Comparing Benjamin Franklin, Frederick Douglass, And James Fenimore Cooper

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Benjamin Franklin, Frederick Douglass, and James Fenimore Cooper tackle the issue of the racial superiority present in the nation of America, throughout different time periods, in their respective works. In his work Remarks Concerning the Savages of North America, Franklin addresses the superiority the whites feel they have over the Native Americans, while also proving it to be a senseless notion. For instance, he states, “Savages we call them, because their manners differ from ours, which we think the perfection of civility; they think the same of theirs.” (358). He goes on to describe specific examples of Native kindness and civility, which are then compared to the rude ways of the whites. One example is that of how the Natives hold public …show more content…

The whole institution of slavery is founded upon this belief that one is superior to another; in the case of American slavery during this time period, it is the whites who maintain superiority over blacks. Douglass, throughout his work Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, repeatedly touches on the notion of ignorance as a tool the whites use to stay superior. Within the first few sentences of the first chapter, he mentions that he does not even know how old he is, and he speculates that the masters purposely keep this hidden from their slaves in order to keep them as ignorant as animals. He later reinforces this idea of ignorance as a tool when he describes his first experience with learning to read and write. His mistress, Mrs. Auld, was caught trying to teach him by his master; in this instance Mr. Auld states, “It would forever unfit him to be a slave . . . It would make him discontented and unhappy.” (20). When Douglass hears this, he immediately understands that whites are able to enslave black men, and maintain their notion of being the superior race, by keeping those enslaved utterly devoid of any education; if they don’t understand how unjust their slavery is, they cannot do anything about

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