When Douglas was a young boy, he was sent to live and work for his owner's relatives in Baltimore. Mrs. Sophia Auld, his new master's wife, was a newlywed who did not yet know the expected norms of slave society. She was kind to Douglass and began to teach him to read. However, when her husband found out, he quickly put a stop to the lessons, saying it would "unfit" Douglass for slavery. When Douglass overheard what Mr. Auld said, he was all the more determined to read, as he already knew he did not want to be a slave.

Douglass noted that he had far more freedom in Baltimore than on the plantation. In general, he said, slaves were better treated in a city because of the proximity of neighbors: fear of social censure from their neighbors made whites less willing to abuse their slaves. The young Douglass was often sent on errands around the city, which gave him a chance to meet and interact with whites. He took a book with him and would ask white boys to help him read. Often these were poor or working class lads who were hungry and would help him in exchange for bread, of which he had supplies from Mrs. Auld's kitchen.

Douglass, in short, was able to learn to read, first through the kindness of Mrs. Auld (who soon enough, he said, was transformed by her husband and others into a hard-hearted owner), then through his own determination and ingenuity in seeking out help, and finally through the good fortune of living in a city, where he had a chance to interact with others.

Mrs. Auld, the master's wife, taught Frederick Douglass the alphabet shortly after he arrived in Baltimore. Initially, Mrs. Auld was a kind, tender-hearted woman, who treated Douglass with compassion and sympathy. After Mrs. Auld taught Douglass the alphabet, she began teaching him to spell small words. Unfortunately, Mrs. Auld's husband discovered that she was giving Douglass lessons and immediately put an end to his education. Douglass overheard Mr. Auld tell his wife that she would "spoil" him and he would eventually become "unmanageable."

Upon hearing Mr. Auld's comments, Douglass realized that the key to his freedom was learning how to read and write. He understood Mr. Auld's fears and was determined to become literate by any means necessary. Armed with an understanding of the alphabet, Douglass proceeded to make friends with the local white children and used them as teachers.

Each time Douglass would go on errands, he would take his book with him and exchange bread for short lessons from the literate white children. The white children were more than happy to teach Douglass in exchange for food. Eventually, Douglass learned to read and managed to acquire a book titled The Columbian Orator, which enlightened him to his tragic circumstance and provided him arguments against institutional slavery. At times, Douglass felt that reading was more of a curse than a gift because it opened his eyes to his "wretched condition." Once Douglass educated himself, his feelings of dissatisfaction intensified and motivated him to escape the clutches of slavery.

When Douglass went to live with Mr. and Mrs. Auld, he was astonished by the mistress's kindness. He found her "entirely unlike any other white woman" he had ever encountered and attributed her demeanor to the fact that she had been a weaver by trade, fairly removed from the world of slavery. Mrs. Auld began teaching Douglass the alphabet, and then she started teaching him how to use letters to form short words. Soon after this, Mr. Auld discovered her transgressions and forbade her to continue these efforts. He sternly told his wife that if she taught Douglass to read, "there would be no keeping him" because "it would forever unfit him to be a slave." It was at this moment that Douglass understood that literacy was his pathway to freedom.

Douglass needed further instruction, so he then sought out little white boys in the town streets to become his instructors. They had the necessary knowledge and Douglass could provide a serving of bread which they wanted, so they were willing participants. Douglass worked with these boys each time he was sent on an errand, always sneaking a book out with him. He built a sincere friendship with these young boys during this time and remained sentimental about the role they played in his literacy even many years later.

Douglass learns to read when he is sold as a young man to the Auld family in Baltimore. He is taught by Sophia Auld, his master's wife. Douglass is struck by her kindness, but even more so by her husband's angry reaction when he discovers what she is doing. Mr. Auld orders his wife to stop teaching Douglass immediately, claiming that educating a slave made them "unmanageable" and "forever...unfit to be a slave." Douglass regards his master's tirade as a crucial turning point in his life, one where he understood, for the first time, the "white man's power to enslave the black man." The "pathway from slavery to freedom," he further concluded, was through education:

It gave me the best assurance that I might rely with the utmost confidence on the results which, he said, would flow from teaching me to read. What he most dreaded, that I most desired...That which to him was a great evil, ...was to me a great good, to be diligently sought; and the argument which he so warmly urged, against my learning to read, only served to inspire me with a desire and determination to learn. 

Douglass thus set out to educate himself, with an eye toward gaining freedom. If keeping slaves ignorant was the key to keeping them docile, then he would rebel by learning to read, even though (or, as he observes, because) his master forbade it. 

How did learning to read save Frederick Douglass?

Learning to read was an act of rebellion for Frederick Douglass. When he overheard his master say that a slave who could read and write was unfit for servitude, young Douglass was further inspired to become literate.

As he gained more and more access to written works, Douglass was further inspired to gain his freedom. He gained access to opinions and ideas that showed him the scale of slavery beyond his own personal experience of the institution. Particularly when he came by a copy of The Columbian Orator and read a copy of Sheridon's famous speech denouncing slavery, Douglass was inspired to escape. In his memoir, Douglass explains that the words he read helped him formulate the very thoughts that he needed to convince himself and others to secure their freedom.

Frederick Douglass's fondness for reading abolitionist works and other argumentative pieces helped him further his purpose after he emancipated himself. He became known as a fiery orator and a master of both the spoken and written word. Even in his own lifetime, he was regarded as a skilled wordsmith. This helped him to become internationally renowned as a leading abolitionist. As a result, Douglass was able to work hard in the fight for the freedom of all slaves in the United States.

How did learning to read save Frederick Douglass?

When Frederick Douglass is sent to serve the Aulds, he really finds a silver lining in the situation. Mrs. Auld has never owned slaves before, and her heart is still kind toward Douglass, because she had to earn her own wages before her marriage. When she learns that Douglass is illiterate, she begins giving him lessons, first teaching him the alphabet and then how to read words of three to four letters. At around this point in his instruction, Mr. Auld finds out what his wife has been up to and forbids any further instruction, telling her,

if you teach that nigger... how to read, there would be no keeping him. It would forever unfit him to be a slave. He would at once become unmanageable, and of no value to his master.

These words transform Douglass's view of the world. He at once realizes that the power of literacy is the power of freedom. He understands that whites are able to enslave blacks by keeping them ignorant. Mr. Auld unknowingly lights a fire inside Douglass to accomplish what Mr. Auld forbids, because he knows this is his ticket out of slavery.

As he secretly becomes more literate, he finds that literature gives

tongue to interesting thoughts of [his] own soul, which had frequently flashed through [his] mind, and died away for want of utterance.

He is able to think about things more deeply and to consider ideas that were previously unknown to him, such as the term abolitionist.

Because of the initial efforts of Mrs. Auld, the way Douglass views the entire world is changed, and his path to freedom stands ready with a gate that was previously locked to him.

How did learning to read save Frederick Douglass?

As a slave, Frederick Douglass was prevented from receiving an education out of fear that he and the other slaves would eventually become aware of their despicable conditions after reading moving pieces of literature and rebel or run away. However, Frederick Douglass was able to exchange items of food for brief lessons on how to read from poor, educated white children. Eventually, Frederick Douglass became one of the few slaves who learned how to read as an adolescent and immediately began reading The Columbian Orator, which is a collection of political essays. Frederick's mind was instantly awakened to his harsh life as a slave and literature provided him with arguments against his horrific condition. Frederick Douglass's spirit was also moved to loathe his dreadful condition, and he writes,

The moral which I gained from the dialogue was the power of truth over the conscience of even a slaveholder. What I got from Sheridan was a bold denunciation of slavery, and a powerful vindication of human rights. The reading of these documents enabled me to utter my thoughts, and to meet the arguments brought forward to sustain slavery; but while they relieved me of one difficulty, they brought on another even more painful than the one of which I was relieved (53).

Learning to read also gave Frederick Douglass the ability to vividly articulate his arguments against slavery, which he used to help educate other slaves, who then agreed to run away with him. Learning to read also gave Frederick the ability to forge documents and better understand his masters. Overall, reading ignited Frederick's spirit, allowing him to escape from slavery, and provided him with the tools needed to formulate a successful escape from the inhumane institution.

How did learning to read save Frederick Douglass?

According to Frederick Douglass, slaveowners denied their slaves the ability to read and write because they feared that literacy would provide slaves with knowledge and self-sufficiency that would threaten slaveowners' abilities to control their slaves. Additionally, keeping slaves illiterate ensured it would be nearly impossible for slaves to control the national perception of slavery because they would be unable to contribute their own narratives. Douglass believes his education was crucial to freeing himself for these reasons. Additionally, the texts he used to become literate provided him with intellectual defenses against slavery that he used throughout his career as an abolitionist. Specifically, Douglass references a speech about Catholic emancipation in The Columbian Orator that inspired much of his anti-slavery writing throughout his life.