Primary Source Analysis Of 'A Planter's View'

Resolving to fight back against Covey thrusts Douglass into manhood and is the first instance of justified violence seen in the novel: “It rekindled the few expiring embers of freedom, and revived within me a sense of my own manhood...and inspired me again with a determination to be free” (68). Although up to this point the violence described was portrayed as completely unjust and terrible, here the reader is to understand that, for the slave, this type of violence may not only be necessary, but completely justified when attempting to gain

In 1791, a son of former slaves by the name of Benjamin Banneker, wrote a letter to Thomas Jefferson about his belief and standpoint on slavery with major rhetorical responses backing his standpoint up. Banneker starts off his letter and continues throughout it by stating “sir.” He does this knowingly as it is a sign of respect and the fact Jefferson has more authority than him, as Jefferson was the Secretary of State at the time under President George Washington, and hoping to have Jefferson and other high and powerful men consider his point of view. Predating back to the early 1700’s, slaves were merely legal property in the United States, meaning the slaves had no rights. Free black men and women had no rights either.

His “Narrative of the Life of Federick Douglass” focuses on the hardships of slavery and the effects they have on a spiritual and mental level. He states that the first months of living with Covey were the hardest in his life. “I was broken in body, soul, and spirit. 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!”(Douglass). The courage one must obtain to be able to just live the life of any slave is insurmountable.

Out of extreme desperation, a Virginia indentured servant, Richard Frethorne writes home to his family whom still resided in England, with the hopes of getting food, supplies, or money to redeem his contract to get out of the terrible situation he found himself in. Many thought the move to the colonies, to Virginia, would bring about a better way of life, farming in the Tabaco fields, and they would only owe a given amount of years till their new freedom, their new lives would begin. Well, it turned out it wasn’t all rainbows and unicorns like they dreamt and thought. In fact, it was the opposite servants during this time were often treated in a despicable, less than human like manor. Therefore, death, disease, starvation, beatings, poor living

Throughout Frederick Douglass’s Narrative, he recalls the inhumane acts that were thrusted upon him as a slave, but overcame the abuse of the common practice. Specifically, Douglass since childhood worked in a plantation as a slave, but from him learning to read and write, he escapes and teaches the people of the North the hardships of slavery, where he faced deprivation through exploitation, discovered there were more opportunities for slaves as he approaches the North, and gains power to change of his life due to his knowledge. For instance, the slaves were put into lower social positions than their masters through social manipulation, in ways of isolation and deprivation, so they would not leave the plantations. To illustrate, in the plantations many of “the white

He shows how Covey, once a decent man, has been corrupted by the system of slavery and turned into a cruel and inhumane monster. Meanwhile, Douglass himself is forced to endure a constant state of fear, anxiety, and uncertainty, never knowing when he will be beaten, whipped, or punished for some minor infraction. 2nd example of text evidence to support his argument Follow “Says, Means, Matters” Douglass presents several examples to support his argument that slavery is a corrupt and dehumanizing system that strips both slaves and slaveholders of their basic human dignity and moral integrity. One such example is the story of Edward Covey, a slave breaker who Douglass is hired out to work for.

The Infortunate is an autobiography written by an indentured servant named William Moraley. In his memoir, he talks about how he became an indentured servant, as well as some of the experiences he has encountered throughout his voyage into the New World. Through his words, readers are able to understand the hardships that indentured servants and slaves have gone through, and to capture what freedom is like for them during the 18th century. However, editors named Susan E. Klepp and Billy G. Smith were able to prove that Moraley has exaggerated several instances, which makes us question if his story is a valid primary source. This also makes us think about what could possibly be his intention in writing this memoir, or what he wanted people to take away from his story.

Pity me, and pardon me, O virtuous reader! You never knew what it is to be a slave; to be entirely unprotected by law or custom; to have the laws reduce you to the condition of a chattel, entirely subject to the will of another.” She explains how it feels to be a slave and how you wouldn’t know what it felt like to be a slave, unless you have been a slave before. “Slavery is terrible for men; but it is far more terrible for women. Superadded to the burden common to all, they have wrongs, and sufferings, and mortifications peculiarly their own,” (Number 4, Sparknotes).

Covey, a man who was renowned for breaking in young slaves, Douglass was subject to some of the most intensive work and brutalizing punishments. This inhumane method of working slaves was in Mr. Covey’s eyes, justified and was how things were supposed to be. From this, Frederick Douglass grew to despise how slave owners would justify their actions and consider them morally correct. Douglass describes the exhausting effect that Mr. Covey’s work had on him, “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!” (Douglas 55).

When one considers the Declaration of Independence quality and rights are two principles that are believed to be granted to all. Equality can be defined as being treated the same as everyone else. While rights are things that were granted to you. However, Frederick Douglass would not agree that this aligns with slavery. In his narrative, he tells the story of his personal experiences of what it is like to be enslaved.

In his letter he described his life as an indentured servant as one where he has nothing to comfort him but sickness and death. The life that he was living in colonial Virginia was one where you couldn’t escape or else you will be captured. Attempting it could of cause him to die, therefore he hoped his parents brought his escape but with his parents being poor there was no way of escaping the life of an indentured servant. Having no escape as an indentured servant, he wrote to his parents a letter asking that his parents bought out the indenture. In his letter, he wrote that he was trapped in a place filled of diseases that can make any body weak and leave you with lack of comfort and rattled with guilt.

By using this reference, it illustrated the severity of the alienation of blacks in the Southern United States. In 1619, a Dutch ship “introduced the first captured Africans to America, planting the seeds of a slavery system that evolved into a nightmare of abuse and cruelty that would ultimately divide the nation”. The Africans were not treated humanely, but were treated as workers with no rights. Originally, they were to work for poor white families for seven years and receive land and freedom in return. As the colonies prospered, the colonists did not want to give up their workers and in 1641, slavery was legalized.

The Narrative of Frederick Douglass is a very great perspective for people of today to understand what it was like to be a slave in the 1800’s. It tells the story of the slave Frederick Douglass and how he began as an uneducated slave and was moved around from many different types of owners, cruel or nice, and how his and other slaves presences changed the owners, and also how he educated himself and realized that he shouldn’t be treated so poorly It was at the point later in the book that I realized how some slaves might have felt during slavery in the 1800’s. When Douglass is sent away to Mr.Covey he is treated pretty badly but eventually he stands up to Mr.Covey and demands that he stopped being treated like an animal.

He also recounts how he was sent to Edward Covey, a “sabbath breaker” who specialized in breaking the spirit of slaves. Despite his harsh treatment, Douglass found strength in the knowledge that his fellow slave had been through similar experiences and this discourages the slave

After spending much time with the Auld family, Douglass went to work for a new slave owner named Covey. Covey was known to break enslaved peoples’ spirits so they can be a “good” slave. The new owner did just that. All of Douglass’s hope to escape to freedom was gone. “My natural elasticity was crushed, my intellect languished, the disposition to read departed…”(Pg.18 E.4)