Slavery In Frederick Douglass Research Paper

During the life of Frederick Douglass, slavery was the foundation that supported Southern society. Its effects would eventually spread throughout the country, consuming the country socially, economically, and culturally. Social consequences of slavery included the reveal of class divisions among not only the slave owners but also all of white society. White women utilized slave ownership as a tool to elevate their position in a patriarchal society, yet also suffered the some of the greatest effects of slavery. Economically, slavery threatened lower class white population. They feared that slave-labor would devalue and expel wage-labor. An integral part of American culture during the 20th century was religion, which would not be absent from …show more content…
While slave ownership allowed for a higher position in white society, much of this also relied upon the image of the Southern woman and her role within the home. An ideology of domesticity was presented, with the quintessential southern woman caring for her family and controlling all that went on within the house. It was assumed that if a woman had slaves, she had time to do these domestic duties without having to worry about certain household responsibility that a slave would tend to. This was critical as it could also raise the status of the husband and family. White women were elevated above slaves based on their race alone. Women would never be able to own slaves, however they would be received as gifts. All women, rich or poor, would aspire to own a slave as it could present her only chance of gaining respect and power in their patrilineal society. For plantation mistresses, a false sense of agency was born through the ownership of slaves. They were able to have a role of superficial power otherwise absent to them in every aspect of their lives. Douglass mentions that this newfound power is quick to affect women, as it did his mistress in Baltimore, Mrs. Auld. Upon his arrival, Douglass was “utterly astonished at her goodness” (Douglass 19). But once the “fatal poison of irresponsible power was already in her hands” her “cheerful eye… became red with rage” and her …show more content…
There were no social ramifications for male slaveowners if they raped their female slaves. Women had to withstand the humiliation of seeing the eventual children fathered by their husband and sons around the plantation. These mulatto children would create friction between the master and his wife, especially if “she suspects her husband of showing to his mulatto children favors which he withholds from his black slaves” (Douglass 3). Masters would try to alleviate this tension by “sell(ing) this class of…slaves, out of deference to the feelings of his white wife” (Douglass 3). Mulatto children were in no way uncommon, as Frederick Douglass himself was interracial. He states that it is possible and probable that his master was his father (Douglass 1). This chance genealogical luck could have contributed to his success as an orator and abolitionist as he would have been regarded higher than a colored man with darker