Why Did Frederick Douglass Continue His Education

In the mid-1800s, slaveholders believed that education and slavery were incompatible with one another because at the time, mixing the two would be dangerous for not only slaveholders but for slaves themselves. Douglass describes this fear of danger in his mistress, who changed her attitude towards Douglass’s education as she seemed to also become amxious and fearful of her husband, Master Hugh. Slaveholders believed that if all slaves began to understand their human rights and question why they were property, they would rebel, becoming a danger to their owners and eventually spread anguish throughout the slave population. Although Douglass seemed to experience some of this anguish, he was determined to continue his education throughout his life. Throughout his life, Douglass took advantage of many small opportunities to strengthen his reading and writing skills. After he was first denied an education by his mistress, Douglass would give extra bread from his property to the poor and hungry white children around town; in return, they would give him reading lessons. Douglass also

Because of his education, he formed a hatred towards slaveholders and was discontented with his wasted life as a slave. In his essay, Douglass expressed that the thought of freedom may have been the only thing that kept him hopeful through his anguish. If slaves, like Douglass, were able to question their rights to freedom, or successfully argue and fight their way out of slavery, the institution of slavery would crumble. Douglass was an example of what slaveholders feared: that education and slavery, when mixed, were dangerous to both slaves and the institution of slavery. Douglass’s used his education to fight out of slavery, and eventually become an example of past and modern battles to promote