Frederick Douglass was born a slave by his mother who was a slave and was raped by her slaveholder, his father. He did not know anything other than being a slave and barely knew his own family. Douglass was always obedient to his slaveholders even when he knew they were in the wrong. He showed much courage throughout his life of being a slave that he narrated in his narrative. Douglass showed many acts of courage throughout this narrative. An important example was when he taught himself the alphabet and how to read and write, even though it was illegal for slaves to learn. One of his slaveholder’s had began teaching him letters before realizing she was in the wrong for educating a slave. At only ten or eleven he continued learning his letters