Frederick Douglass Historiography

The Autobiography of Frederick Douglass was a powerful force for abolitionists, describing his own life as a former slave in great detail. Using his own words and experience, he created a powerful and persuasive argument against slavery, that helped gather support for the abolitionist movement. The sheer amount of detail in Douglass's experience makes you feel what he felt, and understand what he experienced. Additionally, Douglass proves that slavery changes all who are involved for the worse.
At the start of the book, Douglass says, I have no accurate knowledge of my age, never having seen any authentic record containing it. By far the larger part of the slaves know as little of their ages as horses know of theirs, and it is the wish of

He grew up lacking information regarding his age, which bothered and upset him. He was also not allowed to ask his master about information about himself. This was an intentional move by his master to keep him from developing an identity. This method was used to make slaves more compliant and obedient. In the minds of the slave owners, the less they knew the better. Not only did his master say no to his inquiries, but he said they were improper and impertinent. This goes to show how invested the slave owners were in preventing slaves from learning anything about

Douglass's second master, Mr. Auld once said:
"If you give a nigger an inch, he will take an ell. A nigger should know nothing but to obey his master — to do as he is told to do. Learning would spoil the best nigger in the world. Now," said he, "if you teach that nigger (speaking of myself) how to read, there would be no keeping him. It would forever unfit him to be a slave. He would at once become unmanageable, and of no value to his master. As to himself, it could do him no good, but a great deal of harm. It would make him discontented and unhappy." (1, 33)
By this he meant that if you teach a slave to read and write, he can no longer be a slave. This shows that the slave owners knew that it was unnatural to condition someone to be a slave. They knew that by simply becoming educated, they would no longer fit the mold, forever. Douglass heard this and understood that the way to escape slavery would be to learn to read and write. Ultimately, becoming educated did give Frederick Douglass the courage to escape (1, 34)
Slavery not only corrupted those who were being enslaved. It had the additional effect of making those in charge cruel. Frederick Douglass once said about Mrs.