See Also:
Beginning of a FAMOUS Hero: The Abraham Lincoln Story.
Life Lesson #84 – Develop a Love of Learning.
Sometimes it seems that boys are always hungry, and young Freddy Douglass was hungry but not for food. He was hungry to learn! More than anything, he wanted to learn to read! But, Freddy was a slave, and as a slave it was against the law for him to go to school. He didn’t think that was very fair, but he was a young boy and certainly could not change the law. Still he was determined to find a way to learn. And that’s exactly what he did. You see, Freddy knew that some of the boys who were able to go to school would rather eat than read so he thought of a pretty smart plan. He decided that he would feed their stomachs if they would feed his brain! Everyday he began taking them bread and cookies, and they would teach him what they had learned at school that day.
Soon he became an excellent reader, and he worked hard at learning all that he could. He also learned to write and speak well. As a grown man, Frederick Douglass found a way to become a free man, and he wanted more than anything to see fairness for all people. He also wanted to see that all children would have the opportunity to learn and be well educated. Many people began listening to him as he talked about and wrote about fairness. He spent many hours talking with Abraham Lincoln, and actually helped President Lincoln decide to free all of the slaves. And because of that, he became a very important man. Yes, Freddy Douglass, the young boy who grew up as a slave knew all about fairness. He grew up to be Frederick Douglass the HERO.
– Jim Lord