My most significant takeaway from both of the Jacobs excerpts as well as Douglass’ story is that slavery, while on the outside looks like a means of free labor through physical strength, is really a means of absolute control through both physical AND mental control. For instance, take the quote from The Loophole of Retreat, “Dr. Flint, did you bring my mother home? I want to see her. The doctor stamped his foot at him in a rage, and exclaimed, Get out of the way, you little damned rascal! If you don’t, I’ll cut off your head. Benny ran terrified into the house, saying, You can’t put me in jail again. I don’t belong to you now.” Jacobs’ son Benny is apparently no longer Dr. Flint’s possession, but the man is still able to inflict great fear on Benny with the threat of violence. Now Benny must constantly fear his own words and critique every thought that comes to his mind for his own good! Flint is not even his master anymore, the Doctor is able to exert this kind of control just because he is a southern white man. This kind of absolute control is mimicked in Douglass’ narrative when he talks about the slave breaker. The slave breaker would slither out to the fields on his stomach in an attempt to catch one of his slaves slacking off or conversing with one another. By doing this, he is able to instill a constant fear into the slaves and this is absolute rule. Once again, these slaves are forced to critique their own thoughts in order to protect themselves.

Part 2:

1. Indentured servitude, a form of slavery where someone is held to work due to financial obligations, while illegal, is still prevalent in some parts of the world.
2. The U.S. department of State describes human trafficking as modern slavery
3. Child labor, depending on the circumstances, can be considered slavery and is prevalent in other parts of the world.