The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

The True fib of Slavery The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass is a riveting grade that shows how cruel and dehumanizing slaveproperty truly is. Slavery was an issue for tight all of the 70 long time it plagued America. In this report Douglass brings to light the sickening experience that slavery is for slaves themselves. Douglass is able to communicate how terrible the institution of slavery is because of the physical abuse m all know forced the slaves to endure, the necessities that were non provided to them, and their treatment as something like cattle.Douglass well-read very early that brutal physical abuse was synonymous with everyday plantation life. For nearly any reason, a supervisor or oerseer could outmaneuver or whip a slave. Most of the times slaves were abused, it was d unitary publically in beau monde to set a precedent for punishment of some other slaves. The opening was that when other slaves see their possible punishment, that they would behave th emselves. Douglass recalls a gruesome scene from his early age on the plantation that perfectly illustrates the cruelty of the overseers. He recalls his source overseer, Mr.Plumber, beating his Aunt Hestor He used to tie her up to a joist, and whip upon her sensitive back until she was literally covered in blood. No words, no tears, no prayers, from his gory victim, seemed to move his iron heart from its bloody purpose. The louder she screamed, the harder he whipped and where the blood ran fastest, in that respect he whipped longest. He would whip her to brace her scream, and whip her to make her hush (Douglass 5) This beating shows the pain that overseers go out of the way to create incredibly unspeakable and uncomfortable situations that their slaves must go through.Unfortunately, this example was commonplace, and done withal for the smallest wrongdoings. This caused spectators to think they could do nothing to avoid being beaten because someday the will hatful up and be f orced to endure the pain of the dismay skin. Essentially, these vicious beatings became an inevitability of slave life. Although plagued everyday with physical beating, the life of a slave does not get any easier as the return home. If slaves were lucky, they were treated virtually equal to cattle, but most of the time given even less aliment and other necessities.Slaves were required to work insanely long hours in the field, art object coming home to a shack without any of the necessities of life. They were not provided with proper food, housing or array. Douglass recounts the minimal amount of food he received apiece month Eight pounds of pork, or its equivalent in fish, and one bushel of corn repast (Douglass 9). This amount of food is not even enough to take to the woods a sedentary person, let alone someone who has been toiling from sunrise to sunsets in the fields. The food the slaves were given essentially had no nutritional valuate. Their yearly clothing consisted of two coarse linen shirts, one pas de deux of linen trousers, like the shirts, one jacket, one pair of trousers for winter, made of coarse negro cloth, one pair of stockings, and one pair of shoes (Douglass 9). The clothing that the slaves were provided with was not anywhere near adequate to move on them warm during the winter, or to provide protection against the elements in any way. As horrible as it was, the deprivation of clothing and food from slaves was only just the beginning. whip of all was the mental pressures put upon the slaves, this pressure grew to be passing tormenting for almost all slaves.Their treatment as nothing more than property, easily replicable and of no value made slaves depressed, and feel hopeless. The slaves were in constant mental turmoil, stressful to deject the thoughts constantly implanted into their minds by their masters. Overseers took pride in making sure slaves were awake(predicate) of their inferiority to white men. Douglass recalls how the slaves were grouped with animals We were all ranked together at the valuation. Men and women, old and young, married and single, were ranked with horses, sheep, and swine.There were horses and men, cattle and women, pigs and children, all holding the same rank in the scale of being (Douglass 46). This grouping essentially denies their right to be human and to feel any self worth. Slaves are left over(p) with a lack of confidence and eternal self-pity. Through Douglass narrative he is able to communicate the true ills of slavery. Not many subjects freighter still organize a chill down readers spines over 100 years later. Douglass is able to accurately portray how the Physical and Mental strains of slavery can affect the willpower of the slaves.The Narrative of the Life of Frederick DouglassThe True Story of Slavery The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass is a riveting story that shows how cruel and dehumanizing slavery truly is. Slavery was an issue for nearly all of th e 70 years it plagued America. In this narrative Douglass brings to light the sickening experience that slavery is for slaves themselves. Douglass is able to communicate how terrible the institution of slavery is because of the physical abuse many masters forced the slaves to endure, the necessities that were not provided to them, and their treatment as something like cattle.Douglass learned very early that brutal physical abuse was synonymous with everyday plantation life. For nearly any reason, a supervisor or overseer could beat or whip a slave. Most of the times slaves were abused, it was done publically in order to set a precedent for punishment of other slaves. The theory was that when other slaves see their possible punishment, that they would behave themselves. Douglass recalls a gruesome scene from his early days on the plantation that perfectly illustrates the cruelty of the overseers. He recalls his first overseer, Mr.Plumber, beating his Aunt Hestor He used to tie her up to a joist, and whip upon her naked back until she was literally covered in blood. No words, no tears, no prayers, from his gory victim, seemed to move his iron heart from its bloody purpose. The louder she screamed, the harder he whipped and where the blood ran fastest, there he whipped longest. He would whip her to make her scream, and whip her to make her hush (Douglass 5) This beating shows the pain that overseers go out of the way to create incredibly painful and uncomfortable situations that their slaves must go through.Unfortunately, this example was commonplace, and done even for the smallest wrongdoings. This caused spectators to think they could do nothing to avoid being beaten because someday the will mess up and be forced to endure the pain of the cow skin. Essentially, these vicious beatings became an inevitability of slave life. Although plagued everyday with physical beating, the life of a slave does not get any easier as the return home. If slaves were lucky, they w ere treated almost equal to cattle, but most of the time given even less food and other necessities.Slaves were required to work insanely long hours in the field, while coming home to a shack without any of the necessities of life. They were not provided with proper food, housing or clothing. Douglass recounts the minimal amount of food he received each month Eight pounds of pork, or its equivalent in fish, and one bushel of corn meal (Douglass 9). This amount of food is not even enough to feed a sedentary person, let alone someone who has been toiling from sunrise to sunsets in the fields. The food the slaves were given essentially had no nutritional value. Their yearly clothing consisted of two coarse linen shirts, one pair of linen trousers, like the shirts, one jacket, one pair of trousers for winter, made of coarse negro cloth, one pair of stockings, and one pair of shoes (Douglass 9). The clothing that the slaves were provided with was not anywhere near adequate to keep them w arm during the winter, or to provide protection against the elements in any way. As horrible as it was, the deprivation of clothing and food from slaves was only just the beginning. Worst of all was the mental pressures put upon the slaves, this pressure grew to be extremely tormenting for almost all slaves.Their treatment as nothing more than property, easily replicable and of no value made slaves depressed, and feel hopeless. The slaves were in constant mental turmoil, trying to deject the thoughts constantly implanted into their minds by their masters. Overseers took pride in making sure slaves were aware of their inferiority to white men. Douglass recalls how the slaves were grouped with animals We were all ranked together at the valuation. Men and women, old and young, married and single, were ranked with horses, sheep, and swine.There were horses and men, cattle and women, pigs and children, all holding the same rank in the scale of being (Douglass 46). This grouping essential ly denies their right to be human and to feel any self worth. Slaves are left with a lack of confidence and eternal self-pity. Through Douglass narrative he is able to communicate the true ills of slavery. Not many subjects can still send a chill down readers spines over 100 years later. Douglass is able to accurately portray how the Physical and Mental strains of slavery can affect the willpower of the slaves.