Annotations from Frederick Douglass By far the large part of the slaves know as little of their age as horses know of theirs, and it is the wish of most masters within my knowledge to keep their slaves thus ignorant. [Ch. 1, p. 39.] ‘Ignorant’ is the key word in this passage. Slaves seemed to be valued because of their ignorance. As long as they followed their master’s wishes and didn’t raise any questions, they were being “manageable slaves”. Not letting the slaves have their own identities and background made it easier for their ....