In this brief passage by Frederick Douglass, called Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, he describes prime examples of a pure Machiavellian. Douglass gives us insight on Mrs. Hamilton, a slave owner, who just like Machiavelli explains in The Qualities of the Prince shows us what exactly Machiavelli was talking about. Mrs. Hamilton is cruel to her slaves in order to keep them loyal and is never peaceful during idle times in order to keep her slaves at her advantage. Douglass's encounters with Mrs. Hamilton again show us exactly how Machiavelli wanted a leader to control the people and with this Douglass shows us how Mrs. Hamilton being the leader, controls the slaves which are her subjects.
When Frederick Douglass first introduces us to Mrs. Hamilton he gives us a well-developed visual on how she treated her slaves. Mrs. Hamilton would
Mrs. Hamilton also uses another one of Machiavelli's suggestions. Machiavelli suggests that a leader should never be peaceful during idle times. But while Machiavelli suggests this to a leader who should always be ready for war, Mrs. Hamilton uses a twist off of this. Mrs. Hamilton in the position of power that she has, must be prepared if any type of rebellion was to be taken against her. With this, Mrs. Hamilton shows that she is never idle towards her slaves. This somewhat follows what was talked about in the paragraph above but to a different extent. By Mrs. Hamilton whipping her slaves she is not being idle during peace, but rather turning them to her advantage so that in fact she is able to profit from them. With Mrs. Hamilton using this tactic from Machiavelli, it shows that she is always prepared for whatever the outcome.
All papers and essays are for research and reference purposes only!
Copyright 2002-2009
Direct Essays , LLC. All Rights Reserved. DMCA Webmasters make $$$$