The book, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass is an eloquent memoir written by Frederick Douglass. In it, Douglass shares the hardships he endured as a slave and his heroic escape to the free state of Massachusetts. One part of his story that I found especially fascinating was how he taught himself how to read and write, and how he used those two skills to impact the lives of millions.
Let’s start from the beginning
Frederick Douglass was born in Tuckahoe, Maryland around 1818 and had a life that was anything but easy.
Douglass was separated from his mother before he was a year old (a common practice by slave owners during those times). She was moved to a farm that was 12-miles away and Douglass only saw her four or five times before she got ill and passed away.
As a slave, Douglass was treated poorly. He was often overworked and underfed. He was given almost no clothing and slept in a sack to stay warm, “In the hottest summer and coldest winter, I was kept almost naked...I had no bed,” Douglass wrote in his memoir.
One would think growing up in an unjust world would break a person, but Douglass survived, and would soon thrive.
When Douglass was eight-years-old, he was sent to live with another master in Baltimore.
His new master’s wife had never had a slave before and taught Douglass the alphabet before the master found out and told his wife that such an activity was illegal. Not only was it unlawful, but the master added that if a slave learned to read, “It would forever unfit him to be a slave. He would at once become unmanageable, and of no value to his master.”
That moment was an inflection point in Douglass’s life and those words would change his destiny forever. “These words sank deep into my heart...and called into existence an entirely new train of thought,” Douglass wrote.
““From that moment, I understood the pathway from slavery to freedom.””
Learning How To Read
Douglass knew that reading would lead to his freedom, and although he had lost his teacher, he was determined to learn how to read: “I set out with high hope, and a fixed purpose, at whatever cost of trouble, to learn how to read.”
So how did he do it?
Douglass carried a book with him anytime he was sent out for errands, and if he had extra time, would make friends with young white boys and ask them for lessons.
““The plan which I adopted, and the one by which I was most successful, was that of making friends of all the little white boys whom I met in the street. As many of these as I could, I converted into teachers.””
Sometimes the boys would offer lessons for free, and other times Douglass would pay them for lessons with bread.
““This bread I used to bestow upon the hungry little urchins, who, in return, would give me that more valuable bread of knowledge.” ”
After learning how to read, Douglass came across a book containing speeches by Richard Sheridan. Sheridan’s work produced in Douglass a deep love of liberty and hatred of oppression. He read them over and over again, and became inspired to get involved in human rights.
““I read them over and over again with unabated interest...What I got from Sheridan was a bold denunciation of slavery, and a powerful vindication of human rights. ”
Learning How To Write
Once Douglass learned to read, he set out on to acquire another valuable skill, writing.
He first learned how to write while working at a ship-yard. He watched carpenters write on timber the part of the ship the piece was intended for, and copied it down.
“L.” was for larboard.
“S.” for starboard.
“A.” for aft.
“F.” for forward.
“I immediately commenced copying them, and in a short time was able to make the four letters named,” Douglass wrote. After learning those four letters, Douglass once again sought out white boys for lessons, this time for writing.
Douglass told white boys that he could write as well as them, however, they wouldn’t believe him and told Douglass to prove it. Douglass would then write the letters he knew and tell the white boys to write letters that they knew. Thus learning new letters every time he played the game.
““In this way I got a good many lessons in writing, which it is quite possible I should never have gotten in any other way.””
Not only was Douglass clever, he was also resourceful.
“ “During this time, my copy-book was the board fence, brick wall, and pavement; my pen and ink was a lump chalk. With these, I learned mainly how to write.” ”
He also waited until everyone had left the house to practice writing in his master’s son’s old spelling books.
““When left thus, I used to spend the time in writing in the spaces left in Master Thomas’s copy-book, copying what he had written. I continued to do this until I could write a hand very similar to that of Master Thomas.” ”
All in all, it took Douglass seven-years to teach himself how to read and write.
““I lived in Master Hugh’s family about seven years. During this time, I succeeded in learning how to read and write.””
Teaching Others How To Read
But it wasn’t enough that Douglass had taught himself these valuable skills, he wanted others to have the power of reading as well. He created a strong desire in his fellow slaves to learn how to read and taught lessons every Sunday.
““Instead of spending the Sabbath in wrestling, boxing, and drinking whiskey, we were trying to learn how to read.””
Slaves from neighboring farms found out about the lessons and Douglass’s class grew from a handful of individuals to nearly 40 people.
““I had at one time over forty scholars, and those of the right sort, ardently desiring to learn....They were great days to my soul. The work of instructing my dear fellow-slaves was the sweetest engagement with which I was ever blessed.””
Douglass was making a positive influence on his local community, but he had bigger dreams in mind.
Life as a free man
He planned an escape and successfully made it to New York, and then up to Massachusetts. As a literate, free man living in the North, Douglass continued to educate himself and networked with others working for the abolition of slavery.
He read The Liberator, an abolitionist newspaper, and became more acquainted with the anti-slavery movement. He attended speeches by William Lloyd Garrison, publisher of The Liberator, and eventually Garrison became a mentor to Douglass.
Douglass would go on to become a national leader of the abolitionist movement, a respected American diplomat, a counselor to four presidents, a highly regarded orator, and an influential writer. He accomplished all of these feats without any formal education.
In 1845, Douglass published his autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, which became a bestseller. Douglass stood as a living counter-example to slaveholders' arguments that slaves lacked the intellectual capacity to function as independent American citizens. Even many Northerners at the time found it hard to believe that such a great orator had once been a slave.
Douglass ends his book by saying, “Sincerely and earnestly hoping that this little book may do something toward throwing light on the America slave system, and hastening the glad day of deliverance to the millions of my brethren in bonds.”
And by teaching himself how to read and write, Douglass was able to write his “little book” and impact of the lives of millions and steer America towards a better society.
I highly recommend reading Douglass’s book to get the full story.
You can get a copy here: Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass