The books that mattered most to Douglas were The Columbian Orator and Webster’s Spelling Book. Both books gave Douglas the opportunity to educate himself on what it meant to be a slave and what it would mean to him to become educated. Learning to write would grant opportunity to Douglas so that one day he “might have the occasion to write my own pass.” (page 110). The Colombian Orator’s argument of slavery gave Douglas the narrative to piece together his existence. It allowed him to question the worth of human life in regards to slavery and to see that with education he might be versed enough to fight against it. With eyes opened he gained the “power of truth over the conscience of even a slaveholder….a bold denunciation of slavery and a powerful vindication of human rights.”(page 108). …show more content…
The newspaper granted Douglas the word emancipation and the knowledge that somewhere in this world people believed that slavery was wrong. His telling of hearing about emancipation mentioned in conversation and printed in the paper give us a first hand telling of the conversation that occurred around emancipation in the nineteenth century. He was initially taught to read because his mistress believed she should “…treat me as she supposed one human being ought to treat another.” (page 107). That first extension of the olive branch from her left a lasting impression on Douglas. That he in fact, even as a slave, was a human who deserved to be treated as other humans were treated. He valued his education as a means to his freedom which was his motivation to learn how to read and