Frederick Douglass View On Slavery

Frederick Douglass was an American slave who escaped and later became an abolitionist He also published a book called The Narrative of Frederick Douglass. Through this book, Douglass threw light on the American slave system. He did this by showing many aspects of the of slavery, what slave owners thought of slavery, and also supporting his position on slavery by talking about much of the horrors slaves went through.

One way he throws light on the slave system is by showing the aspects of slavery. This is shown when Douglass states on page 22 of The Narrative of Frederick Douglass, “Nothing seemed to make her more angry than to see me with a newspaper. She seemed to think that here lay the danger.” This quote shows how the slave were not allowed

He shows his position of slavery on page 3 when Douglass states, “ Master, however, was not a humane slaveholder. It required extraordinary barbarity on the part of an overseer to affect him. He was a cruel man, hardened by a long life of slaveholding.” This quote supports Douglass’s position on slavery because it shows that the man was cruel and this was the effect of being a slaveholder. The second time he shows his position on slavery is when Douglass states on page 22, “My mistress was, as I have said, a kind and tender-hearted woman... Slavery soon proved its ability to divest her of these heavenly qualities. Under its influence, the tender heart became stone, and the lamblike disposition gave way to one of tiger-like fierceness… She was an apt woman; and a little experience soon demonstrated, to her satisfaction, that education and slavery were incompatible with each other.” This quote supports Douglass’s position because it shows how at first she was kind when she didn’t experience slavery but, once she did she became a malicious woman. The final way he shows his position is when Douglass states on page 1, “The white children could tell their ages. I could not tell why I ought to be deprived of the same privilege. I was not allowed to make any inquiries of my master concerning it.” This quote supports Douglass’s position because it shows slavery was bad to slaves because they didn’t have the same rights as white