A Slave more educated than her Master

Slave owners began to fear the power of an educated slave.
Image from howstuffworks.com

In this blog I will explain the reason why I think Tom Weylin believes that Dana is trouble to his family and his plantation. Tom Weylin thinks that Dana is trouble for several reasons but mostly because of Dana’s ability to read and write, and her educated and proper manner to speak to others. She respects white people the same way she respects other people of her race, treating everyone at the plantation equally. However, he resents her education and dislikes the idea that a black woman could read and write better than him. He also dislikes the fact that Dana comes from a free state and she is an independent woman. The way Dana talks to him is considered inappropriate; he believes that as the master she should refer to him as if she is a slave and that she should feel afraid.  Tom Weylin is not only surprised by the way she acts but by the way she dresses; he disapproves the fact that she wears pants. Women in the 1800’s did not wear this kind of clothes, because at that time they believed that only man should wear pants.

Tom Weylin thinks that she is dangerous to the way of life in the Weylin household because he thinks that she is going teach the slaves freedom ideas and therefore they would be able to escape. In addition, he knows that because she is well educated, the slaves would admire her and feel motivated to learn and explore new things. She is also danger to the family because Dana is attached to the kid and she could change the way he should be treating the slaves in the future when Rufus takes control of the family slaves.