Although there are a number of similarities between Douglass’s narrative and Immanuel Kant’s essay, they are not entirely compatible.  Kant believes that nonconformity is the key to enlightenment, as well as choosing to seek out the truth regardless of the pressure and opinions of others.  He discusses the importance of not being a product of those around you, and to break free of what he calls “minority” or the state of being unable “to make use of one’s own understanding without direction from another.”
A significant part of Douglass’s progress had to do with him seeking out knowledge.  It also had a lot to do with his refusal to stay in a state of “minority” that so many of his fellow slaves had sunk into out of fear and solemnity.  However, his clever ability to grant himself an education without getting caught displays how far he went to be as seemingly “minority” as possible.  And by advancing his process of enlightenment in secret he certainly does not publicly “argue” which Kant says is the right of every man, unwarranting of punishment.   Also, within his narrative he makes it clear that a slave was never able to “publicly express his thoughts” regarding his treatment.  It was not an option, and the slave definitely could not highlight his dissatisfaction in detail like Kant’s taxpayer who complains about “the inappropriateness or even injustice of such decrees” in his enlightenment essay.  A slave had no choice but to keep his thoughts in his head, for even sharing his opinion with a stranger on the street could have extreme consequences as seen in the case of Colonel Lloyd and his unaware slave in chapter three.