Vince Brewton, an author from the University of Alabama, claims that the whipping of Douglas’ “Aunt Hester introduced Douglas to a consciousness of his slave status, a social fact of which he was previously unaware.” In a sense, slave owners wanted the slaves to know that they are in fact superior to the slaves. Throughout Frederick Douglass’ slave narrative, there are several acts in which the slave owners would take advantage of their slaves to show their “superior” status. There are two instances in Douglass’ narrative which shows white slave owners and their intention of making African American slaves feel inferior.
Douglass discusses his experience with one of his slave owners, Mr. Hopkins. Douglass claims that his master whipped the slaves for the small mistakes, so that they would not commit big mistakes (Douglass 87). This statement by Douglass ties in very well with Brewton’s argument because it shows that Hopkins used intimidation tactics to show his slaves that he was “superior.” By whipping slaves constantly, Hopkins was trying to show the slaves that they are inferior and had no right to equality.
Douglass also writes about a situation where he realized that he had the right to keeping the money that he earned, but always gave it to his master simply because he was expected to. Douglas states that he gave his earnings to his owner because his owner “solely because he had the right to compel [Douglass] to give it up” (Douglass 105). Douglass’ opinion shows that though slaves kept submitting to their masters, they knew they were treated in an unfair manner. Douglass was completely aware of the unjust treatment, but continued to submit to it because his owners made him feel that slaves were obligated to give everything to their masters.
By reading Frederick Douglass’ slave narrative and comparing it to Vince Brewton’s idea of a slave owner’s superiority, one may conclude that both sources reveal the intention of white slave owners of making the slaves feel inferior. Though Douglass was giving up money to his owner, he knew it was unjust. Also, slaves realized that they could not get away with anything because they witness the whipping of other slaves. Not only did slaves get treated unjustly because they were expected to obey all of their master’s orders, they also received unjust treatment because the slave owners wanted to boast their superiority and make that they are inferior.
Douglass, Frederick. The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass An American Slave. Signet Classics, 2005. Print.
Brewton, Vince. "Bold Defiance Took its place." Academic Search Premier. Martin Luther King Jr. Library, Fall 2005. Web. 23 Oct. 2009.
Slaveholders had various means of keeping their "superior" status over the slaves. Whippings and harsh treatment of their chattel is a physical way they dominated their slaves. They also kept the slaves mentally inferior. Douglass realizes this when he is yelled at when he tries to learn to read. Keeping slaves knowledge to a minimum was another way slaveholders became "superior".
ReplyDeleteWhipping and other inhuman treatment by slaveholders was both a way of degrading and reminding slaves of their place in society. Even the simple act of stripping a slaves upper body in public is enough to embarrass and degrade a slave, but to whip them until they bleed is a harsh reminder for them to keep their place in the slave society. Douglass first learns of this reality when he sees his Aunt Hester being stripped and whipped for disobeying her master.
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