Pro-Slavery Arguments & Attitudes (and how Douglass undermines them)
"The negro slaves of the South are the happiest...people in the world"
Speaks to the depth of pain expressed in the singing of slave-songs
"They told a tale of woe which was then altogether beyond my feeble comprehension...they breathed the prayer and complaint of souls boiling over with the bitterest anguish."
"I have often been astonished...to find persons who could speak of the singing, among slaves, as evidence of their contentment and happiness. It is impossible to conceive of a greater mistake. Slaves sing most when they are most unhappy. The songs of the slave represent the sorrows of his heart; and he is relieved by them, only as an aching heart is relieved by its tears."
This particular event, among other things, reveals that slaves were, in many cases, treated worse than and regarded as below animals.
"(The riding equipage) was under the care of two slaves- old Barney and young Barney...in nothing was Colonel Lloyd more particular than in the management of his horses. The slightest inattention to these was unpardonable, and was visited upon those, under whose care they were placed, with the severest punishment; no excuse could shield them, if the colonel only suspected any want of attention to his horses..."
Described as, "a grave man...(who) said no funny words, seldom smiled...He spoke byt to command, and commanded but to be obeyed; he dealt sparingly with his words, and bountifully with his whip, never using the former when the latter would answer as well. When he whipped, he seemed to do so from a sense of duty, and feared no consequences. He did nothing reluctantly, no matter how disagreeable; always at his post, never inconsistent. He never promised but to fulfill. He was...a man of the most inflexible firmness and stone-like coolness...His savage barbarity was equalled only by the consummate coolness with which he committed the grossest and most savage deeds upon the slaves under his charge."
Shot a slave called Demby with no visible reaction.
Considered a "first-rate overseer"
Mr. Austin Gore
"It was the blood-stained gate, the entrance to the hell of slavery, through which I was about to pass. It was a most terrible spectacle. I wish I could commit to paper the feelings with which I beheld it"
Douglass witnessing Captain Auld brutally whipping his aunt for not being available to him when he called for her, and being caught with her love interest ("Ned")
What does Douglass say he does NOT know at the beginning of Chapter 1?
His birthdate/ age
There is a lineage of people destined for servitude according to Scripture, and so African Americans are, by race, meant for slavery
"If the lineal descendants of Ham are alone to be scripturally enslaved, it is certain the slavery at the south must soon become unscriptural, for thousands are ushered into the world annually, who, like myself, owe their existence to white fathers..."
This particular anecdote, among other things, shows that for the enslaved, the truth had no power or influence, and was actually a threat, rather than a help, and that even to acknowledge what was true put them in danger.
"This is the penalty of telling the truth, of telling the simple truth, in answer to a series of plain questions."
Described with, "Bad as all slaveholders are, we seldom meet one destitute of every element of character commanding respect. My master was one of this rare sort. I do not know of one single noble act ever performed by him. The leading trait in his character was meanness; and if there were any other element in his nature, it was made subject to this...He found himself incapable of managing his slaves either by force, fear, or fraud...He wished to have us call him master, but lacked the firmness necessary to command us to do so."
His treatment of his slaves became worse after his conversion. "Prior to his conversion, he relied on his own depravity to shield and sustain him in his savage barbarity; but after his conversion, he found religious sanction and support for his slaveholding cruelty."
"He made the greatest pretensions to piety. His house was the house of prayer. He prayed morning, noon, and night..."
Thomas Auld
What makes Douglass say: "These words sank deep into my heart, stirred up sentiments within that lay slumbering, and called into existence an entirely new train of thought. It was a new and special revelation, explaining dark and mysterious things, with which my youthful understanding had struggled, but struggled in vain. I now understood what had been to me a most perplexing difficulty- to wit, the white man's power to enslave the black man...From that moment I understood the pathway from slavery to freedom...What he most dreaded, I most desired. What he most loved, I most hated. That which to him was a great evil, to be carefully shunned, was to me a great good, to be diligently sought"
Overhearing Hugh Auld's conversation with Sophia Auld after Mr. Auld learns the mistress has been teaching Douglass to read
"It would forever unfit him to be a slave. He would at once become unmanageable, and of no value to his master. As to himself, it could do him no good, but a great deal of harm. It would make him discontented and unhappy"
Following what exchange/ encounter does Douglass first resolve to run away to freedom?
The Irishmen Douglass helped unload a "scow of stone" who remark that it's a shame Douglass is a "Slave for a life" and advise him to run away to the north, and that he should "find friends there."
Those that were enslaved were somehow less human than their white oppressors, and so lacked the emotional depth to feel strongly in response to the abuses inflicted, or to feel strongly at all
-Frederick Douglass' mother, who "made her journeys to see me in the night, travelling the whole distance on foot, after the performance of her day's work...She would lie down with me, and get me to sleep, but long before I waked she was gone"
"It is my opinion that thousands would escape from slavery, who now remain, but for the strong cords of affection that bind them to their friends"
Mr. Gore's shooting Demby, with no consequences
"An old man while (fishing for oysters) happened to get beyond the limits of Colonel Lloyd's, and on the premises of Mr. Beal Bondly. At this trespass, Mr. Bondly took offence, and with his musket came down to the shore, and blew its deadly contents into the poor old man" (with "little said about it at all, and nothing done.")
Described as, "He always aimed at taking us by surprise. Such was his cunning, that we used to call him, among ourselves, 'the snake.' ...This being his mode of attack, it was never safe to stop a single minute. His comings were like a thief in the night. He appeared to us as being ever at hand. He was under every tree, behind every stump, in every bush, and at every window, on the plantation...(His) forte consisted in his power to deceive."
"Had a reputation as being a ***** breaker"
Edward Covey
"A turning point in my career as a slave."
"...You shall see how the slave was made a man."
"It rekindled the few expiring embers of freedom, and revived within me a sense of my own manhood. It recalled the departed self-confidence, and inspired me again with a determination to be free...I felt as I never felt before. It was a glorious resurrection, from the tomb of slavery, to the heaven of freedom. My long crushed spirit rose, cowardice departed, bold defiance took its place; and I now resolved that, however long I might remain a slave in form, the day passed forever when I could be a slave in fact."
Douglass' fighting back and holding his own in a physical fight with Edward Covey and preventing Covey from whipping him
"We were at it for two hours. Covey at length let me go, puffing and blowing at a great rate...he had drawn no blood from me, but I had from him."
For all slaveholders Douglass met, who does he say are the "worst," the "meanest and basest, the most cruel and cowardly of all others"
Religious slaveholders
"I assert most heavily that the religion of the south is a mere covering for the most horrid crimes,- a justifier of the most appalling barbarity,- sanctifier of the most hateful frauds,- a dark shelter under, which the darkest, foulest, grosses, and most infernal deeds of slaveholders find the strongest protection." (p. 46)
This depiction demonstrates that slavery can be as "injurious" to the slaveholder as to the slave, and that its "irreponsible power" is damaging to those that wield it.
Sophia Auld's transformation from a gentle and tender woman to a cruel one.
"Slavery soon proved its ability to divest her of these heavely qualities. Under its influence, the tender heart became stone, and the lamblike dispotion gave way to one of tiger-like fierceness."
"The fatal poison of irresponsible power was already in her hands, and soon commenced its infernal work. That cheerful eye, under the influence of slavery, soon became red with rage; that voice, made of all sweet accord, changed to one of harsh and horrid discord; and that angelic face gave place to that of a demon."
Treatment with this master was "heavenly" compared with some of his others. "Gave us enough to eat; but...he also gave us sufficient time to take our meals. He worked us hard, but always between sunrise and sunset. He required a good deal of work to be done, but gave us good tools with which to work. His farm was large, but he employed hands enough to work it, and with ease, compared with many of his neighbors."
Mr. William Freeland
"They were great days to my soul...the sweetest engagement with which I was ever blessed. We loved eachother...it was the delight of my soul to be doing something that looked like bettering the condition of my race"
The Sabbath school Frederick Douglass starts and keeps while working under Freeland
Why does the initial escape plan Douglass planned with 4 others get thwarted before they had a chance to attempt it?
Someone betrayed them
Because of Slavery, the South is able to maintain a stable and peaceful culture of refinement, elegance, and comfort- one that the North is not able to achieve.
"At the slaveholding South all is peace, quiet, plenty and contentment. We have no mobs, no trades unions, no strikes for higher wages, no armed resistance to the law, but little jealousy of the rich by the poor. We have but few in our jails, and fewer in our poor houses. We produce enough of the comforts and necessaries of life for a population three or four times as numerous as ours. We are wholly exempt from the torrent of pauperism, crime, agrarianism, and infidelity which Europe is pouring from her jails and alms houses on the already crowded North."
"I had very strangely supposed, while in slavery, that few of the comforts, and scarcely any of the luxuries, of life were enjoyed at the north, compared with what were enjoyed by the slaveholders of the south...And upon coming to the north, I expected to meet with a rough, hard-handed, and uncultivated population, living in the most Spartan-like simplicity, knowing nothing of the ease, luxury, pomp, and grandeur of southern slaveholders...I found myself surrounded with the strongest proofs of wealth...I saw ships of the finest model, in the best order, and of the largest size. Upon the left and right, I was walled in by granite warehouses of the widest dimensions, stowed to their utmost capacity with the necessaries and comforts of life. Added to this, almost everybody seemed to be at work, but noiselessly so, compared with what I had been accustomed to in Baltimore...Everything looked clean, new, and beautiful. I saw few or no dilapidated houses, with poverty stricken inmates; no half-naked children and barefooted women, such as I had been accustomed to see in Hillsborough, Eaton, St. Michael's, and Baltimore..."
At least one of these anecdotes or descriptions describes the mental enslavement slaves experienced, in addition to physical enslavement
Owned a large farm neighboring the plantation Douglass was born on, kept "three to four hundred slaves" and "owned a large number more on the neighboring farms belonging to him."
His home plantation was given the name the "Great House Farm"
To describe his wealth "would be almost equal to describing the riches of Job. He kept from ten to fifteen house-servants. He was said to own a thousand slaves...(he) owneed so many that he did not know them when he saw them, nor did all the slaves of the out-farms know him."
Colonel Lloyd
What results in Douglass saying, "It gave me a view of my wretched condition, without the remedy. It opened my eyes to the horrible pit, but to no ladder upon which to get out...I have often wished myself a beast...I often found myself regretting my own existence."
Learning to read, and specifically, reading the dialogue between a slave and his master depicted in 'The Columbian Orator"
"...a bold denunciation of slavery, and a powerful vindication of human rights."
Why does Douglass not provide the details as to how he actually escaped? (Provide at least one)
"It would afford me great pleasure indeed, as well as materially add to the interest of my narrative, were I at liberty to gratify a curiosity, which I know exists in the minds of many, by an accurate statement of all the facts pertaining to my most fortunate escape. But I must deprive myself of this pleasure, and the curious of the gratification which such a statement would afford."
"Secondly, such a statement would most undoubtedly induce greater vigilance on the part of the slaveholders than has existed heretofore among them; which would, of course, be the means of guarding a door whereby some dear brother bondman might escape his galling chains" (p. 59)