By 1845, when Douglass first published his slave narrative, the pro-slavery ideology of paternalism was in full force. As the term implies, paternalism was a racist ideology that supported the institution of slavery by arguing that far from being a coercive relation, the relationship between master and slave was instead a familial one, and that the master took care of his slaves much like a father takes care of his children. Based on the racist notion of African inferiority, paternalism was used by slaveholders and Southern politicians to justify slavery as an institution and economic system, to hide its brutality and oppression, and to provide an political argument for why the institution of slavery served as a positive social function: namely, slaveholders suggested, by taking care of, clothing, and feeding an inferior population of people who were unable to take care of themselves, autonomously. In his narrative, Douglass repeatedly attempts to undermine and attack the ideology of paternalism as a justification for slavery, not only by attacking the notion of African inferiority, but also by showing the acts of brutality and coercion upon which the institution was founded. For this assignment, I would like for you to discuss some scenes, passages, and quotes that you think demonstrate Douglasss attack on paternalism. How does Douglass inform his Northern White reading audience about an institution that many his readers would have had no direct experience of? What misunderstandings, mischaracterizations, and misinform does Douglass want his audience to clear up about slavery as a relation between master and slave? How is his story of freedom and self-making itself an attempt to counter the ideology of paternalism? Pick two or three passages that you think help to answer some of these questions.
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