Slavery in America

Of all the readings assigned to us throughout the course of the semester, the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave is the story that I liked the most and made the biggest impact. He, like all of the other’s slaves, had no fault or control over his situation. All he knew was the cruelty of the white people whom separated him from his mother and siblings at an early age. What do you do if you don’t know any better, if most of the people like you have the same sad story and those who can enlighten you to the truth and the justice do everything they can to keep you in the darkness and ignorance? Frederick fought; he fought for his freedom, for the privilege of reading what most slaves could not read. In his life, he witnessed many horrible crimes committed against people like him, like when Mr. Gore “raised his musket to [Demby’s] face, taking deadly aim at his standing victim, and in an instant poor Demby was no more.” (Douglass 933). Demby had to die so that other slaves would not become unmanageable like him. However, I think that the real reason why Demby died was because Mr. Gore liked to feel superior and way too powerful compared to the slaves, and what better way to do so than ending their lives. Another thing that I find amazing about his story is the way he describes the conditions in which he lived in as a young kid, “The allowance of the slave children was given to their mothers, or the old women having the care of them. The children unable to work in the field had neither shoes, stockings, jackets, nor trousers, given to then; their clothing consisted of two coarse linen shirts per day. When this failed them, they went naked until the next allowance-day.” (Douglass 927). I think Frederick’s story is one to be remembered and admired.