Slavery’s
Dehumanization
One Account
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Mr. Burwell came to the cabin, with a letter in his hand.
He was a kind master in some things, and as gently as
possible informed my parents that they must part; for in
two hours my father must join his master at Dinwiddie,
and go with him to the West, where he had determined
to make his future home. I can remember the scene as if
it were but yesterday; - how my father cried out against
the cruel separation; his last kiss; his wild straining of
my mother to his bosom; the solemn prayer to Heaven;
the tears and sobs - the fearful anguish of broken
hearts. The last kiss, the last good-by; and he, my
father, was gone, gone forever.
Keckley, Elizabeth, Behind the Scenes, or Thirty Years a Slave and Four
Years in the White House (1968, republished 1988).
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This picture is a
contemporary sketch
of a plantation.
This picture reflects a
common working day.
Chattel vs. Cattle
What’s the difference? What effect does the word chattel
have on us today?
“'Elisha,' chattel No. 5 in the catalogue, had taken a fancy
to a benevolent looking middle-aged gentleman, who
was inspecting the stock, and thus used his powers of
persuasion to induce the benevolent man to purchase
him, with his wife, boy and girl, Molly, Israel and
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Sevanda, chattels Nos. 6, 7 and 8.”
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New York Daily Tribune, March 9, 1859 reprinted in Hart, Albert B., American History Told by
Contemporaries v. 4 (1928).
On the Selling Block
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'Look at me, Mas'r; am prime rice planter; sho' you won't
find a better man den me; no better on de whole
plantation; not a bit old yet; do mo' work den ever; do
carpenter work, too, little; better buy me, Mas'r; I'se be
good sarvant, Mas'r. Molly, too, my wife, Sa, fus rate rice
hand; mos as good as me. Stan' out yer, Molly, and let
the gen'lm'n see.'
Molly advances, with her hands crossed on her bosom,
and makes a quick short curtsy, and stands mute,
looking appealingly in the benevolent man's face. But
Elisha talks all the faster.
'Show mas'r yer arm Molly - good arm dat mas'r - she do
a heap of work mo' with dat arm yet. Let good mas'r see
yer teeth Molly - see dat mas'r, teeth all reg'lar, all good she'm young gal yet. Come out yer Israel, walk aroun'
an' let the gen'lm'n see how spry you be.'
New York Daily Tribune, March 9, 1859 reprinted in Hart, Albert B., American History Told by
Contemporaries v. 4 (1928).
In Bondage & In Freedom
Always in Fear
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On May 24, 1854, after only three months of freedom,
Anthony (a former slave) was sighted by a slave hunter,
immediately imprisoned and taken before a court where
his fate would be decided. His incarceration sparked
outrage among the citizenry of Boston. This seething
anger came to a head three nights later when an angry
mob stormed the Court House where he was being held
in an attempt to free the hapless prisoner. They were
unsuccessful. Efforts were then made to secure the
slave's freedom by buying him from his master. But this
too was unsuccessful.
"Return of a Fugitive Slave, 1854", EyeWitness to History, www.eyewitnesstohistory.com (2005).
Always in Fear
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At eleven o'clock, Court Square presented a spectacle
that became indelibly engraved upon the memories of
men. The people had been swept out of the Square, and
stood crowded together in Court street, presenting to
the eye a solid rampart of living beings. At the eastern
door of the Court House, stood the cannon, loaded, and
with its mouth pointed full upon the compact mass. By
its side stood the officer commanding the detachment of
United States troops, gazing with steady composure in
the same direction. It was the first time that the armed
power of the United States had ever been arrayed
against the people of Massachusetts. Men who
witnessed the sight, and reflected upon its cause, were
made painfully to recognize the fact, before unfelt, that
they were the subjects of two governments.
Frederick Douglass
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What kind of woman does Mrs. Auld
appear to be? What part does Mr. Auld
play in her character?
How do you view Douglass’s character?
What does he write that illustrates this
view?
How does Douglass use irony to reinforce
slavery's dehumanizing influence?