Douglass' Mistress

Slavery had an impact on everyone during its time. It did not affect everyone in the same way though. Douglass’ mistress was greatly influenced by others when it came to an opinion of slavery. At the beginning of the narrative, Douglass was treated not as a slave, but as a normal person. His mistress did not think there was anything wrong with teaching him to read. As she became more familiar with the way slaves were treated, the mistress realized that her way of treating Douglass may be looked down upon by the other white slave owners.
Another outside influence that caused pressure on the mistress was Master Hughs. He did not want her to teach him to read or write because he knew the power that created over the slaves. Keeping them from basic rights and knowledge was something that separated the slave owners from their slaves. The more the mistress was influenced by her husband the more upset she became when Douglass would be reading or writing. Since Douglass was deserted from learning by his mistress, he had to resort to the children of the town to teach him. He would use anytime he could to learn lessons from them.
Douglass’ mistress did not understand in the beginning that teaching a slave to read and write would allow him to get information that the slave owners might not want them to know. They could learn of abolitionist in the North and then may think they have a chance to make it. The mistress started the desire to read that Douglass would later pursue so relentlessly.