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Summary Of George Fitzhugh's Logical Fallacies

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No individual should have to bear the chains of slavery. Because to hold someone physically and mentally captive is not only wrong, it’s a deprivation of our natural born right to freedom. In 1845, a southerner, George Fitzhugh writes a pamphlet called Slavery Justified, portraying slavery as beneficial to all. The article ‘‘Logical Fallacies’’ by Maggie Escalas, Julie Freia, and Carrie Jean Schroeder, destroys the validity of Fitzhugh’s claims. The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass is the compelling evidence to why Fitzhugh’s arguments are false, given that Douglass recounts his harsh experience as a slave. While Fitzhugh claims that slaveholders take care of their slaves, Douglass describes how the slaves are not given much thought. Likewise, when …show more content…

He writes, ‘‘We never saw one who did not like his slaves, and rarely a slave who was not devoted to his master… I am thy servant!’’ (3). Fitzhugh hides information from the reader and is ambiguous about when or who would ask the slaves if they were content with their masters. He misinforms the reader about why a slave would be glad to say he is a servant, making the reader assume it’s because of their devotion to their master. Based on ‘‘Logical Fallacies’’, Fitzhugh commits the fallacy of hiding information/half truth (4) that once again discredits his argument. On the other side, Douglass explains the logic of why a slave would lie. Douglass reveals, ‘‘Slaveholders have been known to send in spies among the slaves, to ascertain their views and feeling in regard to their condition’’ (35). According to Douglass, the slaves would say they were content with their masters because they were not sure if they were being spied upon, and therefore, had to be cautious of what they said and to whom they told. This does not sound at all beneficial as Fitzhugh writes it to

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