Frederick Douglass Essay Example for Free

Frederick Douglass Essay Frederick Douglass was born a slave in 1818, a time when slaves were forbidden to have an education he succeeded in teaching himself to read and write. In Frederick Douglass’ Learning to Read, the audience was given a front row seat that allowed a glimpse inside the true depth and extent of slavery. Douglass expressed emphasis on literacy and the impact it had on slavery by revealing how slavery was detrimental not only to slaves but slave owners, how the path to educate himself caused mental anguish, and how literacy became his key to freedom. In the beginning, the master’s wife viewed Frederick as her equal and didn’t see anything wrong with educating him. Douglass said of his first teacher â€Å"She at first lacked the depravity indispensable to shutting me up in mental darkness (346), then she realized that educating a slave meant giving them a voice. Slavery had the power to turn a kind and caring person into a callous and cruel brute. â€Å"Under its influence, the tender heart became stone, and the lamblike disposition gave way to one of tiger like fierceness† (Douglass 346). She ceased to instruct him and made sure nobody else would. â€Å"Mistress, in teaching me the alphabet, had given me the inch, and no precaution could prevent me from taking ell† (347). Frederick Douglass was a brilliant man and determined to learn how to read. Douglass turned children into teachers and through an exchange of bread successfully learned how to read. In Learning to Read, Douglass wanted to name the boys who helped him as â€Å"a testimonial of the gratitude and affection I bear them†(347), but instead stated where they lived. Douglass writes about the steps he took when learning to read and goes as far to include where the children lived that help him succeed establishes accurate logic. The path Frederick Douglass traveled to pursue his education was a roller-coaster of emotions. Douglass was twelve when he came across the book The Columbian Orator, it contained material that spoke out against slavery, and with hope at his fingertips he came face to face with reality. â€Å"behold! That very discontentment which Master Hugh had predicted would follow my learning to read has already come, to torment and sting my soul to unutterable anguish. †(Douglass 348). He was still a slave, no longer ignorant of the truth but still without the answer. â€Å"I often found myself regretting my own existence, and wishing myself dead; and but for the hope of being free† Slavery was so horrific that he envied the clueless slaves and even contemplated death, but it was hope that saved him. Douglass’ use of loaded language appeals to the emotions of the audience. In Learning to Read, Douglass is eager to hear the word abolitionists, although he didn’t know what it meant he associated the word with hope. â€Å"If a slave ran away and succeeded in getting clear, or if a slave killed his master, set fire to a barn, or did anything very wrong in the mind of a slaveholder, it was spoken of as the fruit of abolition†(348,349). From a city paper he reads about the petition to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia, and at the pier he is encouraged to runaway to the north, where he could be free. Douglass wrote â€Å"I consoled myself with hope that I should one day find a good chance. Meanwhile, I would learn to write. †(349) A lump of chalk, any solid surface and another clever method would provide Douglass with the tools necessary to learn how to write. Frederick Douglas was a slave who succeeded in learning to read and write establishes his credibility and authority. Douglass’ views on the importance of literacy and the impact it had on slavery was effective by accurately using logic, appealing to emotions, and establishing ethical credibility In Learning to Read, Frederick Douglass gives a first-hand account of the struggles he faced to free himself, mentally and physically, from slavery. Through his persistence to learn to read and write he discovers that knowledge is the key to freedom.