For last nights reading, the class was assigned the first nine chapters of the autobiography, Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass.
In these first few chapters, Douglass outlines the horrors of the life
of an American slave. Slaves were malnourished, poorly clothed, and
beaten. Some Masters, or plantation owners, would allow their slaves
only one bushel of corn meal per week, so slaves had to ration
themselves, or find a different place to acquire the proper amount of
food. Other owners gave the proper amounts of food, and took good care
of their slave, but either way, slaves took pride in the wealth and
status of the man that they worked under no matter how terrible their
actual situation was. Also, slaves were given new clothes every year,
which meant that they wore the same piece of clothing for an entire year
until it was completely falling apart. The children were not given
pants, shoes, or a blanket, so they had to wait out the nights in the
freezing weather until they were twenty-one, and old enough to receive
such a luxury. Douglass gives a first hand account of the severity of
the cold when he explains that one night he slept with his head in a
potato sack, and the next morning, his feet were so cold that they
cracked. These injuries were deep and wide enough to fit a pen in.
Additionally, slaves were beaten for the slightest offence. On many
occasions, slaves were beaten for talking poorly of their master, the
amount of food they received, or for complaining in general. Also,
slaves who worked for the Master taking care of his horses were beaten
if the horses were not taken care of the exact way that a Master
required. If the horse was fed too early, or too late: whip. If the
horse was too dirty, or brushed too hard: strike. If the horse was too
tired, or too excited: lash. Women were beaten for no reason at all.
Women would be stripped to the waist, strung up on a hook, and whipped
so severely that their skin would break and blood would drench the
floor. They would be left there until the Master was ready to come back
and continue to beat them at the end of the day. Douglass’s main
argument outlines that slavery was the slaves were not all self aware of
the cruelty that they faced because they could not read the reasons why
white men defended slavery so. Douglass became suicidal after he began
to learn to read because he finally understood the severity of slavery,
and just how important emancipation was. His evidence comes from first
hand accounts, and from stories of other slaves that he encountered.
Douglass speaks in first person of his life and the lives of those around him. He wrote this autobiography to inform the white people of his time of the torment that slaves went through every day. When white people first found this book they did not believe that it was written by an African American man until Douglass stood on a stage and spoke of his life and his journey. We hear the voice of Douglass as a dominating, powerful force that would scare anyone into the path of abolition. We also hear the second person account of the beatings that Douglass witnessed, and the third person account that Douglass was told about. We are not missing many voices, because the voices of the Masters is also present, in these first few chapters, through their whippings and the torment that they caused. Also we have quotes from the slave Masters about how they felt about slaves under their control. We are missing the voices of abolitionists, and the fight for emancipation from more than just Douglass.
During our reading we were asked to mark four quotes that made us all feel something, or really hit us. In class, we wrote down those four quotes and placed them into five categories: violence, control, family, work, and existence. We would pick the group based off of what we thought the quote related to most. For example, I wrote a quote about how Mr. Gore, a plantation overseer, shot a slave for resisting punishment by standing in a creek and refusing to come out after three calls. The quote that stuck the most with me was how Douglass used a word thread and explained that Mr. Gore went “unwhipped and uncensured by the community” even though he committed one of the bloodiest murders of all that time. I placed this quote into the violence category, and to;d my peers that this quote meant the most to me because Mr. Gore did not abide by the slave laws that we have previously read in class. Those laws include that murder of a slave should be punished if it is not your slave. Mr. Gore was only an overseer, but explained why he shot the resistant slave, and was let off without a fine, or even a trial. This exercise brought light to how the class felt about the events that transpired throughout Douglass’s life. Most people were concerned about the control that Douglass, and all slaves endured from the white people that owned them. The exercise also helped us realize which parts of Douglass’s story were the more impactful to the class, as most people put a quote on the violence or family page.
There was one question asked of us by Professor Arrowsmith. This question was what we found the most profound about the book, what we liked about the book, and what we thought was special about the book. One student answered that Douglass did not have the worst life as a slave, he was not beaten as severely as others, he was sent away from some of the most harmful overseers, and he was taught to read. We thought that this may have been because he was a mixed race child, as his mother was raped by her Master. Professor Arrowsmith agreed that not all slavery was the same, some slaves were fortunate enough to live with a kind Master, and others were beaten and killed. We also enjoyed how eloquent Douglass was with his writing, as he only learned his letters and words from the poor children that he bribed with bread. We enjoyed how he trusted the small white boys because it was a mutual need. Douglass needed to learn to read, and the boys needed to eat. Some people had a new insight into the horrors of American slavery, and were surprised at the amount of unnecessary violence that befell the slave women. Some of us were puzzled that songs were only sung when slaves were at their most unhappy of times. Professor Arrowsmith told us the names of some popular slave songs, such as “Wade in the Water”, and “Follow the Drinking Gourd.” These two song in particular were just a couple that gave slaves instructions on how to escape their plantations. We were also reminded that slave song were where many genres of music originated such as blue, jazz, and rock and roll.
I was left wondering when Douglass will escape. Were any of the people that he called is siblings or aunts his actual blood relatives? Was his grandmother a mother of twelve because she was raped? Or did his grandmother have a husband. Did Douglass have a lasting impact on the child of his masters? Did Douglass teach the boys that he learned from about the horrors of slavery? Did any of those boys join him later in life in his push for abolition?
Douglass speaks in first person of his life and the lives of those around him. He wrote this autobiography to inform the white people of his time of the torment that slaves went through every day. When white people first found this book they did not believe that it was written by an African American man until Douglass stood on a stage and spoke of his life and his journey. We hear the voice of Douglass as a dominating, powerful force that would scare anyone into the path of abolition. We also hear the second person account of the beatings that Douglass witnessed, and the third person account that Douglass was told about. We are not missing many voices, because the voices of the Masters is also present, in these first few chapters, through their whippings and the torment that they caused. Also we have quotes from the slave Masters about how they felt about slaves under their control. We are missing the voices of abolitionists, and the fight for emancipation from more than just Douglass.
During our reading we were asked to mark four quotes that made us all feel something, or really hit us. In class, we wrote down those four quotes and placed them into five categories: violence, control, family, work, and existence. We would pick the group based off of what we thought the quote related to most. For example, I wrote a quote about how Mr. Gore, a plantation overseer, shot a slave for resisting punishment by standing in a creek and refusing to come out after three calls. The quote that stuck the most with me was how Douglass used a word thread and explained that Mr. Gore went “unwhipped and uncensured by the community” even though he committed one of the bloodiest murders of all that time. I placed this quote into the violence category, and to;d my peers that this quote meant the most to me because Mr. Gore did not abide by the slave laws that we have previously read in class. Those laws include that murder of a slave should be punished if it is not your slave. Mr. Gore was only an overseer, but explained why he shot the resistant slave, and was let off without a fine, or even a trial. This exercise brought light to how the class felt about the events that transpired throughout Douglass’s life. Most people were concerned about the control that Douglass, and all slaves endured from the white people that owned them. The exercise also helped us realize which parts of Douglass’s story were the more impactful to the class, as most people put a quote on the violence or family page.
There was one question asked of us by Professor Arrowsmith. This question was what we found the most profound about the book, what we liked about the book, and what we thought was special about the book. One student answered that Douglass did not have the worst life as a slave, he was not beaten as severely as others, he was sent away from some of the most harmful overseers, and he was taught to read. We thought that this may have been because he was a mixed race child, as his mother was raped by her Master. Professor Arrowsmith agreed that not all slavery was the same, some slaves were fortunate enough to live with a kind Master, and others were beaten and killed. We also enjoyed how eloquent Douglass was with his writing, as he only learned his letters and words from the poor children that he bribed with bread. We enjoyed how he trusted the small white boys because it was a mutual need. Douglass needed to learn to read, and the boys needed to eat. Some people had a new insight into the horrors of American slavery, and were surprised at the amount of unnecessary violence that befell the slave women. Some of us were puzzled that songs were only sung when slaves were at their most unhappy of times. Professor Arrowsmith told us the names of some popular slave songs, such as “Wade in the Water”, and “Follow the Drinking Gourd.” These two song in particular were just a couple that gave slaves instructions on how to escape their plantations. We were also reminded that slave song were where many genres of music originated such as blue, jazz, and rock and roll.
I was left wondering when Douglass will escape. Were any of the people that he called is siblings or aunts his actual blood relatives? Was his grandmother a mother of twelve because she was raped? Or did his grandmother have a husband. Did Douglass have a lasting impact on the child of his masters? Did Douglass teach the boys that he learned from about the horrors of slavery? Did any of those boys join him later in life in his push for abolition?
