More handpicked essays just for you.
Frederick douglass - narrative of the life
Frederick douglass importance essays
Frederick douglass importance essays
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
According to the materiel Of The People, Frederick Douglass was born as Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey in Talbo Country, Maryland, in 1818. He was born into slavery and at the age of seven he was sent to Baltimore and became a ship caulker. He hired out his labor, paying his master three dollars a week and keeping the rest for himself per their agreement. Frederick planned his escape when his master told him to pay him all his earnings rather that just the three dollars a week. After he escaped to the north he started attending and speaking at antislavery meetings.
a) Mrs. Auld thinks Douglass should be able to read because she teaches him herself. “ My mistress- who had begun to teach me- was suddenly checked in her benevolent design,...”(Douglass 521). The author says that his mistress began to teach him, so this proves what Mrs. Auld thinks about Douglass’s reading. b) I think that Mrs. Auld is later “violent in her opposition” to Douglass’s reading because her husband gave her strong advice of not teaching Douglass how to read. “ In faithful compliance with this advice, the good lady had not only ceased to instruct me, herself, but had set her face as a flint against my learning to read by any means”(Douglass 521).
He had only read books about slavery and that discouraged him. This made him feel beaten down by his abilities. He faced great hardship due to his mental image of himself. He had to overcome the challenge of facing himself. Alexie and Douglass faced their hardships of their economic status and education by learning how to read and write.
Mrs. Auld was a mother figure to Douglass who helped him gain a passion for education. Unfortunately, Once Sophia’s husband discovered that she was giving Douglass private lessons, he ordered her to stop. He believed that teaching a slave how to read and write was wrong. Because Douglass knew that Mr. Auld was trying to mentally chain him, he began to value education more. Learning about the world outside of slavery was essential in gaining freedom, which is why Douglass never stopped reading.
He had a justification about teaching Douglass reading. He said that his wife could not teach the poor slave how to read because
Douglass for example emphasized the importance of education for slaves. Douglass is a first had observer of the strategy of slave owners to keep their slaves ignorant. By keeping slave uneducated they are unable to express the horrible things that happen to them to the world. Hugh Auld forces his wife to stop teaching Douglass to read (auld stopping teaching quote) , so Douglass teaches himself. For him learning to read was a major turning point in his quest for freedom and it enabled him to put out his book, which would inspire many to turn against slavery.
Auld’s wife began to teach Douglass to read. Auld forbade her claiming
The second idea is education and slavery are not compatible with one another. Douglass explains this in two different cases. One case is explained through Mrs. Auld husband, Mr. Auld, and the other is through Douglass thoughts. Mr. Auld is obviously influenced by the society of the time. When he tells Mrs. Auld to not teach Douglass how to read or write he justifies that by saying, “if you teach that n!$$%@ how to read, there would be no keeping him.
Douglass belong to a well off family. The woman of the house thought him how to read and write some things. Until her husband found out that she was teaching him, then she suddenly stopped and was angry at Douglass, when he was reading. They felt like he would listen to the Irishman when he said “They both advised me to run away to the north; that I should find friends there, and that I should be free.” After losing his only source of teaching he resorted to the lest fortunate white kids for help.
His mistress Sophia Auld, Hugh’s wife, was very kind with Douglass and even taught him to read and write because she has never had any slave before. However, Mr. Hugh then discovered this and ordered his wife to stop teaching Douglass. Not only Mr. Hugh but also other
Fredrick Douglass meets Hugh Auld’s wife Sophia and he is surprised about how nice she is. She does not really know how to treat slaves because she has never had them. A slave with education is said to be a dangerous slave so they are not supposed to be taught. However it seems like Mrs. Auld did not know that, and she began to teach Douglass the Alphabet which is a big turning point in Douglass’s life as a slave. Mr. Auld figures out that his wife has been teaching Douglass, and he puts an end to it, and he tells her how dangerous it is to teach a slave.
Auld was forced by her husband, Douglass’ master, to quit educating him. Douglass had said Mrs. Auld was kind to him, but after her husband banned her from teaching him, she became hostile and bitter. Mr. Auld changed her view on slaves and seeing all humans equally regardless of their color. Mr. Auld had already been coined a cruel slave owner, seeing as he’d never owned slaves, after attending a church meeting Thomas Auld became even more harsh towards Douglass. This is ironic because religion is supposed to accept people of all colors, however Thomas Auld believed it was his God-given right to own slaves and for the slaves to obey
Douglass begins his letter with his intent, an elaborate and formal appeal to Douglass’ real audience: readers of the North Star to bring forth the atrocities caused not only by Auld but by slavery as a whole. Throughout the letter, Douglass refers to his treatment by Auld; further driving his point that slavery is terrible and that slaves deserve the same basic rights as those who own slaves. Douglass is quick to speak about his own experience as an escaped slave and his success outside of Auld’s ownership to help solidify that point further. Douglass occasionally does this specifically to belittle and call forward Auld’s actions, even referring to himself as more intelligent (Douglass 102). Throughout the letter, Douglass’ common theme is one of anti-slavery and often directly attacks Auld’s actions.
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.
The power of education is a main theme within A Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. Douglass 's experiences lead him to recognize its great power and to believe that education is a key in our life. It has the power to open all doors while providing us with several opportunities. Education makes the difference; it expands the human mind since the more we know the more enlightened we are. It makes us free and it avoid us to be enslaved, too.
