Reading: Road to Freedom (Be a Hero. Teach a Child to Read, #4)

“Once you learn to read, you will be forever free.”
― Frederick Douglass

“Learning to Read and Write” from Frederick Douglass’ autobiography (1845) gives a detailed explanation about how he learned to read and write. These skills equipped him well. He became a prolific writer, the leader of an abolitionist movement, conducted speaking tours and edited the North Star newspaper.

When a young slave, the wife of Frederick’s “owner” taught him the alphabet. This instruction was stopped abruptly when her husband found out. As Douglass put it, “She not only ceased to instruct, but had set her face against my being instructed by anyone else.” He also noted a personality change in her about which he said, “Slavery proved as injurious to her as it did to me.”

“Nothing seemed to make her more angry than to see me with a newspaper. She seemed to think that here lay the danger. I have had her rush at me with a face made all up of fury, and snatch from me a newspaper, in a manner that fully revealed her apprehension. She was an apt woman; and a little experience soon demonstrated, to her satisfaction, that education and slavery were incompatible with each other.”

How Douglas Learned to Read

Armed with the knowledge of the alphabet, Douglass found help from another source. Here is his explanation of how he converted young boys on the streets into teachers:

“With their kindly aid, obtained at different times and in different places, I finally succeeded in learning to read. When I was sent on errands, I always took my book with me, and by doing one part of my errand quickly, I found time to get a lesson before my return. I used also to carry bread with me, enough of which was always in the house, and to which I was always welcome; for I was much better off in this regard than many of the poor white children in our neighborhood. This bread I used to bestow upon the hungry little urchins, who, in return, would give me that more valuable bread of knowledge. I am strongly tempted to give the names of two or three of those little boys, as a testimonial of the gratitude and affection I bear them; but prudence forbids: —not that it would injure me, but it might embarrass them; for it is almost an unpardonable offence to teach slaves to read in this Christian country.”

Another Event Pushed Douglass Toward Freedom

Douglass obtained the book, The Columbian Orator, which contained a dialogue between a master and his slave, a slave who had run away three times. Reading this account became another impetus for his desire to become free.

“The dialogue represented the conversation which took place between them, when the slave was retaken the third time. In this dialogue, the whole argument in behalf of slavery was brought forward by the master, all of which was disposed of by the slave. The slave was made to say some very smart as well as impressive things in reply to his master—things which had the desired though unexpected effect; for the conversation resulted in the voluntary emancipation of the slave on the part of the master.”

I recommend reading the entire Frederick Douglas narrative. He very aptly describes the connection between literacy and freedom, which he proved in his own life. He acknowledged that it was actually a gift when his reading instruction was stopped so abruptly. This alerted him to the idea that literacy was the ticket to freedom.