 Frederick DouglassAbolitionist
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Frederick DouglassAbolitionist
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Frederick Douglass was born a slave in Maryland. His birth name was Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, but he later changed his name to Frederick Douglass.
slavery images
In his autobiography The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, he states that his father was a white man, possibly the master of the plantation. He was separated from his mother when he was an infant. He only saw her four or five times in his life, and she died when he was about seven years old.
He tells of witnessing the beating of slaves by unmerciful masters.
Slaves received a monthly allowance of food and a yearly allowance of clothing. Children too young to work only received two coarse linen shirts a year. If the shirts wore out, they had to go without clothes until time for the next allowance. Some of them were without clothing during the coldest months.
Their beds, if you could call them beds, consisted of only one coarse blanket. Once when he was young he stole a bag used for carrying corn and crawled into it each night to try to keep warm.
Frederick lived on the plantation of Colonel Lloyd. The Colonel had a large fine garden. In order to keep the slaves from stealing the fruit, he built a fence around it and put black sticky tar on it. If a slave was found with tar on him, he was whipped by the chief gardener.
Some of the overseers were extremely cruel to the slaves in their charge. They could murder a slave and there would be no consequences. It was not considered a crime either by the courts or the community.
Cornmeal was boiled to make a mush then put into troughs* and set down on the ground. The feeding of the slave children was similar to the feeding of pigs. Those who ate the fastest got the most.
When he was seven or eight years old Frederick went to Baltimore to the home of Mr. and Mrs. Auld to care for their young son. There for the first time he found kindness. It was Mrs. Auld who taught him his ABCs and how to read. She changed over time however, and at the insistence of her husband she quit teaching him. It was against the law for anyone to teach a slave to read.
He was so eager to learn he befriended the white boys who knew how to read. He would take bread from his master's house and use it to bribe the poor white boys to teach him how to read.
For the first time in his life he had enough to eat at the the Auld's house.
When he began reading the book The Columbian Orator* he began to be able to formulate his ideas about slavery. The more he read, the more he began to detest the enslavers. As he describes it he felt like "a man in a pit with no ladder to get out".
He began to hear about the "abolitionists"* and determined to learn more about them.
He knew that some day he would run away and be free, but first he had to learn how to write. He began by copying letters from Webster's Spelling Book .
He was hired out to a Mr. Covey to "break him" of his obstinance. The man was very cruel, but one day when Frederick fought back, things changed. Covey never whipped him again. This was the turning point. He knew that one day he must be a free man.
He was sixteen years old at the time. He remained a slave for four more years. He had several fights but was never whipped again.
He began a Sabbath school to teach the other slaves how to read and write. At one time he had over 40 students, mostly men and women.
Frederick and four other slaves made plans to run away, but they were betrayed and ended up in prison for a time.
Next he was apprenticed to a ship builder and learned the trade. Sometimes he made as much as $1.50 a day, but was compelled to turn the money over to his master when he got home. Once when he turned over $6 to the master, six cents was returned to him. He said it would have hurt him less if nothing had been returned because he knew rightfully he should have been able to keep the whole amount.
He finally escaped and made his way to New York where a kindly man, Mr. David Ruggles, took him in. He sent for Anna, his intended wife, and they were married. He was able to find a job and worked joyfully in his new found freedom.
After his book was published, he left the country for a time fearing his old master would try to get him back. He went to Ireland and spent two years in Great Britain. Friends in England raised money to purchase his freedom from Mr. Auld.
After returning to America he began to publish an abolitionist newspaper The North Star . Within eight years he had 3,000 subscribers. He became a great orator, speaking out against slavery. His words and his writing were so effective that some people doubted they had been written by a former slave.
When the Civil War started, Abraham Lincoln's aim was to preserve the union. Douglass urged the President to make emancipation* of the slaves the goal of the conflict. On January 1, 1863 his dream was realized with the Emancipation Proclamation.
Douglass had been instrumental in the formation of two black regiments during the war. Previously blacks were prevented from participating in the conflict.
Douglass home in Washington D.C.
He and his wife Anna had five children, and they built a fine home in Washintgon D.C. After her death he married Helen Pitts, the daughter of a white abolitionist leader. She was twenty years younger than he, and the marriage faced a storm of criticism because of the race difference.
Frederick Douglass served in several government posts and and in 1889 was appointed consul* general to the Republic of Haiti.
He died of heart failure after a speaking engagement to the National Council of Women in Washington, D.C.
Many of the facts in this story were taken from Frederick Douglass' autobiography.
(See first link below. You may want to "View - Text size" and enlarge the print twice.)
A frequent question: "Who wrote this biography and when was it written?" Look on this Reference Citations Chart.
Frederick Douglass
at Bio 4 Kids
Stories of Frederick Douglass
America's Story
My Own Books
personalize an online story about A Slave Family
by inserting your name in the story
Frederick Douglass Family Foundation
The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, by Frederick Douglass
Frederick Douglass Speech,"An Appeal to the British People"
recreated by actor Norman Matlock
Frederick Douglass
from pbs.org
The Frederick Douglass Papers
from American Memory
Frederick Douglass
quotes from his autobiography
Frederick Douglass
American Visionaries, take a tour of his Washington D.C. home
Autobiography of Frederick Douglass
Revolution to Reconstruction
The Frederick Douglass Papers
Yale University Press
Timeline of Douglass' Life
At biography.com search for Frederick Douglass.
Scroll the panel for the "Video & Audio Results".
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
By Frederick Douglass / Random House, Inc
This eloquent and dramatic autobiography of the early life of an American slave was first published in 1845, when its author was about twenty-eight years old and had just achieved his freedom. Although it was not uncommon during the era of American slavery for articulate Blacks who escaped to have their experiences published, Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass is unique among these "slave narratives" because of Douglass's eloquent power of expression. The publication of the book also marked the beginning of a career in which the militant and uncompromising Douglass emerged as the first great leader of Afro-Americans in the United States. The powers that enabled him to reach this position are abundantly clear in his Narrative, which, incidentally, was an invaluable source for Harriet Beecher Stowe while she was writing Uncle Tom's Cabin.
Setting the Record Straight: American History In Black & White, DVD
By Vision Video
Setting the Record Straight reintroduces this generation to the forgotten heroes and untold stories from our rich African American political history. In this DVD you'll learn about figures like: Rev. Richard Allen, Rev. Henry Highland Garnet, Rev. Hiram Rhodes Revels, Joseph Hayne Rainey, Jefferson Franklin Long, John Rock, John Roy Lynch and Rev. Frederick Douglass. These heroes - and many others - are presented in this inspiring documentary of African American political history. Coded for all regions. Approx. 98 minutes.
Frederick Douglass
By Coughlan Publishing
Simple text and photographs present the life of Frederick Douglass, who escaped slavery and became one of the leading abolitionist voices in America. 24 pages, softcover. Ages 9-12.
African-American History Bookmarks
By Edupress Inc
A great way to think about some of the great historical figures of America! This two-sided bookmark features the faces of Bessie Coleman, George Washington Carver, James P. Beckwourth, Matthew Hensen, Jesse Owens, Wilma Rudolph, Frederick Douglass, Marian Anderson, Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr., Ralph Ellison, Mary LcLeod Bethune, Booker T. Washington on the front, and a short sentence about their lives on the back. Their birth and death dates are also given. 36 bookmarks. 2" x 6".
From Word Central's Student Dictionary
by Merriam - Webster
(Pronunciation note: the schwa sound is shown by ə)
trough
Pronunciation: 'trof
Function: noun
a long shallow container for the drinking water or feed of domestic animals
abolitionist
Pronunciation: ab-ə-'lish-(ə-)nəst
Function: noun
a person who is in favor of abolishing especially slavery
abolish
Pronunciation: ə-'bahl-ish
Function: verb
to do away with completely : put an end to
emancipate
Pronunciation: i-'man(t)-sə-"pAt
Function: verb
to free from someone else's control or power; especially : to free from slavery
orator
Pronunciation: 'or-ət-ər
Function: noun
a public speaker noted for skill and power in speaking
consul
Pronunciation: 'kahn(t)-səl
Function: noun
an official appointed by a government to live in a foreign country to look after the
commercial interests of citizens of the appointing country
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