He educated himself in reading and writing

Douglass was illiterate for the majority of his boyhood since he was a slave. He was prohibited from reading and writing because plantation owners saw education as harmful and a threat to their authority. When he was approximately 12 years old, the slave owner's wife in Baltimore began teaching him the alphabet, but she eventually stopped when her husband discouraged her. Nevertheless, a young Douglass took matters into his own hands and used his time on the street to carry out his owner's chores in order to fit in reading lessons. Douglass described in his book how he learned to read from white youngsters in the area and by looking at the writings of the men he worked with.

In his autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, he described how he would bring a book with him when out and about and beg the white kids in his neighborhood to teach him to read the book in exchange for little pieces of bread.

Douglass educated himself in reading and writing in secret. Knowledge is the path from enslavement to liberation, he would later declare. Douglass' new line of inquiry prompted him to challenge and decry the system of slavery as he studied newspapers, pamphlets, political writings, and books of all kinds. Later, Douglass attributed The Columbian Orator, an anthology he read when he was around 12 years old, with helping him define his beliefs on freedom and human rights. This school reader, which was first published in 1797, includes essays, speeches, and discussions to help pupils learn reading and language.