IGNORANCE AS A MEANS TO PERPETUATE SLAVERY WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE SLAVE NARRATIVE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS

Abstract

The action of bringing someone or something under control or the process of subjugating others is called subjugation. The practice of subjugating people or a group was there in the history from the ancient times. Especially, in the African history, they were subjugated purposively by the Europeans, and were taken to the New World called the USA.  The enslaved Africans were made to work on the plantations and mines of the European colonies. The European traders and Slave owners followed many tactics to keep them under their control. This article tries to analyse some of the techniques used by the traders and owners to keep their slaves in mental darkness. And also deals with how ignorance of the slaves served as the tool in slavery and how the slaves realized the importance of literacy to attain freedom or emancipation.