Bound for Glory (page 2)

Slavery provided a huge setback for Douglass throughout his life. His individuality drove him to educate himself through any means possible. Douglass knew reading and writing could contribute to his cause for freedom and, "though conscious of the difficulty of learning without a teacher, [he] set out with high hope, and a fixed purpose, at whatever cost of trouble, to learn how to read"1. In order to learn to write he tricked local kids into having contests with him so that he could improve his skill (63). Douglas learned how to read and write against all odds; these skills provided him with the building blocks he needed to reach his ultimate goal, freedom.

Freedom was also the ultimate goal of founding father Benjamin Franklin. Although they searched for a very different type of freedom (personal v. national), both used their influence to help their respective causes. Despite the noticeable time difference between Franklin and Douglass and that Douglass was a slave a Franklin was not, the lives of these two historic figures are strikingly similar. Franklin like Douglass lacked proper schooling; he had to leave school to work for the family business. It is ironic that both men had little to no schooling and gained their fame from writing, Franklin from Poor Richard's Almanac and his autobiography, Douglass from his narrative. Although neither attained a formal education, both Franklin and Douglass strove for knowledge because of their internal drive and individuality.

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