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Jessica Cannon
Honors English 11
Miss Burke
December 9, 2016
The Physical Oppression of Slaves

Frederick Douglass was an African American abolitionist, author, and social reformer

who was born into slavery in the 19th century in Baltimore, Maryland. One of Douglasss most

important pieces was his autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, which

depicted his life as a slave, his escape from slavery, and struggle to abolish slavery as a free man.

In his autobiography, Douglass explains the oppression he witnessed during his life as a slave.

Douglass specifically talks about the physical toll slavery had on him and how it harmed his

body and mind for years to come. Enslaved blacks were physically oppressed through severe

punishments, malnourishment, and working long hours.

Whippings were the foremost punishment slaves faced regularly for failing to complete

their tasks, or for the enjoyment of their cruel masters. Douglass recalls one instance when his

Master Thomas would frequently beat a female slaves naked shoulders with cow skin, and

justified his forbidding behavior with scripture passages. Master would keep this lacerated

young woman tied up in this horrid situation four or five hours at a time. I have known him to tie

her up early in the morning and whip her before breakfast; leave her, go to his store, return at

dinner, and whip her again, cutting in the places already made raw with his cruel lash.

(Douglass 68). The physical torture this woman faced almost every day left her bloody and

slashed; never giving her anytime to recover from the wounds. This was often the case for most

slaves being whipped; it happened every day and their gashes never healed, but continued to get

worse. Sometimes, the severe punishments led to a loss of life. Douglass recalls a slave being

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shot in the head for trying to soothe his wounds in a creek, Mr. Gore then, without consultation

or deliberation with any one, not even giving Demby an additional call, raised his musket to his

face, taking deadly aim at his standing victim, and in an instant poor Demby was no more. His

mangled body sank out of sight, and blood and brains marked the water where he had stood.

(Douglass 39). The punishments for slaves grew so severe they often led to a gruesome death

like the one of Demby.

Most slaves, including Douglass, faced a life of malnourishment, never having enough to

eat. He worked at Master Thomas plantation with four other slaves and they were given a scarce

amount of food each week, We were allowed less than a half of a bushel of cornmeal per week,

and very little else, either in the shape of meat or vegetables. It was not enough to subsist upon.

(Douglass 65). They were forced to beg their neighbors for any scraps of food to eat. Even when

Douglass had a Master who provided enough food, they had little time to eat. Mr. Covey gave

us enough to eat, but scarce time to eat it. We were often less than five minutes taking our

meals. (Douglass 72). A lack of proper nutrition, or any nutrition at all, led to a low life

expectancy for slaves and prevented them from being able to complete their work in a timely

manner. The malnourishment of slaves was even worse when taking into consideration the long

hours they were forced to work and the miniscule amount of sleep they had.

Slaves were often working excruciating jobs for twelve to fourteen hours a day with no

breaks. Having no time to rest was extremely detrimental to the slaves health making them weak

and lethargic. Douglass describes his schedule, We were worked fully up to the point of

endurance. (Douglass 72). Not being well rested was harmful to their bodies and halted the

productiveness of their work. Douglass explains the work of two slaves on a plantation. They

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care for their masters horses and garden all day. If their performance is not up to par, or if the

horses misbehave, the slaves are punished. (Douglass 32).

African Americans were perceived to be less than human, the inferior race, and property

to many people during the 19th century. This perception can be seen through the emotional,

mental and physical oppression slaves faced every day. They were punished harshly for minor

mistakes or to prove a point as an overseer through beatings, whippings, or even being killed.

The day to day life of a slave was made up of working long hours performing brutal tasks for

their masters. Slaves were hardly given any food to eat and never saw a nutritious meal. The

effects of the physical oppression faced by slaves altered them for the rest of their lives, which

was described by Douglass. The conditions slaves lived under with bantam sleep, unsatisfactory

meals, and gruesome beatings described by Douglass in his autobiography shows that they were

taken care of, physically, as property.