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Frederick
Douglass -
(1818-1895) 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 |
Citation http://www.worldbiography.net/douglass_frederick.html
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
in progress |