read and write through different means he realized the evils of slavery and of the abolitionists. Douglas witnessed how a good intentioned kind woman succumbed to the debilitating mentality of her husband and being a slave owner. It's a reoccurring theme that proves the debilitating effects slavery has on both the slaves and the white families around them. "My mistress was, as I have said, a kind tenderhearted woman. . .she commenced, when I first went to live with her, to treat me as she supposed one human being out to treat another.\" (Gates 367) The role slave owners play is so cruel that people around them begin to live their lie as well. Keeping slaves at the absolute bottom of society was a top priority since it was the best way for whites to remain in absolute control. Douglas described the negative consequences it had for both the slaves and the people around the system of slavery; and how slave owners sacrificed their morals in order to remain dominant