Frederick Douglass Education Essay

Freedom in education

Education is the key to freedom. In Frederick Douglass’ autobiography he takes you back to 19th century america where slavery is a part of everyday life and black men were treated not as people, but as commodities, toiling in the hot sun for hours on end with nothing in return. The life of a slave in 19th century america was indeed a troublesome one. The black men were kept ignorant by their white masters, without education, the slaves did not think of themselves as people. They lacked a free thinking mind which lead them to believe everything their white masters told them. For Frederick Douglas however, this was not the case. He was educated by Mrs. Auld and thus generated a mind that didn't conform with his white masters

Since the slaves were not educated, they don’t really have an intelligent view of themselves, they just feel like they are property and nothing more than that. When Frederick Douglas becomes educated, he thinks of himself as a real person and not just someone's property and this eventually leads to him escaping slavery. As stated by Mr. Auld, “ Learning would spoil the best nigger in the world. Now, if you teach that nigger how to read, there would be no keeping him. It would forever unfit him to be a slave. He would at once become unmanageable, and of no value to his master. As to himself, it could do him no good, but a great deal of harm. It would make him discontented and unhappy." (chapter 6)“ Mr. Auld states why it's so important for the slaves be kept uneducated. If a slave learned to read, he would no longer be satisfied to be a slave and want to be more. In Mr. Auld's mind, this would "ruin" the slaves and cause them to not want to work on the plantations anymore. This is an important key that shows how slave masters keep their slaves from rebelling and running

When Frederick Douglas started his small school to teach the slaves, the slaves did not know what a real education was for the most part, but they still wanted to come and learn from Douglas because of their desire to be something more than just property. "These dear souls came not to Sabbath school because it was popular to do so, nor did I teach them because it was reputable to be thus engaged. Every moment they spent in that school, the were liable to be taken up, and given thirty-nine lashes. They came because they wished to learn. Their minds had been starved by their cruel masters. They had been shut up in mental darkness. I taught them, because it was the delight of my soul to be doing something that looked like bettering the condition of my race." (Chapter 10). The slaves desire to learn outweighed their fear of punishment for being caught, they put themselves in harms way by going to learn from Douglas. They freed themselves from their constant fear of the white men and empowered themselves with