Slavery, as described by Frederick Douglass in Narrative of the Life, is wrong because it withholds a human’s basic desire for knowledge. People, regardless of race, have the right to Life, Liberty and Happiness and within that is the quest for knowledge and when this is hindered, a human is thrown into a state of mental darkness in which they become subhuman. Through this state, a human is molded into a mindless slave capable of no thoughts other than to serve his master. Refusing the right of knowledge and the pursuit of it is inherently wrong as stated by the Declaration of Independence.
In this important historical document it is said that, “all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” (US 1776). All men implies men of color as well as white men. Slaves, therefore, have the right to Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. In the pursuit of Happiness there is the natural inclination towards education, which, in the insane system that is slavery, is repressed by the slave owner to ensure a more dehumanized slave.
Douglass, at a very young age, begins to realize the relationship between the master and slave is instinctively in conflict and opposition because, “What he dreaded, I most desired. What he loved, that I most hated” (Douglass 945). When Mrs. Auld starts to teach him to read, he starts to reason that slavery itself is wrong. When Mr. Auld finds out and attempts to stunt this intellectual growth, Douglass states how, “the argument which he so warmly urged, against my learning to read, only served to inspire me with a desire and determination to learn” (Douglass 945). Mr. Auld’s plan had backfired. From this moment on Douglass, “understood the pathway from slavery to freedom” (Douglass 945) depended on him learning to read. But, Mr. Auld warns him from the start that if he learned to read, “it would make him discontented and unhappy” (Douglass 945).
The ability to read would be a detrimental part of him achieving freedom, but since Mrs. Auld was forced to stop teaching him his A, B, C’s by her husband, he has to be creative in finding ways to learn how to read. He adopts a plan in which he is, “making friends of all the little white boys whom I met in the street.
Douglass was not aware of what slaves were and why they were treated in a bad condition before he learns how to read. He was deeply saddened upon discovering the fact that slaves were not given the rights every human being should have. In an effort to clarify Douglass’s feelings of anguish, he states: “In moments of agony, I envied my fellow slaves for their stupidity” (Douglass 146). The fact that other slaves are content with their lives is what brings awareness to him because he knows that he is stripped of basic human rights. He envies his fellow slaves due to the reason that they are pleased with the life he cannot live to like anymore. Also, he is often wishing he never learned how to read because he doesn’t want to burden about his life. Douglass knows more about the disturbing conditions than most of the slaves around him, but he greatly regrets it. Before he started reading, he lived very much in contentment and now he cannot stand the fact of being
Slavery was demeaning to the victims. Slaves were declined the right to an education because reading brought visions, and visions led to dissatisfaction. Many states passed laws stating slaves didn't have a right to an education. At the beginning of the Civil War, perhaps 9/10 of the slaves were illiterate. Also, black slave’s marriages were rarely legally recognized, due to the ineluctable separation that would come at the slave auctions. Slaves didn't have the right to vote. Lastly, slaves didn't have the ability to testify in court. This is shown in a petition by Arthur Lee Freemen. Freemen begs the General Assembly of Virginia (audience) to let him stay in the same state with his wife and four children. He doesn't want to seek a new living in a new country away from his wife and kids. Freemen’s petition most likely was ignored by the General Assembly of Virginia, because slaves weren't able to testify in court. Virginia’s General assembly wanted to kick out Freemen because he was a free black, and free blacks were physical examples of what could be accomplished by emancipation and hence were begrudged and abominated by supporters of the slave system. Free blacks were still enchained to slavery because even after they established their lives, they were forced to move to other states due to slavery. The former slave owners still saw the free black as a slave,
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 to escape and afterwards in his mission as a spokesman against slavery. Douglass was motivated to learn how to read by hearing his master condemn the education of slaves. Mr. Auld declared that education would “spoil” him and “forever unfit him to be a slave” (2054).
In conclusion, this book shows us that slavery is against mankind and all people are equal concerned of the race. Racism has become an wide-ranging in many of the countries mostly in northern Europe and Russia. Skin colour means nothing but just an identity. Many people use it to discriminate others whereas they got equal intelligence and sometimes the person being discriminated upon could be having sharper brains. This book also written for kids and immigrants to learned more about the past of where they lives. I recommend that every person should see the other as a partner but not as superior than the other and by that there will not be any discrimination in our society.
When first introduced to Douglass and his story, we find him to be a young slave boy filled with information about those around him. Not only does he speak from the view point of an observer, but he speaks of many typical stereotypes in the slave life. At this point in his life, Frederick is inexperienced and knows nothing of the pleasures of things such as reading, writing, or even the rights everyone should be entitled to. Douglass knowing hardly anything of his family, their whereabouts, or his background, seems to be equivalent to the many other slaves at the time. As a child Frederick Douglass sees the injustices around him and observes them, yet as the story continues we begin to see a change.
“Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is made to feel that society is an organized conspiracy to oppress, rob and degrade them, neither persons nor property will be safe”( Douglass). This famous quote epitomizes the philosophies of Frederick Douglass, in which he wanted everyone to be treated with dignity; if everyone was not treated with equality, no one person or property would be safe harm. His experience as a house slave, field slave and ship builder gave him the knowledge to develop into a persuasive speaker and abolitionist. In his narrative, he makes key arguments to white abolitionist and Christians on why slavery should be abolished. The key arguments that Frederick Douglass tries to vindicate are that slavery denies slaves of their identity, slavery is also detrimental for the slave owner, and slavery is ungodly.
Slaves were subject to harsh working conditions, malicious owners, and illegal matters including rape and murder. In many instances, slaves were born into slavery, raised their families in slavery, and died within the captivity of that same slavery. These individuals were not allowed to learn how to read, write, and therefore think for themselves. This is where the true irony begins to come into light. While we have been told our entire lives that education and knowledge is the greatest power available to everyone under the sun, there was a point in time where this concept was used to keep certain people under others. By not allowing the slaves to learn how to read, then they were inevitably not allowing the slaves to form free thoughts. One of my favorite quotes is that of Haruki Murakami, “If you only read the books that everyone else is reading, then you can only think what everyone else is thing.” This applied in magnitudes to those who didn’t get to read at all. Not only were these individuals subject to the inability to think outside the box, but for most of these their boxes were based upon the information the slaves owners allowed them to
Frederick Douglass had moved into a new mistresses home who had never known of slavery. While she had initially taught him to read, fed him well, and looked upon him like an equal human being, she eventually forbade him from reading and whipped him at her husband’s request. The kind woman he had known became inhumane and degrading because that was required to maintain the unwarranted power over slaves.
Slavery is the idea and practice that one person is inferior to another. What made the institution of slavery in America significantly different from previous institutions was that “slavery developed as an institution based upon race.” Slavery based upon race is what made slavery an issue within the United States, in fact, it was a race issue. In addition, “to know whether certain men possessed natural rights one had only to inquire whether they were human beings.” Slaves were not even viewed as human beings; instead, they were dehumanized and were viewed as property or animals. During this era of slavery in the New World, many African slaves would prefer to die than live a life of forced servitude to the white man. Moreover, the problem of slavery was that an African born in the United States never knew what freedom was. According to Winthrop D. Jordan, “the concept of Negro slavery there was neither borrowed from foreigners, nor extracted from books, nor invented out of whole cloth, nor extrapolated from servitude, nor generated by English reaction to Negroes as such, nor necessitated by the exigencies of the New World. Not any one of these made the Negro a slave, but all.” American colonists fought a long and bloody war for independence that both white men and black men fought together, but it only seemed to serve the white man’s independence to continue their complete dominance over the African slave. The white man must carry a heavy
He had long fought to learn to read and was so excited and eager to do so, he never expected the circumstances of this to be as dehumanizing as they were. He regretted learning to read because it brought him nothing but desperation, he learned his awful truth and that of his fellow slaves. "It had given me a view of my wretched condition, without the remedy." (Douglass, 24) The truth was that the more he learned the more he became aggravated, he knew there was not much he could do. It brought his moral down along with many other feelings, even a slave like Frederick had learned the awful feeling of
In the essay “Learning to Read and Write,” Frederick Douglass illustrates how he successfully overcome the tremendous difficulties to become literate. He also explains the injustice between slavers and slaveholders. Douglass believes that education is the key to freedom for slavers. Similarly, many of us regard education as the path to achieve a career from a job.
In sum, all of these key arguments exist in “The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass” because of the institution of slavery and its resulting lack of freedom that was used to defend it. This text’s arguments could all be gathered together under the common element of inequality and how it affected the practical, social, and even spiritual lives of the slaves.
As a relatively young man, Frederick Douglass discovers, in his Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, that learning to read and write can be his path to freedom. Upon discovering that...
Auld, he was introduced to education which gives him a sense of humanity back. Mrs. Auld taught Douglass the alphabet and how to spell small words. However, Mr. Auld found out and disapprovingly said “ if you teach that n- - - - - how to read… it would forever unfit him to be a slave” which Douglass took note of to (250). Douglass realized the importance of his master being scared of him reading and spelling and noticed the value in having and education. Having an education and realizing the importance of that was a major building block in forming Frederick Douglass’s identity.
Frederick Douglass’ landmark narrative describes the dehumanization of African-American slaves, while simultaneously humanizing them through his moving prose. Douglass shows the dehumanization of slaves through depictions of violence, deindividuation, and the broken justice system. However, Douglass’ pursuit of an education, moving rhetoric, and critique of his own masters demonstrates to the reader that African-Americans are just as intelligent as white people, thus proving their humanity.