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Selling The Slave Child In Frederick Douglas's Narrative

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The Douglass’s Narrative reveals very many things about the lives of the American slaves. The lives of the slaves were very hard. They were treated unfairly treated. American slave women were used for giving birth and having kids against their will. As soon as the slave child was born, they would sell the slave child. The slave owner’s reason for selling the slave child was because it was more than likely their child. Slave owners did not want to see their child being whipped so they would sell it to another slave owner. By selling the child, the mother would never get to know her own child. Also, the child doesn't get to know it's mother. For example, in Frederick Douglass’s case, he didn't know much about his mother. He saw his mother four …show more content…

They would whip them until their backs were entirely covered in lacerations and were bloody. There wasn't a spot on their back without blood and lacerations from the whip. Frederick Douglas ran from Mr. Covey because he thought he was being treated unfairly. Douglas went to his master to complain about his treatment from Mr. Covey. Douglas’s master said, that he probably deserved it.(p. 86) Sandy told Douglas that if he holds a root on his person, on the right side of his body, he will never be whipped again.(p87) Douglas believes that this would not work. Douglas said what harm could it do. Douglas decided to get a root and hold it on his right side. After he carried the root, he was never whipped again. A few days after he returned to working, Mr. Covey who whipped him in the past, tried to grab him by the throat and kicked him in the ribs. Mr. Covey called for help, another guard came running to help restrain Douglas. Douglas also fought bought back against Hughes. Douglas expected he was going to get whipped more for hitting a white man. He did not get whipped. Mr. Covey said, that I had not resisted, he would not have whipped me half so much.(p. 88) Douglas spent six months with him and was never

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More evidence of objectification is shown in the murder of Demby by Mr. Gore. To escape more whipping, Demby submerges himself into a creek and refuses to come out, resulting in Mr. Gore shooting Demby in the face. Justifying the murder, Gore argues that “if one slave refused to be corrected, and escaped with his life…the result…would be freedom of the slaves.” Gore’s justification objectifies Demby’s mortality by turning it into a tool to teach the other slaves of what would happen should they disobey. Finally, Douglass tells of his own dehumanization through violence as master Covey, the “slave breaker,” beats him after becoming too weak to work.

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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.

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Another epiphany occurs when he decides that he'd rather die than be treated like a slave anymore. So the next time Covey tries to whip him, he stands up to him. After a couple of hours spent wrestling with Douglass, Covey leaves him alone. Douglass vows never to be whipped again. And he never

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1655 Words | 7 Pages

Covey was known as a “slaver breaker”” because he would whip and slash the slaves (3). It was said by Frederick himself, that the first time it had happened Covey demanded he take off his clothes and when Frederick wouldn't he got angry and slashed at him with a knife in the middle of the woods (6).Although Covey tried to make him break Frederick never did because he was stronger than that. He had a certain point of breaking down at least psychologically but instead of breaking down he fought back (Biography.com Editors). It seemed as though he used all of his anger against Covey and physically used it against him. He used this to make his determination better to finally escape from what was keeping him bound (3).

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Douglass' audience for this work is those who want to know the cruelty of slavery. His audience was anyone who was interested in the topic. A majority of white men and women either didn't own slaves and wasn't able to see the cruel inhumane nature of the act or they were numb to it because black people were viewed as less than humans. If you remove the humanity from a person you become numb to any cruelty. Douglass' goal was to prove and show how slavery was inhumane and offered nothing but cons to the slaves and their masters.

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996 Words | 4 Pages

He was selling off her children, though, one by one. ”(192) This shows how slaves were not treated like humans at all and rather as animals. Not only that but the slave owner plays it off nonchalantly, because to them it's just an everyday occurrence.

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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.

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414 Words | 2 Pages

He had a slaveholder who was always “cursing, raving, cutting, and slashing among the slaves of the field, in the most frightful manner” (29). Although he was rarely beat, he constantly have to go without food and be in the cold. There was also Mr. Covey, who was a notorious “slave breaker” who gave Douglass “ a very severe whipping,

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935 Words | 4 Pages

Slavery is equally a mental and a physical prison. Frederick Douglass realized this follow-ing his time as both a slave and a fugitive slave. Douglass was born into slavery because of his mother’s status as a slave. He had little to go off regarding his age and lineage. In the excerpt of the “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

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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.

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After being separated from his mother at a young age, Frederick Douglass fights back against slavery and human rights. In Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, the author, Frederick Douglass, uses powerful rhetoric to disprove the Pragmatic and the Scientific pro-slavery arguments of Pre-Civil War America. The Pragmatic Argument is about how many people believe that if all black slaves were to be freed, then this would result in convulsions which would then lead to extermination of the one or other race. Many people also believed that black slavery was necessary for American history.

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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.

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510 Words | 3 Pages

His year with Covey was a life changing experience. Under Covey, Douglass worked the land day and night in all weathers. For the first six months he was constantly beaten and severely punished to increase his productivity. He was whipped with sticks or cow skin. Douglass experienced an “epoch in my humble history,” and explains to readers that “You have seen how a man was made a slave; you shall see how a slave was made a man.”

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Douglass endured lots of whippings, along with many other slaves, during his years with Master Auld. “They have been entirely deprived of the power to read and write. You have kept them in utter ignorance” ( Frederick Douglass) Frederick Douglass believed that God created all people equal.

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In the book, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Frederick Douglass reveals his life as a slave and the valuable lessons he learned from his experience. Douglass wants the truth about slavery to be revealed and wants to eliminate the lies that portray slavery as beneficial. Douglass exposes the reality of slavery by criticizing the “romantic image” of slavery, showing the intellectual capabilities slaves had, and revealing the reasons why slaves were disloyal to each other. Douglass criticizes the southern, romantic image of slavery by exposing the harsh treatment and sadness that slaves endured. It was southerners who thought slavery as beneficial, because it benefited themselves and white society.

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