EDUCATION AS A TOOL FOR ACHIEVING FREEDOM: THE CASES OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS AND TOPSY

Abstract

Around the middle of the 19th c., sentimental fiction was highly influential in the United States. [...]a book that also included the topic of sentimental education could certainly appeal strongly to the feelings of the nation. Douglass mentions that his father was a white man, but that he does not know the identity of his parent. The only way to learn how to read was without raising the awareness of his owner. [...]Douglass learned from poor white boys whenever he was sent on an errand. Topsy's release later on is implied to have happened within the boundaries of the law, because she did not run away. [...]the idea of love somehow released Topsy from her past, yet freedom from a legal standpoint happened because she was emancipated by Ophelia. 4.

Headnote

Abstract: It almost goes without saying that slaves were supposed to be as uneducated as possible, yet few rules are without exceptions. In my paper I shall look at two cases. The first (Douglass) will focus on how education was sought with a clear purpose in mind: freedom. The second (Topsy) will offer a new perspective: education was offered without ever being wished.

Keywords: education, emotions, freedom, literacy, love, slavery

1. Introduction

Even with all the obstacles that existed to prevent slaves from having even a basic education, it was not possible to prevent all slaves from learning how to read and write. By achieving even a rudimentary form of literacy, some slaves managed to cross an essential abstract boundary: grasping the right of self-ownership and refusing internally to continue being someone else's property. This paper is not trying to postulate that knowing how to read and write is a mandatory condition for someone to be able to affirm his human nature and refuse to be treated as an object. However, such knowledge could offer a different kind of voice to those living in a time when slaves were supposed to be silent in most circumstances and illiterate in all. It could offer escaped slaves the chance to tell their story, in their own words, in printed format. Some managed to reach this level and make a name for themselves. The most prominent of them was Frederick Douglass, whose case will be analyzed in more detail in the next section.

The concept of education is a very broad one and we must not have the false impression that the only type of education that mattered was the literary one. Around the middle of the 19th c., sentimental fiction was highly influential in the United States. Thus, a book that also included the topic of sentimental education could certainly appeal strongly to the feelings of the nation. If, moreover, such a text would bring forth anti-slavery arguments, then the abolitionist cause could certainly benefit from this. A novel that without a doubt accomplished this task was Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe. Among the many sub-plots present in the novel, one could also find the story of Topsy, which brings forth the idea that love can cause a dramatic shift in the fate of a slave and even open an abused child's mind and heart toward education. Due to the importance of the novel Uncle Tom's Cabin in the period when it was published, another segment of this paper will focus on Topsy's story and the role of sentimental education.

Together, the two following parts of this research will elaborate on how important education, in more than one form, can be in a slave's path toward emancipation. Direct influence was only one of the possibilities available. This paper will also implicitly bring forth the idea that the conflict between abolitionism and slavery was not waged only with political or economic arguments, but literary ones as well. Novels, autobiographies and short-stories were used to contradict the justifications of one side and defend the arguments of the other.

2. Literary education as catalyst toward freedom (Frederick Douglass)

In a few years after escaping slavery, Douglass managed to attain a certain amount of fame as a speaker for the abolitionist cause. As during his talks he was often asked to describe the evils of the institution of slavery, Douglass had to irrefutably prove that he had been a former slave. Many wondered if he had really lived on a plantation because Douglass' speeches were very eloquent, far beyond what many imagined a former slave could be capable of. Thus Douglass had to clarify how he had managed to obtain an education and he decided to give the details in writing (McDowell and Rampersad 1989: 7). As a consequence of these reasons, and probably of others as well, his first autobiography was written.

Douglass' level of eloquence influenced the manner in which he wrote. This, together with his ambition and desire to be free, shaped the form of his Narrative. In Henry Louis Gates Jr.'s words (qtd. in McDowell 2009: xxxv), Douglass' first autobiography is "the clearest example of the will to power as the will to write". This "will to power" can be seen in the way Douglass presents himself as a character of heroic or even epic proportions. According to Deborah E. McDowell (2009: xiii), this was the reason behind the initial appeal of the text.

In addition to what was quoted before, I believe that the Narrative also served a dual purpose: to construct (the image of Douglass as a free man) and to deconstruct (the institution of slavery). Moreover, by having his story in a published form authored by himself, Douglass also opened himself to criticism. Some, like Houston Baker (1980: 80), claimed this was not the authentic voice of black American slavery, for that existed only in oral form. On the other hand, others like Henry Louis Gates Jr. (1987: x), claimed that all slave narratives were necessary and meant to serve a higher purpose.

Even though one of the motivations for writing his first autobiography was to show how he had learned how to read and write, the text begins by mentioning his lack of knowledge in more ways than one. Douglass mentions that his father was a white man, but that he does not know the identity of his parent. Moreover, he also states that he cannot mention the exact date of his birth, because this kind of information was usually not made available to slaves (Douglass 2009: 15). Thus "his story opens in the limbo of bondage, the anonymity of the slave" (Matlack 1979: 21). As the Narrative begins with Douglass as a child and ends with him as a young adult, the text can also be interpreted as a Bildungsroman. However, for Douglass, the growing up process implied two elements, not one. The first and most common of the two were his search for and achievement of maturity as we would understand it today. The second implied a different kind of maturity. As even adult slaves were considered similar to children and in need of a master's guidance and supervision, the maturity which Douglass wanted to affirm needed to be asserted in a twofold way (del Mar Gallego Duran 1994: 122-124).

Yet, in the case of Frederick Douglass, that maturity was reached despite the fact that slaves were supposed to be illiterate so as not to be inspired toward freedom. He will clearly explain how the slavery system feared what the ability to read and write might instill. However, from the moment Douglass starts doing that, the autobiography's style changes from simply describing slavery to telling a story of the effort needed for one's psychological release. From that moment on, the Narrative no longer details conditions of entrapment, but presents a personal quest oriented towards escape. It all began in this manner:

Very soon after I went to live with Mr. and Mrs. Auld, she very kindly commenced to teach me the ABC. After I had learned this, she assisted me in learning to spell words of three or four letters. Just at this point of my progress, Mr. Auld found what was going on, and at once forbade Mrs. Auld to instruct me further, telling her, among other things, that it was unlawful, as well as unsafe, to teach a slave to read. To use his own words, further, he said, "If you give a nigger an inch, he will take an ell. A nigger should know nothing but to obey his master - to do as he is told to do. Learning would spoil the best nigger in the world. Now," said he, "if you teach that nigger (speaking of myself) 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. As to himself, it would do him not good, but a great deal of harm. It would make him discontented and unhappy". (Douglass 2009: 38-39)

Such words, spoken where Douglass could hear them, were not without consequence, for they left a deep mark. The slave-owner sounded very sure of himself and thus Douglass started to believe that there was truth behind them and that he should be in total opposition to his owner, because the latter was an antagonist in his quest for freedom. Thus, first and foremost, Douglass decided that he would learn how to read. Ironically, because of his gesture, the autobiography bestows the same merit upon Mr. Auld as upon Mrs. Auld in his decision to attain an education. The initial benevolence of the mistress had the same weight as the harshness of the master (Douglass 2009: 39-43). The process, however, was a very slow one.

The only way to learn how to read was without raising the awareness of his owner. Thus Douglass learned from poor white boys whenever he was sent on an errand. He always tried to finish whatever he was sent out to do as quickly as possible and also took bread and a book with him. Obviously, the book had to be hidden. In exchange for bread, poor white children helped him learn how to read one letter at a time. Learning how to write proved more difficult, but this obstacle was also surpassed afterwards, when he was left alone and Mrs. Auld forgot her child's copybook around the house (Douglass 2009: 43-47).

Yet achieving literacy was not a final goal. It was rather a means to an end, a resource that would prove its utility more than once. A clear example is the influence two texts had on Douglass' mind. The first text was a fictional dialogue between a master and his slave, after the latter tried to escape three times. The second text was one of Sheridan's speeches about Catholic emancipation, a process that reduced the majority of the restrictions that were imposed previously on Roman Catholics in Great Britain. Both texts left a strong mark, because they were not only about the nature and meaning of freedom, but also about ideals of equality and other key ideas of the American Revolution (McDowell 2009: xix). The ideals that Douglass read about, though, were rather overturned by history and in the real world there was a clear contradiction between ideal and fact. He points out this contradiction openly in the title of his first autobiography: Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave. The two words, 'American' and 'slave', were supposed to be opposites, as no American citizen was also a slave.

Mr. Auld's warning was true and Douglass began more and more to understand the condition he was in, after reading texts like those I mentioned previously. Another important moment in his life was bound to happen and Douglass was clear about what was to follow in the Narrative: "You have seen how a man was made a slave; you shall see how a slave was made a man". In this sentence, Douglass introduces a new contradiction: that between 'man' and 'slave' (McDowell 2009: xx). The key moment that allowed for the shift from 'slave' to 'man' to happen, according to Douglass' perspective, appears in Chapter 10 of the autobiography. A few details: Douglass was lent for a year to an overseer called Covey, who had the reputation of being a slave-breaker. This means that Covey was somewhat famous for breaking a slave's spirit. During that year, Covey wanted to whip Douglass, but Douglass decided to fight back. Covey was surprised to find himself challenged like this and also to realize that he could not win the battle. For Douglass, this meant that he wanted freedom even at the cost of his life, if it ever came to that, only it did not (Douglass 2009: 63-68). He took the decision to never let go of his inner freedom:

The battle with Mr. Covey was the turning-point in my career as a slave. It rekindled the few expiring embers of freedom, and revived within me a sense of my own manhood. It recalled the departed self-confidence, and inspired me again with a determination to be free. The gratification afforded by the triumph was a full compensation for whatever else might follow, even death itself. (Douglass 2009: 68)

After this event, Douglass remained a slave in name only for about four more years, as inside he felt free. The overseer Covey did not try to attack him again and also did not report the event, for fear of losing his reputation. Even if he hadn't stood up to Covey, Douglass would still be educated, but would not feel he had turned from 'slave' to 'man', as he called it. Moreover, without literacy, he would not have been able to read those texts and his understanding of his situation would have been different. He might not have fought back and ultimately he might not have decided to run away. Thus, I believe that even though education did not guarantee freedom, in the case of Frederick Douglass it served as a catalyst.

3. The need for sentimental education as a step forward (Topsy)

Topsy is introduced to the reader as a new slave bought by Augustine St. Clare for a specific purpose: to test the claim made by his cousin Miss Ophelia that the same form of education, like that given in the North, with the same methods, would bring about significant results among slaves as well and also in a way to "prove the shortsightedness of Ophelia's indictments against slavery" (Tang 2011: 445). She was unprepared to deal with a child who knew nothing of herself, the world around her or religion, for Topsy was not capable of answering even the most common of questions. Miss Ophelia was not surprised that Topsy did not know who her mother or father was, because that was not necessarily unusual for slaves. What shocked her, though, was that Topsy affirmed she had never been born. Even though at first Ophelia believed the child was joking, the truth became all too clear when Topsy said: "'Never was born', reiterated the creature, more emphatically; 'never had no father, nor mother, nor nothing. I was raised by a speculator with lots of others. Old Aunt Sue used to take care of us'" (Stowe 2002: 223-224).

By writing in this manner, Stowe created a character that had no personal narrative in the traditional sense. Topsy's lack of knowledge went beyond her own person. Ophelia began to think that the child had no notion of time and that she had no idea of the existence of God. Due to the fact that Ophelia grew up in the Northern states, where slavery was illegal, and was also educated in a religious manner, all she saw in Topsy was new to her. This feeling of novelty, though, went both ways. Before being bought by St. Clare, Topsy had had a harsh life, as her previous owners had seen her as nothing more than a commodity. After being raised in such an extreme environment, when she was brought to the St. Clare estate, she appeared to be unable to fathom anything that was different from her previous life. The consequence was that Miss Ophelia's efforts had no effect. Seeing no improvement, Ophelia had no alternative but tell St. Clare that nothing could be done (O'Laughlin 2005: 580).

Miss Ophelia's hope was that she would be able to help Topsy improve and turn her life around. Her methods, though, proved to be insufficient for the task. The discussion with St. Clare, as could have been easily anticipated, becomes a debate about slavery in general and slave children in particular. However, to the reality existing around them they can envision no solution. Overcome by the lack of results, Ophelia asks what is to be done, but St. Clare turns the dilemma back to Ophelia. Faced directly with the problem, Ophelia has no answer. Unable to find a solution, she blames slavery, arguing that in the absence of such an institution there would be no children similar to Topsy. St. Clare agrees, but once again takes the discussion away from abstract ideas into the real world: "I know it, but they are made - they exist - and what is to be done with them?" (Stowe 2002: 229).

In the eyes of St. Clare, Northern educational methods are ineffective if applied to slave children. The anti-slavery educational theories of his Northern cousin have failed the practical test. It can be argued that Stowe was also trying to show this, but only up to a point. What the author of Uncle Tom's Cabin wanted to reveal was that the basic anti-slavery approach was incomplete. It was too cold, too impersonal, and, without truly caring for those children who were abused by the system, progress would continue to be out of reach.

Stowe's suggested solution to the dilemma is also present in the novel and will lead to a significant twist for the character Topsy. The change will not be caused by Miss Ophelia; she too will realize that she has much to learn when a new kind of teacher enters the picture: the daughter of Augustine St. Clare. The child Eva will achieve more, because she will use a different approach. Ophelia tries to maintain a gap between herself and slavery and she goes as far as to thank God that her knowledge of slavery is not vast. Eva, on the other hand, states that she must not only understand more of slavery, but also feel more (Grant 1998: 441). If Ophelia had had the same attitude, the attempt to educate Topsy might have turned out differently. Initially, though, the dialogue between Eva and Topsy begins pretty much in the same way as that between Ophelia and Topsy, with questions and answers. Eva states that Topsy refuses to be good, because she does not love anyone, and Topsy can only reply that she knows nothing of love and that she does not have anyone who loves her (Stowe 2002: 261-262). In the key moment of this dialogue, Stowe's opinion of the faults of the Northern educational method when it comes to slave children is made clear. Eva tells Topsy that she will be loved by Ophelia if she is good, but Topsy has just one reply, which Eva can only counter with "an abrupt change of register" (Carabine 2002: XI-XII):

'No; she can't bear me, cause I'm a nigger! - she's 's soon have a toad touch her! There can't nobody love niggers, and niggers can't do nothin! I don't care,' said Topsy, beginning to whistle.

'O, Topsy, poor child, I love you!' said Eva with a sudden burst of feeling and laying her little thin, white hands on Topsy's shoulder; 'I love you because you haven't had any father, or mother, or friends - because you've been a poor, abused child! I love you, and I want you to be good' (Stowe 2002: 261).

Stowe's reference to Northern racism is fairly obvious. Her approach was new for her time because of the way she wrote about a slave child (O'Laughlin 2000: 581). Something that needs to be known about the author of Uncle Tom's Cabin is that she was very religious. As such, Topsy's change takes place after she hears of Jesus Christ:

'Poor Topsy!', said Eva, 'don't you know that Jesus loves all alike? He is just as willing to love you as me. He loves you just as I do, only more, because he is better. He will help you to be good; and you can go to Heaven at last, and be an angel forever, just as much as if you were white. Only think of it, Topsy, you can be one of those spirits bright Uncle Tom sings abou''.

'O dear Miss Eva, dear Miss Eva!' said the child. 'I will try! I never did care nothin' about it before'. (Stowe 2002: 262)

It was so simple for St. Clare's child to realize what was lacking, yet for Ophelia it was so complicated, that she could not do it on her own. She learned from Eva that being too distant was wrong. The dialogue between the two children was observed without their knowledge by both Ophelia and Augustine St. Clare, and after hearing Eva's words, Ophelia was transformed as well, but in a different manner. She understood that as an adult she must accomplish what a child could not (Grant 1998: 442-443; O'Laughlin 2000: 580).

Ophelia was aware that slavery was not something one automatically escapes from after receiving an education. That was evident in a system that did not even allow someone to teach a slave how to read. What she does is to expressly ask St. Clare to give her ownership of Topsy, to which he, surprised, responds by pointing out that the Abolition Society might not approve of Ophelia's actions. She, however, does not relent, and argues that her sole wish is to free Topsy. In order to truly understand Ophelia's action, we must be aware that it happened soon after Eva got sick and died. As a consequence of this event, Ophelia knew that someone had to take Eva's place or else everything that was achieved with Topsy could be reversed. Therefore, Ophelia also tells Topsy that she will love her from now on (Stowe 2002: 286-287, 277). The impact of Ophelia's decision to acquire Topsy is seen not long afterwards, because Augustine St. Clare gets stabbed in a bar and dies. Soon all of his slaves are auctioned, yet Topsy was not sent away, because legally she had a different owner. In the absence of both Eva and Augustine St. Clare, Ophelia cannot find additional assistance for her abolitionist ideals. Even though she may have hoped to cause a more extensive change, in the end she can only manage to save one slave and this simply because she agreed to somehow be a part of the system by becoming a slave-owner herself (Grant 1998: 433).

While the novel is not clear on what happens to Topsy and Ophelia after these events, it is implied that Topsy was taken north and emancipated. Thus her story leads to a different kind of release. Initially Topsy was enslaved mentally as well as legally. Obviously the mental chains were of a metaphorical nature, yet there was some form of entrapment there, because of the way she was raised and treated before being brought to the St. Clare estate. She was only released from her symbolic cage after the dialogue with Eva, yet this had no influence on her legal status. Topsy's release later on is implied to have happened within the boundaries of the law, because she did not run away. Thus, the idea of love somehow released Topsy from her past, yet freedom from a legal standpoint happened because she was emancipated by Ophelia.

4. Conclusion

The general rule of the slavery system observed in the Southern part of the United States was that slaves were supposed to be kept illiterate, and yet, as it sometimes happens, loopholes could be found even in the harshest restrictions. The efforts of the institution of slavery to enforce the said rule minimized the chances of slaves to break it and attain some form of literacy. Nonetheless, rare but notable exceptions happened.

Frederick Douglass was born a slave, but, due to special circumstances, he became aware of the importance of basic literary education and as such he decided to act. Ultimately this proved beneficial to his future, to say the least. Step by step, as he gradually learned to read and write, he also started to understand his own situation. As a consequence, his desire for freedom and self-ownership also grew alongside his ambition to better himself. When the opportunity presented itself, Douglass ran away and thus became free from his master, but not according to Southern legislation, according to which he was a runaway slave. Douglass did not achieve his freedom automatically, as a result of his education, though it can be claimed that without literacy, his life might have been dramatically different.

Topsy too was born a slave and was abused both physically and mentally by her initial owners. While still a child, she was bought by Augustine St. Clare and brought to his estate, because he planned to test a theory about Northern education, to see whether it was effective in the case of slaves. After all the twists in the story, described in the previous section, it can be asserted that for Topsy the opportunity to be free was not the result of her own free will, as in the case of Frederick Douglass. Topsy did not even think about what it would mean to be free and thus she did not act in order to attain freedom. Still, we are led to believe that she was emancipated, though this evolution in her story was caused by more than one factor, the main one being the effect of emotional education on both her and Miss Ophelia.

Topsy's escape was not something she wished for or even struggled to achieve. It can even be said that at first she could not even understand what freedom was and that is why she made no effort towards it. However, we can assume that she was emancipated and that the reason was not only education, but a combination of education, love, and duty, where the central, catalyst role can be attributed to love. In the case of Frederick Douglass, the central role was played by education, because it certainly manifested itself as a catalyst in his quest for freedom and prompted him to act decisively. Even though learning how to read and write did by no means ensure his freedom, it instilled in him strong feelings, like ambition and determination. These, when the opportunity arose, drove him to run away and leave his slave life behind.

References

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