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Frederick Douglass Biography

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1818-1895

Birth name: Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey

Abolitionist, writer, and public official

Born near Tuckahoe, Maryland, USA.

Endured and suffered the brutality of slavery.

He taught himself to read and write and eventually became a great orator speaking fearlessly about causes he cared about.

He was married twice, first to Anna Murray and a year after she died (1882), he married a white woman named Helen Pitts.

A&E's Frederick Douglass Biography

Frederick Douglass Biography

"I prayed for twenty years but received no answer until I prayed with my legs."

Frederick Douglass

Frederick Douglass was a great warrior fighting for the cause of freedom...his freedom and his fellow brothers and sisters. He was born into slavery in the state of Maryland in February, 1818. His mother, Harriet Bailey, was part American Indian and his father was white, but otherwise his identity remains unknown.

He was lucky in so far that he got the opportunity at eight years of age to teach himself to read and write (while serving as a household slave for a ship carpenter in Baltimore). It was here that he realized his education was the key to finding his freedom. "Going to live at Baltimore," Douglass would later say, "laid the foundation, and opened the gateway, to all my subsequent prosperity."

However, when he was 16 he was returned to the fields, which he was most unhappy about and he endured many beatings and terrible hunger and other cruel indignities. His masters were working to break his spirit because they could see he had a streak of independence and a mind of his own. At one point, as he was being tied up to a post to be whipped, he found some inner strength in his almost broken spirit and began to fight back...he never did get a whipping that time although he did fight his master Covey for two hours before it was over.

He then was apprenticed to a shipyard in Baltimore, and two years later (1838), he was successful in making the dream of freedom come true. He fled the city in a sailor's uniform to disguise himself and traveled by train, steamboat and then train again until arriving in New York City on September 4th. Words could not express his elation at finally leaving behind his old life in slavery. He later wrote, "A new world had opened upon me." "Anguish and grief, like darkness and rain, may be depicted, but gladness and joy, like the rainbow, defy the skill of pen or pencil."

In 1841 he delivered a stirring speech to the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, talking about his experiences with passion and humor. The President of this organization, William Garrison, was suitably impressed and hired Douglass to lecture throughout the North on behalf of the Society. "As a speaker, he has few equals," announced the Concord, Massachusetts, Herald of Freedom, "He has wit, arguments, sarcasm, pathos - all that first rate men show in their master effort."

He performed with so much natural genius and ability that some people complained against him, accusing him of lying about having been a slave..."How a man, only six years out of bondage, and who had never gone to school could speak with such eloquence - with such precision of language and power of thought - they were utterly at a loss to devise." (The Liberator)

Even though it meant great danger to his personal freedom he published Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave (1845) which included facts and names, in order to set the record straight with the public. This book sold very well making him quite well-known, which also increased his risk of being re-captured and returned to slavery.

He decided to flee to England which was something he had always wanted to do anyway. Here he lectured widely and he was amazed with how little racial prejudice he encountered..."I gaze around in vain for one who will question my equal humanity, claim me as a slave, or offer me an insult." He made many friends in England some of whom rallied around him, when he spoke of returning to the States, providing money to help him buy his freedom from his "kidnapper" Hugh Auld. On December 5, 1846, Hugh Auld signed the papers that announced the freedom of 28 year old Douglass and he returned to America in the spring of 1847.

He settled in Rochester, NY, where he decided to start his own abolitionist periodical with his colleague, Martin Delany, the North Star, which he edited for 16 years (it was named the Frederick Douglass's Paper after 1851). He became involved with the women's suffrage movement and actually encouraged the women activists to fight for their political rights when they were hesitant to do so. Susan B. Anthony became one of his life-long friends.

Susan B. Anthony: Rebel for the Cause DVD

He helped hundreds of runaway slaves get to safety during his years living in Rochester. After his house burned down he re-located in Washington D.C. as he was becoming more involved in politics. He met with Lincoln many times talking to him about the emancipation of his people and getting him to commit to taking action on his promises of abolishing slavery. He used his talent for public speaking for the good of his people at a time when they sorely needed a strong voice and leader.

He also held a series of government posts, including assistant secretary to the Santo Domingo Commission, marshal of the District of Columbia (1877-81), district recorder of deeds (1881-6), and ambassador to Haiti (1889-91). In 1881 he issued a final revision of his autobiography as Life and Times of Frederick Douglass.

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Resources: A&E's Biographies

As a young man, he experienced the brutality of slavery firsthand. As a leader of the abolitionist movement, he became one of America's great voices.

The Underground Railroad DVD
This important set explores the world of America's first civil rights movement through three powerful programs.