The Disadvantages of Slave Holders
Slave holding was a large trend in America through a large part of its history. There are various reason for why it existed, one was that it gave free labor, another was that it made many wealthy or opened jobs as overseers. The ideal of slavery would be a hotbed of arguments with many trying to remove it while others attempted to secure it. One man who wished to do away with it was Frederick Douglass, a former slave himself. Douglass wrote a book about his time as a slave. In the text “NARRATIVE OF THE LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS, AN AMERICAN SLAVE.” Douglass not only argues that slavery is a harmful thing to those enslaved he also argues that its harmful to the enslavers.
First, Douglass states that slavery …show more content…
First, The issue of slavery itself would cause a massive split in America in which people were willing to combat each other for their side of the argument. From a note attached to the text ““Reader! are you with the man-stealers in sympathy and purpose, or on the side of their down-trodden victims? If with the former, then are you the foe of God and man. If with the latter, what are you prepared to do and dare in their behalf? Be faithful, be vigilant, be untiring in your efforts to break every yoke, and let the oppressed go free. Come what may — cost what it may — inscribe on the banner which you unfurl to the breeze, as your religious and political motto — "NO COMPROMISE WITH SLAVERY! NO UNION WITH SLAVEHOLDERS!"” (Douglass xviii). In this note from Lloyd Garrison it shows the deep divide and uncompromising attitude to the anti-slavery side. The idea of wealth itself became based on how many slaves one had. An excerpt from the text “To describe the wealth of Colonel Lloyd would be almost equal to describing the riches of Job. He kept from ten to fifteen house-servants. He was said to own a thousand slaves, and I think this estimate quite within the truth.” (Douglass 19). Note how douglass focuses on how many slaves he has rather then how much money or how large his land is. Politically slavery was a harmful influence upon …show more content…
First free blacks may have trouble working with white workers either due to the white workers refusing or the black workers having a resentment towards the white workers. A part of the text “My fellow-apprentices very soon began to feel it degrading to them to work with me. They began to put on airs, and talk about the "niggers" taking the country, saying we all ought to be killed; and, being encouraged by the journeymen, they commenced making my condition as hard as they could, by hectoring me around, and sometimes striking me.”. Working with white workers that didn't want to work with them wasn't just difficult but even dangerous to a black worker. One economic problem was that slavery underminded the largely capitalistic style of economics. A piece of text taken from the book “I was now getting, as I have said, one dollar and fifty cents per day. I contracted for it; I earned it; it was paid to me; it was rightfully my own; yet, upon each returning Saturday night, I was compelled to deliver every cent of that money to Master Hugh.”. In a capitalist system each person is owed what they earned, so for Master Hugh to get the money rather than Douglass, it goes against that system.
In conclusion Douglass brought up multiple points as to why slavery could be just as bad for the slaver holders as it was good. First, Slave holders may find themselves tempted into warping or loosing their morals due to the power given by slavery. Secondly,
Slave holding was a large trend in America through a large part of its history. There are various reason for why it existed, one was that it gave free labor, another was that it made many wealthy or opened jobs as overseers. The ideal of slavery would be a hotbed of arguments with many trying to remove it while others attempted to secure it. One man who wished to do away with it was Frederick Douglass, a former slave himself. Douglass wrote a book about his time as a slave. In the text “NARRATIVE OF THE LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS, AN AMERICAN SLAVE.” Douglass not only argues that slavery is a harmful thing to those enslaved he also argues that its harmful to the enslavers.
First, Douglass states that slavery …show more content…
First, The issue of slavery itself would cause a massive split in America in which people were willing to combat each other for their side of the argument. From a note attached to the text ““Reader! are you with the man-stealers in sympathy and purpose, or on the side of their down-trodden victims? If with the former, then are you the foe of God and man. If with the latter, what are you prepared to do and dare in their behalf? Be faithful, be vigilant, be untiring in your efforts to break every yoke, and let the oppressed go free. Come what may — cost what it may — inscribe on the banner which you unfurl to the breeze, as your religious and political motto — "NO COMPROMISE WITH SLAVERY! NO UNION WITH SLAVEHOLDERS!"” (Douglass xviii). In this note from Lloyd Garrison it shows the deep divide and uncompromising attitude to the anti-slavery side. The idea of wealth itself became based on how many slaves one had. An excerpt from the text “To describe the wealth of Colonel Lloyd would be almost equal to describing the riches of Job. He kept from ten to fifteen house-servants. He was said to own a thousand slaves, and I think this estimate quite within the truth.” (Douglass 19). Note how douglass focuses on how many slaves he has rather then how much money or how large his land is. Politically slavery was a harmful influence upon …show more content…
First free blacks may have trouble working with white workers either due to the white workers refusing or the black workers having a resentment towards the white workers. A part of the text “My fellow-apprentices very soon began to feel it degrading to them to work with me. They began to put on airs, and talk about the "niggers" taking the country, saying we all ought to be killed; and, being encouraged by the journeymen, they commenced making my condition as hard as they could, by hectoring me around, and sometimes striking me.”. Working with white workers that didn't want to work with them wasn't just difficult but even dangerous to a black worker. One economic problem was that slavery underminded the largely capitalistic style of economics. A piece of text taken from the book “I was now getting, as I have said, one dollar and fifty cents per day. I contracted for it; I earned it; it was paid to me; it was rightfully my own; yet, upon each returning Saturday night, I was compelled to deliver every cent of that money to Master Hugh.”. In a capitalist system each person is owed what they earned, so for Master Hugh to get the money rather than Douglass, it goes against that system.
In conclusion Douglass brought up multiple points as to why slavery could be just as bad for the slaver holders as it was good. First, Slave holders may find themselves tempted into warping or loosing their morals due to the power given by slavery. Secondly,