[iconoclast]

Black laborers in New Bedford, Massachusetts -- who were not fully "free" in any sense of the word -- had a higher standard of living than most plantation owners in Maryland where he lived.

Wow. That's right up there with the Wal-Mart/Catholic church post for the most jaw-dropping of the thread.

[Alberta's Child]

As unbelievable as it may sound, I believe Douglass was correct. He came from a very poor area of Maryland where the plantations were small and the owners didn't live the rich, aristocratic lifestyles. When he got to New Bedford he astutely observed that employers who paid for labor had a financial incentive to use the labor wisely by taking advantage of whatever technology was available at the time. As a result, you had paid laborers in the North using tools and other equipment to do the same tasks that slaves (and their masters!) did by hand in the south.