Slavery In Frederick Douglass And The Civil Rights Movement

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Frederick Douglass, and many other activists, argued that slavery is the core of American life; this is an accurate statement to say the least. Nothing else in the history of the United States had a larger impact on institutions, lifestyles, and ideals than slavery did. Slavery had an extensive role in political structures since its implementation because of its economic purposes, despite the terrible living conditions and cruel treatment slaves faced. Political upheaval in the forms of the Abolitionist Movement and the Civil War occured from people who disagreed with the ownership of slaves. Debates on whether or not slaves deserve equal rights and representation became central in politics. Even after slavery was abolished its effects were still visible. Unjust treatment between white and black people sparked the Civil Rights Movement and its subsequent impacts. Social separation and implications between races are a direct result of slavery.…show more content…
It was a dehumanizing institution and exemplified the colonial belief that black people were an inferior race. In his Lectures on Slavery of 1850, Frederick Douglass discusses the conditions slaves faced and says, “The law gives the master absolute power over the slave. He may work him, flog him, hire him out, sell him, and, in certain contingencies, kill him, with perfect impunity, The slave is a human being, divested of all rights...” The inhumane and unjust treatment of slaves left a lasting impact on American political and social ideals that transcends even through the decades after slavery ended. Douglass states “It has thrown its paralysing arm over freedom of speech, and the liberty of the press; and has created for itself morals and manners favorable to its own continuance.” Since its implementation, the institution of slavery has shaped the way the United States handles policy-making and the way its people view racial
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