Frederick Douglass Education Essay

He now knew what empowered them and what he needed to become empowered, and he states that "The argument which he so warmly urged, against my learning to read, only served to inspire me with a desire and determination to learn" (48). He prized this lesson and took advantage of it. Frederick Douglass now set a goal for himself to learn how to read at any cost.

In like manner, the slave will become worthless to his master. The author also wrote, “I now understood what had been to me a most perplexing difficulty--to wit, the white man’s power to enslave the black man. It was a grand achievement, and I prized highly. From that moment, I understood the pathway from slavery to freedom” (Douglass 20). Douglass began to realize the power that the white man felt in owning slaves and keeping the slaves illiterate. He understood this was powerful, but Douglass was aware that freedom was more powerful. Furthermore, “In learning to read, I owe almost as much to the bitter opposition of my master, as to the kindly aid of my mistress. I acknowledge the benefit of both” (Douglass 20). As. Mrs. Auld teaches Douglass to read, Mr. Auld is set on the fact that this education given to Douglass will provide him with confidence and will isolate him from others. His curiosity getting the better of him, this only makes Douglass want to learn more. Given these points, Douglass finally learns that all humans are equal, and the Blacks were stolen from Africa like “robbers.”. Another example being, “The first step had been taken. Mistress, in teaching me the alphabet, had given me the inch, and no precaution could prevent me from taking the ell” (Douglass 25). This happens to be a metaphorical comparison between units of measurement and Douglass’s achievements. The “inch” metaphorically represents the first step of

Douglass was motivated to learn how to read by hearing his master condemn the education of slaves. Mr. Auld declared that an education would “spoil” him and “forever unfit him to be a slave” (2054). He believed that the ability to read makes a slave “unmanageable” and “discontented” (2054). Douglass discovered that the “white man’s power to enslave the black man” (2054) was in his literacy and education. As long as the

In the beginning of the novel, Douglass does not know how to read or write. However, he is eventually sent to Baltimore, where his new master; Sophia Auld, begins to teach him the alphabet. Unfortunately, Mrs. Auld’s husband, after discovering that she had been teaching Douglass to read, forbids her from continuing, stating that “If you give a nigger an inch, he will take an ell. A nigger should know nothing but to obey his master [...] [to learn to read and write] would make him discontented and unhappy”(48). This quote reveals a lot about the slave owner's reasoning behind forbidding literacy. The claim that “If you give a nigger an inch, he will take an ell.” refers to how, after having their knowledge limited their entire life, a slave will no longer be satisfied with the meager amount of information their owner allows them, will seek out more. This is seen as a negative trait by the slave owners, as they believe a slave “should know nothing but to obey his master”. Mr.Auld justifies this reasoning by making the claim that learning to read and write “would make [Douglass] discontented and unhappy”. This claim is correct, however it is only a part of the truth.

While on one end slave-owners did their best to deprive slaves of education, on the other side, Douglass constantly stresses the importance of slaves acquiring knowledge and education in any way possible. While in Baltimore, Douglass comes to the realization of just how important education is. His master, Mr. Auld, becomes angry with his wife when he discovers she is trying to teach Douglass how to write. This is a life changing moment for Douglass and from then on, he understood that education was linked with freedom. He would go to extremes to educated himself. Douglass would walk the streets of Baltimore with a book, and a piece of bread. He describes how he would meet up with young white boys and trade his loaf of bread for tips on how to read (Douglass

At a young age, Douglass learns he must pursue knowledge and education to emancipate himself from slavery. Shortly after arriving at his new master’s home, the master’s wife, Mrs. Auld, teaches him the alphabet and how to spell. Mr. Auld forbids his wife to continue teaching as it is “unlawful, as well as unsafe, to teach a slave to read” and having that knowledge would “forever unfit him to be a slave” (pg. 48). This confession opens Douglass’

1. Douglass taught himself how to read and write. At first, Douglass’s mistress taught him how to read the alphabet before her husband prohibited her from doing this. After that he started to teach himself how to read by reading books and newspapers, and how to write by copying his little Master Thomas’s written in the spaces left in the copy-book when his mistress goes to the class meeting every monday afternoon. However his most successfully way of teaching himself how to read was to make friends with the white boys whom he met in the street. He bribes them with food to get them to teach him. He also learned how to read and understand the meaning of the name on the timber.

In The Life of Frederick Douglass An American Slave, written by himself the author asserts that the way to enslave someone is to keep them from learning at all. Douglass supports his claim by, first, when Frederick was small he was never able to tell his age or the date, and secondly, they were never allowed to be taught how to read that was something always hidden from him as a young child. The author’s purpose is to inform the reader that as a slave there were so many things they were not allowed to have that we may take for granted, in order to make it very clear that we should not take our education and opportunities for granted. Based on The Life Of Frederick Douglass An American Slave, Douglass is writing for the white people who believed that slavery was right, he wanted to make it very clear that the slaves and Douglass had nothing handed to them.

Education is heavily valued in the United States. Frederick Douglass was an abolitionist and activist in advocating for equality in public education in America. In “The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass”, he describes his life as a slave and the conditioned he endured in order to become a free man. Education is a prominent theme throughout the narrative. Douglass constantly faced the conflict of becoming literate and abandoning it entirely. As a child, his master showed great disapproval of his learning to read, which he then understood that education had value. This encouraged Douglass and he learned to read by other means. By becoming literate, he further understood slavery and the despondency of his and other slaves’ position.

Before I read this piece of art, I did not think that I would like it; I thought it was a tedious literary work like the ones a part of a colossal textbook at first glance. However, I changed my mind after reading it thoroughly. I am honestly amazed at how Douglass’ words link together to have such easy flow and clarity through each sentence. He is a better writer than some of the people who learned how to read and write at an even younger age than him. Last but not least, I love how he proves that education is important since reading and writing gave him the advantage to become a free man; this excerpt gives a lesson on why education is pivotal to gaining knowledge to have a sense of individuality.

Power, education, and slavery are all directly related by Frederick Douglass in “The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass.” Douglass, an educated former slave, wrote his narrative to show how life was like for the slaves and to try to end all slavery by introducing non-slaves and non-slaveholders to the horrors of slavery. Education is an important part of life and the slaves were deprived of understanding the power of education but were shown the effects of power on slave owners. Frederick Douglass uses contrasting diction to reveal his complex attitude toward the Aulds, shifts in the character Ms. Auld to show the corrupt effects of slavery, and uses the character, Mr. Auld, to show the relationship between education and slavery.

Frederick Douglass was a young slave with an aspiring dream to learn and further his life of knowledge and education. There was only one thing stopping him: his lack of freedom. The ability to read and access to an education is a liberating experience that results in the formation of opinions, critical-thinking, confidence, and self-worth. Slave owners feared slaves gaining knowledge because knowledge is power and they might have a loss of power, which would result to the end of cheap labor. Slave owners made the slaves feel as if they had no self-worth or confidence. If the slaves got smarter they could potentially begin to learn how unjust and wrong slavery was and they would have enough reason to rebel against it. Douglass was learning how to read and write from his slave owner’s wife. Unfortunately, both of them were told how wrong it was for him to be learning because a slave was not to be educated and was deemed unteachable. There was also another fear that the slave owners had. They feared that slaves would have better communication skills which would lead to escape and ways to avoid slavery. Reading opens your mind to new ideas and new knowledge one has never had the opportunity of knowing.

Fredrick Douglass’s “Learning to Read and Write”, gives readers insight into the struggles of being a slave with intelligence, but more importantly into his experience. In his essay, Douglass shows how he fought to obtain knowledge; however, a reading of his story will reveal that what he learned changed him for the better. Michael Scott, a former EOF student read the story and believed that Douglass’s intelligence was a destructive and to a certain degree pointless. Contrary to Scott’s statement, Douglass’s knowledge wasn’t more of a curse than a blessing. Being a slave was everyone’s curse. Douglass went into depression because he hadn’t had the same experience as other slaves and finally felt what it was really like to be a slave when he was punished for his knowledge. However just because his knowledge is what got him into trouble doesn’t necessarily make him, being an intelligent slave; a curse nor does it mean that he had absolutely no alternatives to his condition. In fact, he above most other slaves had the upper hand when it came to creating his own alternative. Douglass’s intelligence helped him become autodidactic, manipulate situations to benefit him, and develop an ambition to become free.

Throughout this excerpt from his autobiography, Frederick Douglass constantly refers to the importance of Education and Literacy. He continuously details not only that education represented power, but also that an educated and literate slave would be dangerous in the eyes of the slave-loving southerners. Education all throughout time has represented knowledge, and knowledge is seen as power, both of which could easily corrupt someone, hence why slave owners chose to keep slaves in the dark in regards to education. Douglass argued that education was seen as the key to success and free thoughts, however, both were luxuries unknown to a slave unless they took matters into their own hands.

The inception of Douglass’s path to learning was taught by an unlikely source, being his master’s wife, and her quick change of heartwhich further spurs him to continue on with his education. Douglass learns the ABCs from his mistress which certainly shocks him as he hasdue to never seening such a kind act being done towards a slave (32). He represents his sweet mistress as “at first [lacking] the depravity indispensable to shutting [him] up in mental darkness” (35). He explains that she was like no other slaveholder, and understands that if a white woman considers education necessary and believes that everyone should obtain a little bit of knowledge, then education was a vile source to him if he was determined to obtain freedom Analysis needs to include WHY Douglass incorporated the passage in order to prove education is power.