What Is The Relationship Between Frederick Douglass And Slaveholders

Frederick Douglass was sent to live with Master Auld in 1832, a time where he could finally give a date to the events in his life, as he says in his autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave. Douglass came to know Auld as he stayed with his new master, learning that Auld was as “equally mean and cruel” as his wife. Thomas Auld didn’t give his slaves enough to eat which was regarded as the “most aggravated development of meanness among slaveholders.” Frederick and the other slaves subsisted on less than half a bushel of corn-meal per week and very little else; thus, they were subject to begging and stealing just so they wouldn't starve. Auld was characterized by his meanness as he was “destitute of every element

After explaining Auld’s origin as a slave owner, he goes on to say that “adopted slaveholders are the worst.” What Douglass meant by this is that people who come into possession of slaves didn't know how to use their power properly, and being newly thrusted into a position of power, became extremely cruel and unkind. New slave owners felt that they had to exert power forcefully to assert their dominance and to show that they can't be walked over. These “adopted slaveholders” were the worst because they created an environment in which slaves had to walk on eggshells as their masters would be cruel one minute and cowardly the next. Auld enforced his rules either rigidly or lax; at times he spoke with the “firmness of Napoleon,” at other times, he could be “mistaken for an inquirer who had lost his way.” As he wasn't accustomed to owning slaves, he was compelled “to be the copyist of many, and being such, he was forever the victim of inconsistency; and of consequence he was an object of contempt, and was held as such even by his slaves.” Lacking in firmness, Auld wanted his slaves to call him master, but as he couldn't enforce it, he was generally called “Captain

Douglass hoped that the conversion would make him kinder, but it failed to do so; rather, it made him even more cruel and hateful. Before he converted, he “relied on his own depravity.” After, he’d found religious sanction and support. Once he became a Christian, Auld went to extremes. For example, he tied up a lame young woman, who he kept tied up for hours at a time; Auld would whip her before before breakfast, leave her there, and return after dinner to whip her again. To justify his inhumane deeds, he would quote passages of Scripture. Auld’s religious conversion allowed Douglass to see a new side of Christianity in which people would twist it in attempt to sanction and cover their horrific