John_Henry_Newman_Frederick_Douglass_Essay

Education, the Key to Freedom John Henry Newman (1801-1890) and Frederick Douglass (1817-1895), two different men from two completely different back-rounds, yet one can glean from their writings that they both believed in the same principle; education is the key to freedom. They both also believed that people should obtain as much knowledge as possible, however that is where the similarity of the two men ends, as they have very different views of what one should do with knowledge once it is acquired. Newman, formally educated and committed deeply to both Catholicism and education, fought for what he felt was the perfect education system. Whereas Douglass, a self-educated slave, fought for education on a more primitive level; for him freedom was the only way to survive and education being the key to freedom meant he fought for education for mere survival. One could argue that it is their varying definitions of freedom that brings about the differences in their philosophies and those definitions are deeply rooted in their back-rounds. John Henry Newman believed education, in and of itself, was freedom, “Knowledge, if it be really such, is its own reward” (54). To him, just having knowledge, even if it was never utilized for any specific purpose made a person free. This belief was evident when he said, “Knowledge, is valuable for what its very presence in us does for us after the manner of habit, even though it be turned to no further account, nor subserve any direct end” (55). He also had very strong opinions on the differences between and which is more valuable, useful knowledge or liberal knowledge. Useful knowledge, he felt, was the basic knowledge that one must have to be employed, complete normal everyday tasks, and for just surviving in society. He described it as, “Bodily labour, mechanical employment, and the like, in which the mind has little or no part” (56). In contrast he said, “Liberal education and liberal pursuits are exercises of the mind, of reason, of reflection” (56). It was this distinction and belief that led him to campaign for a University system that would change education forever, he said, “Liberal Education makes not the Christian, not the Catholic, but the gentleman. It is well to be a gentleman, it is well to have a cultivated intellect, a delicate taste, a candid, equitable, dispassionate mind, a noble and courteous bearing in the conduct of life;-these are the natural qualities of a large knowledge; they are the objects of a University; I am advocating, I shall illustrate and insist upon them” (58). Frederick Douglass did not have the luxury of an education or even the freedom to learn the basics of reading and writing. He was born into a world where African Americans were owned as slaves and where teaching those slaves their ABC’s and 123’s was illegal. His first taste of learning came from his mistress, Mrs. Auld, but unfortunately she succumbed to the pressure of her husband and not only stopped teaching Douglass but would become furious and would, at times, go after him with newspapers if she caught him trying to read or write. She tried to prevent his learning but as he said, “The first step had been taken. Mistress, in teaching me the alphabet, had given me the inch, and no precaution could prevent me from taking the ell” (47). After exhausting his Mistress’ kindness he employed a new strategy, “The plan which I adopted, and the one by which I was most successful, was that of making friends of all the little white boys whom I met in the street. As many of these as I could, I converted into teachers. With their kindly aid, obtained at different times and in different places, I finally succeeded in learning to read” (47). Now at the age of 12, Douglass had a copy of “the Columbian Orator”, a children’s school book that contained “a collection of great speeches, poems, soliloquies, and occasional pieces used to teach rhetoric and public speaking” (46). Two passages in particular stood out for Douglass, the first was a dialogue between a Master and a slave, after the slave escaped and been returned for the third time. The slave made a very good argument against slavery. The second was a powerful speech given by Richard Brinsley Sheridan on and in behalf of Catholic emancipation. Of these two writings, Douglass said, “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” (48). The learning that had enabled him to read those passages also did something else to Douglass, “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 remedy. It opened my eyes to the horrible pit, but no ladder upon which to get out” (49). These thoughts consumed him for a time, until he learned the meanings of abolition and abolitionist. These two words gave him hope and direction and his education was the key. Prior to learning of these two words, Douglass said, “I often found myself regretting my own existence, and wishing myself dead; and but for the hope of being free, I have no doubt I would have killed myself, or done something for which I should have been killed” (49). It was education that gave Douglass hope when all hope had seemingly been lost, it was education that afforded him his freedom and it was education that gave him the voice to continue the fight against slavery. Although their idea of what freedom is and what one should do with the knowledge that is bestowed upon them differs greatly, Newman and Douglass both spoke of the same basic principle, education is key to freedom. One should take advantage of any and all education no matter the subject or of its assumed relevance, you never know when it might go from useless to useful knowledge. Works Cited Newman, John Henry. “Knowledge Its Own End.” Reading the World, Ideas That Matter. Ed. Michael Austin-2nd Edition. New York. W.W. Norton & Company. 2010. 53-59. Print Douglass, Frederick. “Knowledge Its Own End.” Reading the World, Ideas That Matter. Ed. Michael Austin-2nd Edition. New York. W.W. Norton & Company. 2010. 46-50. Print