Slavery for both men and women was a devastating reality. Men and women have been torn from their families and their natural state of mind. The toll of grueling work and harsh living conditions were what the daily lives of these men and women consisted of. The drastic impact on the slaves was something brutal and intense. If a slave did not obey his master's command he was subject to punishment. Punishments varied but generally consisted of severe whippings and mental and physical abuse. Many slaves, however, knew that they could do nothing to be slaves and were in fact forced to be slaves. Enslaved women and men lived difficult lives, as described in the two books for this assignment. This article will discuss the different types of hardships related to slavery, how gender might shape a person's experience in slavery, and specific in-depth examples from Douglas and Jacobs' accounts. Fredrick Douglas at the beginning of his life starts from the bottom as an ignorant slave. “I have no precise knowledge of my age, having never seen any authentic document containing it. Most slaves know as little about their age as horses do. “White children could tell their age. I couldn't say why I should be deprived of the same privilege. These two quotes that Douglas states in the first chapter play an important role in his ambition to become free. They show that he sees a bigger picture and is potentially starting to think about a way out of slavery. Douglas mentions some of his hardships on the plantation which he recalls: “I was seldom whipped by my old master, and suffered little from anything but hunger and cold. I suffered a lot from hunger, but much more from the cold.”...... middle of paper ......and winter. Many of these slaves were not given adequate clothing to keep warm and were freezing at night. To summarize, the different types of ignorance that were poured on slaves by their slave owners were one of the greatest difficulties of slavery. Killing the ointments of humanity and reducing them to an inferior human being is what these slave owners continued to do to maintain control. Keeping information and uneducated people away was also an important part of slave ownership. The difficulties discussed in this article were the gruesome reality in the world of conditioner. The strong will and ambition of Fredrick Douglas and Harriet Jacob is something to admire and take away from their stories. They have gone through many trials and tribulations throughout their lives and also through the levels of society, starting from the bottom as slaves to the top as non-slaves!