Negative Effects Of Slavery In Frederick Douglass

Slavery was one of the most horrifying practices in all of the history of the United States. Slaves were treated as if they weren’t even human, just property. They were forced to work all day and received very little or no payment in return. They were often whipped or beaten as punishment for mistakes. In the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, the author, Frederick Douglass, gives great detail in describing the horrors of slavery. Douglass gave many different accounts of him and his fellow slaves being beaten. The practice of slavery was not only bad for the slaves, but Douglass claims that it was bad for the slaveholders as well. Obviously, slavery was bad for the slaves. They were separated from their families, forced to work their whole life, and got beaten constantly. In addition to all that, they weren’t allowed to learn to read and could be punished for even trying. They were often punished by whipping or beating. Douglass gives many examples of the horrible treatment of slaves in the book. One example is, “Mr. Covey succeeded in breaking me. I was broken in body, soul, and spirit. My natural elasticity was crushed, my intellect …show more content…
Frederick Douglass does an excellent job of portraying this in his autobiography. He gives many different examples of the negative effects of slavery. From the beating of slaves to their lack of payment, the negative effects are endless. It is also bad for the slaveholders. Douglass clearly states this when he says, “Thus is slavery the enemy of both the slave and the slaveholder.” He gives many examples of this throughout the book. One main example of the horrible effects of slavery on the slaveholders is with Mrs. Auld. He gives a very detailed description of how she went from being an angel to a devil just because of the power of owning slaves. Douglass accurately claims and explains that slavery was very bad for the slaves, yet it was bad for the slaveholders as