Josiah Heson's 'What Was The Promise In The Crucible'

Josiah Henson promised his master to take the group of 21 slaves from Maryland to Kentucky in order to save his master from being ruined. We could tell what he promised by reading it on paragraph two as they clearly tell us what he promised. He made the promise because he was afraid that if he doesn’t do it then the sheriff will come. He was afraid of the sheriff coming to take everyone who belonged to his master and separate all of them. He didn’t want that to happen because all of them had built a relationship and they were like a family. On paragraph four as he said “I was afraid the sheriff would take every one who belonged to him and we would all be separated.” This gives me the idea that he feared the thought of them being separated that’s …show more content…
The slave breaker did this so Douglass could listen and obey to what his master tells him to do. As we could tell when Douglass tells us in the story on paragraph eleven “I lived with Master Thomas for nine months. During this time he had given me a number of severe beatings. They had not served their purpose. He decided to put me out to be broken. For this purpose he rented me for one year to a man named Edward Covey. Mr. Covey had a very high reputation for breaking slaves. He was so good at it that some slave owners lent Mr. Covey their slaves for one year for the sake of the training which he forced on them.” This states that he was sent there to be broken by Mr. Convey so he won’t give any more troubles to his master. Mr. Covey had sent Douglass with unbroken oxen to get wood so he could whip him when he got back. He did this because he knew Douglass didn’t know anything about oxen and he just wanted to whip him to start his training in breaking him. We could tell this on paragraph fourteen when he said “On my return, I told Mr. Covey what had happened. He then went to a tree with his axe, cut three large switches, and ordered me to take off my clothes. He then lashed me till he had worn out his switches, leaving scars for a long time after.” This gave me an idea that he just did this so he could just whip him and try to break him. The root did work the whole point of it was to prevent any white man from …show more content…
The way Douglass stood up to Mr. Convey was really astonishing without fear of the consequences and how he got away for beating a white man, especially one that is known for breaking slaves is pretty amazing. Other slaves wouldn’t do that because they would fear getting whipped and getting killed for hitting a white man. I admire him for saying that he could be a slave in form but he was no longer a slave in fact. He could look like one but mentally he isn’t one. He could think for himself and could read. He saw that what the whites were doing was wrong. Most slaves are hidden from the truth, they can’t think for themselves and aren’t able to read. They are forced to believe that what the whites are doing is right and they have to obey what they tell them to do. Douglass knew better and tried to tell others that what the whites are doing is wrong. He was preaching about the bible and what it was really telling them. He told the slaves that the whites are lying to them. He tried to teach them how to read and got whipped from his master. For learning and telling the truth to his fellow companions. As Sojourner Truth said “Then they talk about this thing in the head; what’s this they call it? [“Intellect”] That’s it honey. What’s that got to do with women’s rights or Negroes’ rights? If my cup won’t hold but a pint, and yours holds a quart, wouldn’t you be mean not