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Chapter 4

Text of Book

Chapter 4, page 1

Chapter 4, page 2

Chapter 4, page 3

Chapter 4, page 4

Chapter 4, page 5

Chapter 4, page 6

Chapter 4, page 7

Chapter 4, page 8

Questions

1) What is this chapter mainly about?

2) Who was the first overseer that Frederick Douglass remembered at Colonel Lloyd's farm?

3) Frederick Douglass shared a popular phrase that slaveholders used at that time: "It is better that a dozen slaves should suffer under the lash, than that the overseer should be convicted, in the presence of the slaves, of having been at fault."

What does this phrase mean to slaveholders?

4) How did the overseer in Chapter 4 talk with slaves?

5) Douglass wrote that "When he whipped, he seemed to do so from a sense of duty, and feared no consequences."

What did "consequences" mean in this context?

6) In the same quote as the last question, what does "duty" mean?

"When he whipped, he seemed to do so from a sense of duty, and feared no consequences."

7) What happened to Demby?

8) Frederick Douglass wrote that Mr. Gore's "horrid crime was not even submitted to judicial investigation."

What does "judicial" mean?

9) Frederick Douglass describes the legal situation of slaves during this time. What were slaves rights?

10) In Maryland, what was the punishment for killing a slave?

11) Why did Frederick Douglas' fellow slaves fish for oysters?

12) Frederick Douglass used the pharse "a common saying." What does "a common saying" mean?

13) What else would you like to learn about the treatment of slaves during this time?