Question

How does Fredrick Douglass view the effect of slavery on human nature?

Answer 1

Douglass believes that it is not in the nature of men and women to be slaves or slave owners. It requires great effort to possess the attributes of a slave and endure the tortures and humiliation inflicted on a person by a slave owner. Similarly, it requires considerable mental effort for a slave owner to be able to commit such dreadful actions against a fellow human being with no feeling of remorse or compassion:

One cannot easily forget to love freedom; and it is as hard to cease to respect that natural love in our fellow creatures.

Through his slave narrative, Douglass attempts to show that slavery distorts the natural compassion inherent in humans.

Step-by-step explanation:

plato / edmentum

Answer 2

He felt that the way people treated slaves was not humanly and that we were treating them like animals. Douglass believes that it is not in the nature of men and women to be slaves or slave owners. It requires great effort to possess the attributes of a slave and endure the tortures and humiliation inflicted on a person by a slave owner. Similarly, it requires considerable mental effort for a slave owner to be able to commit such dreadful actions against a fellow human being with no feeling of remorse or compassion. Douglass believes that it is not in the nature of men and women to be slaves or slave owners. It requires great effort to possess the attributes of a slave and endure the tortures and humiliation inflicted on a person by a slave owner. Similarly, it requires considerable mental effort for a slave owner to be able to commit such dreadful actions against a fellow human being with no feeling of remorse or compassion: One cannot easily forget to love freedom; and it is as hard to cease to respect that natural love in our fellow creatures. Through his slave narrative, Douglass attempts to show that slavery distorts the natural compassion inhererent in humans.