LITR
4232: American Renaissance
University
of Houston-Clear Lake, spring 2003
Sample Student Research Project
Jennifer Davis
LITR 4232
Dr. White
April 17, 2003
Education: A Slave’s Path to Freedom
As far as history tells us, there are few traces of our ‘blemished’ American ways. Compelled to discover the common link between education and the freedom it presented to a slave, I will examine the lives of those who lived to share their historic stories of escape - ultimately finding “the dream” commonly referred to as freedom. Freedom by definition is: “the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint” (Freedom).
The greatest tragedy concerning the historical records of North American slavery lies not in the loss of historical insight, but the loss of insight to the fundamental answer to freedom – education. Within our nation’s recent history lingers three profoundly influential people who were warriors for freedom during the sickness our nation called slavery. One of these warriors, Sojourner Truth, would not have been considered an educated woman by our standards, but to her credit, she realized the need for education and its power to set people free from both physical and spiritual bondage. Similarly, Harriet Ann Jacobs and Frederick Douglass exemplified the tenacity of those who sought their freedom through education –often using the Bible to argue for the abolishment of slavery. Through the chilling and heroic accounts of each of their lives, we will evaluate how the importance of education and Christian principles gives weight to their arguments for the basic rights of humanity.
Sojourner Truth, a self-named ex-slave, spoke with a thunderous voice, leaving a wake of inspiration for those around her. As mentioned earlier, Truth lacked the necessary education to be able to convey her message in writing, but through her speeches, she proposed the importance of education. Truth spoke about the rights of slaves and the rights of women, and she often did this while speaking at meetings that were predominately male. Truth’s boldness and unapologetic approach can be credited to her relationship with God, who she claims told her to “go forth and preach” (Lauter 2023). When opposition to her arguments for freedom and women’s rights arose, she used her intellectual insight to even outwit the prejudiced preachers, often using the Bible to give credit to her arguments. With her resounding voice of authority, Truth gave those listening a final warning – warning them to adjust their ways to the Lord. Throughout her life, we witness a motivated, witty, and wise woman addressing the most controversial subjects without hesitation. Though Truth was not literate, she was aware of the power of the written word, ultimately causing her to dictate her autobiography, Narrative of Sojourner Truth to Olive Gilbert.
Harriet Ann Jacobs is another woman who made a great impact. Through her life, we again encounter the heart wrenching experience of an ex-slave who found freedom through education and her own voice. In her literary work, Incidents, Jacobs, under the pseudo name Linda Brent, is able to introduce us to a woman’s “efforts to achieve freedom for herself and her children within the context of the struggle for freedom of an entire black community” (Lauter 1961). In contrast to Truth’s demand for attention concerning the atrocities of slavery, Jacobs reveals the hypocrisy concerning slavery. It was under the care of her first mistress that she learned to “read and spell,” an unusual privilege for slave children (Lauter 1964). It was in this home as well that Jacobs first learned Biblical standards for virtue, such as, “Thou shalt love [thy] neighbor as thyself” (Lauter 1964). The bitter truth concerning this principle is the fact that her owner did not recognize that this principle applied to her own slaves (Lauter 1964).
The agony of Jacobs’ story climaxes upon the death of her owner. Instead of “freeing” Jacobs in her will, her owner instead willed her to her five-year-old niece. Though she now belonged to a young child, the abuse bestowed upon her through the father and mother (Dr. and Mrs. Norcom), eventually led her to seek a type of escape. This is when she began to teach herself to write. Upon learning of her ability to read and write, Dr. Norcom began to harass her with sexually explicit notes (Lauter 1965). Even then, Jacobs found comfort in the same belief as many slaves before her, she “trusted that some threads of joy would yet be woven into [her] dark destiny” (Lauter 1965).
Upon her grandmother’s inquiry to buy Jacobs out of slavery, Dr. and Mrs. Norcom would consistently reply: “She is my daughter’s property, and I have no legal right to sell her,” once again refusing Jacobs her basic rights as a human (Lauter 1967). At the age of fifteen, Jacobs met an unmarried, white man, Mr. Samuel Tredwell Sawyer, who showed a great deal of interest in her, subsequently resulting in an affair and the birth of two children. Upon the realization that both black and white, slave and free, were capable of the mutual feeling of love, Jacobs declares the ultimate reality, “human nature is the same in all” (Lauter 1969-1970). After years of torment, Jacobs was finally able to escape her master’s claws of death by finding refuge in her grandmother’s attic (Lauter 1978). Even though her escape was secure, Dr. and Mrs. Norcom continued to look for her, proposing that she could “buy” her freedom if she would return to their home (Lauter 1983). In response to such a ludicrous request, Jacobs’ friend responded with, “she has spent her earnings to educate her children” (Lauter 1983). Unfortunately, Jacobs’ autobiography only gives us quick glimpses into the importance education played in her ability to escape slavery. Yet, the fact that she spent all that she had acquired on her children’s education, sets a precedent for the impact she knew education would have on her own children, and the betterment for slaves as a whole.
The most resounding of the slave accounts is exposed in Frederick Douglass’ Narrative. His Narrative presents us with the clearest and most powerful example of the link between education and freedom. Douglass’ voice brings the barbaric ways of slavery to the forefront, exposing hypocrisy, and leaving no room for excuses. The heinous crimes for which he speaks serve only to bring the crimes toward humanity to light, and leave within our minds an enormous respect and a heart of gratitude for his part in making the pains of our nation known.
Douglass began his life as the alleged son of his master (Lauter 1824). As a child, he lived a life of virtual nakedness, often being deprived of necessities such as food, shelter, and clothing. At a young age he went to live with the Auld family and a new ray of hope was sparked with the welcoming smiles of his new owners (Lauter 1837). Even here, a relatively safe and pleasant place for a young slave boy, Douglass held a “deep conviction that slavery would not always be able to hold [him] with its foul embrace” (Lauter 1838).
Douglass realized early in his life the relationship between education and freedom. Soon after arriving at his new home, Mrs. Auld began teaching Douglass the alphabet and words of three or four letters (Lauter 1838). Upon Mr. Auld’s awareness of Douglass’ instruction, Mr. Auld commanded his wife to no longer instruct Douglass, citing that “it was unlawful, as well as unsafe, to teach a slave to read” (Lauter 1838). It was at that moment that Douglass “understood what had been […] a most perplexing difficulty – to wit, the white man’s power to enslave the black man” (Lauter 1839). Simply stated Douglass, “understood the pathway from slavery to freedom” (Lauter 1839). It is in this realization that we encounter in Douglass an unabashed desire to seek freedom through whatever means necessary, and in his case, freedom presented itself in the form of education. As in the case of Douglass (and slavery as a whole), slaves were restricted from learning to read and write, therefore, restricting their ability to seek a better life. However, Douglass did not allow this ban to affect him; he continued to learn through self-education. At one point he even enlisted the help of white boys in his neighborhood by trading bread for the “valuable bread of knowledge,” an investment that eventually allowed him to read (Lauter 1841).
Probably Douglass’ most repulsive slave accounts are those experiences he had with Christian slaveholders. To amplify his point concerning our nation’s heritage, Douglass expresses his disgust by revealing it’s hypocrisy when he says, “it is almost an unpardonable offence to teach slaves to read in this Christian country” (Lauter 1841). Eventually, because of Douglass’ ability to read, he was able to read manuscripts that consisted of “a bold denunciation of slavery,” ultimately enabling him to encounter the arguments for, and the painful realities of slavery (Lauter 1841). He goes on to admit, “I would at times feel that learning to read had been a curse rather than a blessing. It had given me a view of my wretched condition, without the remedy,” further confessing that “[i]n moments of agony, I envied my fellow slaves for their stupidity” (Lauter 1842). During this time in his life, education presented itself as a curse, allowing a slave to dream, but no way to escape. Douglass did not remain long in this pit of self-doubt and defeat. Ultimately, he realized that his only escape from slavery would be to run away – there would never be another option. With that in mind, he set out to learn to write so that he could write his own pass to freedom (Lauter 1843). Through clever manipulation, Douglass often tricked people into teaching him how to write. Eventually, after many years of study, Douglass “finally succeeded in learning how to write” (Lauter 1843).
Along with the importance Douglass placed upon his ability to read and write he also makes many references to his Christian beliefs and appeals to the conscience of all Christians. It is important that we acknowledge that throughout his Narrative is an underlying theme – a desire for Christians to live the principles they supposedly adhere to. Captain Auld (Mr. Auld’s son-in-law, and his master) represented such a person to Douglass. When Captain Auld “experienced religion,” Douglass had hopes that his conversion experience “would lead him to emancipate his slaves” (Lauter 1848). However, according to Douglass, “it made him more cruel and hateful in all his ways” (Lauter 1848). Another shocking example Douglass gives us is his encounter with Mr. Covey, a known slave-breaker, referencing his ability to enforce severe discipline upon slaves. This reputation lent him a great deal of profit for his land, often acquiring free slaves for his land in payment for his “services.” In addition to his “slave-breaker” reputation, Mr. Covey was “a professor of religion” (Lauter 1849). Mr. Covey represented for Douglass the epitome of hypocrisy concerning the law of the land, and the law of God. Douglass claims that consistently men who preached the word of God broke the very commandments they intended to instill. At one point, Douglass dramatically compares slavery to hell (1852). In relation to the sickness of those who proclaimed to be under the authority of God, Douglass accuses, “the religion of the south is a mere covering for the most horrid crimes, - a justifier of the most appalling barbarity, […] which the darkest, foulest, grossest, and most infernal deeds of slaveholders find the strongest protection” (Lauter 1858). Without doubt, the evils of slavery caused Christian men and women to neglect the ways of God for their own profit, yet even more repulsive, slavery stole the most basic qualities of humanity from us all.
Given his history with “Christian” masters, Douglass was relieved to discover that his new master, Mr. Freeland, “made no pretensions to, or profession of, religion” (Lauter 1858). While at Mr. Freeland’s property, Douglass began secretly teaching other slaves how to read (Lauter 1859). Upon acquiring spelling books, and a growing desire among the slaves to learn to read and write, Douglass and his pupils spent their Sundays “trying to learn how to read the will of God” (Lauter 1859). During this time Douglass was able to empower other slaves with an education, such an endeavor would present a risk, a risk not taken lightly. Each slave was aware of the seriousness surrounding their risk of being caught and severely punished simply because of their desire to learn (Lauter 1860). With the curtains drawn back on the minds of the slaves, they now had the ability to plan their own destinies. So, with their new found knowledge, and a carefully woven plan, five slaves decided it was time to plan their escape from slavery with the education they now encompassed. However, the plan was extinguished before it could be fully implemented. While in jail for the discovery of their plan, slave-traders paid a visit to each one of them “with the intent to ascertain [their] value” (Lauter 1864). Like pigs headed for the slaughter, they were examined for their worth.
By the end of his Narrative, Douglass reveals his own personal views regarding religion. Without hesitation, it would be irresponsible to neglect the fact that Douglass appeals to the decency in humanity concerning matters of slavery, even to the point of revealing the hypocrisy he encountered; while at the same time appealing to those who adhere to Christianity, ultimately pleading for the earthly salvation of slaves. Douglass was not opposed to religion, instead he applied his concerns to the “slaveholding religion of this land” (Lauter 1976). Douglass adheres to the view of Christianity that consists of morality and dignity, reinstating his argument that “between the Christianity of this land, and the Christianity of Christ, I recognize the widest possible difference – so wide, that to receive the one as good, pure, and holy, is of necessity to reject the other as bad, corrupt, and wicked” (Lauter 1876). Douglass goes on to add, “I love the pure, peaceable, and impartial Christianity of Christ” (Lauter 1876).
After his escape to England, Douglass’ friends purchased his freedom, and upon his return to the United States without fear of being re-enslaved, he was soon able to establish his own newspaper The Northern Star (Lauter 1815). Throughout his life and “Douglass remained committed to the liberation of all people from the historical oppression caused by the scourge of slavery” (Updike 24). Ultimately, Douglass was able to find freedom: freedom to keep his own wages, freedom to marry the woman of his choice, freedom of speech, and most profoundly, freedom of education!
These three abolitionists had a profound impact on our society, the effect of which is still evident today. In 2002 Ebony ranked Douglass and Truth as the fifth and sixth most important figures in African-American history. There is no doubt that Truth, Jacobs, and Douglass have placed their stamps upon history. Fortunately their accounts were recorded so that we too may learn about the fundamentals of our freedoms. We are never so encouraged by education than when we vicariously experience the freedom it possesses. For Truth, Jacobs, and Douglass, education often took the form of an appeal - an appeal to decency, an appeal to humanity, and naturally, an appeal to those who claim to be children of the Creator. Each of those former slaves did a great deal to pave the way for all people to receive the gift of equality – for with the privilege of education, we are able to experience true freedom.
Works Cited
“10 Most Important Figures in African-American History.” Ebony. Feb. 2002
Douglass, Frederick. “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave.” Ed. Paul Lauter. The Heath Anthology of American Literature. 4th ed. Boston, Houghton Mufflin, 2002. 1817-1880.
“Freedom.” The Oxford American College Dictionary. New York, 2001.
Jacobs, Harriet Ann. “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl.” Ed. Paul Lauter. The Heath Anthology of American Literature. 4th ed. Boston, Houghton Mufflin, 2002. 1962-1985.
Truth,
Sojourner. “Speech at New York
City Convention.” Ed. Paul Lauter.
The Heath Anthology of American Literature.
4th ed. Boston,
Houghton Mufflin, 2002. 2027-2028.
Updike, William A. “Great Emancipator.” National Parks. July/Aug. 2001: 24