Frederick Douglass (1818-1895)
General Information
Frederick Douglass was born in a slave cabin in the Eastern shore of Maryland.
His full name was Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey.
His mother was Harriet Bailey (died 1826) His father was unknown but it might have been the white man that owned him, Aaron Anthony.
His first wife was Anna Murray (1838 -1882) They had five children: 1.Charles Remond Douglass 2.Frederick Douglass Jr. 3.Anne Douglass 4.Rosetta Douglass 5.Lewis Henry Douglass
Second wife was Helen Pitts Douglass (1884-1895) Douglass Life
Douglas was raised by his grandparent until the age of six when he was abandoned by his grandmother in a slave plantation. He was traumatized by his abandonment and saw it as betrayal.
Douglas became property of Hugh and Sophia Auld when he was eight years old. The mistress thought him the alphabet but stopped teaching him after her husband forbade her to continue because it was unlawful to teach a slave to read or write.
He exchange his food with the boy neighbors for lessons in reading and writing.
At the age of twelve Douglas purchased a book, “The Columbian Orator,” which helped him understand the power of spoken and written words and he used them as means to bring permanent and positive change.
At the age of fifteen Douglas became a field hand slave and suffered horrible treatment for many years.
Douglas tried to escape but was caught by his slavebreaker Edward Covey and the confrontation ended in a fist fight . Douglas victory gave him confidence, he never gave up and eventually he succeeded in escaping slavery in 1838, at the age of twenty. Douglass Professions
Douglass formed a Sabbath School at William Freeland’s plantation in 1835.
He became licensed preacher in 1839.
He was a successful recruiter of black soldiers during Civil War, including his son.
He was also a significant figure in the Republican party, becoming president of the freedman’s Bank, Federal Marshal, and a recorder of deeds for the District of Columbia.
He established and edited three African American Newspapers; The North Star, Frederick Douglass Paper, and Douglass’ Monthly. Douglass Famous Writings
Douglass published three versions of his autobiography:
The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (1845) sold 30,000 copies
My Bandage and My Freedom (1855) 18,000 copies sold
Life and Times of Frederick Douglass (1881)
The Heroic Slave ( 1853) his only work of fiction.
He also wrote many articles for his newspapers and speeches about antislavery and to support his contemporaries in the abolitionists and women’s rights movements.
QUIZ
How many times did Douglass published his autobiography?
How many times he got married?
How many children Douglass had with his first wife?
Was Douglass antislavery or a proslavery? Work Cited Baym, Nina, and Robert S. Levine. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. 8TH ed. Vol. B. New York: W. W. Norton, 2012. Print. https://youtu.be/Su-4JBEIhXY http://frederickdouglass.org/speeches/index.html http://frederickdouglass.org/speeches/index.html