Douglass's Autobiography makes a distinction between "slave" and "man." It is a common theme throughout his writings and speeches that the institution of slavery robs the enslaved (and, in a different way, slaveholders) of their humanity. After enduring consistent abuse at the hands of Mr. Covey, Douglass tells us:
I was broken in body, soul, and spirit. My natural elasticity was crushed, my intellect languished, the disposition to read departed, the cheerful spark that lingered...
Douglass's Autobiography makes a distinction between "slave" and "man." It is a common theme throughout his writings and speeches that the institution of slavery robs the enslaved (and, in a different way, slaveholders) of their humanity. After enduring consistent abuse at the hands of Mr. Covey, Douglass tells us:
I was broken in body, soul, and spirit. My natural elasticity was crushed, my intellect languished, the disposition to read departed, the cheerful spark that lingered about my eye died; the dark night of slavery closed in upon me; and behold a man transformed into a brute!
So slavery had transformed a "man" into a "brute," by which Douglass meant an unthinking creature like a farm animal. Eventually, however, the sixteen-year old Douglass resisted, physically manhandling Covey, a notorious "slave-breaker." Having beaten Covey, who fears losing his reputation for being tough with slaves (i.e. his sense of his own masculinity), Douglass feels liberated, and like a man again:
It rekindled the few expiring embers of freedom, and revived within me a sense of my own manhood. It recalled the departed self-confidence, and inspired me again with a determination to be free.
For Douglass, slavery was the antithesis of manhood. It completely negated everything that he understood as masculine in the male slave, robbing him of intellect, liberty, the ability to be a father, and control of his own body. Freedom, then--intellectual, spiritual and physical freedom--was essential to become a man.
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