Douglass' theory claimed that slaves would need to be completely submissive to their master's will in order to psychologically "break down". After his experiences with Edward Covey, Douglass quoted, "To make a contented slave, you must make a thoughtless one...he must be able to detect no inconsistencies in slavery" (124). Douglass, unaccustomed to the life of a slave, was essentially brainwashed into thinking that he was mentally inferior to that of whites. He was incapable of escaping from his new lifestyle, regardless of the attempts he made to rationalize with his former caretaker, Mr. Auld, as he had become a victim of the stereotypes developed by whites towards blacks. Because the discrimination towards blacks from whites was consistent throughout the south and the north, Douglass was incapable of truly being a "free man". His eventual rebellion against his master is just one of the many examples of racial violence that continually took place between whites and blacks.
2. Why do you think Dr. Morton was agreed with in his “white supremacy logic” even though he gave no scientific evidence?
During the early 19th century, blacks were continually victims of discrimination, segregation, and violence, subject to social degradation among whites in society; their inability to retain their entitled rights was attributed to the stereotypes that whites had developed of them : they were considered to be "immature", "lazy", "childlike", and intellectually inferior. In Philadelphia, Dr. Samuel Morton compared the craniums of both white and black people, further contributing to the stereotypes developed among black people, "Finding that those of whites were larger, Dr. Morton concluded that whites were more intelligent...this presumably "scientific evidence" of black mental inferiority, however, was used to support the notion of black supremacy and to justify racial segregation" (108). Although Dr. Morton's "white supremacy logic" was presumably justified by scientific evidence, his theory was largely agreed upon within white society as it supported the notion that whites were, in fact, more superior to their black peers. Also, white americans were completely dependent upon the labor of blacks for agricultural purposes, and generally believed that if their workers were mentally inferior, they would have every right to exert more power and control upon them.
5. What is the difference between how southern and northern blacks were treated?
In contrast to southern blacks, northern blacks were considered "free men"; however, they were given menial jobs, and faced discrimination from their white peers. In a plea to the general public, a black from the north quoted "...if a colored man comes to the door of our institutions of learning, with desires ever so strong, the lords of these institutions rise up and shut the door; and then you say we have not the desire nor the ability to acquire education...thus, while the white youths enjoy all these advantages, we are excluded and shut out, and must remain ignorant" (107). While blacks from the north were allowed to pursue their own career and life paths, they were subjected to discrimination and social degradation from their white peers. They were incapable of using the same transit systems as whites, unable to attend the same schools, and in some states, prohibited from voting. These different aspects most likely contributed the amount of violence that had taken place between both whites and blacks. Furthermore, in the south, blacks were completely controlled by white landowners, incapable of being "free men" unless they somehow escaped to the north. For example, a black slave described the typical day, living on white plantations, "The hands are required to be in the cotton field as soon as it is light in the morning...each one must attend to his respective chores...one feeds the mules, another the swine..." (111). Many white slave masters considered their slaves to be "childlike", "irresponsible", "lazy", and mentally incompetent; therefore, they believed that they were entitled to keep them mentally and social inferior to themselves. They essentially claimed that their actions were justifiable as they were "keeping their slaves from going astray"; that their slaves would be incapable of living by themselves.
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