Frederick Douglass Consumerism

Frederick Douglass wrote the article “Learning to Read and Write”. Douglass was a slave trying to learn to read and write. Douglass talks about how he was successful in learning to read and write, for him to carry out this, he had to resort to different strategies. Douglass was making friends of all the boys, he traded bread for knowledge, he didn’t give them up when they helped him with learning to read and write, so then Douglass and the boys would talk to each other about how they wish to be free. The book Columbian Orator was used in schoolrooms in the nineteenth century to learn how to read and speak, it also taught people how to read and write, it was a big part of Douglass’ plan to learn to read and write.

In the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Douglass puts into words the story of his escape from slavery and his journey of becoming a well-educated and inspiring freeman. Douglass’ voyage to freedom was highly influenced and aided by his self-education. Douglass offers two juxtaposing opinions of education & literacy in slave culture one being that education is the road to freedom from slavery the other being that education is what causes slavery to be so miserable. These conflicting viewpoints offer an interesting insight into the horrors of slavery. Douglass believes his education is what aided him in breaking free from the chains of slavery.

The mid- to late-nineteenth century was a dark time for slaves in the United States of America. There was a constant struggle for power and social standing in the South, and slaves, were caught in the middle. In order for Frederick Douglass to free himself from the educational and spiritual darkness of slavery, it was essential for him to learn to read and write. Throughout his childhood Douglass was passionate about his need for education.

As a slave, he was not allowed to learn how to read or write, as slaveholders believed that educated slaves would be more likely to rebel. However, Douglass was determined to learn how to read and write, and he taught himself how to do so with the help of kind-hearted white children in the neighborhood who taught him the alphabet. Later, he would read newspapers, books, and political pamphlets, which helped him develop a critical view of slavery and fueled his desire for freedom. Learning to read and write was a turning point in Douglass's life

Many of us take education for granted and don’t learn to our fullest potential, but Fredrick Douglass soaked in every piece of information up because he knew it was his way out. “Learning to Read and Write” is a famous article based on what Fredrick Douglass went through to earn a valuable education while being enslaved. Author Fredrick Douglass, wrote “Learning to Read and Write”, published in 1845. Throughout the article, he takes us through different events he goes through while being enslaved. Douglass begins building his credibility with personal facts and successfully demonstrating logic and pathos appeal.

Learning to read and write was a skill in which Douglass took the utmost pride, however, it was a forbidden task. This served as yet another way to hinder the growth of an individual in the slave community. Douglass’s master, Mr. Hugh Auld, justified his reasoning behind forbidding intellectual advancement by saying, “If you teach that nigger how to read, there would be no keeping him…he would, at once become unmanageable…discontented and unhappy” (Douglass 48). Which in all truth, is exactly right. Slave owners were very afraid that if a slave gained too much knowledge, they would finally be wise enough to fight back.

African-American slaves were forbidden to obtain the knowledge of being able to read or write, stemming from the fear of white masters that educated slaves will overpower them. Douglass managed to learn to read by bribing poor and hungry white boys into teaching him in exchange for bits of bread. Douglass illustrates his thirst for literacy through “[The] bread [he] used to bestow upon the hungry little urchins, who, in return, would give [him] that more valuable bread of knowledge” (pg 23). This reveals how much Douglass valued education and took advantage of all the knowledge he had access to. Today’s youth, especially the ones belonging to a minority

It has opened my eyes to the horrible pit, but to no ladder upon which to get out” (Douglass 45). Frederick Douglass, through early guidance of his Mistress, was able to teach himself how to read. However, it was outlawed in the South to teach a slave

Learning to read as a slave was a lot like climbing up the staircase described because they had to teach themselves and the other people didn’t want them to learn so it was very difficult but the ones who kept trying were able to learn eventually. In Fredrick Douglass’s Autobiography, the text describes how Frederick felt after knowing about the evils of slavery after reading. He describes how he felt anguish pain and depression at the thought of being a slave. He says that sometimes he wished that he would be stupid again or that he would turn into some type of lizard instead of knowing how to read. This shows how learning to read is a risk not just in trying to learn how but in the things that could happen after you learn how to

Slaves were not supposed to be able to read or write and this made it hard. His mistress always got mad anytime she saw him reading. It was hard for him to accept the things he had read since they gave him more details about his race and what he was going through. Douglass learning how to read and write caused him to deal with his readings emotionally and mentally. Alexie thought that him learning how to read made him smart and he was very proud of doing so.

Human slavery requires ignorance, just as an individual’s freedom, from oppression, requires knowledge attained by education. To maintain order and control over slaves, slavery demands ignorant slaves; thus, keeping slaves ignorant prevents slaves from recognizing the empowering value of education and education’s ability to liberate slaves from the effects of ignorance. Frederick Douglass’s pursuit of education helped him discover the dark, hidden truths of slavery in his article, “How I Learned to Read and Write.” Thus, the pursuit of education inspires a desire for freedom. The desire to learn generates determination and motivation.

In the essays, “Reading to Write” by Stephen King, “The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me” by Sherman Alexie, “Learning to Read” Malcolm X, and “Learning to Write” by Frederick Douglas have three things in common. In each essay Reading has contributed towards the authors life leading to benefit from learning to read, allowing them to leave a legacy behind. In each essay the authors has thought their self how unlike Frederick Douglass. For Stephen King, reading has done a lot for him. King stated, “Every book you pick up has its own lesson or lessons, and quite often the bad books have more to teach than the good ones” (221).

Because of this, he successfully creates a contrast between what the slave owners think of and treat the slaves and how they are. Douglass says that slave’s minds were “starved by their cruel masters”(Douglass, 48) and that “they had been shut up in mental darkness” (Douglass, 48) and through education, something that they were deprived of, Frederick Douglass is able to open their minds and allow them to flourish into the complex people that they are. By showing a willingness to learn to read and write, the slaves prove that they were much more than what was forced upon them by their masters.

“Learning to Read and Write” by Frederick Douglass is a personal narrative which describes a specific time in his childhood when he was learning to read and write. Born as a slave in the pre-Civil War south, Douglass was not expected to be literate. However, through strong ambition, Douglass overcame restrictions and stereotypes placed on slaves and taught himself to read and write. Later in his life, Frederick Douglass wrote down this story in his book Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass in 1845. Today, students and adults can enjoy this narrative on how he overcame the struggles of learning how to read and write.

With all the knowledge he was gaining, he began to comprehend everything around him. The things he was learning fascinated him, but the “more [he] read, the more [he] was led to abhor and detest [his] enslavers”(Douglass 35); however, that should not be viewed as a negative affect but a positive one. No one should want to be deceived for their entire life. This hatred that he built up motivated him to continue to further educate himself. As a result, he later motivated other slaves to earn an education by having “[availed] themselves to [an] opportunity to learn to read” (Douglass 69) by Douglass teaching them every Sunday.