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The Abolitionists Soul

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Submitted By cmeyers1975
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Christian Meyers

The Abolitionists Soul
In “Learning To Read and Write”, By Frederick Douglass, Douglas discusses how he seceded in learning to read and write, and the obstacles he faced during slavery in the early 1800’s. Furthermore, he speaks about the tactics he used to succeed, being that slave’s weren’t supposed to know how to read and write. As well, I see that he tells how his mistress, the wife of his owner, would get upset if he was caught reading a newspaper, or anything that she considered would be teaching of any sort to Douglas. Douglas states, “The first step had been taken”, which were powerful words to me because to him, the world had opened his eyes to something that was that he wasn’t suppose to know about in the times that he was living in. With his mistress teaching him the alphabet, combined with working at the shipyard placing letters on the timber, he utilized being exposed to that type of information, which was something that most slaves at the time, never thought about. Douglas shows that no matter what obstacles that are placed in front of you, there’s always away to make it work to your advantage, without fully exposing you intent. . The author faces many conflicts in his quest for knowledge. One of those conflicts is that at the time, Douglas felt that, “Learning to read had been a curse rather than a blessing.” Learning to read had showed him how other slaves had just settled for what they had been given, and that he was he was born to be a slave, and this is just how things were, but the more he learned, the more he felt he had a voice, and the only way he would be heard is to become free. Despite his many efforts, he was still able to teach himself how to read and write, which he knew would help him in his quest for freedom. Douglas writes, “I was a ready listener. Every little while, I could hear something about the

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