Frederick Douglass
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Frederick Douglass was from Talbot County, Maryland but was moved to Baltimore at the age of seven. He was taught the alphabet by his masters wife at the age of twelve but when her husband realized it he forbade it saying, “If you teach that nigger how to read, there would be no keeping him. It would forever unfit him to be a slave. He would forever become unmanageable and of no value to his master” (p. 47). Hearing this gave him inspiration to try and gain his freedom. “The light broke in upon me by degrees.” (p. 62). He began to realize that he was his slaveholders equal and through knowledge and education, they were no more important than he was. He began reading as much as he could and learned about other peoples points of view against slavery. After two failed attempts at escaping he was able to successfully escape in 1838 and eventually reached New York within 24 hours. He began to speak publicly on the issue of slavery and in 1841 became a lecturer for the Garrisons American Anti-Slavery Society.
Douglasss speeches denounced slavery in the South and racial discrimination in the North. He used his narrative to expose the evilness of slavery and to educate the white people about what really goes on at slave plantations including the cruel behavior and punishments. Douglass spoke about how people were disregarding the bible and the constitution by agreeing with the principles of slavery. He talked about having good morals and remembering that everyone was a human being. His focus was on the rights of human beings and believed that everyone should be treated equally. Ignorance was used as a tool to keep people enslaved. Many believed that blacks were incapable of participating in a civil society and should be kept as workers for whites. As slave children grow older, slave owners prevent them from learning how to read and write, as literacy would give them a sense of self sufficiency and capability.
Knowledge was the path to freedom and slaves had to pursue education themselves because it was illegal to teach a slave how to read and write. Knowledge would help slaves describe and understand the injustice of slavery which leads them to loathe their masters and want to gain their freedom. Douglass describes that not only does slavery effect the slaves but the slaveholders behavior as well. Having slaves makes normal people corrupt and irresponsible making slavery unnatural for all involved. Many slave owning men have been tempted to commit adultery or rape which threatens the unity of the owners family. Also, slave owners that claim to be Christians find themselves being hypocrites by taking part in the brutal whippings and beatings of slaves.
Frederick Douglass was able to teach himself how to read which lead to his freedom and his ideas to speak out against slavery. He was able to teach some of his fellow slaves how to read as well while still enslaved but the classes