My Essay Topic

The topic I picked for my essay was why slavery was dehumanizing for both slaves and slave holders. I picked this topic because I feel very strongly about how slavery is so dehumanizing. The central argument of my essay is going to be that slavery takes away your basic human rights. For example, the slaves starved often and only got a yearly allowance of clothing. If you didn't have your basic human rights than you wouldn't feel human at all. I think I can prove this by also saying that the slaves were often separated from their families so that was taken away from them along with a lot of other things as well. Also, I am going to talk about how the slave holders could beat another human being and not feel bad about it.

Chapter 11 Reaction

The first part of the chapter was about Fredrick planning to escape. I felt Frederick's desperation because he would do anything he could to be free. He escaped to New York and I felt overcome with joy because Frederick was finally a free man. However, Frederick felt alone, hungry and was homeless. He thought he would feel joyous but it was harder for him than he had imagined. I felt that Frederick had to overcome many obstacles that were unfair. Finally, his luck changed when he met Mr. Ruggles who decided to take him in. I felt relieved that Frederick had something to look forward to and had a place he could call home. I was surprised when Frederick got married because he never mentioned Anna Murray in the previous chapters. I felt wonderful that Frederick finally had happiness in his life. Both Frederick and Anna went to New Bedford to start their lives together. I thought this was smart because it decreased the chances that Frederick would get caught. Frederick was surprised about how people in the North lived. Many of them worked along side each other without conflict. Frederick thought that the people of the North were poor because they didn't own any slaves, but he was wrong. I felt happy that Frederick ended up in such a positive place. Frederick was able to work and keep his own pay which was a huge step in his independent life. Finally, Frederick went to anti-slavery meetings and was able to speak his mind. I felt proud of Frederick and all that he had accomplished to get to where he was.

In the appendix, Frederick talked about how a religious person could be so cruel to the slaves. He didn't understand how these two went hand in hand. I felt the same way because if you are a religious person you should be kind to people and not go out and torture them. He felt that they were hypocrites and I completely agree.

Questions:
1.Why did Frederick have to give his earnings to his master?
2. How could slave owners whip and torture their slaves and not think it was wrong?
Comments:
1. I felt happy when Frederick finally escaped and was able to live a free life.
2. I believe that Frederick turned the negative in his life into a positive by speaking out against slavery.

Chapter 10 Reaction

When I started reading part of this chapter I was so happy that Frederick was not getting whipped by Mr. Covey. By standing up to Mr. Covey, it inspired Fredrick to become free. I thought it was really weird when the slaves had the holiday week off and the slave owners encouraged bad behavior so the slaves would realize that freedom is not so great. I was glad Frederick went to live with Mr. Freeland because Mr. Freeland was one of the nicer slaveholders. Also, it was amazing to me that Rev. Hopkins was so cruel but claimed to be very religious. I felt like Frederick had a lot of courage starting a Sabbath school knowing that he could get in trouble at any time. I felt hopeful that Frederick and his friends would be able to escape and be free after all. I became horrified when Frederick and his friends went to jail. I felt like this was a real low point in Frederick's life, he felt defeated. I believed this worked out for the best because Frederick could go back to Baltimore. I was encouraged when he started working for the ship builder because it was something new for him. Once again the blacks were discriminated against. Frederick was beaten and hurt really bad in a fight with several white carpenters. I was really impressed with Master Hughes' reaction to this spectacle. He was outraged and went to a lawyer to try and make it right. I felt better by the end of chapter 10 because Frederick was working again and really enjoyed it.

Questions:
1. How could Rev. Hopkins claim to be religious and treat his slaves so poorly?
2. Why did Mr. Covey never whip Frederick after their fight?
Comments:
1. I feel like this chapter was a roller coaster of emotions and mood swings.
2. I feel like Frederick is becoming more fearless in his quest for freedom.

Reaction of pages 29-40

While reading chapter 8, I felt sad because a lot  of people he knew died. Also, his old master died and left no will. Frederick had to be ranked and during that process he was valued alongside the animals. This made me feel mad because no human should ever have to go through this. He made it back to Baltimore which made me happy because he had grown to like everyone there. I felt very depressed when Frederick was going to live with Master Thomas on a plantation because life on a plantation is harder than living in the city.

While reading chapter 9, I grew more and more sad because Frederick was experiencing a lot of hunger on the plantation. Frederick met Mr. Wilson who proposed a Sabbath school for the slaves. I felt hopeful that Frederick would gain knowledge from this. Unfortunately, the group only met three times before Mr. West and Mr. Fairbanks prevented them from meeting again. Frederick's master was evil to women which I thought was cruel. I felt anxious about Frederick being sent to Mr. Covey because I didn't know what was going to happen to him.

While reading part of chapter 10, I felt horrible for Frederick because Mr. Covey was whipping him often and worked him all day and night. Also, I felt like Mr. Covey was very sneaky because he wanted to catch slaves doing something wrong. On Sundays, Frederick had the day off so he would go watch the ships and dream of a time where he could be free. This made me feel good because he would have a little time to himself each week. When Frederick got sick Mr. Covey told him to continue to work and started beating him for not getting up. He walked seven miles to St. Michael's. I felt horrible that Frederick was being treated so badly. I was so mad at Master Thomas for not helping Frederick and telling him to go back to Mr. Covey. When Frederick went back, he fought with Mr. Covey and resisted his demands. From that point forward, Mr.Covey didn't lay a hand on Fredrick. I felt proud of Fredrick for standing up for himself.

Chapter 8
Question:Why did they make Frederick's grandma live in the hut?
Comment: I felt like being valued with animals would take away a humans self worth.

Chapter 9
Question:Why did Mr. Wilson want to start a Sabbath school on the plantation?
Comment: I felt grateful for having food to eat because Frederick was starving all the time.

Chapter 10
Question:Why did Mr. Covey waste his time sneaking up on the slaves?
Comment: I felt like Frederick's spirit was never broken and that is very inspirational to me.

Chapter 5, 6 and 7 Questions and Comments

My partner is Destiny.

Chapter 5
Question: Why was Baltimore so different from Maryland?
Comment:I felt sad for Frderick because he didn't shed a tear in his departure from Colonel Lloyd's plantation.
Question: Why didn't Frederick want to stay with his brother and sisters on the plantation?
Comment:I felt sad when I found out taht all he had was a course towel linen shirt.

Chapter 6
Question:Why were city slaves treated better than a plantation slave?
Comment: I felt happy for Frederick when he learned his ABC's.
Question: Why was Mr. Auld so protective over what his wife did?
Comment: I felt that Mrs. Auld was nice to teach Frederick his ABC's.
Chapter 7
Question: Why did Frederick become so interested in learning how to read and write?
Comment: I thought that Frederick used smart plans in learning how to read and write.
Question: Did his master and mistress know that he traded bread for knowledge from the little boys?
Comment: I felt happy when he learned how to write.

Chaper 5, 6 and 7 Reaction

While reading chapter 5 I felt hopeful for Frederick Douglas because he was moving to the city of Baltimore. Frederick didn't find it hard to leave Colonel Lloyd's plantation because he didn't have any family there. Also, Frederick was very hopeful for the future. I felt Frederick's living condition was better in Baltimore than on the plantation. I liked Frederick's attitude because he felt very grateful to be in Baltimore. 

In chapter 6 I felt happy because Frederick started learning how to read and write from his mistress. Her husband made her stop teaching Frederick. Frederick was becoming more powerful by learning how to read and write because ultimately knowledge is power. Frederick was definitely happier in Baltimore and was very excited about learning.

While reading chapter 7 I felt very optimistic because Frederick started reading books. This opened his eyes to slavery and how horrible it really was. This book also opened his eyes to freedom. A part in the story where Frederick argued for humanity was after reading the books he detested his enslavers and thought of them as robbers. The way Frederick learned how to write was intriguing to me. He would tell people that he could write better than they could. He would want them to write so he could learn their words they wrote down.

Amistad Reaction

My reaction to the clips we watched from Amistad was that the masters were very harsh. They would sit there and watch the slaves struggle to survive and take pleasure out of that. When the masters gave the slaves there food to the slaves I felt really sad because the slaves were eating every last bit of the food they got. Also, if you had a child on the ship it would be much harder because you are not only worried about yourself but your child as well. If I had the choice to jump off the ship I wouldn't because I would want to show to myself that I can persevere through anything. If one of my family members died and I just had enough then I might consider jumping off the ship. I think that by jumping off the ship you are showing your masters your weaknesses. If I was on board with a baby then I would try all that I could to protect my baby from any harsh punishments. Also, I would make the baby my number one priority and always watch after them. Having a baby on board would make things difficult because they are helpless and sometimes you would have to sit back and watch the masters take advantage of your innocent child.

Chapter 2,3 and 4 Reaction

When I read chapter two I felt outradged over the living conditions that the slaves had to endure. Every month the slaves received an allowance of food and their yearly allowance of clothing. Childrens clothing consisted of two coarse linen shirts per year. When these were worn out, they were naked until the next allowance day came along. I felt horrible about this because some kids would wear nothing when it was snowing outside. I felt sad because there were no beds that the slaves could sleep on. The slaves would work hard all day and they would need a good night sleep to be ready for the next day. When there was no beds these slaves lost a lot of sleep. I felt that the slaves conditions were harsh in more ways than one.
When reading chapter three I felt sad because the master wasn't a good person. The master had a garden which always did well. The slaves would get hungry sometimes while working and take some food from the garden. The master wasn't very happy about this so he decided to put tar on his fence. If any slave was in the garden the tar would give sufficient proof that someone was in the garden and they would be punished. The slaves had a lot of opinions about their masters but never said anything because they were afraid. Even though they wanted to speak out, their fear overcame their rage.
When reading chapter four I felt like justice was never served. Mr. Gore was the new overseer and he was an evil man. One day he whipped one of Colonel Lloyd's slaves named Demby. Demby got whipped a few times then ran and plunged himself into the creek. Mr. Gore killed him because Demby refused to get out of the water. The unjust part of this situation is that Mr. Gore was never punished for murdering Demby. Killing a slave in Maryland was not considered a crime by the the courts or the community.

Chapter one Reaction

My reaction to this story was very sad. Frederick didn't even know the date of his own birthday and I felt bad for him. Also, I felt horrible for Frederick because he wasn't very close to his family. His mom died when he was very young so he never got a chance to really know who she was. Also, his father was like his master to him so he had no respect for him. Frederick experienced a lot of things on the plantation that no child should ever experience. His Aunt Hester came home one night and his master got really mad at her for going out. There argument turned heated when his master started whipping his Aunt. The master told his Aunt to strip all clothes off her back because when he hit her he wanted to hit the skin and get her to bleed. While all of this was going on, Frederick was watching the whole thing and when he saw blood dripping from his Aunt's back he couldn't take anymore. He decided to hide in the closet until everything was done. Frederick ended up scared to death because he thought he would be whipped next.