a
The main character of this book
What is Frederick Douglaas
This book is about
What is Frederick Douglass
The best person on Earth
What is Ms. Rose
“The mode here adopted to disgust the slave with freedom, by allowing him to see only the abuse of it, is carried out in other things.”
What are some of the “other things” that Douglass lists? Explain how the slave holder “disgust[s] the slave with freedom. What broader message about freedom is being argued? Provide textual evidence to support your answer.
The two examples in which slaves are “disgusted” with freedom are being forced to eat excessive molasses or excessive food, after showing a desire to have more of either.
Slaveholders do this to suppress the natural desire for more food (hunger), which therefore becomes representative of freedom.
Douglass is trying to emphasize the role of dehumanization in the suppression of freedom; by eliminating a natural human urge, slaveholders deny their slaves their humanity/freedom to be human (to be hungry).
“Another advantage .. truly a great advantage”
Why does Douglass consider having a nonreligious slaveholder advantageous? What point is he making about religion and other American institutions? Provide textual evidence.
Douglass uses irony to reveal that the meanest and most dehumanizing slaveholders are the most religious. According to Douglass, nonreligious slaveholders would not use “pretensions to, or profession of, religion” to justify maltreatment of slaves.
This alludes to the corruption of the church in America, and furthers Douglass’s argument that change must occur fundamentally in order to defeat slavery.
Slaveholders and other white people in power manipulate the values of American institutions (ie. the church) to justify not only cruelty towards slaves but also the institution of slavery and the oppression of black people as a whole.
“Very near Mr. Freeland… religious wretch.”
Why does he include the example of Rev. Weeden? What rhetorical strategies does he employ? What is his purpose in italicizing the term religious?
By including the example of Rev. Weeden and italicizing the term ‘religious’, Douglass again emphasizes the hypocrisy and irony of religion among slaveholders. Though the preaching of good acts and moral character is associated with religion, Rev. Weeden is shown performing violent acts against his slave which is made more vivid through Douglass’s connotative diction. For example, in describing Rev. Weeden’s slave whose back “was kept literally raw, made so by the lash of this merciless, religious wretch”, Douglass is also able to employ pathos to draw disgust of slavery and sympathy for African-Americans from his audience.
“On the first of January … cunningly-devised frauds” pgs 45-46
What does Douglass convey about slavery when he describes Mr. Freeland and when he compares him to Mr. Covey? Provide textual evidence to support your answer.
Douglass alleges that Mr. Freeland “seemed to possess some regard for honor, some reverence for justice, and some respect for humanity”. This conveys the idea that slave-holding is not necessarily synonymous with bad character. Through the juxtaposition of Freeland and Covey (“...one was open and frank… [t]he other was a most artful deceiver…”), who are both slaveholders, Douglass furthers the idea that there are other factors that cause moral depravity (ie. religion).
Douglass alleges that Mr. Freeland “(slaveholder though he was) seemed to possess some regard for honor, some reverence for justice, and some respect for humanity”. Despite Freeland’s seemingly good qualities, Douglass does not forget to mention the fact of Freeland’s slave owning status which serves to slightly undermine Freeland’s moral character, conveying that slavery is overall an inhumane and immoral system.
“I assert most unhesitatingly ...strongest protection”
What strategies does he employ to emphasize his point? How does this support what he is arguing in the previous passage: “another advantage … truly a great advantage”?
(“— a justifier of the most appalling barbarity, — a sanctifier of the most hateful frauds, — and a dark shelter under …”)
Employing parallel structure, Douglass utilizes dashes, to bring emphasis to the passage, followed by synonyms of the terms justifier/sanctifier/shelter juxtaposed with connotative phrases describing evil deeds.
Through use of negative connotative diction and parallelism, he emphasizes and builds upon the point he made before about how religion is used to justify and to protect the inhumane system of slavery.
Along with his strongly negative connotation and juxtaposing images, Douglass also weaves in religious terms such as “sanctifier of the most hateful frauds” and “infernal deeds of the slaveholders” to draw out the hypocrisy of religion among slaveholders. Whereas this religion is typically associated with the strive for heaven and goodness, Douglass paints the image of hell through his rhetorical strategies to criticize the irony of religious slaveholders.
“His maxim was… such his practice.”
Why does Douglass include this aphorism from Rev. Weeden? Explain the aphorism. What broader truth does it reveal about the institution of slavery? Provide textual evidence.
Douglass purposefully includes Weeden’s maxim to prove the cruel, merciless thought process of slaveholders and allude to power imbalance as a fundamental of slavery.
The aphorism means that a “master” must punish his slave constantly and without reason to assert “authority” by instilling fear and suppressing morale.
This reveals that American slavery is based on quelling the rebellious spirit of its victims so that slaveholders (and by extension, white Americans) may maintain a status of power and superiority in American society. This relates to Douglass’s abolitionist cause: the institution may only be toppled by defeating the suffocation of rebellion. Slavery can end only when slaveholders no longer hold power over slaves.