Frederick Douglass: He Was Forbidden to Read… So He Taught Himself

He was forbidden to read.

So the boy taught himself, in secret, with bread, chalk and the streets of Baltimore.

Years later, he spoke so well that people doubted his story.

How did he prove it?

This is the story of Frederick Douglass.

Welcome to brightlivesenglish.com, where we teach real English using real-life stories.

Forbid. To forbid something means to say that someone must not do it.

The past is forbade, or forbidden.

His master forbade his wife to teach him.

Autobiography. An autobiography is a book that a person writes about their own life.

In 1845, he published his autobiography.

Abolish. To abolish a law or a system means to end it officially, for everyone.

In 1865, slavery was abolished in the United States.

Eloquent. An eloquent speaker uses words in a clear and powerful way that moves people.

He was so eloquent that some people doubted his story.

Literacy. Literacy is the ability to read and write.

For him, literacy was the first step to freedom.

Now, one pattern: cleft sentences.

To put the focus on the most important part, we start with it was, and then add that.

Reading showed him the way to freedom.

It was reading that showed him the way to freedom.

Ready? Let's begin.

Frederick was born in Maryland in about 1818.

He was enslaved from birth.

He never knew his birthday, and he saw his mother only a few times, at night.

When he was about eight, he was sent to work for a family in the city of Baltimore.

It was in Baltimore that everything began.

The lady of the house started to teach him the alphabet.

But her husband forbade it.

Learning, he said, would make the boy unfit to be a slave.

Frederick heard every word.

It was at that moment that he understood: reading was the way to freedom.

So he carried bread in his pocket.

In the street, he gave it to hungry white boys, and they gave him reading lessons in return.

With a piece of chalk, he copied letters on fences and walls.

At about twelve, he bought a book of famous speeches with money he had saved.

He read it again and again.

It was this book that gave him the words for freedom.

Later, he secretly taught more than thirty men to read.

For him, literacy belonged to everyone.

On September 3, 1838, when he was twenty, he dressed as a sailor and carried the papers of a free Black sailor.

He took the train north.

But the papers did not describe him at all.

If anyone checked carefully, his escape would be over.

In less than 24 hours, he reached New York.

He was free.

Soon after, he married Anna Murray, a free woman who had helped him escape.

To stay hidden, he took a new name: Frederick Douglass.

In 1841, at a meeting on the island of Nantucket, he was asked to speak.

He was twenty-three and so nervous that he could hardly stand.

But he told his story.

When he finished, the room was silent, and then it burst into applause.

Soon he was travelling and giving speeches.

But he was so eloquent that some people doubted he had ever been enslaved.

So he wrote everything down, with real names and real places.

It was his autobiography that proved his story.

Five thousand copies were sold in four months.

But the book was dangerous.

His old master now knew where to find him.

So Douglass sailed to Britain and Ireland, where huge crowds came to hear him.

In 1846, friends there bought his freedom.

He went home, free by law.

In Rochester, New York, he started his own newspaper.

He called it The North Star.

For years, he wrote and spoke against slavery, and for the rights of women too.

His words made many Americans think again about slavery.

During the Civil War, he met President Abraham Lincoln at the White House to fight for Black soldiers.

In 1865, slavery was abolished in the United States.

The boy who was forbidden to read had helped to change a nation.

He lived until 1895.

By then, he had written three autobiographies and held important government jobs.

He was the most photographed American of his century.

He wanted the world to see a free Black man, proud and strong.

Let's review. His master forbade his wife to teach him.

In 1845, he published his autobiography.

In 1865, slavery was abolished in the United States.

He was so eloquent that some people doubted his story.

For him, literacy was the first step to freedom.

And remember: it was reading that showed him the way to freedom.

Frederick Douglass's story teaches us: knowledge is a door to freedom, so never stop learning.

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