 Cooper recounts the harsh circumstances under which the Negro is uprooted and transplanted to this “Christian” nation, reduced to chattel and beasts of burden for the purpose of producing wealth for white men and the economy of the nation (VAJC, 207).  Like Frederick Douglass and others, Cooper underscores this nation’s failure to adhere to the declaration that “all men are created equal” from the beginning. Her use of language and imagery are worth quoting at length. She asserts: