"Learning to Read and Write"

Paper Summary:

This paper reviews Frederick Douglass' book, "Learning to Read and Write." It specifically discusses his contention that education and slavery were incompatible with one another and argues that knowledge among slaves was feared by slave-owners. In particular, the paper argues that Douglass' contention was correct and that knowledge among slaves was feared by slave-owners almost as much as if a number of loaded weapons had found their way into the possession of slaves.

From the Paper:

"Additionally, a historian of the period might immediately apprehend that one of the common arguments raised against educating African-Americans to read and white was that they were "brutes" who lacked the mental capacity to perform anything other than the most menial tasks. With the proliferation of literate African-Americans, however, this argument would become obsolete - if not outright fatuous - and call into question the rigid social and economic structure that bound African Americans to tedious back-breaking labor while someone else sat at a desk in a comfortable professional office and collected a handsome wage."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Douglass, Frederick. "Learning to Read and Write." Gibbsmagazine.com. N.d. Gibb's Magazine. 23 Apr. 2007 <http://www.gibbsmagazine.com/learning%20to%20read.htm>

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