Slavery in America: The Narrative of The Life of Frederick Douglass

Life was hard back in 1845 when slavery was at its peak. Slaves were considered beasts, subhuman, or at least a degenerated form of the human species. Enslaved Africans were used to raise profit-making crops: sugar, rice, tobacco, and cotton. Their owners would oppress them, put constraints, distorted their choices and stunted them as people. They would be whipped, tortured and sold. The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass is an autobiography of Frederick Douglass that depicts slavery as an ungodly, unnatural, unjust, cruel and immoral phase of his life.

Slavery in America during the nineteenth century was brutal and inhumane. Subjugation in America started in 1619 when a Dutch ship brought 20 African slaves ashore in the British colony of Jamestown, Virginia (History.Com 2019). Bigotry was at the heart of American Slavery. It demanded that various races (black and white) ought to be isolated, that they ought to have their own communities and that it was unnatural for individuals from various races to marry. By depicting Africans and their African American relative's lesser people, advocates of slavery attempted to justify and maintain the system of exploitation while delineating the United States as a 'hero of human freedom with human rights, unlimited chances and equality(Plato.stanford.edu 2019). Slavery became harsher when legal codes would dictate the behaviour of enslaved men and women. They did not have legal standings in courts, they were not allowed to testify unless it was against another enslaved person or free black people, they could not enter into contracts or own properties. They were not allowed to leave their owner's property without permission nor were they allowed to defend themselves against violence from their white master. Punishments for infractions were extreme. Whipping was prescribed for lesser offences, branding, mutilation, and even ending someone's life was employed as punishment for more severe infractions.

Frederick Douglass very much well explains his emotions throughout the day. He metaphorically describes his days, aiming at conveying a message across to the readers. 'Those beautiful vessels, robed in purest white, so delightful to the eye of freemen'. Purest white signifying freedom to him and showing that he still has hope to one day escape. ' Get caught, or get clear, I'll try it. I had as well died with ague as the fever'. This phrase shows his desperation of how he does not want to continue with his life. Frederick Douglass compares his time in the plantations with Mr Covey to his time in Baltimore. In Baltimore, he had time to learn how to read and write and was conscious of the consequences of slavery. Though when he is rented to Edward Covey, things changes. ' If at any one time of my life more than another, I was made to drink the bitterest dregs of slavery, that time was during the first six months of my stay with Mr Covey'. Covey manages, in the initial a half year, to work and whip all the soul out of him till the point where he is never again keen on learning or freedom, he is just fit for resting from his wounds and weariness.

Frederick Douglass' story is by a wide margin the most significant one since he needs us to consider something beyond laws and political views of subjugation and freedom. In 'The Narrative life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave' Douglass discusses the account of how a slave becomes free, however, it is likewise the autobiography of how men are made into slaves. The more baffling procedure and the one that Douglass is worried about uncovering and breaking down is the manner in which subjugation overwhelms the brain and soul of a slave. Hence, Douglass demonstrates that Covey's inhumanity and cruelty make him lose pieces of himself, including his desire to be educated.'My natural elasticity was crushed, my intellect languished, the disposition to read departed, the cheerful spark that lingered about my eye died; the dark night of slavery closed in upon me, and behold a man transformed into a brute!'. This quote explains Douglass' depressed point as a slave and Covey's strategies into making Douglass a slave again, comprising of relentless work and consistent, ruthless discipline.

Douglass’s strength as a character fluctuates because of the conduct of Mr Covey towards him and he is represented again as a typical, American slave rather than someone who wants to be educated. Though after a physical fight against Mr Covey, he seems to gain confidence and has a rise in spirit. 'but at this moment — from whence came the spirit I don't know - I resolved to fight; and, suiting my action to the resolution, I seized Covey hard by the throat; and as I did so, I rose. Douglass believed that since Covey relished in a far-reaching reputation for being the locality's best slave breaker, it provided him with a lot of free labourers(Cliffsnotes.com, 2019), and he would not like to abuse him based on the facts that doing such would be an affirmation of him having lost a physical battle. For the remainder of Douglass' stay, Covey didn't touch him once more. Douglass recalls: 'This battle with Mr Covey was the turning-point in my career as a slave. It rekindled the few expiring embers of freedom and revived within me a sense of my own manhood. It recalled the departed self-confidence, and inspired me again with a determination to be free'. He went from a weak submissive person to someone who had the upper hand.

With what happened so far, we can imagine that his life will change. Probably in terms of how Mr Covey will treat him in the next 6 months. He could maybe escape and use his experience with slavery to help other people. 'My long-crushed spirit rose, cowardice departed, bold defiance took its place; and I now resolved that however long I might remain a slave in form, the day had passed forever when I could be a slave in fact'. Despite still being a slave, he's managed to get out of his own sufferings and still have a positive outlook on things and life.