Frederick Douglass versus George Fitzhugh

An analysis of the claims from George Fitzhugh justifying slavery. Students are tasked with countering his claims with quotes and explanations from Frederick Douglass' Narrative. See: https://docs.google.com/document/d/18rS8fixx7W2mcL_dfDW_AZmWypFRuEHN4KhPW-nhm8Y/edit?usp=sharing

Students are then asked to analyze Walker's “A Cotton Plantation on the Mississippi. The Harvest, 1884” through the lens of both Douglass and Fitzhugh.

Transcript

1. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass “Sociology for the South” by George Fitzhugh
2. How would Douglass view this? How would Fitzhugh?
11. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass “Sociology for the South” by George Fitzhugh “The negro slaves of the South are the happiest, and, in some sense, the freest people in the world. The children and the aged and infirm work not at all, and yet have all the comforts and necessaries of life provided for them. They enjoy liberty, because they are oppressed neither by care nor labor. The women do little hard work, and are protected from the despotism of their husbands by their masters.”
12. “The negro slaves of the South are the happiest, and, in some sense, the freest people in the world. The children and the aged and infirm work not at all, and yet have all the comforts and necessaries of life provided for them. They enjoy liberty, because they are oppressed neither by care nor labor. The women do little hard work, and are protected from the despotism of their husbands by their masters.”
13. “Slaves sing most when they are most unhappy. The songs of the slave represent the sorrows of his heart; and he is relieved by them, only as an aching heart is relieved by its tears.”
14. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass “Sociology for the South” by George Fitzhugh “Slaves sing most when they are most unhappy. The songs of the slave represent the sorrows of his heart; and he is relieved by them, only as an aching heart is relieved by its tears.”
15. “A Cotton Plantation on the Mississippi. The Harvest, 1884” By William Aiken Walker (Currier & Ives)