Learning to Read and Write by Frederick Douglass The purpose of the essay is to explain why Douglas believed knowledge is an avenue to freedom. By reading the essay the reader will learn throughout Douglas’s experience as a slave, he finds that masters consistently seek to deprive their slaves of knowledge. This way slaves feel powerless . However, Douglas as a slave knows that white man can keep the black race as slaves only if the slaves were kept illiterate. Douglass becomes dedicated to educating himself and his fellow slaves because he sees it as the solution. Douglas secretly began learning how to read on his own.As a exchange of reading lessons Douglass gives bread to poor white boys. Douglas knows there is an association