The Power Of Slavery, By Frederick Douglass

Frederick Douglass was born into slavery on February 14, of 1818 in the state of Maryland. His mother was a slave women and his father was unknown. Before going into further detail about Douglass, one must comprehend how the concept of slavery differentiated between the North and the South, and in which it became a nationalized institution for free and hard labor. During the years from 1800-1850’s, slaves were extremely vital in order for the cotton industry to thrive, mainly in the Southern States. Slavery then lead to even deeper social classes between the white population that owned slaves, and the white population that did not own slaves. The population that mainly didn’t own slaves were the people from Northern States, where in the North.
The immense power and authority that slaveholders have, as Douglass explains, has ruined the morality of the men and has been corrupting the U.S. government as well. Douglass thus concludes that this is unnatural due to the irrational behaviors of slaveholders. He has said to also witness slaveholders have being tempted to "adulterate" and rape female slaves. Stating that these were acts of hypocrisy that conflicted with his religious beliefs and to those who claim to have the same beliefs as Douglass. such as one of his slaveowners named Thomas Auld at St. Michaels in Maryland. In Chapter IX of Douglass's Narrative, he writes "Master Thomas was one of the many pious slaveholders who hold slaves for the very charitable purpose of taking care of them". Revealing the hypocrisy these men
"The Narrative of Federick Douglass" has pointed out that the institution of slavery has ruined the morality of man and the innocence of the enslaved. Many families were broken apart due to this, including the family of Frederick Douglass. Whose mother was separated from Douglass soon after birth and his father's whereabouts were unknown. Slaves were prohibited to learn basic facts about themselves and to learn how to read and write, since it was thought that if they were to learn, it would allow slaves to question their bondage and rebel against their slave owner. Douglass during his lifetime, realizes that the key to freedom was knowledge. Knowledge and education was needed in order for slaves to pursue freedom since it was deprived from them since the