Slavery was a very disturbing action that existed in America’s history. African Americans were treated terribly during this time because of things such as racism, discrimination, and prejudice. They were treated as if they were not even human beings. One specific account that is available regarding slavery in the 1800s is The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave. This book, published in 1845, is an autobiography that gives a vivid description of the struggles Frederick Douglass faced as a slave in America. The first thing that Frederick Douglass had to face was prejudice. Douglass was automatically viewed differently in his time simply because of the color of his skin. The Prejudice Personality is also known as “Authoritarian Personality.” An example of someone with this type of personality is Mr. Austin Gore, Douglass’s overseer at one time. He thought that he automatically had a power over the slaves because he was a white man. He judged the slaves as worthless and stupid before ever knowing the facts. Little did he know that Douglass was so smart that he would later write a book, let alone learn to read and write. This predisposed judgment is an example of someone with the Prejudice Personality. Prejudice is an attitude, however and therefore can be changed or eliminated. This is not an easy task though. In order to ever make a social change, as in the case of slavery, an attitude change must come first. According to Functional theorist Daniel Katz, attitudes are determined by the functions they serve for people, and people hold these attitudes to achieve their goals. He says that attitudes meet four types of psychological functions: instrumental, knowledge, value-expressive, and ego-defensive. Katz says that attitudes change when they no longer serve their functions causing the individual to become frustrated and change. Another idea about attitude change is that of Mahatma Gandhi and his Eight Principles of the Satyagraha. This focuses on conflict without violence. It is designed to open communication channels for both sides so that common ground can be met. Both of these theories can be used to aid attitude change, which will, in turn, allow for a social change. Another terrible item that Douglass had to deal with was discrimination. This is the behavioral response or action taken that is often based off of prejudices made. Unlike prejudice, however, discrimination is not an attitude and cannot be changed easily. An example of discrimination in Frederick Douglass is when he goes to work for the Aulds in Baltimore, and Mrs. Auld begins to teach him how to read. When her husband finds out about this he tells her to stop immediately because reading “would forever unfit him to be a slave.” Douglass was discriminated against because of his race and was refused the opportunity to learn to read, or learn at all for that matter. Robert K. Merton developed a typology to combine prejudice and discrimination. He says there are four types: 1. Unprejudiced Nondiscriminator or “All-weather Liberal” 2. Unprejudiced Discriminator, Hypocrite, or “Knows-Better-Bigot” 3. Prejudiced Nondiscriminator or “Timid Bigot” 4. Prejudiced Discriminator, “All-weather Bigot,” or “Redneck.” Many people that fall under these categories are present in Frederick Douglass’s narrative. Mr. Austin Gore would be considered part of the Prejudiced Discriminator group. He would do anything in his power to make the lives of the slaves as miserable as possible. Frederick Douglass stood witness to many beatings given by this man as well as him shooting a slave, Demby, for refusing to take a beating. The worst part of Merton’s typologies is that their application did not end with slavery, and they can still be applied to many Americans today. Racism was a huge issue that Frederick Douglass had to face throughout his lifetime. According to Dahrendorf, racism is all about power. He says that racism equals power plus prejudice. A caste system is a good example of racism. In a caste system, the bourgeoisie want to keep the status quo in tact so they can make money. Therefore, they keep the lower classes in fear and fighting amongst themselves. Fear is a large part of the caste system, and also of slavery. If the bigots can keep the slaves living in fear, then the slaves are less likely to act against them. An example of fear in Frederick Douglass’s narrative is the fact that Douglass did not include specific information about his escape to freedom in his book because he was fearful that he would be found. Even after escaping, the Bigots still had a hold on Douglass because of the fear they instilled in him all his life. Fear was the only way the cowardly Bigots could control the slaves. Through the analysis of The Narrative of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave using sociological tools, a better understanding of the impact of bigotry upon African Americans during his era can be found. Prejudice, discrimination, and racism were very real to American slaves, as Frederick’s accounts can prove, and unfortunately still exist in many forms in America today.