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Frederick
Douglass, the man who became a strong
symbol and a vocal advocate for freedom
for American slavers, was born into
slavery, with the name Frederick Augustus
Washington Bailey. His mother was a black
slave and father was a white man. He once
said that he believed his father was his
mother's owner, but later said he did not
really know who his father was.
The laws
governing slavery, and the relations
between white and black were detailed and
severe. Whites were not allowed to teach
blacks how to read or write. The young
Frederick Douglass was taught to read by
his owner's wife, Sophia Auld. With his
basic reading skills, Douglass then
learned more from white children he knew,
as well as by observing the world and the
people around him as they went about their
normal day, using their reading and
writing skills. Douglass
escaped from slavery on September 3, 1838,
disguised as a free black sailor. Using
the other man's identification papers, he
boarded a train to Havre de Grace,
Maryland. He eventually ended up New York
City. His entire escape to freedom took
him less than twenty-four
hours. After
achieving his freedom, Douglass honed his
reading and writing ability. He became a
member of a black church in New Bedford,
Massachusetts, and he began attending
abolitionist meetings. An abolitionist was
a person who sought to abolish, or end,
slavery in America. The most famous
abolitionist in the 1840s was William
Lloyd Garrison. Garrison published a
weekly abolitionist newspaper called The
Liberator. Garrison often gave speeches
against the evils of slavery, and Douglass
first heard Garrison speak at the Bristol
Anti-Slavery Society's annual meeting in
1841. The two men met at this meeting, and
each was deeply impressed by the other.
Encouraged by Garrison, Douglass agreed to
speak at the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery
Society's annual convention in Nantucket.
Douglass described his life in slavery to
this fervent abolitionist audience. His
career as a public voice for the abolition
of slavery had begun. Two years
later, in 1843, Douglass took part in the
American Anti-Slavery Society's "Hundred
Conventions" project, a six-month tour of
meeting halls and churches the American
Midwest and along the east coast. In July,
1848, Douglass participated in the Seneca
Falls Convention. This convention,
attended by many abolitionists and
suffragettes, began what is considered the
starting point for the early feminist
movement. A suffragette was a person who
sought suffrage, better known today as
"the right to vote," for women. In the
1800s, women did not possess the right to
vote in political elections. Douglass and
other attendees to the convention signed
the "Declaration of Sentiments", which
called more rights for women. Taking his
abolitionist efforts to a new level,
Douglass began a newspaper dedicated to
the abolition of slavery. He called it the
North Star. Douglass
met with President Abraham Lincoln in 1863
and discussed the treatment of black
soldiers fighting in the Civil War.
Douglass was instrumental in convincing
President Lincoln and the U.S. Army to
raise regiments of former slaves and free
northern blacks to help fight the war and
liberate their enslaved brethren in the
South. He later met with President Andrew
Johnson on the subject of black suffrage.
Though the slaves were free after the war,
they did not get the right to vote until
the 15th Amendment to the U. S.
Constitution in July of 1868, over three
years after the war's end. In 1868,
Douglass actively supported the
presidential campaign of former Army
General Ulysses S. Grant, a Republican.
After winning the election, President
Grant enforced the Klan Act and the
Enforcement Act, two laws that aided the
newly freed blacks in the South against
white Southern attempts to dominate and
intimidate them. Among other things, these
laws suspended the right of habeas corpus
in South Carolina, and allowed the
President to send troops into the southern
states in order to suppress the Klu Klux
Klan, which at that time was using
terrorism to undermine the authority of
the United States government and to
prevent free blacks from voting and using
their other newly won rights. Douglass
wrote several books, the best known, and
the most influential book he wrote is his
autobiography, Narrative of the Life of
Frederick Douglass, an American Slave,
first published in 1845. It became a best
seller in the 1840s, and even today, in
the early 21st Century, it is considered
one of the most eloquent documents
describing slavery, as written by a man
who lived, suffered, and eventually
escaped from, the cruelty of Southern
slavery. Your
Ad Could Be Working For You On This
Page! Links
and Resources Internet
Links: Frederick
Douglass--Biography
of Frederick Douglass, the 19th century
abolitionist and escaped slave. Covers his
early life, his career as an abolitionist
writer, and his life after Emacipation.
Also includes a Douglass
timeline. Frederick
Douglass--Biographical
sketch based on PBS's Africans in America
series. Frederick
Douglass - Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia--Article
on the life of Frederick
Douglass. Frederick
Douglass National Historic
Site--Dedicated
to preserving the legacy of the Frederick
Douglass, the famous 19th century African
American abolitionist. Includes a Douglass
biography and information about his home
in Washington, D.C., now a
museum. New
York Times: Death of Fred Douglass
--1895
New York Times obituary for abolitionist
and author Frederick Douglass. Frederick
Douglass NHS - Douglass'
Life--Biography
of Frederick Douglass. Frederick
Douglass (American Memory, Library of
Congress)--Online
collection of papers and writings by
Frederick Douglass, the 19th century
African American abolitionist who escaped
from slavery. Also includes a Douglass
timeline and family tree. From the Library
of Congress. Frederick
Douglass--Frederick
Douglass once told a group of African
American students from a school in Talbot
County, Maryland, "What was possible for
me is possible for you. ... Biography
of Frederick
Douglass-Champion
of Civil and Women's RightsThe life,
pholosophy, achievements, and principles
of success of Frederick Douglass are used
to empower people to believe in themselves
and maximize their ... Frederick
Douglass: Narrative of the Life of
Frederick Douglass
...Narrative of the Life of Frederick
Douglass, An American Slave. Contents.
Preface by William Lloyd Garrison ·
Preface by Wendell Phillips · Chapter
I ... Frederick
Douglass : Keele
University
: American StudiesFrederick Douglass
National Historic Site (Washington DC) ...
Photograph of Frederick Douglass, courtesy
of the Library of Congress ... Africans
in America: Frederick Douglass
--Profile
of Frederick Douglass, the 19th century
abolitionist activist and escaped slave.
From the PBS series Africans in
America. Frederick
Douglass Museum & Cultural Center
--Dedicated
to the abolitionist. Frederick
Douglass Institute - West Chester
University --Academic
program that supports, promotes, and
advocates the study of Douglass and
multiculturalism as a way of broadening
our understanding of excellence in the
human condition. "The
History Guy" is a Registered Trademark. Contact
the webmaster |
Historyguy.com Search
Engine
Personal
Data Role
in the war years: Douglass was
instrumental in convincing the North to
recruit African-Americans into the Army.
Douglass also spoke and wrote in support
of the war effort Date
of Birth: February, 1818 Date
of Death: February 20, 1895 Occupation:
Public speaker, publisher,
author Post-War:
Public speaker, publisher, author,
United States Marshal (appointed ,
1877). Recorder of Deeds for the
District of Columbia (appointed ,
1881). Family
Connections: --Helen
Pitts Douglass --2nd
Wife (m. 1884) Political
Connections: --Ida
B. Wells-Abolitionist
& Suffragette.--Friend
and
political
ally of Douglass. --William
Lloyd Garrison -Abolitionist.
Political ally of Douglass. --Wendell
Phillips--Abolitionist.
Political ally of Douglass. Published
Works: "The
Heroic Slave." Autographs for
Freedom. Ed. Julia Griffiths
Boston: Jewett and Company, 1853.
174-239. My
Bondage and My Freedom (1855)
Life
and Times of Frederick Douglass
(1892) World
Biography-More
pages on contemporaries of Frederick
Douglass. Clara
Barton--
The "Angel of the Battlefield"
who brought nursing care to
wounded soldiers during the Civil
War and later founded the
American Red
Cross. Mathew
Brady--
The "Father of Photojournalism"
whose photos of Civil War
battlefields brought the horrors
of war home to civilians on the
homefront. Dr.
Benjamin
Rush--
Signer of the Declaration of
Independence, member of the
Constitutional Convention, noted
physician and ardent supporter
for the abolition of
slavery. Thomas
Nast-American
political cartoonist. General
George Armstrong
Custer--
Famous American Cavalry officer
who died at the Battle of the
Little Bighorn in
1876. General
Robert E.
Lee--
The commanding general for the
South in the American Civil
War.--New Lorenzo
de Zavala--First
Vice-President of the Republic of
Texas. Frederick
Douglass--
The famous orator, author, and
champion against
slavery. Site
Map--revision
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