Of George Fitzhugh's Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass

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Kevin Bales once said, “Slavery is theft -- theft of a life, theft of work, theft of any property or produce, theft even of the children a slave might have borne”. Slavery takes your freedom away and forces you do whatever your master or leader wants you to do. This quote is proven to be true by the book Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, written by himself, Frederick Douglass tells his life story as a slave which ends in freedom. George Fitzhugh thinks otherwise when he writes an essay called “Slavery Justified”. In this essay, Fitzhugh argues that slavery is justifiable. In the end, Fitzhugh's arguments about slavery are wrong and Maggie Escalas, Julie Feia, and Carrie Jean Schroeders “Logical Fallacies” give evidence that Fitzhugh's claims are wrong. This is proven by Douglass’ experience of the treatment of slaves, the amount slaves eat, and the relationship of a slave and his master.

Fitzhugh’s first …show more content…

Fitzhugh writes about the quantity a slave eats. Fitzhugh writes, “The slaves are well fed, well clad, have plenty of fuel, and are happy” (3). According to Escalas, Feia, and Schroeders “Logical Fallacies”, this is also an Appeal to Gallery. Fitzhugh appeals the interests of the audience, or slave owners, in order to gain their approval. By saying slaves eat enough and are happy, slave owners are satisfied with what they're doing. Douglass also proves Fitzhugh is wrong. In Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, children would eat mush out of a trough on the ground. Douglass writes, “He that eight fastest got most; he that was strongest secured the best place; and few left the trough satisfied” (43). If slaves were fed well they wouldn't only eat mush and more slaves would be satisfied with their meal. Also these slaves are treated like pigs. Being treated like an animal does not make someone happy. Slaves are not well fed and their relationship with their master is not of mutual good

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