It is truly unfortunate that those with the blackest hearts attain the most opulent lifestyles. This is what comes to mind the majority of the time when one comes to question the negative actions or the self centered lifestyle of the rich and the famous. However one could also argue the opposite: it is truly unfortunate that those with the most opulent lifestyles attain the blackest hearts. As was the case with the Mistress of Mr. Douglas with whom “the fatal poison of irresponsible power was already in her hands, and soon commenced its infernal work” (Douglas, 35). And what is even more shocking than her transformation itself is the amount of time it took the transformation to transpire. Or to betterly put it, the lack thereof.

This then caused me to consider an idea which I hadn't considered prior to my reading of this memoir. Was the institution of slavery as much a curse to the slavers as to the slaves? And while I realize that it is nearly criminal to compare the suffering of slave and master, one must realize that it remains indisputable that  both parties were changed in the exchanges that occurred between the two. With every lash of the whip grew a scar on the slave’s back however the slaver does not escape unscathed for  with every lash of the whip grows a new scar upon his own heart. The number of scars being determined by the amount of power or in this case slaves a slave driver owns. As best stated by Douglas: "a city slave is almost a freeman, compared with a slave on the plantation" (Douglas,37). For the plantation owner, feeling himself more powerful, more righteous, feels he should exert enough power to balance out his greatness.

And while over the course of writing this I have wondered if I would succumb to the same tantalizing power that thousands did during the antebellum period in the US.  Part of me thinks I would as I have had tons of conditioning telling me how wrong a deed it is to treat another human being as such. But another part of me wonders that if I had grown up under a different background and had been suddenly thrust into a position of power, owning perhaps thousands of slaves, would I have been any different? Would a slave had done the same to a white man under different circumstances? And the only logical conclusion is yes. It is human nature, it is nearly impossible to avoid when one life is in control of another’s.

And don't get it wrong, I am in no way shape or form attempting to justify slavery or give an excuse for it. I am merely saying that slavery was way more destructive than people give it credit for. It was a double edged sword, literally killing the slaves and figuratively, the masters. And when slavery was finally defeated with the emancipation proclamation, it wasn't only the slaves who were saved, but also the masters.