Stereotypes And Slave Literacy

During the 1800’s, the institution of slavery was still ongoing in the few slave states left in America. Slavery was still proving to be unjust and unfair, not allowing for African Americans to be considered equals. However, some slaves were able to overcome the many restrictions and boundaries that slavery forced upon them. In Frederick Douglass’ essay “Learning to Read and Write,” Douglass portrays himself as an intelligent and dignified slave who’s able to overcome the racial boundaries placed upon him. Frederick Douglass saw that his only pathway to freedom was through literacy, so his goal was to learn how to read and write no matter the circumstances. Douglass realized

Douglass was motivated to learn how to read by hearing his master condemn the education of slaves. Mr. Auld declared that an education would “spoil” him and “forever unfit him to be a slave” (2054). He believed that the ability to read makes a slave “unmanageable” and “discontented” (2054). Douglass discovered that the “white man’s power to enslave the black man” (2054) was in his literacy and education. As long as the

Throughout the history of slavery in the United States, it was common practice not only for slaveholders to neglect to teach their slaves to read or write, but also for them to outright forbid literacy among slaves. This was done in order to limit the slaves knowledge and modes of communication, making it more difficult for them to learn about the abolitionist movement or for for them to share their situation with the world outside of slavery. Like many other slaves, Frederick Douglass was not allowed to learn to read or write. In his autobiography; “The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass”, Douglass retells how he managed to become literate in a time where most African Americans were forbidden from literacy, and how this knowledge allowed him to eventually escape slavery.

Slave owners often would punish any slaves that tried to educate themselves. They didn't want their slaves to be educated in fear that they

In The Life of Frederick Douglass An American Slave, written by himself the author asserts that the way to enslave someone is to keep them from learning at all. Douglass supports his claim by, first, when Frederick was small he was never able to tell his age or the date, and secondly, they were never allowed to be taught how to read that was something always hidden from him as a young child. The author’s purpose is to inform the reader that as a slave there were so many things they were not allowed to have that we may take for granted, in order to make it very clear that we should not take our education and opportunities for granted. Based on The Life Of Frederick Douglass An American Slave, Douglass is writing for the white people who believed that slavery was right, he wanted to make it very clear that the slaves and Douglass had nothing handed to them.

Frederick Douglass, “Learning to Read and Write”, Malcolm X, “Learning to Read”. How does one compare the struggles between them. First off Mr. Douglass, “Learning to Read and Write” is not truly comparable with any of the other reading options, and to force comparisons would belittle Mr. Douglass's struggles to do so. Every other reading option had to endure unfair treatment and racism but no one was born into slavery as Mr. Douglass was. Whereas every other reading option had access to underfunded and unequal schools, Mr. Douglass was not afforded these options so order to learn he had to hide it for fear of being beat or killed. “I lived in Master Hugh's family about seven years. During this time, I succeeded in learning to read and write. In accomplishing this, I was compelled to resort to various stratagem”(Douglass 1). Mr. Douglass not only wanted to learn but had a deep driving need to learn for it was his only route to escape slavery. “I resolved to run away. I looked forward to a time at which it would be safe for me to escape. I was too young to think of doing so immediately; besides, I wished to learn how to write,as I might have occasion to write my own pass. I consoled myself with the hope thatI should oneday find a good chance” (Douglass 3). Mr. Douglass not only had to overcome being a slave for life but had a deep distrust for others thinking they would betray him ”for I feared they might be treacherous.White men have been known to

When Hugh Auld is scolding his wife for trying to teach Douglass how to read, he states that it breaks a good slave, and that a slave “should know nothing but to obey his master.” Slave holders see that literacy could encourage slaves and give them a sense of pride and self-capability. This could cause slaves to question the authority of their slave holders, realizing that slavery is unjust and that slaves should have equal rights. Primarily, slave holders realize that without literacy, slaves can’t tell the rest of America about the truth and horrors of slavery. Using ignorance as a tool of slavery, slave holders can convince slaves that slavery is just a part of society, control rebellion rates, and convince the rest of America that slavery is fair, and even benefiting, towards slaves.

Frederick Douglass was a young slave with an aspiring dream to learn and further his life of knowledge and education. There was only one thing stopping him: his lack of freedom. The ability to read and access to an education is a liberating experience that results in the formation of opinions, critical-thinking, confidence, and self-worth. Slave owners feared slaves gaining knowledge because knowledge is power and they might have a loss of power, which would result to the end of cheap labor. Slave owners made the slaves feel as if they had no self-worth or confidence. If the slaves got smarter they could potentially begin to learn how unjust and wrong slavery was and they would have enough reason to rebel against it. Douglass was learning how to read and write from his slave owner’s wife. Unfortunately, both of them were told how wrong it was for him to be learning because a slave was not to be educated and was deemed unteachable. There was also another fear that the slave owners had. They feared that slaves would have better communication skills which would lead to escape and ways to avoid slavery. Reading opens your mind to new ideas and new knowledge one has never had the opportunity of knowing.

The laws of the United States at the time stated that the children would hold the status of their mother and that slave parents didn’t own their children. This meant that a slave woman would give birth to children that would become slaves to the mother’s owners and the mother couldn’t control what happened to the child in the future. Those laws enforced an emotional abuse in which the slave owner could threaten to separate families if slaves were to try to do something such as escape. To prevent slaves from gaining power through access of books, it was illegal to teach slaves how to read or write. This stems from the belief that Mr. Auld sums up as “It would forever unfit him to be a slave. He would at once become unmanageable, and of no value to his master…It would make him discontented and unhappy” (Douglass 531 par 3). Reading and writing would lead to slaves becoming unhappy in their situations because they would learn about other opportunities of work that would be more beneficially such as being able to be paid. Slaves would be able to learn of laws that they could challenge in court and try to declare them as unconstitutional. Slaves were unable to be present in court. There were many slaves that witnessed slave owners raping and killing slaves but because they had no power in court, they could do nothing about it. Reading and writing could potentially lead to them gaining power in court and ultimately lead to many slave owners being jailed for rape and/or murder. Slaves were considered property and consistently reminded of their status through a variety of ways. One was when property had to valued when someone passed away. Douglass’ master Captain Anthony passed away when Douglass was in another household and the property had to be valued because Anthony didn’t have a will. Douglass had

In the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, the dehumanization of slaves often occurs, as white plantation owners view slaves as objects undeserving of humane treatment in order to uphold power and warrant their unjust practices. Limiting knowledge and prohibiting education for African Americans was one strategy common among slave owners, as “it is the wish of most masters within my knowledge to keep their slaves thus ignorant” (17). Due to their lack of intellect, slaves could not recognize the injustices of the slavery system and had little chances of escaping. When Mrs. Auld attempts to teach Frederick Douglass how to read and write, Mr. Auld claims, “A n***** should know nothing but to obey

Amongst the injustice and brutality of slavery is the exclusion of education and knowledge. The slaveholder would tactically deprive the slaves of any knowledge because it would expose them of slavery’s injustice. This act dehumanized the slaves to a great extent, and at the same time forbade them to pursue any form of freedom, physically or spiritually. Hugh Auld, Douglass’s master reasoned that “it was unlawful, as well as unsafe, to teach a slave to read” and believed “If you have a nigger an inch, he will take an ell.” (Douglass 40, 41) Auld advocated his reasoning by calling a slave “unmanageable,” “unhappy,” and “discontented” if enlightened. Douglass however understood differently. The withdrawal of literacy and knowledge, he believed, was one of the greater factors keeping blacks inferior to whites in society. The Narrative also documents the many physiological effects of slaveholding. Douglass carefully explains the masters whipping their slaves when they least deserve it, and overlooking their deeds when they most deserve it. The killing of a slave is also considered the least of an offense or crime, and is simply gone

Douglass' cousin told him the city was beautiful and Douglass knew it couldn't be any worse than the plantation. When Douglass meets his new owners, he described Hugh Auld's wife, Sophia Auld, as having a kindly face. Douglass learned what might have been one of his biggest lessons as a slave from these overseers. Sophia, the wife of Hugh Auld, had never owned a slave before, therefore she treated him almost as if he were a child of hers. She taught him the alphabet and some other minor words before Hugh took notice of what she was doing. Mr. Auld told his wife "…it is unlawful, as well as unsafe, to teach a slave to read." (Douglass, p.78) Hugh goes on to say "A nigger should know nothing but to obey his master… 'if you teach that nigger how to read, there would be no keeping him. It would forever make him unfit to be a slave.'" (Douglass, p.78) Douglass overheard every word that hissed out of Hugh Auld's mouth. Sophia Auld had been lessoned in the ways of slave managing now. She discontinued her teaching to Frederick and began to treat him as the property they considered him to be. Douglass' mind frame changed completely after hearing Auld's words. He realized that education was the key in order to obtain his freedom, "…to wit, the white man's power to enslave the black man." (Douglass, p.78) Douglass continued to pursue his education on his own. He would trade

“It was worth a half cent to kill a “nigger” and a half cent to burry one” (Douglass 15) they were begin paid for killing black people and burying them too. Throughout the time there Douglass was there for most of his life but seven years into it he learned how to read no slave is supposed to be educated. “If you teach that nigger how to read there would be no keeping him”(Douglass 20). The slaveholders didn’t

Knowledge exposes the detestable conditions of slaves. Douglass’ culture, including himself, had become numb to the atrocities surrounding them. Education opens blind eyes that did not, at first, see the injustices taking place. Douglass explains, “The more I read, the more I was led to abhor and detest my enslavers” and further down he continues, “I loathed them as being the meanest as well as the most wicked men” (Douglass, 2014, p.132). Douglass uses powerful words to describe white slave owners. The more Douglass educated himself, the more he realized the evils of slavery. His language conveys sincerity, passion, and repugnance. Through his education, Douglass expressed his fierce

Education during slavery was forbidden, because slave masters feared that the slaves would become smart enough and they would have another Nat Turner Slave Rebellion throughout the country, specifically the south. The lighter skinned slaves were taught how to read and write while the darker skinned slaves were out in the fields,getting no form of education. Not only did this concept make the darker slaves feel even more lesser of themselves, but it also started a self-fulfilling prophecy that is still very present today. In 1712, the infamous William Lynch delivered a speech on the banks of the James River in the colony of Virginia, named, “The Making Of A Slave.” Throughout this letter, Lynch conveys that he has a plan that will control the slaves and it will last for up to 300 years.He discusses, separating the slaves by intelligence, age, sex, size of plantations, status on plantation, fine hair and coarse hair, or if tall or short. By making these differences present, William Lynch quickly created an imperfect social class amongst the black slaves and black community. In today’s society, excerpts from the infamous, William Lynch’s “The Making Of A Slave” speech are still very prominent in today’s society. According to, Erin Winkler, the author of, “Children Are Not Colorblind: How Young Children Learn Race”, “psychological researchers suggests that children, in fact do recognize race from a very young age, but also develop racial biases by ages three to five that don’t necessarily resemble the racial attitudes of adults in their lives.” This just proves that even if some children of color aren’t necessarily taught that light skin may be better or dark skin is ugly, they notice the difference between the two shades at a young age and what adults say to or around their children, do have an affect on the way their children think. In the black community, many but not all,