Slaves must seek knowledge and education in order to pursue freedom. It is from Hugh Auld that Douglass learns this notion that knowledge must be the way to freedom, as Auld forbids his wife to teach Douglass how to read and write because education ruins slaves. Douglass
Throughout the Narrative, Douglass shows how the use of ignorance was employed against the slaves. Using this theme, we will focus on how they kept the slaves from learning, and how Douglass felt after trying to learn. To start, at the time Douglass was writing, many people believed that slavery was a natural state of being. They believed that blacks were inferior to whites and they should be kept as workers. From birth, slave owners started the tactic of keeping slaves oblivious to the world around them by keeping basic facts like their birth date or paternity away from them.
The officer informs through his correspondence with his wife through his letters that he has a number of slaves that are appointed do various chores related to plantation and household (McArthur and Burton 1996). According to James B. Griffin, the government of North was trying to take away their independence by imposing their antislavery laws on Southerners. He thinks that the North is trying to enslave the Southerners under its laws and regulations and that the Southerners will not be allowed to live their way of life because of several impositions by the North
Some slaves were treated badly and suffered through many hardships, some were whipped and most were deprived of an education. Abolitionists believed it was wrong to enslave a person, majority of Abolitionists lived in the North with only a few in the South. Abolitionists published antislavery newspapers, books, made speeches and entered politics to fight for the abolition of slavery. They also set up underground railroad systems to help runaway slaves escape to Northern states or to Canada. Abolitionists faced bitter and violent opposition in both the North and South.
“I have known him to kick my aunt, an old woman who had raised the nursed him, and I have seen him punish my sisters awfully with hickories from the woods.” However, slavery in Southern America was usually patriarchal in character contrary to common belief; quite a big portion of slaves were regarded and considered to be part of the family to which they belonged. These slaves were treated with kindness and consideration, with strong emotional bonds between slave and owner. During the New Deal, President Roosevelt ordered journalists to interview former slaves and compile the data into a book, the slave narratives. The results of this study were quite shocking-there was not one slave out of the 2300 interviewed that proclaimed exploitation of themselves by their master. One of those slaves was a female called Millie Evans.
Dr. Flint offers to have a cottage built for Linda and her children, in exchange for here compliance in sexual promiscuity. Linda declines, as she does not believe he will keep his end of the bargain. At first, she does not trust the captain or crew of the ship she is on, while sailing to Philadelphia. Another prominent theme in the book was the abuse that was experienced by the slaves. Whether verbal or physical, abuse was present on every plantation.
Althoughboth narratives are about learning to read, their journeys include many differences also. Frederick Douglass was an African American slave, born in February of 1818. In his narrative "Learning to Read and Write" he lists the ways he learned how to read and write, using exemplififcation. While noting that Douglass had to sneak around for books, he didnt have any sort of education around him, which made his strive for education a lot stronger. He was forced to teach himself how to read, considering no one cared enough about African American to offer them an edcation, so he leardned from books.
Do not Judge a Book by it’s Color One of the most controversial acts of its time, The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, was passed into law to prevent the protection of runaway slaves and stated they must be returned to their master. Shortly after the Act was passed into law, Harriet Beecher Stowe, in her short story, depicts slavery solely as evil and uses Uncle Tom’s Cabin to play on people’s feelings and to help start the abolitionist movement in the South. The strong feeling that slaves were not of value and them being treated no better than animals was extremely prevalent in the South; however, some plantation owners owned slaves only so they could fit in, when in reality, they did not believe in slavery and treated their slaves very well. Even though the treatment of slaves contrasts from the Haley’s plantation to the Shelby’s house and St. Clare’s estate, Stowe depicts all slavery as evil, no matter how the slaves are treated. Uncle Tom was not like any other slave.
Slavery was part of southern culture. This caused debate with the North and South and caused them to spit into two separate territories. Lastly, The Northerners hated the fugitive slave law, which was another important cause of the Civil War. The fugitive slave law stated that anyone being caught helping a slave will be fined and that citizens had to report any acts of someone helping a slave to freedom. The Northerners hated this law.
The people needed slaves to work on their plantations and fiercly opposed the antislavery movement. They believed that the North does not have the right to judge the Southern