Slavery and Power

In the 19^th century, slavery had been legal and a very clear social hierarchy had been in place. Slaves were looked down upon by masters because of their race and these actions were politically and socially justified. Examples of the relationship between the two are displayed in Frederick Douglass’s narrative. The treatment of the slaves in the narrative described the relationships that were on the plantations as relationships of power. The slaved were used as housekeepers, nannies and, frequently, as mothers to the slaveholder’s illegitimate children. These relationships speak volumes about the power that the slaveholders had over the slaves and the abuse of such power that had happened.

The harsh treatment of slaves was attempt of slaveholders to maintain power. When a slave would misbehave, an overseer would put him or her straight back into his or her place by means of violence. Whipping or torturing, there was no defined line. The slaveholders were allowed to get away with what they wanted because the slaves were “property”. The conditions were so under-regulated that they would fall just short of killing them because that would be losing money. In most cases, not all, this would happen. In the narrative, Frederick mentions the account of Demby and Mr. Gore. Mr. Gore was the overseer of the plantation and was the one who was supposed to punish Demby by whipping him. When Demby was unable to handle the pain, he jumped into the nearby creek and wouldn’t budge when Mr. Gore had given him multiple warnings to get out of the water. Demby did not listen so Mr. Gore shot him dead (Douglass 23). This scene would be a common occurrence on plantations because the masters and overseers needed to be seen as the ones in charge, and to give a slave the power to decide would be too much.

The treatment of the female slaves wasn’t much better. They were just as susceptible to the treatments of slaves as the men were. They were whipped and punished just like everyone else. Douglass recalls seeing his aunt get whipped because she disobeyed her master’s order of not seeing the neighbor’s slave that liked her. The master that Douglass remembers was “a cruel man, hardened by a long life of slaveholding” (Douglass 14). He took pleasure in making sure the slaves knew he was in charge. For example, when punishing Frederick’s aunt, “the louder she screamed, the harder he whipped; and where the blood ran fastest, there he whipped longest” (Douglass 15). The vicious actions of the Master that Douglass described are typical of the slaveholders at the time. During the 1850s, the Fugitive Slave Act was written to allow anyone to return an escaped slave to the owner where the slave could then be brought to do whatever would be needed. This could lead to severe punishment for an escape attempt; punishment that wouldn’t be too far from death. The cruelty that Douglass and the other slaves had to suffer through was an unimaginable fate that no one should have been put through.