Frederick Douglass

A. Background
Born in a slave cabin, in February, near the town of Easton,
Maryland.
Douglass does not have any knowledge of his age since he has
not seen any documentation of an exact date.
He was the son of an African American slave woman and born
Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey.
Seperated from his mother when he was an infant and raised by
his grandparents.
Around the age of six, his grandmother took him to the
plantation of his master and left him there. Douglass struggled
with the betrayal of the abandonment.
When he was about eight he was sent to Baltimore to live as a
houseboy with Hugh and Sophia Auld, relatives of his master.
After his arrival his new mistress taught him the alphabet. Her
husband would not allow her to continue instruction because he
believed slaves did not deserve to obtain an education. Slave
owners were afraid that once slaves became educated they
would desire freedom.
Frederick took it upon himself to learn.
The boys who lived in his neighborhood began to teach him
lessons in reading and writing in exchange for food.
At twelve or thirteen Douglass purchased a copy of The
Columbian Orator, a popular schoolbook of the time, which
helped him to gain an understanding of the English language.
Douglass returned to the Eastern shore and became a field hand.
During this time he experienced the brutal conditions of slavery
in America.
He had an encounter with a slave breaker and their fight ended
in a draw, but the victory was Douglass'. This incident restored
his sense of self-worth.
At age 18 he attempted to escape, but failed and was returned to
Baltimore.
B. Escaping Slavery
Douglass met and fell in love with Anna Murray, a free black
woman who lived in Baltimore.
On September 3, 1838, Douglass successfully escaped slavery.
He did so by boarding a train that was headed north.
He dressed in a sailor's uniform that Murray gave him, along with
part of her savings to cover his travel expenses, he carried

identification papers which he had gathered from a free black

seaman.
Douglass crossed the wide Susquehanna River by the railroad's
steam-ferry at Havre de Grace to Perryville, then continued by
train across the state line to Wilmington, Delaware, a large port
at the head of the Delaware Bay. From there, he went by
steamboat along the Delaware River further northeast to the
"Quaker City" of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, an anti-slavery
stronghold, and continued to the safe house of noted abolitionist
David Ruggles in New York City. His journey to freedom took less
than 24 hours.
Frederick Douglass later wrote of his arrival in New York City:
i. I have often been asked, how I felt when first I found
myself on free soil. And my readers may share the same
curiosity. There is scarcely anything in my experience
about which I could not give a more satisfactory answer. A
new world had opened upon me. If life is more than breath,
and the 'quick round of blood,' I lived more in one day than
in a year of my slave life. It was a time of joyous
excitement which words can but tamely describe. In a
letter written to a friend soon after reaching New York, I
said: 'I felt as one might feel upon escape from a den of
hungry lions.' Anguish and grief, like darkness and rain,
may be depicted; but gladness and joy, like the rainbow,
defy the skill of pen or pencil.
Douglass arrived and immediately sent for Murray. They set up a
home together and were married on September 15, 1838, by a
black Presbyterian minister eleven days after Douglass's arrival
in New York.
C. A Free Man
The couple settled in New Bedford, Massachusetts.
After meeting and staying with Nathan and Mary Johnson, they
adopted Douglass as their married name.
He joined the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, an
independent black denomination established in New York City,
which counted among its members Sojourner Truth and Harriet
Tubman. Initially he wanted to join a white Methodist Church, but
refused when he found out it was segregated.
He became a licensed preacher in 1839 which helped him
improve his communication skills and he became very strong at
delivering powerful messages to his audience.

Douglass was involved in multiple organizations in New Bedford,

and participated in abolitionist meetings.
He was inspired by William Lloyd Garrison and subscribed to the
Liberator.
Douglass was encouraged to become an anti-slavery lecturer.
Douglass spoke at the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society's
annual convention in Nantucket.
Douglass joined speakers in the American Anti-Slavery Society's
"Hundred Conventions" project.
The tour lasted 6 months and took place at meeting halls
throughout the Eastern and Midwestern United States.
Douglass felt this would be wise so that he could continue to
speak without fear of his slave owner coming to claim his
property.
During the tour Douglass received negative feedback from a
majority of his audiences and was even beaten by angry mobs
on a few occasions.
Douglass spent two years in Ireland and Britain, where he gave
many lectures in churches and chapels. His popularity spread
and the places where he spoke became extremely crowded.
In 1846 Douglass met with Thomas Clarkson, one of the last
living British abolitionists, who had persuaded Parliament to
abolish slavery in Great Britain's colonies.
During this trip Douglass became legally free, due to British
supporters raising money to buy his freedom from his owner
Thomas Auld.
D. The Fight for Human Rights
Douglass started an abolitionist newspaper, The North Star, from
the basement of the Memorial AME Zion Church in Rochester,
New York. The North Star's motto was "Right is of no Sex Truth
is of no Color God is the Father of us all, and we are all
brethren."
Douglass supported Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony,
and many other women that were involved in the womens rights
movement.
He was the only African American to attend the Seneca Falls
convention and made a speech that persuaded many people to
support Douglass views.
Douglass fought for court action when it came to education for
all children. He felt as though education was the link to freedom
and prosperity for African American children.

E. Later

He continued to speak on behalf of African Americans rights and

womens rights and involved himself in conventions across the
country.
In 1872, Douglass became the first African American nominated
for Vice President of the United States.
He was nominated as Victoria Woodhull's running mate on the
Equal Rights Party ticket.
Douglass was unaware that he had been nominated and did not
acknowledge that he had been nominated.
He was also presidential elector at large for the State of New York
in the same year.
Years
Frederick Douglass lived the last eighteen years of his life in his
Cedar Hill residence in Anacostia, Washington D.C. that they
moved to in 1878.
Douglass published his last of three autobiographies, Life and
Times of Frederick Douglass. In the autobiography he explained
for the first time how he escaped slavery and named people that
assisted him. He also stated how he played a role in the
Underground Railroad.
There were several government positions that Douglass had in
his later years. In 1881, Douglass was the Recorder of Deeds for
the District of Columbia. In 1888, President Harrison selected him
to be the post of Minister to Haiti. In 1891, he accepted an offer
by the government of Haiti as commissioner to the Worlds
Columbian Exposition in Chicago.
Douglass wife, Ana, died on August 1882 after losing her battle
with illness. They were married for 40 years and two years after
Anas death, Douglass surprised his family and friends by
marrying his secretary, Helen Pitts. The controversy is that she
was white and 20 years younger than Douglass.
After they married his long term lover, Ottilie Assing, committed
suicide. Douglass children were displeased with the marriage.

SURPRISE!!! Douglass stated that first marriage had

been to someone the color of his mother, and his second to

someone the color of his father.
F. Douglass Death
February 20, 1895, after attending a women's rights meeting,
Frederick Douglass was struck by a heart attack and died at the
age of 77.
Crowds gathered to pay their respects at the Washington Church
where he lay in state.

He was buried and laid to rest in Rochester, N.Y.

Immediately following his death, some newspapers around the
country ran small obituaries and others wrote lengthy articles
about Douglass, his life, and his accomplishments.
Douglass played a critical role as an activist who fought for
human rights and the fair treatment of all human beings.
G. Quotes
If there is no struggle there is no progress. . . . Power concedes
nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.
Frederick Douglass
Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you
have the exact measure of the injustice and wrong which will be
imposed on them.
Frederick Douglass
I prefer to be true to myself, even at the hazard of incurring the
ridicule of others, rather than to be false, and to incur my own
abhorrence.
Frederick Douglass
No man can put a chain about the ankle of his fellow man
without at last finding the other end fastened about his own
neck.
Frederick Douglass
People might not get all they work for in this world, but they
must certainly work for all they get.
Frederick Douglass
I would unite with anybody to do right and with nobody to do
wrong.
Frederick Douglass
Believing, as I do firmly believe, that human nature, as a whole,
contains more good than evil, I am willing to trust the whole,
rather than a part, in the conduct of human affairs.
Frederick Douglass
To educate a man is to unfit him to be a slave.
Frederick Douglass
To deny education to any people is one of the greatest crimes
against human nature. It is easy to deny them the means of
freedom and the rightful pursuit of happiness and to defeat the
very end of their being.
Frederick Douglass
Let us have no country but a free country, liberty for all and
chains for none. Let us have one law, one gospel, equal rights for
all, and I am sure God's blessing will be upon us and we shall be
a prosperous and glorious nation.

Frederick Douglass
Sources
http://www.biography.com/people/frederick-douglass-9278324
http://www.frederickdouglass.org/douglass_bio.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Douglass
http://www.frederick-douglass-heritage.org/later-years-death/
https://historyengine.richmond.edu/episodes/view/186