Question

What were the situations which prompted Douglass to state: "How a man was made a slave?"

A) Physical violence and torture
B) Legal and economic systems of slavery
C) Forced separation from family and community
D) Religious and cultural beliefs

Answer 1

Frederick Douglass described the making of a slave through the horrendous practices of forced family separations and the misuse of religious and cultural beliefs to justify slavery, alongside the routine physical and psychological torture that slaves endured.

Step-by-step explanation:

The situations which prompted Frederick Douglass to state "How a man was made a slave" encompass the traumatic experiences of forced separation from family and community, as well as the use of religious and cultural beliefs to justify the institution of slavery. Douglass vividly described the cruelty of slaveholders, particularly when they would sell their own mixed-race children to appease their wives, illustrating the moral complications and inhumanity inherent to slavery. Moreover, he highlighted the barbarity of the slave system through his own and others' narratives, revealing how the physical and psychological torture of slaves was a routine part of maintaining the system, which also worked towards erasing the humanity and identity of those enslaved.