Vocabulary 1.Abolition - putting an end to something by law 2.Brethren - brothers 3.Deliverance - the state of being saved from something dangerous 4.Liberate - to set free 5.Tactile - connected with the sense of touch

Frederick Douglass AN AMERICAN SLAVE

Frederick Douglass 1818 (?)

Early Life Born a slave in Talbot County, Maryland. Separated from his mother when he was still an infant. When he was about 12, his owner’s wife broke the law by teaching him some letters of the alphabet. At the age of 15, he was sent to a farmer who had a reputation as a “slave-breaker”

Escape At age 20, he escaped slavery by dressing in a sailor’s uniform and carrying identification papers provided by a free black seaman.

Anti-Slavery Society At age 23, he unexpectedly spoke at a meeting held by the Anti-Slavery Society (created by William Lloyd Garrison, a publisher of The Liberator, an abolitionist newspaper). He told his story and was encouraged to become an anti-slavery lecturer.

Meeting Abraham Lincoln At age 45, he met with President Abraham Lincoln (1863) on the treatment of black soldiers, and also worked with him to move slaves out of the South once the Civil War was over.

Later Life He age 77, he died of a massive heart attack in 1898 in his adopted hometown of Washington, D.C. He is buried in Mount Hope Cemetery in Rochester, New York. He had five children. He was an ordained minister. His wife, Anna Murray Douglas, died in In 1884, Douglass married Helen Pitts, a white feminist from New York.

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave Published in 1845 Critics attacked the book as inauthentic, not believing that a black man could possibly have produced so eloquent a piece of literature. The book was an immediate bestseller, selling over 11,000 copies and received overwhelmingly positive critical reviews.

His Reason: “Sincerely and earnestly hoping that this little book may do something toward throwing light on the American slave system, and hastening the glad day of deliverance to the millions of my brethren in bonds-- faithfully relying upon the power of truth, love, and justice, for success in my humble efforts—and solemnly pledging my self anew to the sacred cause.”

Quote “I would at times feel that learning to read had been a curse rather than a blessing. It had given me a view of my wretched condition, without the remedy. It opened my eyes to the horrible pit, but to no ladder upon which to get out.”

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