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Bad effects of slavery
The effects of slavery
The effects of slavery
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More handpicked essays just for you.
Bad effects of slavery
The effects of slavery
The effects of slavery
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
In the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave written by Frederick Douglass, the author asserts that slaves were treated no better than livestock. Douglass supports his claim by giving examples of the hardships he endured while living as a slave. Douglass’s purpose is to connect with the reader on multiple levels in order to abolish slavery. Based on the text, Douglass is writing to people with the power to achieve his goal of abolishing slavery. Douglass, a former slave, experienced the mistreatment of slaves to the worst degree.
His beatings and lack of food were only part of his miserable daily life. Eventually Douglass was able to successfully escape this life and vowed to forever actively support the equality of all
Frederick Douglass exposed the horrors and cruel of slavery in Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass. It definitely illustrated that slavery is dehumanizing for both of the slave owners and slaves. Under the oppression and exploitation of slave owners, the human nature of black slaves was constantly changing. At the same time, the humanity of slave holders also be destroyed.
This excerpt from “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave"—Frederick Douglass’s autobiography published on May 1st, 1845—tells the story of Douglass’s life shortly before and following his escape from slavery and explains Douglass’s belief that slavery has detrimental effects on all parties involved. He utilizes a variety of rhetorical devices, including repetition, imagery, and analogy, to depict the powerful emotions and hardships he encountered on his path to emancipation. Frederick Douglass was born into slavery in rural Maryland. He spent many years enduring the torture that comes with enslavement. He was subjected to horrible injustices, witnessing and often experiencing the cruel treatment of the enslaved.
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.
In the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass there is the abuse of black slaves, racism, and the systematic degrading of slaves. Frederick Douglass began his life as a slave at the beginning of his life but he was eventually freed; which is when he decided to write an autobiography. In his autobiography he details the treatment of himself and others who were enslaved by white men and their families. The way that slaves were treated was not how any human should be treated under any circumstance. Slaves were treated as if they were not humans, they had been dehumanized by their owners and environment so much so that they didn’t even see themselves as human.
“...Living but a short distance from where I used to live, murdered my wife’s cousin, a young girl between fifteen and sixteen years of age, mangling her person in the most horrible manner, breaking her nose and breastbone with a stick, so that the poor girl expired in a few hours afterwards. ”(34) Douglass’s use of anecdotes throughout the novel, strengthen his argument of the inhuman acts slavery commits. Because slaves only had the rights their masters condoned, any punishment a master decided on was permitted. As humans everyone makes mistakes, but because slaves are dehumanized, mistakes are practically a death sentence.
In the 1830’s an American slave Frederick Douglass escaped from slavery. Douglass soon after embarked on a mission to end slavery. The best way to end slavery were to “shine a light” on slavery and to tell a story to people that did not know. Northerners who read “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass” were either against slavery or supportive of slavery. Douglass argues that slavery corrupted slave owners, and slavery was terrible for slaves.
In 1845, Frederick Douglass reveals his experience as a slave in Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. Slaveholders laid a cover of mental darkness over the slaves for centuries. The slaves were taunted physically, socially, and intellectually. Slaves were beaten savagely during this peculiar time.
In his autobiography, Douglass faces and overcomes the obstacles of physical abuse, a lack of fundamental education, and a deep sadness through his determination and courage. As a slave Douglass faces the physical abuse he endures from his masters. Barbaric acts of cruelty from a slave owner are so common that slaves expect them. Many slave owners whips their slaves not only for a punishment, but also
The Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass shows the imbalance of power between slaves and their masters. In his book, Douglass proves that slavery is a destructive force not only to the slaves, but also for the slaveholders. “Poison of the irresponsible power” that masters have upon their slaves that are dehumanizing and shameless, have changed the masters themselves and their morality(Douglass 39). This amount of power and control in contact with one man breaks the kindest heart and the purest thoughts turning the person evil and corrupt. Douglass uses flashbacks that illustrate the emotions that declare the negative effects of slavery.
In The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Frederick Douglass depicts his life through emotional, physical, and mental abuse by these slaveholders. Both the slave and the slaveholders are affected in dehumanization. One can coincide with Douglass that slavery had dehumanized both slaves and their slave holders. The slave and slaveholder are making actions based upon false truth.
Frederick Douglass Narrative Essay Born into slavery, abolitionist leader, Frederick Douglass began as a held captive in Talbot County, Maryland, around 1818. February fourteenth was the date Frederick chose to celebrate his birth, the real date and year are still unknown to this day. At a young age, Douglass was chosen to live and work in a plantation, whom the owner may have been his father. Douglass’ mother died when he was at the age of ten.
Douglass encountered multiple harsh realities of being enslaved. For example, the ex-slave was practically starved to death by his masters on multiple occasions. In fact, “[He was] allowed less than a half of a bushel of corn-meal per week, and very little else... It was not enough for [him] to subsist upon... A great many times [he had] been nearly perishing with hunger” (pg 31).
Thus, in The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Frederick Douglass is able to represent slaves as dehumanized property with the sole purpose of working their masters land until the day they die. Douglass also successfully represents slaves as intelligent people who wish to learn and begin to see the world for themselves, not through the eyes of a slave master. Douglass illustrated both sides of the spectrum of slave life, being deprived of knowledge and having, although against the rules, access to material to learn, to provide a distinction between how slaves are handled and how they truly