Indeed, I now have reason to think he was not; nevertheless, the fact remains, in all its glaring odiousness, that, by the laws of slavery, children, in all cases, are reduced to the condition of their mothers.
In his autobiography, Douglass explains how the legal framework of slavery ensured that children inherited the enslaved status of their mothers, regardless of paternity.
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The friendless and hungry boy, in his extremest need, found himself in the strong protecting arms of his mother.
I believed I should get enough to eat at Covey’s, even if I suffered in other respects, and this to a hungry man is not a prospect to be regarded with indifference.
Father he might be, and not be husband, and could sell his own child without incurring reproach, if in its veins coursed one drop of African blood.