Who was Frederick Douglass?

Slave Years 1818 – 1895 Frederick Baily was born a slave in Maryland His mother, Harriet Baily was a slave. His father was a white man that he did not know. He did everything he could to learn to read.

At age 13 he began to look for ways to earn his freedom. He read the Columbian Orator, a collection of speeches dealing with freedom, courage, and democracy. He secretly taught other slaves to read.

Frederick was beaten quite often until he started to fight back. He spent time in prison after attempting an escape. He later became an expert as a caulker in a shipyard.

Frederick planned his escape north. Arrived in New York City, a free state. “A new world had opened upon me. Anguish and grief, like darkness and rain, may be depicted, but gladness and joy, like the rainbow, defy the skill of pen or pencil.” FD

Becoming an abolitionist New Bedford, MA became the new home of Frederick. He changed his name to Douglas in case slave catchers were in the area. He became involved with William Lloyd Garrison’s Liberator. “The paper became my meat and drink. My soul was set all on fire.” This led to his involvement in the abolitionist movement.

A skilled lecturer He was anticolonization. Mr. Garrison hired Frederick as a traveling lecturer for the abolitionist movement. The Herald of Freedom reported that Douglas: “has wit, arguments, sarcasm, pathos – all that first rate men show in their master effort.”

On the Way to Freedom 1845 Frederick wrote the Narrative of Frederick Douglas, an American Slave. He then traveled to England and continued the antislavery movement. In 1846 Douglas’s freedom was bought for $710.96 and he returned to America.

The North Star Newspaper He moved to Rochester, NY and started in own abolitionist paper called the North Star. Founded by Douglass in 1847 He was the editor and publisher of this four page weekly paper. Later became the Frederick Douglass Paper

Life in Rochester It took the help of many people and Frederick’s lecture circuit to keep up with the newspaper’s costs. He also helped Susan B. Anthony and Lucretia Mott in the women’s movement.

Changing viewpoints Frederick broke with William Lloyd Garrison’s passive movement and joined with John Brown. John Brown taught that “ slaveholders had forfeited their right to live, and that slaves had the right to gain their liberty in any way they could.”

Civil War Years Frederick was instrumental in recruiting black soldiers for the Union army. He met with Abraham Lincoln to discuss how to end slavery and was considered to be a good friend of the president. Even after emancipation, Frederick continued the fight for equality. Campaigned for voting rights for both black men and all women.

He would move to Washington DC and became involved with political figures. He wrote another book, the Life and Times of Frederick Douglas. Frederick died at the age of 77 in 1895 because of a heart attack.