The Rise of a SlaveFrederick Douglass was a former slave who went to great lengths to achieve freedom. He was born a slave in the state of Maryland and barely knows his parents. Douglass is unique from other slaves because he learns to read and write. He finds a way to escape his master and settles in Massachusetts. Frederick Douglass wrote his text to abolish slavery and to change it as well; he played an important role in ensuring equal rights for African Americans and the abolition of slavery. Frederick Douglass suffered harsh and undeserved treatment from the majority of his masters who led him through the ordeals of slavery that allowed him to gain his education, gain his manhood, and gain his freedom . Slaves do not have the opportunity to be educated, most slave owners generally oppose slave literacy because they know that education is knowledge and with knowledge comes knowledge. truth. They also fear that if some slaves receive education, the literate slaves will forge passes, instigate other slaves to rebel against their masters, and try to escape, leading to many dilemmas among slaves and masters of slaves. Understanding the consequences of learning to read and write, some slaves still often found alternative ways to learn. On plantations and on ships, learning to read and write became a communal effort, according to Deborah Brandt in The Process of Literacy as Communal Involvement in the Narratives of Frederick Douglass. She emphasizes that “literacy involves direct communication, involvement, and intersubjectivity – a strong sense of shared human activity and new opportunities for community” (365). Brandt's view explains why most slaves needed each other to learn how...... middle of paper ......From Frederick Douglass. " Philosophical Studies in Education 39. (2008): 24-34. Educational Research Completed. Web. April 16, 2014. Brewton, Vince. “The Bold Challenge Has Taken Its Place” – “Respect” and Autonomy in the account of the life of Frederick Douglass, an American slave. Mississippi Quarterly 58.3/4 (2005): 703-717 International Humanities Completed. Dorsey, Peter A. “Becoming the other: the mimesis of the. metaphor in Douglass's My Servitude and My Freedom. JSTOR. Modern Languages ​​Association, May 1996. Web, April 20, 2014. "The Mind of Frederick Douglass by Waldo E. Martin." , 1987. April 20, 2014. Douglass, Frederick. Np: Random House LLC, 2007. Print. The Norton Anthology World Literature Volume 2: 1650 to the present. . shorter. New York: Norton, 2013. Print