The Degradation Of Religion And Family From Slavery

The Degradation of Religion and Family from Slavery In the book, Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass, Douglass outlines the disturbing effects that slavery induced on society. Slaves were dehumanized, ripped from their homes and sentenced to a life of harsh work, and harsher treatment. Slaves were held at their slaveholder’s mercy, beaten, whipped, and killed for being disobedient or performing in an unsatisfactory manner. The treatment of Douglass and fellow slaves shows what the grim reality of a slave looked like because of these evil people, but involves a glance at the horrible doings and effects slavery had on society. Slavery corrupted all aspects of both slave owners’ and slaves lives the same, but the greatest impact precedes the concept of family and influence of religion during times of slavery. No bond is stronger than that between a mother and her child. Frederick Douglass, like most slaves, was separated from his mother from birth to limit the sense of family that he and other slaves could have. Douglass said after his mother’s death, â€Å"I received the tidings of her death with much the same emotions I should have probably felt at the death of a stranger.† (3) He saw his own mother so little that he felt no attachment or sadness when his own mother died, when anyone else would be devastated. Slavery inhibited slaves from ever experiencing what family was, and doing that, slave-owners were allowed to dehumanize the slaves further than they did inShow MoreRelatedCauses and Effects of Slavery in the U.S. Essay1117 Words   |  5 PagesSlavery has been described as a social institution defined by law and custom as the most absolute involuntary form of human servitude. . 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