Annotations From The Narrative

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Annotations from Frederick Douglass By far the large part of the slaves know as little of their age as horses know of theirs, and it is the wish of most masters within my knowledge to keep their slaves thus ignorant. [Ch. 1, p. 39.] ‘Ignorant’ is the key word in this passage. Slaves seemed to be valued because of their ignorance. As long as they followed their master’s wishes and didn’t raise any questions, they were being “manageable slaves”. Not letting the slaves have their own identities and background made it easier for their masters to control them. It is also interesting how Douglass compares a slave to a horse. It may be upsetting to the reader to see a human treated the same way as a horse. This dehumanizes the slaves in a way. The opinion was also whispered that my master was my father; but of the correctness of this opinion, I know nothing; the means of knowing was withheld from me. [Ch. 1, p. 40.] It was rumored that Captain Anthony was Frederick’s father. Clues point to this by the kindness of Captain Anthony’s daughter to Frederick or the beatings and rape of Frederick’s aunt. In any case, there was no mention of it, especially to Frederick. He was not allowed to have this kind of knowledge. His master feared that if Frederick knew of his background, he would be deemed useless as a slave. Knowledge was a thing valued by slaves and feared by their masters. To those songs I trace my first glimmering conception of the dehumanizing character of slavery. [Ch. 2, p. 47.] Douglass is speaking here of the songs he used to hear on Colonel Lloyd’s plantation. When he was a slave he was more sensitive to this music than any other parts of slavery. They had always filled him with sadness even after he became free. He starts to realize as a young boy after hearing these songs, just how bitter and depressed slavery makes a person. It is at this point where he can first recall slavery as inhumane. (2nd) The slaveholders have been known to send in spies among their slaves, to ascertain their views and feelings in regard to their condition. (1st) The frequency of this has had the effect to establish among the slaves the maxim, that a still tongue makes a wise head. [Ch. 3, p. 50.] Frederick as well as the other slaves learned some of the horrible tricks the masters could play on them. One example is the way the slaves spend holidays. The masters like to ...

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...in by Mr. Covey. He realized that any white man who wanted to succeed in whipping him would have to kill him. He may have been a slave physically, but in his heart he was free. He told me, If I would be happy, I must lay out no plans for the future. [Ch. 11, p. 96.] Again, a reoccurring point in the narrative about the happiness of the slave. Master Thomas claims that if Frederick wants to remain “happy”, he should forget about freedom and just realize he will always be a slave. Unfortunately for his master, it was too late for Frederick to go back. He had learned too much. He had seen the horrors of slavery and knew there was much more for him. I saw in every white man an enemy, and in almost every colored man cause for distrust. [Ch. 11, p. 99.] What else could Frederick feel after being a slave his entire life? No white man ever gave him a reason to have trust. There had been nothing but cruel, lying white men surrounding Frederick. As for his won race, he was still suspect. After being told on for trying to escape, he became wary of his fellow slaves. He may have been in a free land, but he had learned the ways of man and knew what he had to do to survive.

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