The Culture of Slavery in Rural and Urban Regions Based on t
Like so many other slaves of his time, Frederick Douglass faced the cruel hardships of being born into a life of bondage. However, he obtained the greatness of freedom that many slaves could only dream of. As a result, we have the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, which sheds light on the horrid conditions of slavery in the south, and the hard work of the abolitionists fighting for the freedom of slaves around the United States. He writes of his experiences on the plantation under the watch of savage overseers, and in the city - learning to read and write and earn a living. He speaks of some similarities and many differences between his rural and urban experiences, and in this essay I hope to prove this point. One of the similarities between living on the plantation and living in Baltimore was that the masters knew the dangers of teaching slaves to read. Teaching a slave to read meant the master would not be able to keep the slave, because he/she would become unfit for slavery. He/she would "become unmanageable" and be of no use to the master (47). Another similarity is the extreme prejudice against the blacks. Even in Baltimore, a free black was still not considered of equal status to a white man. The em
The south believed slave holding was the proper way of life, and it was not possible to earn a living and survive unless you had plenty of land, and masses of slaves to work it. The type of work expected done on the plantation was very different than that of the work to do in Baltimore. In Baltimore, Douglass had plenty to eat. On the plantation, children were taken from their mothers at a very early age, and many did not know who their mother or father were. There were not only differences for blacks in these two settings, but also in the personalities of the whites. The abolitionists of the north argued that slavery was wrong because they believed it was inhumane to force a man, woman, or child to do that hard of work for the minimal supplies the slave holders gave them. In a more urban setting, the father and mother did not have to work as hard and for such long hours, and could spend more time with their children and teach them the things that parents are supposed to pass down, such as morals and values and how to be a part of society. If the slaves did not suffer under the whip, they suffered from hunger and cold. Douglass was one of the most intellectual slaves to escape the jaws of cruel plantation owners. In Baltimore, a black had the ability to learn a trade and earn his/her own living, while working decent hours. She even started to teach Douglass how to read before her husband put a stop to it (47). It was also far from nutritious, and the slaves would not be in good condition, for they were working too hard on very little substance (71). On the plantation, food was carefully rationed out to each slave for the month, consisting of either pork or fish and corn meal.
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Acceptance Essays
