The slaves in the south were dehumanized by their
masters time and time again, and Frederick Douglas writes about many of the
degrading events that he witnesses. The men, women and children slaves were not
regarded as human beings, but were ranked among the animals by their cruel
slaveholders. Some plantations even kept a thousand slaves. This dehumanization
of slaves was imperative to the system of slavery as a whole. Slaves could not
believe that they had a human life, because if they did it would result in, as
Mr. Gore says, “the freedom of the slaves, and the enslavement of the whites”
(Douglas 36). Although the slaveholders were obviously in charge and powerful,
they were also fearful of the slaves. They understood that
the roles could be reversed. This
explains why the slaveholders deemed it necessary to demean their slaves and
keep them from any sort of knowledge. This knowledge could be book knowledge,
or more importantly an understanding of who they were as human beings.
Is it too farfetched to think that the slaves could have overpowered their white slaveholders? Surely the slaves outnumbered their white counterparts. Was the deprivation of knowledge the only thing holding them back?
I think that the theme of knowledge being a tool of power and a vessel with which to attain freedom is a prominent theme in this narrative. We the readers can examine this theme in the novel when Mrs. Auld attempts to teach Douglass to read and write, only to be reprimanded by her husband who believes education ruins slaves. It is not so much that the ability to read and write would have suddenly allowed Douglass, or any slave, to have automatically escaped their imprisonment. It is more so that being educated would have allowed for a better understanding of their circumstances and a means of communicating this understanding with other slaves.
ReplyDeleteA denial of education is a blatant denial of a common human right. Education and self-awareness is something that sets humans apart from other animals, and this idea of self worth was not something I'd imagine Southern slave holders to desire among their slaves. Undoubtedly the slaves outnumbered their white counterparts, but they had no means of assembling together and no means of verbally communicating the injustices they suffered. The lack of the written word within the slave community is certainly something that contributed to the enslavement of these peoples, as we see later in history with the advent of freed slaves' literature, newspapers, and other writings of the like came a blooming sense of a black community, a brotherhood between free soilers and slaves freed and still suffering enslavement, and, of course, the written word of those brave few who would successfully escape slavery by running away to the free North and then would encourage their still shackled kindred to rise up and do the same.
The deprivation of knowledge was not the ONLY thing holding slaves back, but it was certainly a major contributing factor. Knowledge would not have automatically freed a slave, but it would've given them the means to do so themselves.
There are many contributing factors that accompany the relationship slave-owners and their slaves have; lack of knowledge is without question an important aspect that allows the white Masters to have an authoritative way with the slaves. Slave-owners were aware that the tables could be turned and made it a point to keep there slaves uneducated, even for simple things like there own age. By doing this the slave owners could really have full control of every aspect of their slave; mind and body. Masters, I believe understood that knowledge is power, which was an influence in the decision to keep slaves uneducated. The common practice of Masters, as a way of expanding their slave count, was to rape female slaves and as a result, the child they bore, by law, was still considered the Master’s slave. Douglass was even thought to be a product of one of these terrible events. By being born into the planation, without any evidence to your background or even the comfort of a family, sense often mothers were sold separately, a child would have to grow some attachment to their slave-owners because it would provide some feeling of familiarity or consolation. Having lack of knowledge allows the salves to form a sort of fear of the unknown, if they were to leave the planation. So yes, knowledge plays a major role in the freedom of slave, however it is certainly not the only reason holding slaves back from their freedom.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very interesting aspect of slave life in the south that you bring up in this discussion of dehumanization of the slave class. Without a doubt, I must say that the empowerment of knowledge, or in this case, the lack there of, is most definitely a hindering factor in the uprising from oppression for the slave class on the plantations. However, I think there were many factors at play that were suppressing slaves aside from the lack of knowledge. I say this because even if an education could be achieved and knowledge could be gained, most slaves fled from the south to the north anyways due to a more welcoming and facilitative environment. Overall I think the knowledge was a major aspect that allowed for the dehumanization and control of slaves, but there were also other pertinent factors that contributed to the grander scheme of that horrid class system.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the lack of knowledge plays a factor into the suppression of the Africans, but this is not the only factor contributing to their enslavement. Although knowledge is power, the slaveholders had physical empowerment over their slaves in the form of ammunition. This physical empowerment stems from the early colonial period when America was first being founded. The Europeans who came to the Americas established the triangular trade which was realized due to their trade of steel which forged the guns to overtake the Indigenous people as well as the Africans for enslavement. While the Africans outnumbered the slaveholders they did not have the necessary factors to surpass the white man which has held superiority over them for centuries.
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