It would make him discontented and unhappy.” These words sank deep into my heart, stirred up sentiments within that lay slumbering, and called into existence an entirely new train of thought.
Douglass reflects on how the idea of learning to read awakened a new understanding in him about his situation as a slave.
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More from Frederick Douglass
They cannot be coaxed or driven to vote with their enemies against their friends.
The nation or people which shall comply with them will rise, and those which violate them will fall, and perhaps will disappear altogether.
To-day the negro, starting from nothing, pays taxes upon six millions in Georgia, and forty millions in Louisiana.
None now denies the ability of the colored race to acquire knowledge of anything which can be communicated to the human understanding by letters.