Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Written by Himself | Chapter 4 Summary

This chapter recounts a number of cruel and dehumanizing punishments that plantation slaves suffer at the hands of overseers such as Mr. Austin Gore. What is most disturbing about this chapter are Douglass' accounts of the numerous slave murders that occur. These are ignored by local judicial systems because the institution of slavery denies slaves basic human rights and legal protection. Douglass sums up this horrific disregard of the law by relaying a common saying among slaveholders ''that it was worth a half-cent to kill a 'nigger,' and a half-cent to bury one.’’

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