Pro Slavery Dbq Thesis

INTRO STATEMENT. Slave narratives are used to spread the messages of abolitionists but most importantly rebut the arguments of pro-slavery. While reading about the life of a slave, readers get to question whether this institution is truly beneficial or morally wrong. Exposing the horrors of slavery, the narratives elaborate on the stripping away of all human identity. Using the influential and gripping pieces to their advantage, abolitionists exploit the dehumanization, inequality, and discrimination told throughout slave narratives to campaign against slavery. There are many different types of slavery, yet each branch follows a similar rule: slaves are not to be treated as people; they are property. (Douglass vi) Being so, slaves are sold, …show more content…
The type of lifestyle a slave received differed upon which type of work they were bound to do. While houseservants lived a more “lavish” life, fieldworkers were bound to endure high levels of suffering, abuse, and violence. In the middle of these two branches of slavery were the farmservants. Farmservants were not extremely spoiled yet not outrageously abused either. (Document B). The differentiating fields of slavery add to the already massive inequality slaves endure. Slavery as a whole is unfair and unjust, no matter which type of work one receives. However, the different levels of treatment create disunity within the slave community by instilling jealousy in people. While slaves are not coming together, masters ensure that oppression lives on. Society will keep denying the rights of slaves and hold them hostage to a world full of injustice. One common denial of rights was the inability to free speech. The enslaved do not pertain the right to speak out against their masters and therefore cannot receive justice for wrongdoings. Even in the situation where a slave goes to trial, they will be presumed guilty until otherwise proven innocent, yet the possibility of proof of innocence arising is slim. (Document B) This injustice is specifically seen in the shooting of a slave named Demby in Douglass’ narrative. Demby refuses to comply with his …show more content…
They expand on ideas of dehumanization, inequality, and injustice to expose the real horrors of slavery. To win over the neutral parties onto the abolitionist side, the narratives provide a gripping glimpse into the life of a slave that is hard to ignore afterwards. When reading about how truly awful the institution of slavery is from a primary source, no person could ever support pro-slavery