Frederick Douglass Letter

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and thought about until the day he died; something that would probably give him nightmares when he was still alive. Seriously, doing such in front of a child to a human being is terrible. As a child, imagine thinking your whole life is ahead of you, and even tomorrow that could happen to you. Unfortunately, to the master and out lookers, they were nothing but property that did work for them. When they disobeyed, they were going to pay. Douglass gave me a real life scenario, as he again seen his little brother get abused as a slave. He exclaimed, “took my little brother by the throat, threw him on the ground, and with the hell of his boot stamped upon his head till the blood gushed from his nose and ears” (pg. 28). So, being a slave caused anxiety, especially having to watch their every move of every minute a day making sure they did nothing wrong or else they’d be beaten or whipped. Slavery also probably caused them to form mental illnesses causing depression, feeling like they’re nothing, and maybe the result could be suicide. If a slave is physically and mentally abused on a regular basis the slaves will behave in such ways as an increase in fear, rebellion, and self-destruction. I sure wouldn’t want be living that life anymore.

I would think that even though slaves are considered “property” to their owners, I thought they gave them at least privileges to be human. Slave owners basic main goal is to dehumanize the slaves. I would think that slaves would likely live on the same plantation, or be owned by the same people. Maybe you’d get to see your kids or spouse on the every few weeks and have somewhat of a family. Oh boy, I was so wrong. In the narrative, he explains that mothers and babies were separated shortly after birth. Not even a year old and mom was put back to work. Children are raised by older women, whom they have no relation to. Frederick’s basic idea was that slave owners did this so they would have no attachment to their mother, or even know who she was. To see a family member, you would have to sneak off the plantation at night. If you were caught, you would be in huge trouble. When it comes to selling of slaves, slaves were up on sale with animals such as cows and pigs. That’s just embarrassing, being up there being compared to a cow. Being overlooked and seeing how much of a hard worker you’d be in the fields.