After reading Douglass’ Narrative of the Life of a Slave, and seeing the scene in which Mr. Covey and Douglass fight, where Douglass walks away relatively unharmed, while Mr. Covey, the slave master, is very bruised and bloodied, left a lasting impact on me. Especially more so upon reading Douglass’ new sense of empowerment, as he describes as being “the turning point in my career as a slave. It rekindled the few expiring embers of freedom, and revived within me a sense of my own manhood…however long I might remain a slave in form, the day had passed forever when I could be a slave in fact.” This realization of Douglass’ true strength and inward freedom were revolutionary; Douglass realized he had the power to be free. This realization carries heavy implications of the condition of the other enslaved African Americans, because Douglass’ freedom came about after his migration from having the mentality of a slave, to a mentality of free man. This shows that all the other slaves were both mentally and physically enslaved, and if they were to abolish their slavery mentality, the abolition of physical slavery would soon follow. This is especially evident in how Douglass said that he was no longer a slave in fact, but a slave in form. This completely captures Douglass’ transformation being enslaved mentally, which resulted in his acceptance of his slave status, to being a free man mentally, which ultimately led to his freedom.
Kaicy, As you know, this is another pivotal moment in Douglass’ story. His distinction between being a slave in form and being a slave in fact is so important here. I’m not sure that I agree with you that slavery would be abolished if all slaves were able to liberate themselves from their “mental enslavement,” but I do believe, as Douglass seems to indicate, that this shift in mindset is a necessary step on the path towards freedom.