The excerpt represents the core issue or deciding factor on which you must meditate, and is drawn from The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave by Frederick Douglass: Mr. Weeden owned, among others, a woman slave,
whose name I have forgotten. This woman's back,
for weeks, was kept literally raw, made so by the
lash of this merciless, ~religious~ wretch. He used to
hire hands. His maxim was, Behave well or behave
ill, it is the duty of a master occasionally to whip
a slave, to remind him of his master's authority.
Such was his theory, and such his practice.
Mr. Hopkins was even worse than Mr. Weeden.
His chief boast was his ability to manage slaves.
 The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave |