It is partly in consequence of such facts, that slaves, when inquired of as to their condition and the character of their masters, almost universally say they are contented, and that their masters are kind.
Douglass explains why enslaved people often falsely claim contentment and kindness from their masters when questioned about their condition.
Share
More from Frederick Douglass
The good to be sought and the evil to be shunned were flung in the balance and weighed against each other.
Land is not worth much where there are no people to occupy it, and a mule is not worth much where there is no one to drive him.
It was in the air, and men breathed it and were permeated by it, often when they were quite unconscious of its presence.