The Power of Knowledge

858 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Importance of education in our life

In many cases it seems both logical and necessary to obtain an education in order to broaden the horizon as well as expand ones knowledge of not only a classroom education, but also an education of the world we live in. Education is a gateway to a positive future and a successful life. According to George Washington Carver, “Education is the key to unlock the golden door of freedom.” Education is not a gift; it is a process that takes dedication and hard work in order to achieve the most positive outcome. Without education, many things cannot be accomplished; and many positive aspects of ones life could be missing. A beneficial education has the power to do great things, but a wasted education could lead to destruction.
A prime example of a beneficial and advantageous education would be that of Frederick Douglass, who struggled through extreme adversity but had the mindset to stop at nothing in order to achieve an education. In the early stages of his life, he discovered how a slave obtains freedom and he stated that it is through education in itself. Once the initial flame was lit, Douglass refused to stop learning and even through struggle, he knew that it would benefit him. He stated, “If there is no struggle, there is no progress.” He went so far as to take bread from his master’s house so that he could trade it for a short lesson of writing or A,B,C’s from the town white boys. To Douglass, education was valued as the very thing that could release him from bondage and set him free.
Douglass not only achieved his goals, but he created a gateway for other slaves to take a stand to build their own confidence in setting themselves free. Douglass earned his freedom and he deserved it. Douglass battled through separation, starv...

... middle of paper ...

... students struggled through problems due to racism, gang violence, etc. Their resources for knowledge were also very different, as Douglass learned from little white boys, and the students learned from their teacher, Mrs. G. The goal of Frederick Douglass was to earn knowledge for freedom while the students’ main goal was to graduate from high school and to lead a life of success.
The power that can come from earning an education can be so fulfilling and beneficial that it makes a lasting impact on generations to follow. Regardless of how Douglass or the students received their education, they both left an impact, as well as reached their goals. Frederick Douglass found his freedom and the students overcame their struggles in school. Through these two examples, education was proven to be something of a miracle and something that is earned - not given.

Show More
Related

  • Frederick Douglass Research Paper

    763 Words  | 2 Pages

    Based on data, Frederick Douglass accomplished most of his life goals. One of the goals he accomplished was for him to escape slavery and become a free man he decided to become an abolitionist movement leader. Then he would start his own newspaper and create inspiring quotes about his life problems or causes inside of the United States of America. Frederick Douglass also accomplished in life by having a good family and by raising his children well.

    Read More

  • Frederick Douglass: Escaping Slavery through Literacy

    711 Words  | 2 Pages

    Literacy plays an important part in helping Douglass achieve his freedom. Learning to read and write enlightened his mind to the injustice of slavery; it kindled in his heart longings for liberty. Douglass’s skills proved instrumental in his attempts of escape and afterwards in his mission as a spokesman against slavery.

    Read More

  • Frederick Douglass In 'The Columbian Orator'

    1179 Words  | 3 Pages

    Frederick Douglass was a magnificent and clever learner. Learning is as much a skill as the things it is used to acquire, and Douglass was very skillful. As a boy Douglass was abused and punished for his scholarly interests, but he never lost his passion and drive to gain more knowledge. He engaged in clever tricks, games, and habits to increase his literacy. Douglass says at the beginning of his life his knowledge was a curse, and it seemed so, but I think that into his teens he realized what a powerful ally it could be. Then in his later life it became his strongest ally. Douglass’s opinion of knowledge changed from negative to positive due to his change in position.

    Read More

  • Compare Frederick Douglass And Mark Twain

    1205 Words  | 3 Pages

    Education is a privilege. The knowledge gained through education enables an individual’s potential to be optimally utilized owing to training of the human mind, and enlarge their view over the world. Both “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass” by Frederick Douglass himself and “Old Times on the Mississippi” by Mark Twain explore the idea of education. The two autobiographies are extremely different; one was written by a former slave, while the other was written by a white man. Hence, it is to be expected that both men had had different motivations to get an education, and different processes of acquiring education. Their results of education, however, were fairly similar.

    Read More

  • Frederick Douglass Research Paper

    863 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...nineteenth century. Douglass was given some education and worked on it by himself after lessons ceased. Slaves who had any education were a rarity in the south. By taking away any opportunity for a better life, slave holders controlled every aspect of a slave’s life. However, after some education, Frederick longed for a life out of slavery. He realized he not only had to have a sound mind, but also a sound body and soul. The will to leave his old life behind was as important to education in obtaining his freedom. Frederick had many experiences that coincided with the average life of a southern slave during his time in captivity. However, after his escape, his life was very different from slaves who had obtained freedom by some means. Frederick Douglass became one the most prominent men in his time due to his hard work and determination he gained from being a slave.

    Read More

  • Frederick Douglass and Slavery

    1436 Words  | 3 Pages

    "He did this really well, because he made people understand the unknown, and made abolitionists out of many people. This man had a cause, as well as a story to tell" (Schomp, 25). Douglass, as a former slave, single-handedly redefined American Civil War literature, simply by redefining how antislavery writings were viewed.

    Read More

  • Knowledge Equals Freedom: The Fredrick Douglass Story

    1097 Words  | 3 Pages

    Douglass knew that ignorance or lack of knowledge was the real slave and knowledge was the path to freedom, to a new life. Douglass believed that all people are created equal, but we weren’t just born free, we have to make ourselves into who we are and what we want to be. The worst thing about slavery is it prevents people from improving themselves through education. Douglass worked by making himself free not physically but also mentally free by expanding his horizons through various different forms of education. By furthering his education and improving himself to be the best person he could be, Douglass was free in a way, free to the fact that he wasn’t going to be the person the slaveholders wanted him to be, he was determined and willing to find his own freedom by any means. This autobiography proves that knowledge or education is the ultimate path to freedom, either mentally or physically. A person can push themselves to the limit of starvation, loneliness, and physical pain by winning their mental freedom, knowing that with a little bit of determination and education it can truly transform a person’s life and Douglass not only shows this throughout his autobiography but lived through it and proved

    Read More

  • Frederick Douglass Narrative

    1441 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...uable bread of knowledge” (page 46). I believe that Frederick Douglass viewed education, as his way out of slavery. It was important for him to learn how to read and write because he has to let others people in the north know slavery is really like. Most people up in the north have not seen what slavery is like, and Douglass would be a perfect person to tell this story to everyone cause he is someone who has been a slave and now is a free man.

    Read More

  • The Dehumanizing Effect Of Slavery By Frederick Douglass

    1116 Words  | 3 Pages

    Douglass an individual who was born into slavery was separated from his mother at an early age, from my point of view without my parents specially my mother I would not be where I am today. Even though Douglass was separated from his family and in a way, did not have sense of family he did not let himself to be broken by this. He was a smart child who was determined to enjoy life to be best he could, even though at an early age all he understood about a slave life was misery. As he matured and grew, he started to noticed that there was more than just slavery but he was eventually broken by the harsh treatment of slavery. As Douglass

    Read More

  • Freed From the Worse... At Last

    650 Words  | 2 Pages

    ... important people Douglass wanted to do his own thing, without violence, and his most important thing which was to get the slaves free. His ideas helped him find a way to help free the slaves through his writing and lecturing. Frederick Douglass did say, ““Without Struggle There Is No Success,” (Baker) proving that he wanted to do everything on his own.

    Read More

  • Frederick Douglass Heroism Essay

    1021 Words  | 3 Pages

    In order for Douglass to reach his goal of becoming a free man he thought the only way out was education. He needed to learn how to read, write, and think for himself about what slavery was. Since literacy and education were so powerful to Frederick he persevered to get himself the education he wanted. …. Douglass knew it wouldn’t be easy, but that didn’t stop him. Douglass realized the “ conscious of the difficulty of learning without a teacher, I set out with a high hope, and

    Read More

  • Education is Key in the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

    537 Words  | 2 Pages

    The significant of education in “Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass” is the most important theme in the entire passage. Frederick Douglass understands that the only way to freedom, for him and also other slaves, is through learning to read, write, and also have an education. Education helps Frederick to understand things that slowly will destroy his mind, and heart at the same time. Understanding the full extent of the horrors of slavery can be devastating to a person who has just set mind on morals, and values. In the passage Frederick says, “It opened my eyes to the horrible pit, but offered no ladder upon which to get out” (Douglass 61). Using this quote as your guide, the reader can examine the meaning and importance of education with slavery time, and modern day.

    Read More

  • Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass Literary Analysis

    803 Words  | 2 Pages

    The confines of ignorance and both physical and mental abuse kept slaves from self discovery and rebellion. Frederick Douglass provides the journey of life as a brute to a free man. Frederick Douglass’s new identity included having a wife, a job of his own, a house, and the goal to reach out and help the people that were still stuck in slavery. From the rock bottom life of a slave he built himself up and became a successful

    Read More

  • Frederick Douglass Narrative

    1141 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the beginning of Douglass’ life, his only knowledge is the slave world and their duties. He knows the land, the families, and the brutal ways of life as a slave. When Douglass is sent to Baltimore to babysit, Mrs. Auld, his mistress, teaches him the alphabets. Mr. Auld tells her that she cannot teach a “nigger” no more because he thinks that ones they learn, they will be uncontrollable. This changes Douglass’s whole perception of slavery. He realizes that the only thing that stands between a slave and freedom is education. After Mrs. Auld stops teaching him, Douglass starts to read newspapers and books to teach himself how to read and write. The more Douglass learned, the more he starts to realize the ugliest side of slavery. This helps Douglass to be determined to put an end to slavery and eventually helps him escape. For Frederick Douglass, it was knowledge that freed him and changed his life so completely, and that he later uses to help other slaves. Knowledge was what gave Douglass a new life and determination to accomplish something instead of struggling his whole

    Read More

  • The Benefits of Education

    441 Words  | 1 Pages

    Education will help you grow as an individual because the more knowledge you have the better understanding you will have in any given problem that will come your way. It will give you self satisfaction and will boost your self confidence. As an individual I know it will help me in a lot of aspects in my life. It will give me a financial stability because I will be able to land a good job and a high paying salary. I will learn how to spend my money and will learn how to invest it wisely. The more education I have the more respect and acknowledgement I will get from people. Knowledge is really important that is why we need to take it seriously. It is the strong weapon you can have to conquer this complex world. If you have a good education nobody can fool you and you will not tolerate any mistreatment from people. It will give you a better views in life if you are well educated.

    Read More

More about The Power of Knowledge

Open Document