Assignment # 8 Due 11-19-13

“Sir, we have, in this country, no adequate idea of humanity yet; the nation does not feel that these are men, it cannot see through the dark skin and curly hair of the black man, anything like humanity, or that has claims to human rights. Had they been white men and women, or were they regarded as human beings, this nation would have been agitated to its centre, and rocked as with an earthquake shock, and like the nations of the Old World, would have rung with the thunders of freedom against tyranny, at such an event as this.”

Frederick Douglas

Speech at the Anti-Slavery Association – 1848

In this passage Frederick Douglas is discussing the inhumane way in which black people were viewed and treated as slaves. Black people were considered less than people as white society could not see pass their differences, “dark skin and curly hair.” If the situation were in reverse and white men and women were viewed in the negative ways in which black men and women were viewed it would have been unacceptable. As Douglas stated, this nation would have been agitated to its centre, and rocked as with an earthquake shock.” The people of this nation would not have accepted slavery or mistreatment of whites in any way, shape or form.

This passage relates to our class by discussing how slavery is unjust and inhumane. This week’s lecture discussed the members of the abolition and women's rights movements. Frederick Douglas was an important member of those movements has he fought to end slavery which is depicted in the passage above. Douglas fought for the freedom of slaves through civil disobedience. He felt that the laws of the government were unjust and did something about it by promoting the freedom of black slaves.

This passage is significant because it sheds light on the inequalities of our nation at the time. Blacks were enslaved, abused and mistreated because of the color of their skin and the texture of their hair. In present day society many people still experience discrimination and racism in their everyday life. As a nation we have come a long way, but we also have a long way to go.

“The wife who inherits no property holds about the same legal position that does the slave on the southern plantation. She can own nothing, sell nothing. She has no right even to the wages she earns; her person, her time, her services are the property of another. She cannot testify, in many cases, against her husband. She can get no redress for wrongs in her own name in any court of justice. She can neither sue nor be sued. She is not held morally responsible for any crime committed in the presence of her husband, so completely is her very existence supposed by the law to be merged in that of another.”

Elizabeth Cady Stanton

“Address to the New York State Legislature” - (1860)

In this passage Elizabeth Stanton discusses the many rights that women did not have. Women could not own or sell anything, testify against their husband, or sue or be sued. According to Stanton, the rights of women were equal to that of a slave on a southern plantation. The very existence of women’s being was through that of another, her husband. Women had no self-identity or rights as an individual.

This passage is significant because it also sheds light on the inequalities of our nation. At the time in which this piece was written women were in a sense slaves as well. They could not do many things that men could do. They were seen as property of their husbands. In present day society the inequalities of men and women can be see in the work place. Men still earn more money than women and receive more respect than women in positions of power.