Which parts of these excerpts show that slaves had no legal rights and were often betrayed by their masters?


The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave

by Frederick Douglass (excerpt)


A) all remained slaves, from the youngest to the oldest

B )if any one thing in my experience, more than another, served to deepen my conviction of the infernal character of slavery, and of slaveholders, it was their based ingratitude to my poor old grandmother

C) she had served my old master faithfully from youth to old age

D) She was nevertheless a slave—a slave for life—a slave in the hands of strangers; and in their hands she saw her children, her grandchildren, and her great-grandchildren, divided like so many sheep, without being gratified with the small privilege of a single word as to their or her own destiny.


Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl

by Harriet Ann Jacobs (excerpt)


E) He was a bright, handsome lad, nearly white; for he inherited the complexion my grandmother had derived from Anglo-Saxon ancestors.

F) seven hundred and twenty dollars were paid for him.

G) he had laid up three hundred dollars, which her mistress one day begged as a loan, promising to pay her soon

H) no promise or writing given to a slave is legally binding

I) according to Southern laws, a slave, being property, can hold no property.