ipl-logo

Frederick Douglass Education Essay

1305 Words6 Pages

“Those who deny freedom to others, deserve it not for themselves.” The institution of slavery was an extremely contentious ideal throughout the 1800’s. Slavery was a regular part of society as the brutal treatment of African Americans was looked upon as acceptable. Prominent figures such as: Abraham Lincoln, Dred Scott, Frederick Douglass truly placed an importance on how inhumane slavery was through speeches, court cases, and narratives. The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass was an autobiography that tells a story about the life of Frederick Douglass from when he was born a slave to his escape to freedom. Douglass truly paints the idea of what it is like to be a slave, what is was like being the lowest of the low, and how African …show more content…

An education is one of the most valuable items one can possess and that is something that will never change. Douglass noticed that slaves were not permitted to learn or read because it would ultimately lead to them being able to think on their own. Most African Americans only knew slavery and that was all they would ever know. Although learning would present Douglass with the harsh reality of his and his peers situation, he realized this was a key component to freedom. Douglass mentions, “I would at times feel that learning to read had been a curse rather than a blessing. It had given me a view of my wretched condition, without the remedy. It opened my eyes to the horrible pit, but to no ladder upon which to get out” (47). As Douglass began to learn, he noticed the brutal state that he was currently in which was extremely hard for him to cope with yet he realized how important it was to keep learning. My uncle, Malcolm, is an African American. Over the years, he has told me his story of his life which marked a transition from a rough childhood to a very successful adulthood. He expresses to me how important gaining an education was for him. If Malcolm had not gone to college, he believes that his life would have been filled with crime and neglect, much like his childhood. Both Douglass and Malcolm realized that education was vital to moving on in a positive direction life. Despite being in different time periods, the narrative still connects with the present almost exactly as many minorities seek education as their stepping stone to creating a life of

Show More
Related
526 Words | 3 Pages

The Narrative of Frederick Douglass is a very great perspective for people of today to understand what it was like to be a slave in the 1800’s. It tells the story of the slave Frederick Douglass and how he began as an uneducated slave and was moved around from many different types of owners, cruel or nice, and how his and other slaves presences changed the owners, and also how he educated himself and realized that he shouldn’t be treated so poorly It was at the point later in the book that I realized how some slaves might have felt during slavery in the 1800’s. When Douglass is sent away to Mr.Covey he is treated pretty badly but eventually he stands up to Mr.Covey and demands that he stopped being treated like an animal.

Read More
1080 Words | 5 Pages

In “The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass”, Douglass narrates in detail the oppressions he went through as a slave before winning his freedom. In the narrative, Douglass gives a picture about the humiliation, brutality, and pain that slaves go through. We can evidently see that Douglass does not want to describe only his life, but he uses his personal experiences and life story as a tool to rise against slavery. He uses his personal life story to argue against common myths that were used to justify the act of slavery. Douglass invalidated common justification for slavery like religion, economic argument and color with his life story through his experiences torture, separation, and illiteracy, and he urged for the end of slavery.

Read More
1030 Words | 5 Pages

Education is a key. Not many can find it, but those who do can unlock the door to endless knowledge. Abolitionist leader and American slave, Frederick Douglass, in his autobiography A Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, contemplates the enslavement he endured while emphasizing the importance of education as a key to freedom. Throughout Douglass’ educational awakening and his realization of its overall power, he comes to understand the slaveholder’s evil doings in keeping all slaves trapped in ignorance.

Read More
544 Words | 3 Pages

In fact, he argues that slavery and education are polar opposites. He works towards making himself free by expanding his understanding through reading. While still determined to physically escape, Douglass recognizes that education allows him to escape his situation even when enslaved. Douglass believes that his mind can be free even when his body is not. At some points, Douglass worries that, “I would at times feel that learning to read had been a curse rather than a blessing.

Read More
586 Words | 3 Pages

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

Read More
612 Words | 3 Pages

Education and the ability to read were extremely impactful on the issue for the slave’s freedom, as the slaves began to become smarter it began to change the way society viewed blacks. Frederick Douglass emphasized the importance of literacy in his book greatly. Douglass, deems that him learning to read and write was more than likely the most

Read More
460 Words | 2 Pages

After being separated from his mother at a young age, Frederick Douglass fights back against slavery and human rights. In Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, the author, Frederick Douglass, uses powerful rhetoric to disprove the Pragmatic and the Scientific pro-slavery arguments of Pre-Civil War America. The Pragmatic Argument is about how many people believe that if all black slaves were to be freed, then this would result in convulsions which would then lead to extermination of the one or other race. Many people also believed that black slavery was necessary for American history.

Read More
793 Words | 4 Pages

Education Determines Your Destination Education is the light at the end of the tunnel, when Frederick uses it he discovers hope. In the story the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Frederick goes through many struggles on his path to freedom, showing us the road from slavery to freedom. At the beginning of the book, Douglass is a slave in both body and mind. When the book ends, he gets both his legal freedom and frees his mind. The path to freedom was not easy, but it got clearer when he got an education.

Read More
392 Words | 2 Pages

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

Read More
775 Words | 4 Pages

Frederick Douglass’, the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass is a condensed narrative that retells the story of Douglass’ life as a slave from childhood until his escape as an adult. Douglass’ life consisted of various changes that all contributed to the decisions and predicaments he encountered throughout his life. Although he was a slave, in Baltimore for the majority of his life, his descriptions and telling of how slavery slashes both the slave and the slave master are both thought provoking and quite upsetting. The beatings, humiliation, tearing apart of families, and the sexual brutality are all there, laid out in a direct, straightforward style that is somehow more horrifying with its lack of exaggeration. Much of this narrative

Read More
962 Words | 4 Pages

The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass An American Slave written by Himself provides a vivid and intimate glimpse into the world of slavery. Douglass illustrates in his narrative the various forms of retaliation slaves engaged in to assert their humanity. The various forms of slave rebellion depicted in Douglass’s narrative reside in the oppressive system of slavery.

Read More
973 Words | 4 Pages

The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass is Frederick Douglass’s autobiography in which Douglass goes into detail about growing up as a slave and then escaping for a better life. During the early-to-mid 1800s, the period that this book was written, African-American slaves were no more than workers for their masters. Frederick Douglass recounts not only his personal life experiences but also the experiences of his fellow slaves during the period. This book was aimed at abolitionists, so he makes a point to portray the slaves as actual living people, not the inhuman beings that they are treated as. In Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, slaves are inhumanly represented by their owners and Frederick Douglass shines a positive light

Read More
836 Words | 4 Pages

Furthermore, Education opened Douglass’s eyes to the reality of his injustice as a slave; thus, compelling him to action as he recalls, “In moments of agony, I envied my fellow-slaves for their stupidity. ”(Douglass, 2014, p.133) Education caused Douglass heartache. While attaining his education benefited Douglass, he could not relate to his fellow slaves. The fellow slaves had the ability to remain content with their current state of being since it was all they had ever known. Douglass knew otherwise and longed for the forbidden life as a free man, as it changed from an unattainable idea into an achievable

Read More
470 Words | 2 Pages

Everyone has an opinion on if education is important, and if it goes hand in hand with freedom. Fredrick Douglass also had a strong opinion. Fredrick Douglass was an illiterate slave in the mid 1800’s, but after becoming literate, he used his education to achieve freedom. In the novel, Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass, the author, Fredrick Douglass, believed that education is the key to freedom. Douglass first demonstrates this when he first found access to a book named “The Columbian Orator”, used in American schoolrooms in the first quarter of the nineteenth century to teach reading and speaking , and later when he used his education to achieve freedom.

Read More
257 Words | 2 Pages

With this, Douglass is addressing the topic of slavery and whether to abolish it or not. And goes about telling the hardships he went through.

Read More

More about Frederick Douglass Education Essay

Related Topics

Open Document