In this excerpt from "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass," Douglass highlights the differences in the treatment of slaves between urban and rural settings. He observes that city slaves in Baltimore experience a semblance of freedom and better living conditions compared to those on plantations. The reference to better food, clothing, and certain privileges suggests that urban environments may foster a slightly more humane treatment of enslaved individuals. Douglass notes that this improvement can be attributed to a sense of decency and societal norms that help mitigate the brutal treatment often inflicted upon plantation slaves. This contrast emphasizes the varying experiences of enslaved people based on their location and setting, shedding light on the complexities of slavery in America.
Read the excerpt from Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass.
I had resided but a short time in Baltimore before I observed a marked difference, in the treatment of slaves, from that which I had witnessed in the country. A city slave is almost a freeman, compared with a slave on the plantation. He is much better fed and clothed, and enjoys privileges altogether unknown to the slave on the plantation. There is a vestige of decency, a sense of shame, that does much to curb and check those outbreaks of atrocious cruelty so commonly enacted upon the plantation.
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