Contemporary architectural drawing

While reading this book I experienced one of those "light bulb" moments that Oprah is always talking about. Douglas' realization of the single key element which allowed the white man to enslave the black man .... ignorance. During the time of slavery in this country it was illegal to teach slaves to read. When Douglas realizes this - that only by keeping the black man illiterate, is the white man able to keep him in chains, he teachs himself to read - and he manages to free himself.Every young person, regardless of race, should read this book and realize how an education will change their lives.

This is a short book of a little over a hundred pages. You can read it in a couple of hours. It was first published in 1845 and is the early life of its author. The book was written against the debates that raged in America over slavery. The writer an escaped slave lectured for some years against slavery on speaking tours. Advocates of slavery suggested that he was a fraud and to intelligent to be a slave. The book was written to prove the truth of his claims and background. Douglas appears to have been the result of a liaison between his master and his mother. No one knows for sure as his father never acknowledged him. One realizes how evil the institution of slavery is that it could so warp the feelings of a natural father so as to allow a son to live the life as a slave. The institution was clearly a degrading one. In one house Douglas was fed by cooked corn being dumped on the ground, he and other slaves would have to scoop it up with simple utensils and eat it. Clothing was rationed so that each slave would be given a pair of pants and two shirts a year. Children were only given shirts. One of the cruelest aspects of slavery was that slaves were prohibited from education. It was thought education would be at variance with their state and lead to rebellion. Douglas describes how the institution could lead to random cruelty. One master is described as shooting a slave who refused to obey an instruction. He did so as a calculated act to ensure that in the future he would be obeyed. Although killing slaves was against the law he committed the act only in the presence of other slaves who were not permitted to give evidence in law courts. Douglas was placed in a household in which a woman taught him how to read. The women's husband found out and the lessons stopped. Never the less it seemed to be the start of Douglas's refusal to accept his status. Somewhat later Douglas was put into the care of a notorious pastor. The pastor had a reputation as a slave breaker. After considerable humiliation Douglas confronted the pastor and rebelled against his authority. It was normal in such circumstances for people to be publicly flogged. The pastor however refused to have Douglas flogged. Not because of any religious feeling but over a concern that if a slave in his care was seen to beyond his control then his living as a slave breaker would be at an end. Douglas decided after this that he would try to escape to the north. After some initial failures he escaped and became one of the leading spokesmen against slavery. The book was written at a time when large numbers of Americans argued strongly that slavery was a benevolent institution aimed at providing a benefit to the "uncivilized Africans." It is hard now to believe that such a debate would have taken place.

Good book, boring at times, but really puts you in the life of a slave.