Haley MayclinIndividual Paper #1Frederick Douglass
A Discussion of Freedom and Literacy
in the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
Haley Mayclin
“Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery;
None but ourselves can free our minds…”
- Robert Marley
The literary form of the slave narrative gave voice to the emancipated slave and became an important tool arguing for the abolishment of slavery. Writers of such narratives had the challenging task of conveying their personal story, knowing that their audience would take their experience to be representative of slave society in general. Frederick Douglass used this understanding of his readers in writing his narrative. By describing the role of literacy in his physical and mental emancipation from the condition of slavery, The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass inexorably links the acquisition of literacy to the attainment of freedom. His achievement of literacy also enabled him to write his narrative, in which he systematically deconstructed the argument made by slavery’s proponents that the African race is intrinsically inferior and thus best suited to be subject to domination.
Douglas describes his discovery of the importance of literacy in a passage in which his master, Mr. Auld, impresses upon his wife why she must cease from teaching Douglas to read: “A nigger should know nothing but to obey his master – to does he is told to do. Learning would spoil the best nigger in the world. Now,” said he, “if you teach that nigger (speaking of myself) how to read, there would be no keeping him. It would forever unfit him to be a slave.” (p.364 Douglass). This was a pivotal moment in Douglass’s awareness. It was at this time that he realized literacy was the avenue to freedom: “…I was gladdened by the invaluable instruction which, by the merest accident, I had gained from my master…That which was to him a great evil, to be carefully shunned, was to me a great good, to be diligently sought; and the argument which he so warmly urged, against my learning to read, only served to inspire me with a desire and determination to learn.” (p.364-365 Douglass). Douglass succeeded in learning to read and so, was able to read The Colombian Orator, which gave voice to many of the feelings Douglass had about slavery. “The reading of these documents enabled me to utter my thoughts, and to meet the argument brought forth to sustain slavery; but while they relieved me of one difficulty, they brought on another even more painful than the one of which I was relieved. The more I read, the more I was led to abhor and detest my enslavers.” (p. 369, Douglass). The change we see in Douglass proves that the fears of Mr. Auld had merit; aided by what he has read, Douglass no longer thinks of himself as a slave, but a man held captive by an unjust system. Douglass’s new perspective on his place in society caused him considerable mental turmoil, and affirmed his desire to be free: “As I writhed under it, I would at times feel that learning to read had been a curse rather than a blessing. It had given me a view of my wretched condition, without the remedy… In moments of agony, I envied my fellow slaves for their stupidity… The silver trump of freedom had roused my soul to eternal wakefulness.” (p. 370, Douglass). Douglass’s ability to read also gave him the ability become cognizant of the world around him. Through newspapers he was able to learn of the abolitionist movement, of which proponents of slavery sought to keep enslaved peoples ignorant.
Keeping in mind that his audience would read these experiences as representative of many in bondage, Douglass’s intent is to show that the chattel principal is flawed. Proponents of slavery asserted that slavery was an ideal situation for the management of Africans. In Sociology for the South, or the Failure of Free Society, George Fitzhugh maintains that democracy and law alone are not sufficient tools of governance for the African as “He is but a grown up child, and must be governed as a child. The master occupies towards him the place of parent or guardian…He would become an insufferable burden to society. Society has the right to prevent this, and can only do so by subjecting him to domestic slavery.” (Chapter 5, Fitzhugh). Douglass demonstrates the fallacy in this line of reasoning by showing that it is the condition of slavery that reduces people to chattel, not an intrinsic inferiority of the black race. In a section of his narrative in which Douglass is made to work for a particularly harsh master, the reader is shown how the treatment of slaves has the effect of negatively impacting their cognitive ability: ‘Mr. Covey succeeded in breaking me. I was broken in body, soul, and spirit. My natural elasticity was crushed, my intellect languished, the disposition to read departed, the cheerful spark that lingered about my eye died; the dark night of slavery closed in upon me; and behold a man transformed into a brute!” (p. 387, Douglass). Because Douglass has achieved literacy prior to this time in his life, he is keenly aware that it is the conditions he is living under that are having such an impact on his mental health.
Douglass writes that many other slaves he knew were living in the dark night of slavery, kept so by the condition of forced ignorance essential to the continuation of the chattel system. In addition to his own acquisition of literacy, Douglass takes pleasure in teaching others like himself to read: “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…And I have the happiness to know, that several of those who came to Sabbath school learned how to read; and that one, at least, is now free through my agency.” (p. 402, Douglass). Douglass also used his literacy to aid his first attempt at running away. While the attempt was ultimately unsuccessful, he was able to write himself and his comrades notes of protection that would have allowed them to safely pass through certain areas. Douglass uses his narrative to show the reader that given the opportunity, slaves were capable of learning to read and were desirous of freeing themselves from the chattel system.
In addition to showing that slaves were capable of learning to read, the narrative also shows that they were adept at learning trades. In Sociology for the South, Fitzhugh avers as a justification for slavery that “…the Negro race is inferior to the white race, and living in their midst, they would be far outstripped or outwitted in the chase of free competition. Gradual but certain extermination would be their fate. We presume the maddest abolitionist does not think the Negro’s providence of habits and money-making capacity at all to compare to those of whites. This defect of character alone would justify enslaving him…” (Chapter 5, Fitzhugh). Douglass’s narrative refutes this claim by writing about the profits earned for masters when they hired out their slaves. Additionally, the text presents an argument contradictory to Fitzhugh’s claim. While serving as an apprentice in a shipyard, Douglass encounters a racial backlash from white workers. Their claim was “…that if free colored carpenters were encouraged, they would soon take the trade into their own hands, and poor white men would be thrown out of employment.” (p. 412, Douglass). These two arguments are mutually exclusive of each other and demonstrate the flawed logic used by slavery’s supporters. Douglass also counters Fitzhugh’s claim of the inevitable suffering of a freed slave made to compete with the white race in free competition by describing the conditions he encounters after he has made it to the north: “But the most astonishing as well as the most interesting thing to me was the condition of the colored people, a great many of whom, like myself, had escaped thither as a refuge from the hunters of men. I found many, who had not been seven years out of their chains, living in finer houses, and evidently enjoyingmore comforts of life, than the average of slaveholders in Maryland.” (p. 427 Douglass). Another of Douglass’s discoveries in the north is the abolitionist press. He is inspired by the “Liberator”, an abolitionist newspaper: “I had not long been a reader of the “Liberator,” before I got a pretty correct idea of the principles, measures and spirit of the anti-slavery reform. I took right hold of the cause. I could do but little; but what I could, I did with a joyful heart … From that time until now, I have been engaged in pleading the cause of my brethren…” (p. 429, Douglass).
While Douglass declines to discuss the literal avenue he took to the north, his narrative clearly outlines the route from slavery to freedom: literacy. His use of the slave narrative moves beyond testimony to a work of protest. Douglass utilizes his knowledge of his audience’s disposition to see what they read of his personal experiences as representative of all slaves. Thus by describing his ability to learn how to read, and the effects evinced from that knowledge, the reader may infer that any person in bondage would respond similarly if given the opportunity. This, as well as supporting evidence presented by Douglass, seeks to dispel the chattel principle and negate the argument made by proponents of slavery that there is any inferiority inherent in the African race.
Reference:
George Fitzhugh, “Negro Slavery” Chapter V. Sociology for the South, or the Failure of Free Society. Richmond: A Morris 1854
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