Douglas' Knowledge and Future Generations of African Americans - Assignment Example

Douglas underwent rigorous struggle in order to educate himself first out of curiosity and then out of appreciation for education. He realized early on that the real way out of slavery’s clutches was to educate himself so that he could defend his claim to freedom. As per Douglas, the book Columbian Orator impressed him at an early age and left a sizable impression on him. Douglas seems highly taken back at the tender age of twelve by the ideas presented in the book especially in connection with the slave and master argument presented in the text (Douglas).

This interaction with knowledge especially Douglas’s interaction with Columbian Orator can be seen as the defining moment in his life because it is then that Douglas realizes that a slave can match up to a free man. Given also the fact that the slave outmaneuvers his master through argument (that is an application of knowledge) Douglas was impressed with this method to resolve the slavery problem. On a personal scale, Douglas is liberated and free as soon as he realizes that his freedom lies with no one else but his own intellectual capabilities.

This realization is enough to transform Douglas from a poor oppressed slave to someone who can stand up for his rights. While Douglas was progressing on intellectual fronts, he was confronted with opposition from the very person who had initiated his learning in the first place. Douglas was taught the alphabet by his master’s wife who tended to treat him as an equal human being. However, after repeated warnings from Douglas’s master, his mistress began to distance herself from Douglas’s education until she became totally opposed to it.

Initially, she helped Douglas to learn the alphabet and to read a little bit afterward, she would humiliate Douglas if he were caught with a newspaper, book or other such material even in his private time. Such behavior drove Douglas’s curiosity even further so that he solicited the help of white boys his age in order to learn to read. Essentially the maltreatment meted out to Douglas due to his intellectual curiosity led Douglas to explore education as a means of liberation. It is at this point that Douglas begins to wonder if he will ever be given freedom (Douglas) and possibly it is at this point that Douglas begins to rely on intellect to claim and consummate his personal freedom.

As Douglas’s life proceeded one of his masters Covey was bent upon breaking the spirit of the young Douglas through torture. Douglas would often receive beatings at the hands of Covey especially in the form of whipping when he was only sixteen years old. Rather than back down from his position as a teacher of other slaves and a proponent of freedom, Douglas chose to stand up to Covey. A physical showdown between Covey and Douglas ensured that Covey would not touch Douglas for the rest of his life.

The mere idea of equality as a human being was enough for Douglas to take onto his master given that such an action was taboo for its era.