In the book, “The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass”, it shows how people behaved towards slaves. This made it seem like African Americans weren’t even treated like human beings. I believe that slaves did not deserve to be handled brutally and that people should have been kinder to them. African Americans were turned into slaves because of their skin color. As a result, slaves were treated poorly and were whipped when they made mistake. For example, if a slave wasn’t working properly in his or her post then they were whipped. In chapter two Frederick Douglass says “Mr. Severe, the overseer, used to stand by the door of the quarter, armed with a large hickory stick and heavy cowskin, ready to whip any one who was so unfortunate as …show more content…
Severe was rightly named: he was a cruel man. I have seen him whip a woman, causing the blood to run half an hour at the time; and this, too, in the midst of her crying children, pleading for their mother's release”, said Frederick Douglass in chapter two. This was an unforgettable moment for me because it shows how badly African Americans were beat. Frederick then explained how it looked like Mr. Severe was taking pleasure in whipping the female slave. That is to say, even the woman and children had to deal with the harsh conditions. During this time, the children had to go through so much pain. For example, a child who couldn’t work were only given two coarse linen shirts every year. When the shirt was worn out and couldn’t be worn anymore the kids were naked until they are given shirts. These kids were given many bad memories throughout their lives as being slaves and no child should live that way. When Frederick moved to Baltimore he met his new master Mr. Auld and his wife Mrs. Auld. Frederick’s new mistress was caring towards him and she started to teach him how to spell. Unfortunately, Mr. Auld found out and said that “it was unlawful, as well as unsafe, to teach a slave to read.” After Mrs. Auld was told this by her husband, she became harsh towards …show more content…
Auld forbade Mrs. Auld from teaching Douglass. Mrs. Auld said, “If you teach that nigger how to read, there would be no keeping him. It would forever unfit him to be a slave. He would at once become unmanageable, and of no value to his master.” This shocked me because he prevented Frederick from learning and then said that it would make him useless. Many slave owners treated African Americans like animals. As an example, they starved their slaves while they gave all the food to their visitors. It is cruel how they didn’t save even a bread for each of their slaves. Not to mention, African Americans had to sleep on a sheet instead of a bed and that is all they had to sleep. The clothing they had was also very little and poor. One thing that was momentous for me from reading chapter 9 is when Douglass described that his master whipped a young woman but found religious sanction. “I have known him to tie her up early in the morning, and whip her before breakfast; leave her, go to his store, return at dinner, and whip her again, cutting her in the places already made raw with his cruel lash”, stated Frederick in paragraph five of chapter two.” I was heartbroken when I read how cruel humans beings were and can