the best nigger in the world. If he learns to read the Bible it will unfit him to be a slave. He should know nothing but the will of his master, and learn to obey it…If you teach him how to read, he’ll want to know how to write, and this accomplished, he’ll run away with himself." 1 Recalling later Douglass named this speech as the first anti-slavery lecture he’d ever heard. After this Sophia became even more opposed to Frederick’s learning to read than Master Auld himself. Douglass later had this to say of her, "Nature made us friends, but slavery made us enemies."2 This taught Frederick a very valuable lesson. If reading and writing were dangerous, if it was against the master’s will that he know more than he should, then education would be an essential means for Douglass to find a path from slavery to freedom. He was determined to prove Auld right. Having that basic knowledge of the written language and his appetite wetted, Frederick set out to teach himself to read. This is one of the most amazing aspects of Frederick Douglass, that someone, especially a young slave, could teach himself to read. He learned to write by watching carpenters initial timber to designate where it was to be used. He copied script of spelling books and the Bible, and challenged his playmates to spelling matches. His resentment for slavery grew with the knowledge he gained from reading more and more. Douglass also began to realize that there were alternatives to the physical deprivations, injustices, and dehumanizing effects of slavery. No longer bound to his master’s world, he began to gain his own opinions on issues and became much more independent. Near age thirteen Frederick read a dialogue between a runaway slave and his master out of The Columbian Orator, which also contained many powerful speeches that criticized slavery. In the dialogue he read, the slave argues against the owner’s cl...
