditions. Slaves in urban area got it easier and as Douglass mentioned “A city slave is almost a freeman, compared with a slave on the plantation. He is much better fed and clothed, and enjoys privileges altogether unknown to the slave on the plantation.” Basically urban slaves had it way better than the slaves in rural area. There were able to be skilled artisans and could occasionally live on their own. They were even able to make work arrangement with employers. Relating to Fredrick Douglass one experience that transformed his life was his transition from the rural to urban area, he mentions that “I look upon my departure from Colonel Lloyd's plantation as one of the most interesting events of my life. It is possible, and even quite probable, that but for the mere circumstance of being removed from that plantation to Baltimore, I should have to-day, instead of being here seated by my own table” Douglass was able to experience another transformation as a slave as he was now an urban slave. Douglass was mostly happy with the condition he was in. While it lasted he was able to look for employment, make his own contract, and collect his own payment. This was a big deal that Douglass was able to become very content with his life up to this point. Sadly, this was short lived and he returned back to the south where he was