There are those who would justify the enslavement of humans by pointing to the enormous amount of wealth generated through that enslavement and that that enslavement was a sacrifice to which blacks willingly, though unwittingly, took part. If that were a valid assessment of the enslavement of so many for the benefit of so few, then its validity would sit on the testimony of those who were enslaved. However, that testimony, as found in Fredrick Douglas’ Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglas does not support such an outlandish premise. On the contrary, Douglas’ Narrative witnesses the atrocity that was slavery from both a physical standpoint and from the perspective of that singular human element so intimate to the foundations of life—the human spirit.
Fredrick Douglas wrote his Narrative at the behest of abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison, who provided a testimonial of his own regarding Fredrick Douglas and slavery in the preface to the book. The book, itself, as written by Fredrick Douglas has no page numbers; only the chapters are delineated with each chapter representing a new portion of Douglas’ slave life. Like formally educated white students at the time, Douglas’s use of language, metaphor, and smoothness of script belie the impression that those who support the institution of slavery intend, that the slave was an unintelligent and spiritless individual who willingly worked for subsistence.
Douglas opens his Narrative with the stark revelation that he never knew his age. “By far the larger part of the slaves know as little of their ages as horses know of theirs, and it is the wish of most masters within my knowledge to keep their slaves thus ignorant” (Douglas Ch. 1). This tragic line from Douglas opens a story line of forced ignorance. He never had the privilege of knowing his father and barely knew of his mother as the standard practice was to move the child “before the child has reached its twelfth month, its mother is taken from it, and hired out on some farm a considerable distance off” (Douglas Ch. 1). The child is placed under the charge of a slave woman too old to work in the fields, thus gaining value from those slaves who are past their prime by utilizing them to perpetuate the unknowing young.
Such insidious removal of children from the support of their parents, or even from knowledge of their parents, was intended as a hedge against the establishment of family loyalty within the slave population. It was deemed prudent to cut all ties for all individuals making the person entirely dependent on the Overseer or the Owner, creating a spiritual fence that cut off communication with the outside world and even the desire to reach for such communication. The hedge worked: “She was gone long before I knew any thing [sic] about it. Never having enjoyed, to any considerable extent, her soothing presence, her tender and watchful care, I received the tidings of her death with much the same emotions I should have probably felt at the death of a stranger” (Douglas Ch. 1). The isolation from any concept of family was not just the indulgence of a few. It was a common practice, long in the formulation, and expertly executed.
However, the spirit of a child robbed of parents is hard to still. Douglas wonders about himself, his place in the world, his meaning as a person. Though, as he states, “I was myself within the circle; so that I neither saw nor heard as those without might see and hear” (Douglas Ch. 2) Douglas was not one to allow fences, whether physical or ethereal to stop him. When assigned to the main house, the child that would later become Douglas thought he saw an opportunity and was ecstatic as all others who were chosen. Later in life, after he came to understand the nature of his forced servitude, he wept over the exuberant songs sung by his fellow chosen. “To those songs I trace my first glimmering conception of the dehumanizing character of slavery. I can never get rid of that conception. Those songs still follow me, to deepen my hatred of slavery, and quicken my sympathies for my brethren in bonds” (Douglas Ch. 2). Proponents of slavery often point to the singing of black slaves as evidence of the happiness they found in the institution. It was not joy that created the songs; it was a longing to get beyond the fences, to experience the world. As Douglas says: “Slaves sing most when they are most unhappy. The songs of the slave represent the sorrows of his heart; and he is relieved by them, only as an aching heart is relieved by its tears” (Douglas Ch. 2). Hardly a testimony of the unwitting willingness of slaves, songs are objections to their condition. The more songs, the more objections.
If the institution of slavery was beneficial to the slaves under its yoke, then one could show how healthy they were as a result of the extreme care given to them by owners. However, the stipends of food and clothing, which Douglas describes quite starkly, provided to the slaves by owners do not come to the level of survival, let alone health. After working the fields the whole day, blacks would have to attend to their needs, including finding sustenance for themselves, cleaning their bodies, finding shelter against harsh weather, and even accommodating the ministrations of the Masters. Slavery, unlike what the institution’s supporters would contend, did not offer a system of support for those under the command of a few. Indeed, slavery was an abusive system of humiliation and torture hidden behind the fences of plantations that can never be condoned.
Douglas noticed the change slavery made in those who held authority, even if unwillingly. At an age deemed appropriate, Douglas was sent to Baltimore to be the companion for white children related to his owner. When he was delivered, he was greeted with kindness. Over time, as he learned to read from his new mistress, he came to wonder at the possibilities in the world. The face of his mistress weighted down with the responsibility of being a slave owner, gradually changed from the kind face of the lady he had met at the door to become that of “a demon” (Douglas Ch. 6). It would appear that if those who were held in slavery were sacrificed for the greater good of building wealth for all, then the owners themselves, yoked under the burden of owning slaves were sacrificed as well, their spirit turned from one of glee to one of anger and frustration. If only this mutual sacrificial movement were accurate. In actuality, the slave/owner relationship was not of mutual benefit.
Early in his life, Douglas witnessed the whipping of a woman for not being present when demanded. “Blood flowed” (Douglas Ch. 1) from her back and where it flowed the swiftest the whip was targeted there again. With that example which all were forced to witness, came the lesson of obedience, a fence for the spirit. Whipping was a common theme in slavery. Douglas speaks about it often and with eloquence, describing the cuts, the blows, the flowing blood, the screams, and the pleas of slave witnesses for the torture to stop. Any reader would be horrified by the description in these scenes. As Wendell Phillips points out in his letter published in the preface of the book, there is no reason to disbelieve what Douglas is describing and every reason to believe. Previous to Douglas’ publication of his Narrative, the only resources available as evidence of the effects of the application of slavery were those records occasionally offered by the plantation owners themselves. Even then, the evidence pointed to crimes simply by the evidence of missing testimony.
Douglas verifies the killing of at least three slaves. One was a young lad who did not wish to be whipped, another was an old man who wandered onto another plantation while fishing for oysters, and the third was a young lady who fell asleep while attending to a white child. In none of those cases were charges made. The death of slaves was a mere inconvenience, unpunishable by law as those who owned the slaves were allowed to do with them as they would any other thing they owned. The fences strengthened with the threat of death at any moment for any offense, actual or imagined.
However, even with these examples at the forefront of his memories, Douglas pursued his place in the world. He did not know what that place was, but he knew his place was not at the end of a whip or in a shallow grave. It was out there, somewhere. His realization of the fences created by the plantation system came into focus when he visited Baltimore. In the large cities, slaves were treated better. No one wanted to hear their screams while being whipped, no one wanted to be known as a bad owner, and no one wanted to incite a runaway. Image was the rule in Baltimore.
After learning how to read, Douglas took up books on the subject of liberty and slavery. As with any other person, knowledge opened his eyes. Finding surreptitious time to read, Douglas learned about the world beyond the world of slavery. His mind opened to a world where the worth of an individual was based on the value he produced, not on the value brought at the auction block. He learned about people in trade, about individuals in manufacturing, about men in maintenance. As Douglas read, he came to understand the complexity of life outside the plantation where men were paid for their services and lived freely on the wages they made.
Conversely, Douglas learned of his present value when his owner passed away. At that time, he was ordered back to the plantation to be evaluated. “We were all ranked together at the valuation. Men and women, old and young, married and single, were ranked with horses, sheep, and swine. There were horses and men, cattle and women, pigs and children, all holding the same rank in the scale of being, and were all subjected to the same narrow examination” (Douglas Ch. 8). It did not matter what spirit lingered within the body of Douglas. He was merely a property to be valued and distributed to the heirs. As property, Douglas, as with any other slave, had no choice of Masters. Masters were the only members of the transaction that had the option.
There is nothing like slavery to break the will of a person. With no knowledge of how they are fenced in, the typical slave has no future except for the whim of the Masters and the overseers. If they are cruel, then that is the lot of the slave. If the Master happens to be a good person who values other humans, then that Master (of Mistress) is ground down by the power of slavery to become the evil or bad Master.
Any Master, for a man seeking knowledge, is a bad Master. The spirit denied becomes a spirit possessed. Douglas left slavery by escaping to the north. He remembered his first view of New Bedford as a revelation. The richness of the place was not what he expected. Without slaves, he wondered how such wealth could be generated. It was simple, he found, to find employment, work that reflected his value as a person. The fences of the plantation dissipated away as his spirit soared.
Work Cited
Douglass, Fredrick, William Lloyd Garrison, and Wendell Phillips. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. Boston: Anti Slavery Office, 1845. Press Gutenberg. GutenbergPress.com, 10 Jan. 2006. Web. 11 Apr. 2016.
