Week 4 19th Cent Am Lit

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School

California State University, East Bay *

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Course

MISC

Subject

History

Date

Oct 30, 2023

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pdf

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Uploaded by kielym201

Question 1: Why would slave owners want to keep an enslaved person ignorant of the date of their birth? Answer: By keeping a slave while being ignorant of their date of birth, it essentially strips them of their identity. The idea was to make slaves feel like that’s all they were- slaves to a family, not a person. Slaves were not seen as people to most slave owners, they were objects and used as help around the house or their property. Question 2: Why does Douglass make the point that a slave owner who has fathered a child is likely to exhibit greater cruelty to that child? Answer: I think he made this point to encapsulate the fact that slavery is damaging to every party involved. The father is a slave owner, but the son is a slave and that is emotionally damaging to both parties. In my opinion, this also brings to light the point that the slave owner chose to be the father of this child but also has hatred for this child because they are intended to be a slave. Not only is this confusing to the slave owner, but to the child enslaved. It creates a very clear divide. Question 3: What is the relationship of the slave owner to the overseer? What is the relationship of the overseer to the enslaved? Answer: The slave owner is the primary owner of the land and the slaves. The overseer is in charge of watching the slaves and making sure they are doing their work in a timely manner. Question 4: Why does Douglass tell the story of Aunt Hester? Answer: He tells the story to make it known that the reason his Aunt Hester was a direct result of her disobeying Lloyd Ned. I think he was telling this story to make it known that the repercussions of disobeying the slave owner or overseer are not pretty. Question 5: Why would an enslaved person whose life on a plantation was already bad fear being sold to a slave trader? Answer: On a plantation, slaves were able to carry on with their lives outside of being enslaved. They got a yearly allowance for food and clothing, but when being sold to a slave trader they would not get these things. They would

be enslaved to a family, or one person who wouldn’t give them an allowance. Or take care of them in the ways they needed.

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