Question
Homework
Directions: Reread thase lines from pp. 20-21 and the excerpt below, then answer the questions that follow
• Many, under the Influence of this prejudice, think their own masters are better than the masters of
other slaves; and this, too, in some cases, when the very reverse is true. Indeed, it is not uncommon for
slaves even to fall out and quarre? among themselves about the relative goodness of their masters,
each contending for the superior goodness of his own over that of the others. (0. 20)
• They seemed to think that the greatness of their masters was transferable to themselves. It was
considered as being bad enough to be a slave; but to be a poor man's slave was deemed a disgrace
indeed! (p. 21)
'quarrek: argue
Wealth among Slaveholders
excerpted from To Be a Slave, written and edited by Jullus Lester
In the slave-holding South, the more slaves a man owned, the more respected he was. In other words, the
more human beings he held by force and against their will, the more highly regarded he was. It is generally
thought that all slave owners held hundreds of slaves. The reality was quite different. [...] The overwhelming
majority of slaveholders heid less than twenty slaves. Yet, even if a man only held one or two slaves, he had
considarably more status in southern society than a man who held no slaves. (p. 60)
1. What quarrel does Douglas describe in these lines? What are the enslaved people arguing about, and why?
Why might this seem surprising?
2. How might we consider Douglass's lines to be an example of irony? Use information you learned from the
To Be a Slave excerpt above in your respense
Answer
1. Douglas describes the enslaved people arguing about the relative goodness of their masters. They seem to think that the greatness of their masters is transferable to themselves, and that it is a disgrace to be a slave of a poor man. This is surprising because it shows how deeply ingrained the prejudice of slave-holding was in the South.
2. The irony in Douglass's lines is that the enslaved people are arguing about the relative goodness of their masters, when in reality, all slave owners were holding human beings against their will and had more status in society than those who held no slaves.