My Bondage, My Freedom Fredrick Douglass
“It was not color, but crime, not God, but man that afforded the true explanation of the existence of slavery; nor was I long in finding out another important truth, what man can make, man can unmake” (Douglass 59). In My Bondage and My Freedom, Fredrick Douglass explains in detail the harsh and cruel realties of slavery and how slavery was an institution that victimized not only slaves, but slave holders, and non-slave holding whites. Fredrick Douglass could not have been more right with his observation of slavery. In my opinion, slavery is not only an institution, but is a prime example of a corrupt business model that thrives on free labor, ultimate control, and wealth.
“A business is only as good as its workers.” It’s a common saying in modern day America. That saying would hold true during slavery, however slaves were not considered workers. Workers have rights and wages; Slaves on the other hand had no rights as human beings and no wages. Slaves were considered a property, no more useful than a mule or cattle. Slaves were apart of a system and in that system they were dehumanized to the point that they became an expendable commodity. Slaves were stripped of there individuality. Fredrick Douglass recalls not the date, month, or year when he was born. He also stated that the institution of slavery did away with the concept of family. Douglass had neither recollection of a father nor any account of his existence. Further more, Douglass had only a handful of encounters with his mother before her death and had become nothing more than a stranger to his brothers and sisters. “It had made my brothers and sisters strangers to me; it converted the mother that bore me, into a myth, it shrouded my father in mystery, and left me without an intelligible beginning in the world” (Douglass 39).
“In 1840, 20 years before the Civil War, 60% of American exports were cotton and was produced mainly by slaves” (Shaping America: Lesson 16). Therefore, the business
“A business is only as good as its workers.” It’s a common saying in modern day America. That saying would hold true during slavery, however slaves were not considered workers. Workers have rights and wages; Slaves on the other hand had no rights as human beings and no wages. Slaves were considered a property, no more useful than a mule or cattle. Slaves were apart of a system and in that system they were dehumanized to the point that they became an expendable commodity. Slaves were stripped of there individuality. Fredrick Douglass recalls not the date, month, or year when he was born. He also stated that the institution of slavery did away with the concept of family. Douglass had neither recollection of a father nor any account of his existence. Further more, Douglass had only a handful of encounters with his mother before her death and had become nothing more than a stranger to his brothers and sisters. “It had made my brothers and sisters strangers to me; it converted the mother that bore me, into a myth, it shrouded my father in mystery, and left me without an intelligible beginning in the world” (Douglass 39).
“In 1840, 20 years before the Civil War, 60% of American exports were cotton and was produced mainly by slaves” (Shaping America: Lesson 16). Therefore, the business