Frederick Douglass is a very important and well known figure in U.S. history. Douglas was born in a plantation in Maryland. He wrote the first book from an African American perspective describing his personal experience of slavery and the way he fought for freedom in the United States. He himself was a descendant of slaves. His birth was a mystery. He barely saw his mother and never saw his father. His parents were somehow strangers to him. This was probably something common back then to the enslaved. In a historical context, one important thing I learned was that the slave owner were trying to keep the slaves illiterate. In his narrative, Douglas describes how the slave owner Mr. Auld would try by any means he could to stop him from learning to read and write. Although he would receive much much more cruel treatment every time the slave owner found out when he was trying to learn, it did not stop him from learning because he realised that knowledge is something valuable. This was the reason why the slave owner was afraid of it. The more a slave reads and understands, the more desire he has for freedom and rebellion.