How Did Frederick Douglass Lose His Education

Fredrick Douglass was born into slavery during sometime between 1817 and 1818. Like most slaves, he was unaware of his exact date of birth. A slave’s life consisted of being tirelessly overworked and exhausted. They received only small amounts of food throughout the day, often wearing the same clothes they were given as it was the only articles of clothing they received at all. Slaves often were not even afforded beds. Those who broke rules were regularly beaten or whipped. Sometimes even shot if the plantation overseers saw fit. Unfortunately, no slave was safe, even those who didn’t break rules were subject to these punishments. Douglass was passed along to many different masters throughout his time as a slave, therefore he was subjected

Unfortunately, her husband ordered her to stop. Douglass was always baffled by Sophia’s kindness, having been scarcely shown anything of the sort in the past. With her husband’s influence, Sophia eventually gives over to the new mentality of being a slave owner and loses her natural kindliness. The corruption of owning a slave transforms Sophia, as she becomes calloused and mean spirited towards Douglass. Hugh believed that any sort of education made slaves unmanageable. By doing this, he unknowingly teaches Douglass about the power of education. “Whilst I was saddened by the thought of losing the aid of my kind mistress, I was gladdened by the invaluable instruction which, by the merest accident, I had gained from my master.” Through this rejection, he cultivated the drive to teach himself to read and write. As his learning expanded, Douglass became conscious of the evils of slavery and of the existence of the abolitionist movement. He knew that while his awareness of the world around him could bring incredible sorrow, it could also give him power over his enslavers who preferred he remained uneducated and in the dark. Though Sophia and Hugh Auld became crueler towards him, Douglass did not let his fire burn out, nor his desire to escape to the North

Desensitizing people to the true nature of human beings and their treatment. “I have observed this in my experience of slavery, - that whenever my condition was improved, instead of its increasing my contentment, it only increased my desire to be free, and set me to thinking of plans to gain my freedom. I have found that, to make a contented slave, it is necessary to make a thoughtless one. It is necessary to darken his moral and mental vision, and, as far as possible, to annihilate the power of reason. He must be able to detect no inconsistencies in slavery; he must be made to feel that slavery is right; and he can be brought to that only when he ceased to be a man.” Thus is slavery the enemy of both the slave and the slaveholder. Slaves faced being separated from family and friends along with daily beatings and humiliations. They faced excruciating labor, along with extremes in temperature, illness, oppression, intense racism and much more abuse. Consequently, slaveowners fell prey to the corruption of humanity and exercised them without restraint. They were often violent, intolerant, ignorant, greedy and merciless. This newfound authority corrupted their nature on a great scale. Instead of allowing these conditions to break Fredrick Douglass, he became a force to be reckoned with. He used his life experience as a testament rather than a death certificate.