Frederick Douglass (1817 - 1895) was an American social reformer, abolitionist, orator, and writer who escaped from slavery and became one of the most prominent voices of the 19th-century antislavery movement. [1] After his escape in 1838 he rose to national prominence as a lecturer and as the author of a widely read autobiography describing his life in bondage. [2] He edited antislavery newspapers, advised President Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War, and later held several federal posts, including U.S. Minister to Haiti. [3]
Early life and enslavement
Frederick Douglass was born into slavery in Talbot County, Maryland, around February 1817, and was separated from his mother as an infant. [1] As a boy he was sent to Baltimore, where he began to learn to read despite laws and customs that discouraged literacy among enslaved people. [2] He later described the acquisition of literacy as a turning point that awakened his desire for freedom, and he secretly taught other enslaved people to read.
Escape and abolitionist career
In September 1838 Douglass escaped from slavery, traveling by train and boat to New York City and then settling in New Bedford, Massachusetts. [1] He soon became involved with the abolitionist movement led by William Lloyd Garrison and began speaking about his experiences before antislavery audiences. [2] His eloquence and firsthand testimony made him one of the movement's most effective orators, and he lectured throughout the northern United States and, in the mid-1840s, in Britain and Ireland, where supporters raised funds to purchase his legal freedom. [3]
Writing and journalism
In 1845 Douglass published Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, the first of three autobiographies that became landmarks of American literature and antislavery argument. [1] He founded and edited the newspaper The North Star in Rochester, New York, in 1847, using the press to campaign against slavery and for equal rights. [2] A committed advocate of women's rights, he attended the 1848 Seneca Falls Convention and supported the cause of woman suffrage throughout his life. [1]
Civil War and public service
During the American Civil War, Douglass urged the Union to enlist Black soldiers and to make emancipation a war aim, and he met with President Abraham Lincoln to press for equal treatment of African American troops. [2] In the decades after the war he held a series of government appointments, including U.S. Marshal for the District of Columbia, Recorder of Deeds, and U.S. Minister Resident and Consul General to Haiti. [3]
Legacy
Douglass died on 20 February 1895 in Washington, D.C. [1] His autobiographies, speeches such as his 1852 address on the meaning of the Fourth of July to enslaved people, and his decades of public advocacy established him as a central figure in the histories of abolition and civil rights, and his writings continue to be widely studied. [3]
