The possession of power is a tainted possession indeed. To have complete power over another human being is arguably one of the worst. “When I went there, she was a pious, warm, tender-hearted woman. There was no suffering for which she had not a tear. She had bread for the hungry, clothes for the naked, and comfort for every mourner that came within her reach.” (Douglass 50) When Fredrick Douglass came to Baltimore, this was his description of his new mistress, Mrs. Hugh, a kind gentle woman who had no ill will towards any human being, including slaves. Her manner was like no other woman Douglass had ever known. Eye contact was something a slave was never allowed with a white person; she allowed it. Slaves were expected to cower in the presence of their masters; she despised it. Douglass had no instruction for this kind of treatment. He had never been treated as a real human by any white person, especially white women, in his whole life. This appearance of equality did not last long however. To this Douglass states, “But alas! this kind heart had but a short time to remain such. The fatal poison of irresponsible power was already in her hands, and soon commenced its infernal work.” Mrs. Hug
This fatal poison that Douglass speaks of is detrimental to both slave and slave owner. The first being the obvious. Any person denied there freedom and rights lives a tormented and depressing life. Imagine having the right to eat when you would like, or to sit when you would like, or to do any other thing you desire for that matter, stripped away from you. A life of no freedom is no life at all. This is the life a slave led. A day primarily consisted of a long period of hard labor, an inadequate meal and a very short night of sleep. To make matters less bearable, those who tried to embrace any of these presently unalienable rights, were severely punished. By physical and mental abuse, slaves were kept in this horrid condition. For example, Douglass wrote of a story about his first witnessing of a whipping. It was that of his Aunt Hester who had disobeyed her master’s order to not leave the farm at night. After being caught with a man on a neighboring farm, she was taken back and whipped until her back was a bloody mess. Furthermore, slaves were considered soley as living tools. They were raised to work, and worked until they could work no more. When a slave became of no use to his master, he was generally discarded. Douglass’s grandmother was a slave on the v
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