Frederick Douglass: How Slavery And Its Negative Impacts

Although slavery affected the United States as a whole, it particularly affected the South, where a majority of the whites were not ready to see slavery abolished. In his narrative, Frederick Douglass helps us understand the impacts of slavery, not only on the African American families, but also on the southern whites, the society as well as the relationships between the whites and African Americans in the southern society. For this paper, I will use Frederick's narrative to discuss how slavery affected the south in general.

According to Frederick, his mistress, Sophia, had been very kind to him at first. He describes her as having been a kind, tender hearted woman, who treated him like a human being. She not only allowed him to learn,

but also taught him to read at first. She is described as having had heavenly qualities: giving bread to the hungry, giving cloths to the naked and even comforting mourners. However, slavery would divest her of these qualities, turning her into a fierce, stone hearted woman. She no longer allowed him to learn to read or even be taught by others to do the same (Douglass, 1845).
This very representation/narrative by Frederick shows how slavery affected both the whites and the African Americans.

Her husband had planted an evil seed that led her to become a different person, affecting her own moral health. Mrs. Sophia Auld therefore becomes a perfect example of the negative effects of slavery. According to Frederick, she had never owned a slave before, and he was her very first one. When her husband instructs her to stop teaching him how to read and the consequences of teaching him (that she would ultimately lose her property), she is transformed to a mean and heartless woman. This shows her being transformed from a kind, and loving person to a dehumanized being without any kindness or mercy. As a result of slavery, her views and relationship with black people changes for the worse. She is no longer sympathetic to the suffering of others, and is therefore desensitized to such suffering and the needs of others. She degrades Frederick in to a position of submission, no longer looking at him as a human being, but a black person, who is not fit to interact with her or get an opportunity to read. As a slave owner, Sophia loses her humanity. She is filled with anger and contempt for blacks like Frederick, looking at him as inferior. (Douglass, 1845) As he puts it, "for it is almost an unpardonable offense to teach slaves to read in this Christian

country".
This represents some level of hypocrisy in this society. Mrs. Sophia represents some of the Christianity values before she allows slavery to change her. As a Christian at first, she is described as having been very caring and concerned for others regardless of their race. However, slavery causes her to lose these values to an extent that she becomes fiercer than her husband. She represents the rest of the southern whites, who were influenced by slavery to neglect their Christian values and dehumanize others on the basis of race. The relationship between races is also affected as is evident between Frederick and the white little boys who teach how to read. Mrs. Sophia does not only stop teaching him, but also refuses him the opportunity to be taught by others. He is taught is secret due to this situation. In the southern society therefore, slavery created a wall between the whites and the African Americans, causing the southern whites to mistreat the blacks given that they were viewed as being mere slaves, unworthy of books or interacting with whites.

Slavery therefore creates barriers and enmity between the two races in the south.
Against the African Americans, slavery denied them the chance to get an education or be treated as human beings (Frederick, 1884). Slavery was therefore a lie that whites were better than blacks, and that blacks had no rights at all. This lie therefore changes the goodness of southerners like Sophia into an evil individual who is cruel and mean to others, characteristics she did not initially possess. As Frederick puts it, slavery proved equally injurious to her (Mrs. Sophia) as it had to him (Douglass, 1845). This is because slavery does not only degrade him as a human being, but also pushes her to lose her humanity and kindness towards others.
In the south, slavery caused a negative attitude of blacks against the whites, which caused them to view the white southerners as evil and hypocrites due to the manner with which they were treated. It impedes an opportunity for the two to come together as human beings (Frederick, 1884), sympathize with each other's situation and achieve progress as one people. Rather, it forces even those who were good to view others as the enemy.
This excerpt also shows the manner in which the society has the influence to change the nature of a person. Despite the fact that she was not cruel and mean, she is influenced to become a fierce and mean individual by the society she lives in order to maintain the status quo. Slavery, which has been widely accepted in the society she lives in, prevents her from remaining true to her nature as a good and kind person.

Conclusion
According to this excerpt, it is evident that slavery does not only affect the slaves (African Americans) but also slave owners. This is largely due to the fact that they lose their humanity in the process, becoming desensitized to the pain and suffering of others. This is to the extent that they (white southerners) try and prevent the slaves from reading in order to ensure they remain ignorant and exploited. Sophia, like many other white slave owners are reduced to angry and jealous individuals, who are unable to reject what they had previously perceived as wrong and evil. Although she had not looked at him as inferior or as any less of a human being, Sophia is pushed to treating Frederick like an animal, which shows how slavery changes the perception of one human being to another. For both sides, it created a negative perception of the other, thus forcing both the blacks and whites to perceive each other in terms of their races instead of treating each other as human beings. Slavery is therefore represented as a force that caused negative attitudes between the two races, negatively affecting the society in general.