Frederick Douglass
In his autobiography of his life as a black slave, Frederick Douglass writes of the fraud and inhumanity of slavery. ... As Douglass writes, “to make a contented slave, it is necessary to make a thoughtless one”. ... Douglass’ first glimpse of the dehumanizing character of slavery was when he was a small boy around seven years old. ... Douglass explains that a good master was one who fed the slaves enough each day. ... At a young age Douglass’ mistress began teaching him to read and write. ... Douglass witnessed his master explaining to his wife why a slave should not learn to read and write. ... Douglass was intrigued by this explanation. From this day forward, Douglass secretly taught himself to read and write. ... The better the living and working conditions, the more Douglass would yearn for his freedom.