How Did Frederick Douglass Use Southern Propaganda

Slavery has been a problem in the United States for centuries. And for centuries nothing was done about it, until the beginning of the abolitionist movement led by white Northerners. Frederick Douglass, a previously enslaved Black man, was the key to unfolding the lies in Southern propaganda. Douglass was essential to countering the proslavery agenda by writing about his stories in his autobiography Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. This paper will discuss the moral, economic, and racial issues Douglass discusses in his narrative and how he uses these experiences to counter the proslavery lies pushed by the South. One of the main points Douglass conveys throughout his autobiography is the morality aspect of slavery. The South had

)” Southern slavery’s income was based on cotton growing and trade, which explains why it was important to Southerners. In our class lectures, the idea of paternity and fatherhood was discussed, specifically about how the South said the slaves were taken care of and treated like family. There were drawings of slaves singing and dancing while it showed people from the North suffering with no food and shelter. Another picture showed fully clothed slaves, which was countered by Douglass who stated they were only allowed minimal clothing annually, and if they tore them they would not get new clothes to wear. Another important figure who backed this is John C. Calhoun, who gave speeches talking about how “The Southern States are an aggregate, in fact, of communities, not of individuals. Every plantation is a little community, with the master at its head.(Calhoun). )” The Southerners said Northerners had it worse than slaves because the enslaved people at least had a roof over their heads, got fed, and were taken care of by their master who was like a father figure because they would be treated like