Post for 4/10

Again, I thought that the second half of Douglass’s Narrative had a lot in common with Jacobs’s. But one of the things that I found most interesting was Douglass’s description of his surprise at seeing how well people lived in New Bedford: “I was quite disappointed at the general appearance of things in New Bedford. The impression which I had received regarding the character and condition of the people of the north, I found to be singularly erroneous. I had very strangely supposed, while in slavery, that few of the comforts, and scarcely any of the luxuries, of life were enjoyed at the north, compared with what were enjoyed by the slaveholders of the south.” He goes on to say that he thought everyone who didn’t have slaves didn’t have money, and that “I had somehow imbibed the opinion that, in the absence of slaves, there could be no wealth, and very little refinement” (72). I was struck by that last statement; even though the slaveholders treated the slaves with so little (or no) respect, the slaves still saw that they were the cause of the slaveholders’ wealth and refinement. I’m assuming that Douglass got that opinion from other slaves. I’m not sure, but perhaps Jacobs also has that idea; maybe that’s why I’m reading it in. Douglass could also just be saying that those who didn’t have slaves did not live at the same level as slaveholders. But it does seem that he’s implying some causality.

But anyway, it was confusing to me that Douglass was “disappointed” when he arrived at New Bedford; perhaps he only meant that his opinion was disappointed, that he was wrong. Continuing the quote above, he says, “[…] I expected to meet with a rough, hard-handed, and uncultivated population, living in the most Spartan-like simplicity, knowing nothing of the ease, luxury, pomp, and grandeur of southern slaveholders. Such being my conjectures, any one acquainted with the appearance of New Bedford may very readily infer how palpably I must have seen my mistake” (72). He refers to a “mistake,” which makes me think that “disappointed” may mean “mistaken” in this case. However, he might also be disappointed because he didn’t expect the north to be in any way like the south; he didn’t want it to remind him of the south’s “ease, luxury, pomp, and grandeur.”

And he goes on to say that Black people there were living very well; of course he wouldn’t be disappointed by that. Nor was he upset in his description of the workers in the shipyard (72-73). So ultimately, he saw the north as better than the south.