“ Slavery does away with fathers, as it does away with families. ”
Frederick Douglass, My Bondage and My Freedom (1855). copy citation
| Author | Frederick Douglass |
|---|---|
| Source | My Bondage and My Freedom |
| Topic | slavery family |
| Date | 1855 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | |
| Weblink | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/202/202-h/202-h.htm |
Context
“Edward Lloyd’s plantation, and at the house of old master, where I had now, despite of myself, most suddenly, but not unexpectedly, been dropped. Meanwhile, I will redeem my promise to say something more of my dear mother.
I say nothing of father, for he is shrouded in a mystery I have never been able to penetrate. Slavery does away with fathers, as it does away with families. Slavery has no use for either fathers or families, and its laws do not recognize their existence in the social arrangements of the plantation. When they do exist, they are not the outgrowths of slavery, but are antagonistic to that system.”
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