Frederick Douglass: Slavery - Essay Example

Frederick Douglass Introduction Every mankind yearns to gain freedom. Freedom enables one to do anything he or she wills to do anywhere anytime and anyhow. There is nothing as pleasant as to do what your heart desires. Freedom has a significant role to play in an individuals life. However, many people fail to utilize their freedom properly, or others have been suppressed by slavery enabling them become lazy in managing their own lives. Slavery was eminent in early nineteenth century where the whites could rate their wealth with the number of slaves they own. It is during this time that an abolitionist called Frederick Douglas was introduced to the world (Douglas 30). At a tender age of seven years, Douglas was enrolled into the system of slavery. Besides, as revealed later in “the narrative of Frederick Douglas” Douglas unlike other slaves schemes on how to get his freedom and eventually manages to escape. His life after slavery changes dramatically. Unlike other slaves who get freedom and never make an impact in their lives, Douglass utilized his freedom properly and we see him being successful in life. This paper seeks to investigate if Douglass’ success after slavery is related to his ability to read and write. Examining the method that Douglass used in order to know how to read and write one will get a clear indication that abundant life was awaiting him. Douglas went through hardships in the house of his new master, Mr. Auld, whose wife offered to introduce him to the world of education. The wife, Mrs. Sophia Auld, was singularly motherly and kind to Douglas. At first, she treats Douglas like one of the family members to the extent of teaching him how to read and write. She had never been with slaves, so she knew nothing about how they were supposed to be treated (Douglas 76). However, when Mr. Auld knew what was taking place, he became an obstacle to Douglas’ education. He prevented the wife from her offers to the slave claiming that “slaves are unmanageable when they are educated”. This implied that if Douglass knew how to read and write, he would become a radical giving master’s hard time to manage. This statement from a master gives us some light about the knowledge of reading and writing. Education will give one power to manage himself and not to depend on anybody or even allow another party to guide him on what to do. This illustrates the point that it is after knowing how to read and write that Douglas became successful after slavery. He knew how to manage himself and not depend on the decisions of other people. While he was being taught by Mrs. Auld, Douglass proved to be so intelligent and bright. This enabled him to secure a place in the shipyards as a worker. They believed, being intelligent will enable him to learn and understand quickly the requirements of the job in the shipyard (Douglas 45). People working in the shipyards were people with a lot of skills and experience. This was a major boost in the life of Douglass as he was exposed to skills that were necessary in life’s success. I suppose if he could not have been introduced to reading and writing, no one could have known about his ability. At long last, he could not have a chance to work in the shipyard where he gained more experience on matters concerning a successful life. Douglas could not give up easily. Even after being denied the right, to learn how to read and write, he resolved to use his own means to access the knowledge. He “sought the assistance of local boys” (Douglass 97). This reaction signifies a person who was determined in life. He creates a healthy relationship with the local boys, who helped him to advance on how to read. The love and effort that he puts towards education present a person who knows the importance of education. Maybe he knew that his freedom will come out of his knowledge on how to read and write. The struggles he made towards education enlightened him more and more about a successful life. Knowing how to read and write, will indeed make masters unable to control the slaves. This drives us to the point that, education will make slaves know secrets of their masters. During the process of learning, Douglas is able to learn how his master makes wealth and how he manages them. He reads any written material that he gets and relates it to what it means. We see him in the shipyard identifying papers that were important for identification purposes. Out of his curiosity he studied them carefully and eventually knew their purpose. Masters in most cases had their own files which they believed that slaves could not read even if they got them, but Douglas had an advantage which he used to uncover the secrets of his masters whenever he came across such files. Therefore, it becomes difficult to direct someone who actually understands what he ought to do. This experience enlightened Douglas in the sense that, he knew everything that entails wealth creation, how to mange resources and so forth. These tactics, helped him during his after slavery life. The experience as a slave is also evident on his proficiency in making speeches that earned him a lot of fame. It is easy to talk on something one is aware of that the one you do not know. We see him making powerful speeches on slavery and its effects. Freedom steered his quest for fighting against slavery. Douglas could not be successful while he was still a slave. Slaves have no right to ownership; everything belongs to the master, including slaves themselves. Even when the master dies, all the wealth is transferred to the son or the daughter of the master. Douglas is seen moving from one master to the other on loan or on hire. After the death of Captain Anthony, Douglas is moved to Thomas Auld, and then to a cruel man Edward Covey, a man believed to reduce slaves to the ashes (Douglas 82). In the house of Covey, Douglass is beaten and whipped thoroughly that he almost lost hope in reading and writing. The only thing he could do is to relax and nurse the injuries he had got from being beaten by his master. However, Douglass resolves to fight back against Covey (Douglas 93). This was a turning point in his life since from then henceforth, Covey considered Douglass in a different perspective. He started treating him a little bit fair. He left him do what he wanted with some limited restrictions. Fear comes as a result of uncertainty, having knowledge helps one to overcome fear. If it were not this retaliation, Covey could have continued frustrating him and eventually kill him, making him not realize the successful future that was awaiting him. However, having known how to read and write, Douglas came to his senses, knowing that he could not be successful while still a slave. He had to look for a proper solution. His success was only possible if he gains his freedom. Plans to escape were the only way to do this, the escape as seen in the entire narrative, is aided by the power to read and write. He proved that it was his ability to read that enabled him to identify identification papers and manipulated them through writing. The papers helped him to escape thus gaining freedom which was key to his success. Knowledge on reading and writing also enabled Douglass to be more conscious on everything that happened. Education makes one be conscious with everything he does. As Douglas continued learning on how to read and write, he became curious about life. He starts questioning himself on why and how things happen and in the process try to find out how to solve any problem. He becomes conscious of the evils that they (slaves) experience and devices ways to retaliate. Having the knowledge he deserves, Douglas resolves to find a way that will see him with the right to do what he wants at any tie and anywhere- that is freedom. He chooses to escape to the North (Douglas 105). After escaping, Frederick Bailey, the original name of Douglass, decided to change his name (Douglas 115). He knew changing his identity will enable him work without fear of being recaptured to slavery. A person who is illiterate can not think of changing the name, they are not aware what is contained in the name. The reason as to why Douglas opted to change the name was for his security, a sign of cover up. He wanted no interference with his life. He feared to be taken back to his master in case he is found. This is some kind of wisdom that many slaves lack. But with knowing how to read and write, one will know the right thing to do to ensure his or her safety. This decision helped Douglass to enjoy a free life and to do things that played a role in making him successful. For instance, he is able to go in meetings and give powerful speeches without being bothered by anybody. Many people knew him as Douglas, and until he identified himself as a former slave is when they came to know him but still doubted. Without having knowledge, Douglass could have remained Bailey and eventually, Bailey could be taken where he belongs, in the slavery land. Some changes in life are necessary for one to lead a successful life. His high levels of skills enable Douglass to reach heights that fellow slaves could not reach or even dare the risk. He was hired to the shipyards to work as a caulker; this was a job that needed a lot of skills (Douglas 115). Working as a caulker, gave Douglass a chance to have experience which, we can say he utilized afterwards, making him successful after slavery. In the shipyards, he made a lot of money, of which he did not see any. This was because slavery. All the wages were taken to his master, Mr. Auld. Nevertheless, being skilled and able to read and write, Douglass schemes to escape in order to have freedom of making his own wealth and to lead his own life. His knowledge to read and write enabled him to identify and secure papers of his identity, which helped him to escape to New York (Douglas 88). The manner in which he succeeded to escape presents a truly intelligent man. Knowledge to read and write also helped Douglass to gain fame. He could give powerful speeches about slavery. One of the speeches that he did with a lot of passion was during the meeting of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society in Nantucket, where he gave a speech on his experience as a slave (Douglas 122). As of such a fascinating speech, he was mandated to be speaking out against slavery in America. He became a front runner in campaigning against slaves. This was a massive boost to his success. His knowledge drove people to have false thoughts about him. They argued that his speeches were immensely powerful and could not be for anybody who was a slave. They claimed him to be pretending that he was a slave. As a bright person, who knows how to read and write, Douglass resolves to write his own biography, the incidence that remarkably few people had done by that time. This made him gain confidence and trust of the people, and as a result, he was free to do his work and the speeches which earned him a living, making him more successful. If he could not have leaned how to read and write, such ideas could not have emerged, and his status could have remained stagnant or even become worse. Conclusion Having analyzed the acts of Frederick Douglass, it is clear to conclude that, knowing how to read and write plays a crucial role in ones life. The decisions that one makes will entirely rely on the ability you have to read and write. Douglass’s transformation from a slave to an exceptionally prominent speaker has got its basis in his ability to read and write. The decisions he made during his life as a slave brings Douglass out to be a unique slave, different from other slaves. He resolves not to be intimidated and to fight for his life. His ability to read and write also presents Douglass as a risk taker. To be successful in life, one has to take risks. Unless one is aware of the risk you are about to take, you cannot take it. This awareness will only come as a result of knowledge to read and write. Work Cited Douglass, Frederick. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. Ed. Dover Thrift. Oxford University Press. 1999. Print. Read More