Frederick Douglass And John Henry Newman

Frederick Douglass and John Henry Newman
The lives of Frederick Douglass and John Henry Newman are extremely different; the directions of their lives were opposite. However, because of education, one could say that their minds were revitalized into having almost similar views. Frederick Douglass was a slave while John Henry Newman was a scholar at Oxford. Through the experience of education, Douglass wrote the book named Narrative of the Life (1873). In his book, Newman views liberal education as an act of freeing of the mind. He said that liberal education frees the mind and broadens one's intellect of the different branches ok knowledge and how they interrelate, thus forming a complete 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 …show more content…
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 …show more content…
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