Truth about Slavery What does it mean to be equal? Being equal means having the same rights and getting treated fairly. Unfortunately, in Fredrick Douglass' situation, he was not treated equally at all because slaveholders were treated like humans while slaves were treated like animals. Slaveholders were educated but slaves were not because they could not go to school,write,or even read. Douglass changes the reader's beliefs that all men are created equal by explaining how slaves were dehumanized and did not have a right to an education. All men were not created equal because slaves were not allowed to have an education. For example the quote “If you teach that slave how to read, there would be no keeping him.” meant that if slaves knew how to read or were even slightly educated, there would be no point in keeping the slave. Also, the quote “A slave should know nothing but to obey his master-to do as he is told.” is saying that a slave should not know anything besides how to do what he is told and listen to his master. In addition, slaves were not allowed to be educated because it would make a slave unfit to be a slave if they knew how to …show more content…
For instance, Douglass says, “Since I came to the north, to find persons who would speak of the singing, among slaves, as evidence of their contentment and happiness.” which made slaveholders argue that since they sang, they were actually happy. However, this point is wrong because Douglass had explained after that he made a mistake. The quote “Slaves sing when they’re most unhappy. The songs of the slaves represent the sorrows of his heart; and he is relieved by them, only as aching hearts and relieved by its tears.” meant that slaves sang when they were not happy and the songs represented the sadness of their heart and would only be relieved by tears. As a result slaves did not enjoy being slaves at all. Instead they sang to express their