The lives of Frederick Douglass and John Henry Newman

Frederick Douglass and John Henry Newman led very distinct lives, with completely opposite paths taken. However, one could argue that schooling revitalized their minds and led to them holding views that were almost identical. While John Henry Newman was an Oxford student, Frederick Douglass was a slave. Douglass penned Narrative of the Life through his educational experiences. (1873). In his work, Newman describes liberal education as a mental liberation. According to him, a liberal education broadens one’s intelligence and frees the mind to think freely about the various fields of knowledge and how they interact to create a whole. He quotes that a human being’s imperfect intellect hinders him from envisioning how the different branches of knowledge make a whole. After learning how to read and write, Douglas quoted that his mind was opened to the terrible life of slavery. He even quoted that education opened his eyes to the horrible pit, but no ladder upon which to get out. Masters hid education from their slaves because by keeping them illiterate, they would have power over their slaves by controlling their minds. Therefore, Douglas sought for education because it liberated the mind, enabling the slave to think for oneself and to have a wider view of life and the world other than the one imposed by the master. Douglas recounted in his book that his master resisted the idea of educating his slaves because he feared if his slaves became educated, it would destroy his superiority over them. Because of his mater’s resistance, Douglas became more determined to educate himself because more determined to educate himself because he saw the immense power that could lead to liberty through education.

Newman’s opinion of liberal education is that it makes a person well-rounded, thus making one distinctively human. Liberal education distinguishes human beings from animals, because humans create stories, write choruses, study science, create art, pray, aspire, make choices, and seek to have an understanding of the universe and the role they play in it. In Douglas’ book, through education, he was able to see that slavery is bad and every slave should fight to liberate themselves. Additionally, he highlighted that literacy caused him to hate his life of slavery whose chains confined him to an unworthy life. Because of that, Douglas led the abolition movement and created a Sabbath School to educate his fellow slaves. Therefore, it is seen that Douglas wanted all slaves to distinguish themselves, as human beings by eradicating ignorance from their minds and learning about the inhumanity of slavery.

Newman quoted that liberal education is not only for intellectual pursuit but also for mental cultivation, which is achieved through proper intellectual discipline. When one has a true understanding of things, he or she displays reasonableness, self-command, sobriety of thought, candor and steady point of view. After Douglas became literate and had to understand the true nature of slavery and he despised his life of slavery and became more miserable. one was oblivious of. He even envied his fellow slaves for their ignorance. Mostly, he could not spread education because his master forbade slaves from learning how to read and write; therefore, he had to keep his knowledge a secret. Nonetheless, Douglas exercised self-command by deciding to organize the abolition movement. He thought of educating other slaves so that together they would all fight an intellectual battle against slavery.

Newman also defined liberal education as having intellectual culture, which involves learning how to exercise thought. Learning how to think not only comes through studying great books but by thinking about ordinary things of knowledge. Therefore, in my opinion, Douglas was a candidate of true liberal education. He did not study great scholarly books but only learned simple reading and writing.

According to Newman, liberal education is not an exhibition of a genius culture but the perfection of the intellectual concept through a concise and accurate understanding of all things. Newton argues that the mind of a genius is consumed with one idea, concept or object but an intellectual mind exercises perfection of power with calm reasoning.

Newton also points out that acquisition of knowledge is not similar to education. Knowledge cannot be acquired at a particular level but generally. The process of learning can only be achieved by engaging one’s mind. It cannot be acquired passively. Therefore, one can have an interest and passion for learning and gaining knowledge. Frederick Douglas’ experience of education is an ideal example of Henry Newman’s idea of liberal education. It involves gaining knowledge, freeing of the mind, exercise self-command, and extreme reasonableness along with comprehension of things in a calm manner with a display of intellectual telepathy.

Bibliography

Ian, Ker “Newman on Education.” Virginia: The Cardinal Newman Society, 2008

James, V. and Schall, S.J. A student’s Guide to Liberal Learning.

Nicole, Smith ”The Incompatibility of Education and Slavery in the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass.” Article Myriad, 2011

Riya, Shankar ”Frederick Douglass & the Power of Literacy” smleo season 4, vol.4.7, 2017