The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass; an American Slave
The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave Slavery is an evil institution that, once established, robs not only the humanity of the enslaved, but also the morality of the slaveholder. It deprives the slave’s natural desire for knowledge, and hypocritically denies a man of his God given right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, stated in the Declaration of Independence for the very country that enslaves him. Douglass uses specific examples, in the case of Hugh and Sophia Auld, Thomas Auld, Colonel Lloyd and Edward Covey, the slaveholders’ reliance on religion, and the harm caused to the slaves themselves, to show that although slavery is in itself a blatant disregard for human life, it also has drastic effects on the degradation of the slaveholder’s own morality. Douglass finds himself under the ownership of a man named Hugh Auld, but under the care of his wife, Sophia. Unlike his former masters, Sophia is sweet and in fact teaches him to read and write. Douglass intentionally makes a point to include the fact that Sophia “[…] never had a slave under her control previously to myself, and prior to her marriage she had been dependent upon her own industry for a living”
(Douglass 19). This leaves her unaffected by the evils of slavery, unlike her husband, Hugh. Douglass includes this fact about Sophia to allude that slavery’s evils not only affect the slave, but the slaveholder as well. Because Hugh has already been affected by slavery, he immediately forces her to stop teaching him those things, as he understands the importance of keeping the slaves ignorant. Without this ignorance, the slave would become restless, and search for more freedom. By keeping the slaves ignorant, they don‘t really thirst for freedom the way they would if they were educated. Douglass portrays Hugh and Sophia Auld as victims of the institution of slavery, with the individual slaveholder not to blame, but the system of slavery itself. By showing
(Douglass 19). This leaves her unaffected by the evils of slavery, unlike her husband, Hugh. Douglass includes this fact about Sophia to allude that slavery’s evils not only affect the slave, but the slaveholder as well. Because Hugh has already been affected by slavery, he immediately forces her to stop teaching him those things, as he understands the importance of keeping the slaves ignorant. Without this ignorance, the slave would become restless, and search for more freedom. By keeping the slaves ignorant, they don‘t really thirst for freedom the way they would if they were educated. Douglass portrays Hugh and Sophia Auld as victims of the institution of slavery, with the individual slaveholder not to blame, but the system of slavery itself. By showing