and be able to forge to escape to a northern state where slavery was illegal. He ordered his wife to stop giving Douglass these lessons.
             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. If you teach a 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. As, to himself, it could do him no good, but a great deal of harm. It would make him discontent and unhappy. (Douglass 20)
             After hearing his master speak so strongly of education this made him want to learn how to read and write more. He saw that education was the ultimate key to revolting against his master. Knowing that being an educated slave could cause a lot of trouble he continued to find ways in which he would be able to learn more. He played mind games with the white children so that he would know how to spell words better and also tricked them into spelling out words for him, until he was able to make out the words and write them out fairly well.
             The odds were fearful. Our path was beset with the greatest obstacles
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