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Biography Frederick Douglass: (born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, c. 1818–February 20, 1895) He was an American abolitionist, editor, orator, author, statesman and reformer. Called "The Sage of Anacostia" and "The Lion of Anacostia," Douglass was the most prominent African-American of his time, and one of the most influential lecturers and authors in American history.
Life as a slave - Frederick Douglass Biography
Frederick Douglass was born a slave in Talbot County, Maryland near Tucaho creek. As a boy, Douglass lived twelve miles from his mother and never learned the identity of his father. His mother, who often walked the twenty-four-mile round trip to visit him, died when he was nine years old. Douglass never knew anything about the identity of his father other than he was a white man, although some believe it was his master, Captain Aaron Anthony. When Anthony died, Douglass was taken into the possession of Mrs. Lucretia Auld, the wife of Captain Thomas Auld; the young man was sent to Baltimore to live with the Captain's brother, Hugh Auld.
Early Education - Biography Frederick Douglass
When Frederick Douglass was twelve, Hugh Auld's wife, Sophia, broke the law by teaching him to read. Mr. Auld disapproved, saying that if a slave learns to read, he would become dissatisfied with his condition and desire freedom; Frederick Douglass later referred to this as the first abolitionist speech he had ever heard. Another turning point was when he purchased a copy of the book The Columbian Orator: Containing a Variety of Original and Selected Pieces Together With Rules, Which Are Calculated to Improve Youth and Others, in the Ornamental and useful art of eloquence by Caleb Bingham, A. M. (ISBN 0814713238). It was the first book he ever owned. Frederick Douglass studied and memorized classic speeches by the Roman orator Cicero in order to find his own voice.
During this period, Douglas became attached to a deeply religious man named Uncle Lawson, who became a spiritual father to Douglass; the young man took every opportunity to be with him. Lawson told Douglass that it was possible for him to be delivered from bondage and he prayed to God that it would be so.
The fight with Edward Covey - Biography Frederick Douglass
In 1834, Hugh Auld rented Douglass out to a farmer named Edward Covey, a "slave breaker" of extraordinary cruelty. The 15-year-old Douglass was nearly broken psychologically but finally rebelled against the beatings and fought back. Covey lost out and never tried to beat Douglass again. This incident was kept quiet as Covey was ashamed of his defeat.
In 1836, Hugh and Sophia Auld hired Frederick Douglass out to work as a caulker in a Baltimore, Maryland shipyard and allowed him to keep a portion of his wages. Though Douglass became a master caulker, whites refused to work alongside him.
Escape to freedom - Biography Frederick Douglass
In 1837, Frederick Douglass joined the East Baltimore Mental Improvement Society, a debating club of free blacks. Through the society, he met a free African-American housekeeper, Anna Murray. Anna Murray sold a poster bed to buy sailor's papers needed for Frederick Douglass's escape. On September 3, 1838 he boarded a train in Maryland on his way to freedom from slavery, dressed in a sailor's uniform and carrying identification papers provided by a free black seaman. Though he did not match the physical description in the papers, the conductor gave them only a casual glance. From Baltimore, Douglass made his way to Wilmington, Delaware to Philadelphia to New York and finally to New Bedford, Massachusetts. This was by no means one of the most creative escapes of a slave; Henry Box Brown mailed himself from Virginia to Philadelphia in a journey taking 26 hours.
Garrison and speaking career - Frederick Douglass Biography
Frederick Douglass continued reading. He joined various organizations in New Bedford, including a black church. He subscribed to William Lloyd Garrison's weekly journal, the Liberator. He attended Abolitionist meetings. In 1841, he saw Garrison speak at the Bristol Anti-Slavery Society's annual meeting. Douglass was inspired by Garrison, later stating, "no face and form ever impressed me with such sentiments [the hatred of slavery] as did those of William Lloyd Garrison." Garrison, likewise, was impressed with Douglass, and mentioned him in the Liberator. Several days later Frederick Douglass gave his first speech at the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society's annual convention in Nantucket Island. 23 years old at the time, Douglass later said that his legs were shaking. He conquered his nervousness and gave an eloquent speech about his life as a slave.
In 1843, Douglass participated in the American Anti-Slavery Society's Hundred Conventions project; a six month tour of meeting halls throughout the east and middle west.
Douglass later became the publisher of a series of newspapers: "The North Star", "Frederick Douglass Weekly", "Frederick Douglass' Paper", "Douglass' Monthly" and the "New National Era". The motto of "The North Star" was "Right is of no sex--Truth is of no color--God is the Father of us all, and we are all Brethen".
His work spanned the years prior to and during the Civil War. He knew the radical abolitionist Captain John Brown but did not approve of Brown's plan to start an armed slave revolt. Douglass believed that the Harper's Ferry attack on federal property would enrage the American public.
Frederick Douglass conferred with President Abraham Lincoln in 1863 on the treatment of black soldiers, and with President Andrew Johnson on the subject of black suffrage. His early collaborators were the white abolitionists William Lloyd Garrison and Wendell Phillips. In the early 1850's, however, Douglass split with the Garrisonians over the issue of the United States Constitution.
Douglass' most well-known work is his autobiography Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, which was published in 1845. Critics frequently attacked the book as inauthentic, not believing that a black man could possibly have written so eloquent a work. It was an immediate bestseller and received overwhelmingly positive critical reviews. Within three years of publication, it had been reprinted nine times with 11,000 copies circulating in the United States and translated into French and Dutch.
The book's success had an unfortunate side effect when his friends and mentors became afraid that the publicity would draw the attention of his ex-owner, Hugh Auld, who could try to get his "property" back. They encouraged him to go on a tour in Ireland, as many other ex-slaves had done in the past. He set sail on the Cambria for Liverpool on August 16, 1845, and arrived in Ireland when the Irish famine was just starting.
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