frederick douglass a biography commonlit

• History Classics
• Your Profile
• Find History on Facebook (Opens in a new window)
• Find History on Twitter (Opens in a new window)
• Find History on YouTube (Opens in a new window)
• Find History on Instagram (Opens in a new window)
• Find History on TikTok (Opens in a new window)
• This Day In History
• History Podcasts
• History Vault

Frederick Douglass

By: History.com Editors

Updated: March 8, 2024 | Original: October 27, 2009

Frederick Douglass was a formerly enslaved man who became a prominent activist, author and public speaker. He became a leader in the abolitionist movement , which sought to end the practice of slavery, before and during the Civil War . After that conflict and the Emancipation Proclamation of 1862, he continued to push for equality and human rights until his death in 1895.

Douglass’ 1845 autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave , described his time as an enslaved worker in Maryland . It was one of three autobiographies he penned, along with dozens of noteworthy speeches, despite receiving minimal formal education.

An advocate for women’s rights, and specifically the right of women to vote , Douglass’ legacy as an author and leader lives on. His work served as an inspiration to the civil rights movement of the 1960s and beyond.

Who Was Frederick Douglass?

Frederick Douglass was born into slavery in or around 1818 in Talbot County, Maryland. Douglass himself was never sure of his exact birth date.

His mother was an enslaved Black women and his father was white and of European descent. He was actually born Frederick Bailey (his mother’s name), and took the name Douglass only after he escaped. His full name at birth was “Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey.”

After he was separated from his mother as an infant, Douglass lived for a time with his maternal grandmother, Betty Bailey. However, at the age of six, he was moved away from her to live and work on the Wye House plantation in Maryland.

From there, Douglass was “given” to Lucretia Auld, whose husband, Thomas, sent him to work with his brother Hugh in Baltimore. Douglass credits Hugh’s wife Sophia with first teaching him the alphabet. With that foundation, Douglass then taught himself to read and write. By the time he was hired out to work under William Freeland, he was teaching other enslaved people to read using the Bible .

As word spread of his efforts to educate fellow enslaved people, Thomas Auld took him back and transferred him to Edward Covey, a farmer who was known for his brutal treatment of the enslaved people in his charge. Roughly 16 at this time, Douglass was regularly whipped by Covey.

Frederick Douglass Escapes from Slavery

After several failed attempts at escape, Douglass finally left Covey’s farm in 1838, first boarding a train to Havre de Grace, Maryland. From there he traveled through Delaware , another slave state, before arriving in New York and the safe house of abolitionist David Ruggles.

Once settled in New York, he sent for Anna Murray, a free Black woman from Baltimore he met while in captivity with the Aulds. She joined him, and the two were married in September 1838. They had five children together.

From Slavery to Abolitionist Leader

After their marriage, the young couple moved to New Bedford, Massachusetts , where they met Nathan and Mary Johnson, a married couple who were born “free persons of color.” It was the Johnsons who inspired the couple to take the surname Douglass, after the character in the Sir Walter Scott poem, “The Lady of the Lake.”

In New Bedford, Douglass began attending meetings of the abolitionist movement . During these meetings, he was exposed to the writings of abolitionist and journalist William Lloyd Garrison.

The two men eventually met when both were asked to speak at an abolitionist meeting, during which Douglass shared his story of slavery and escape. It was Garrison who encouraged Douglass to become a speaker and leader in the abolitionist movement.

By 1843, Douglass had become part of the American Anti-Slavery Society’s “Hundred Conventions” project, a six-month tour through the United States. Douglass was physically assaulted several times during the tour by those opposed to the abolitionist movement.

In one particularly brutal attack, in Pendleton, Indiana , Douglass’ hand was broken. The injuries never fully healed, and he never regained full use of his hand.

In 1858, radical abolitionist John Brown stayed with Frederick Douglass in Rochester, New York, as he planned his raid on the U.S. military arsenal at Harper’s Ferry , part of his attempt to establish a stronghold of formerly enslaved people in the mountains of Maryland and Virginia. Brown was caught and hanged for masterminding the attack, offering the following prophetic words as his final statement: “I, John Brown, am now quite certain that the crimes of this guilty land will never be purged away but with blood.”

'Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass'

Two years later, Douglass published the first and most famous of his autobiographies, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave . (He also authored My Bondage and My Freedom and Life and Times of Frederick Douglass).

In it Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass , he wrote: “From my earliest recollection, I date the entertainment of a deep conviction that slavery would not always be able to hold me within its foul embrace; and in the darkest hours of my career in slavery, this living word of faith and spirit of hope departed not from me, but remained like ministering angels to cheer me through the gloom.”

He also noted, “Thus is slavery the enemy of both the slave and the slaveholder.”

Frederick Douglass in Ireland and Great Britain

Later that same year, Douglass would travel to Ireland and Great Britain. At the time, the former country was just entering the early stages of the Irish Potato Famine , or the Great Hunger.

While overseas, he was impressed by the relative freedom he had as a man of color, compared to what he had experienced in the United States. During his time in Ireland, he met the Irish nationalist Daniel O’Connell , who became an inspiration for his later work.

In England, Douglass also delivered what would later be viewed as one of his most famous speeches, the so-called “London Reception Speech.”

In the speech, he said, “What is to be thought of a nation boasting of its liberty, boasting of its humanity, boasting of its Christianity , boasting of its love of justice and purity, and yet having within its own borders three millions of persons denied by law the right of marriage?… I need not lift up the veil by giving you any experience of my own. Every one that can put two ideas together, must see the most fearful results from such a state of things…”

Frederick Douglass’ Abolitionist Paper

When he returned to the United States in 1847, Douglass began publishing his own abolitionist newsletter, the North Star . He also became involved in the movement for women’s rights .

He was the only African American to attend the Seneca Falls Convention , a gathering of women’s rights activists in New York, in 1848.

He spoke forcefully during the meeting and said, “In this denial of the right to participate in government, not merely the degradation of woman and the perpetuation of a great injustice happens, but the maiming and repudiation of one-half of the moral and intellectual power of the government of the world.”

He later included coverage of women’s rights issues in the pages of the North Star . The newsletter’s name was changed to Frederick Douglass’ Paper in 1851, and was published until 1860, just before the start of the Civil War .

Frederick Douglass Quotes

In 1852, he delivered another of his more famous speeches, one that later came to be called “What to a slave is the 4th of July?”

In one section of the speech, Douglass noted, “What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? I answer: a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. To him, your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless; your denunciations of tyrants, brass fronted impudence; your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mockery; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanksgivings, with all your religious parade, and solemnity, are, to him, mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy—a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages.”

For the 24th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation , in 1886, Douglass delivered a rousing address in Washington, D.C., during which he said, “where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is made to feel that society is an organized conspiracy to oppress, rob and degrade them, neither persons nor property will be safe.”

Frederick Douglass During the Civil War

During the brutal conflict that divided the still-young United States, Douglass continued to speak and worked tirelessly for the end of slavery and the right of newly freed Black Americans to vote.

Although he supported President Abraham Lincoln in the early years of the Civil War, Douglass fell into disagreement with the politician after the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863, which effectively ended the practice of slavery. Douglass was disappointed that Lincoln didn’t use the proclamation to grant formerly enslaved people the right to vote, particularly after they had fought bravely alongside soldiers for the Union army.

It is said, though, that Douglass and Lincoln later reconciled and, following Lincoln’s assassination in 1865, and the passage of the 13th amendment , 14th amendment , and 15th amendment to the U.S. Constitution (which, respectively, outlawed slavery, granted formerly enslaved people citizenship and equal protection under the law, and protected all citizens from racial discrimination in voting), Douglass was asked to speak at the dedication of the Emancipation Memorial in Washington, D.C.’s Lincoln Park in 1876.

Historians, in fact, suggest that Lincoln’s widow, Mary Todd Lincoln , bequeathed the late-president’s favorite walking stick to Douglass after that speech.

In the post-war Reconstruction era, Douglass served in many official positions in government, including as an ambassador to the Dominican Republic, thereby becoming the first Black man to hold high office. He also continued speaking and advocating for African American and women’s rights.

In the 1868 presidential election, he supported the candidacy of former Union general Ulysses S. Grant , who promised to take a hard line against white supremacist-led insurgencies in the post-war South. Grant notably also oversaw passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1871 , which was designed to suppress the growing Ku Klux Klan movement.

Frederick Douglass: Later Life and Death

In 1877, Douglass met with Thomas Auld , the man who once “owned” him, and the two reportedly reconciled.

Douglass’ wife Anna died in 1882, and he married white activist Helen Pitts in 1884.

In 1888, he became the first African American to receive a vote for President of the United States, during the Republican National Convention. Ultimately, though, Benjamin Harrison received the party nomination.

Douglass remained an active speaker, writer and activist until his death in 1895. He died after suffering a heart attack at home after arriving back from a meeting of the National Council of Women , a women’s rights group still in its infancy at the time, in Washington, D.C.

His life’s work still serves as an inspiration to those who seek equality and a more just society.

HISTORY Vault: Black History

Watch acclaimed Black History documentaries on HISTORY Vault.

Frederick Douglas, PBS.org . Frederick Douglas, National Parks Service, nps.gov . Frederick Douglas, 1818-1895, Documenting the South, University of North Carolina , docsouth.unc.edu . Frederick Douglass Quotes, brainyquote.com . “Reception Speech. At Finsbury Chapel, Moorfields, England, May 12, 1846.” USF.edu . “What to the slave is the 4th of July?” TeachingAmericanHistory.org . Graham, D.A. (2017). “Donald Trump’s Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass.” The Atlantic .

Sign up for Inside History

Get HISTORY’s most fascinating stories delivered to your inbox three times a week.

By submitting your information, you agree to receive emails from HISTORY and A+E Networks. You can opt out at any time. You must be 16 years or older and a resident of the United States.

More details : Privacy Notice | Terms of Use | Contact Us

Frederick Douglass

Frederick Douglass was a leader in the abolitionist movement, an early champion of women’s rights and author of ‘Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass.’

(1818-1895)

Who Was Frederick Douglass?

Among Douglass’ writings are several autobiographies eloquently describing his experiences in slavery and his life after the Civil War , including the well-known work Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave .

Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey was born around 1818 into slavery in Talbot County, Maryland. As was often the case with slaves, the exact year and date of Douglass' birth are unknown, though later in life he chose to celebrate it on February 14.

Douglass initially lived with his maternal grandmother, Betty Bailey. At a young age, Douglass was selected to live in the home of the plantation owners, one of whom may have been his father.

His mother, who was an intermittent presence in his life, died when he was around 10.

Learning to Read and Write

Defying a ban on teaching slaves to read and write, Baltimore slaveholder Hugh Auld’s wife Sophia taught Douglass the alphabet when he was around 12. When Auld forbade his wife to offer more lessons, Douglass continued to learn from white children and others in the neighborhood.

It was through reading that Douglass’ ideological opposition to slavery began to take shape. He read newspapers avidly and sought out political writing and literature as much as possible. In later years, Douglass credited The Columbian Orator with clarifying and defining his views on human rights.

Douglass shared his newfound knowledge with other enslaved people. Hired out to William Freeland, he taught other slaves on the plantation to read the New Testament at a weekly church service.

Interest was so great that in any week, more than 40 slaves would attend lessons. Although Freeland did not interfere with the lessons, other local slave owners were less understanding. Armed with clubs and stones, they dispersed the congregation permanently.

With Douglass moving between the Aulds, he was later made to work for Edward Covey, who had a reputation as a "slave-breaker.” Covey’s constant abuse nearly broke the 16-year-old Douglass psychologically. Eventually, however, Douglass fought back, in a scene rendered powerfully in his first autobiography.

After losing a physical confrontation with Douglass, Covey never beat him again. Douglass tried to escape from slavery twice before he finally succeeded.

Wife and Children

Douglass married Anna Murray, a free Black woman, on September 15, 1838. Douglass had fallen in love with Murray, who assisted him in his final attempt to escape slavery in Baltimore.

On September 3, 1838, Douglass boarded a train to Havre de Grace, Maryland. Murray had provided him with some of her savings and a sailor's uniform. He carried identification papers obtained from a free Black seaman. Douglass made his way to the safe house of abolitionist David Ruggles in New York in less than 24 hours.

Once he had arrived, Douglass sent for Murray to meet him in New York, where they married and adopted the name of Johnson to disguise Douglass’ identity. Anna and Frederick then settled in New Bedford, Massachusetts, which had a thriving free Black community. There they adopted Douglass as their married name.

Douglass and Anna had five children together: Rosetta, Lewis Henry, Frederick Jr., Charles Redmond and Annie, who died at the age of 10. Charles and Rosetta assisted their father in the production of his newspaper The North Star . Anna remained a loyal supporter of Douglass' public work, despite marital strife caused by his relationships with several other women.

After Anna’s death, Douglass married Helen Pitts, a feminist from Honeoye, New York. Pitts was the daughter of Gideon Pitts Jr., an abolitionist colleague. A graduate of Mount Holyoke College , Pitts worked on a radical feminist publication and shared many of Douglass’ moral principles.

Their marriage caused considerable controversy, since Pitts was white and nearly 20 years younger than Douglass. Douglass’ children were especially displeased with the relationship. Nonetheless, Douglass and Pitts remained married until his death 11 years later.

Abolitionist

After settling as a free man with his wife Anna in New Bedford in 1838, Douglass was eventually asked to tell his story at abolitionist meetings, and he became a regular anti-slavery lecturer.

The founder of the weekly journal The Liberator , William Lloyd Garrison , was impressed with Douglass’ strength and rhetorical skill and wrote of him in his newspaper. Several days after the story ran, Douglass delivered his first speech at the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society's annual convention in Nantucket.

Crowds were not always hospitable to Douglass. While participating in an 1843 lecture tour through the Midwest, Douglass was chased and beaten by an angry mob before being rescued by a local Quaker family.

Following the publication of his first autobiography in 1845, Douglass traveled overseas to evade recapture. He set sail for Liverpool on August 16, 1845, and eventually arrived in Ireland as the Potato Famine was beginning. He remained in Ireland and Britain for two years, speaking to large crowds on the evils of slavery.

During this time, Douglass’ British supporters gathered funds to purchase his legal freedom. In 1847, the famed writer and orator returned to the United States a free man.

'The North Star'

Upon his return, Douglass produced some abolitionist newspapers: The North Star , Frederick Douglass Weekly , Frederick Douglass' Paper , Douglass' Monthly and 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 brethren."

DOWNLOAD BIOGRAPHY'S FREDERICK DOUGLASS FACT CARD

'Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass'

In New Bedford, Massachusetts, Douglass joined a Black church and regularly attended abolitionist meetings. He also subscribed to Garrison's The Liberator .

At the urging of Garrison, Douglass wrote and published his first autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave , in 1845. The book was a bestseller in the United States and was translated into several European languages.

Although the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass garnered Douglass many fans, some critics expressed doubt that a former enslaved person with no formal education could have produced such elegant prose.

Other Books by Frederick Douglass

Douglass published three versions of his autobiography during his lifetime, revising and expanding on his work each time. My Bondage and My Freedom appeared in 1855.

In 1881, Douglass published Life and Times of Frederick Douglass , which he revised in 1892.

Women’s Rights

In addition to abolition, Douglass became an outspoken supporter of women’s rights. In 1848, he was the only African American to attend the Seneca Falls convention on women's rights. Elizabeth Cady Stanton asked the assembly to pass a resolution stating the goal of women's suffrage. Many attendees opposed the idea.

Douglass, however, stood and spoke eloquently in favor, arguing that he could not accept the right to vote as a Black man if women could not also claim that right. The resolution passed.

Yet Douglass would later come into conflict with women’s rights activists for supporting the Fifteenth Amendment , which banned suffrage discrimination based on race while upholding sex-based restrictions.

Civil War and Reconstruction

By the time of the Civil War , Douglass was one of the most famous Black men in the country. He used his status to influence the role of African Americans in the war and their status in the country. In 1863, Douglass conferred with President Abraham Lincoln regarding the treatment of Black soldiers, and later with President Andrew Johnson on the subject of Black suffrage.

President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation , which took effect on January 1, 1863, declared the freedom of enslaved people in Confederate territory. Despite this victory, Douglass supported John C. Frémont over Lincoln in the 1864 election, citing his disappointment that Lincoln did not publicly endorse suffrage for Black freedmen.

Slavery everywhere in the United States was subsequently outlawed by the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution .

Douglass was appointed to several political positions following the war. He served as president of the Freedman's Savings Bank and as chargé d'affaires for the Dominican Republic.

After two years, he resigned from his ambassadorship over objections to the particulars of U.S. government policy. He was later appointed minister-resident and consul-general to the Republic of Haiti, a post he held between 1889 and 1891.

In 1877, Douglass visited one of his former owners, Thomas Auld. Douglass had met with Auld's daughter, Amanda Auld Sears, years before. The visit held personal significance for Douglass, although some criticized him for the reconciliation.

Vice Presidential Candidate

Douglass became the first African American nominated for vice president of the United States as Victoria Woodhull 's running mate on the Equal Rights Party ticket in 1872.

Nominated without his knowledge or consent, Douglass never campaigned. Nonetheless, his nomination marked the first time that an African American appeared on a presidential ballot.

Douglass died on February 20, 1895, of a massive heart attack or stroke shortly after returning from a meeting of the National Council of Women in Washington, D.C. He was buried in Mount Hope Cemetery in Rochester, New York.

QUICK FACTS

• Name: Frederick Douglass
• Birth Year: 1818
• Birth State: Maryland
• Birth City: Tuckahoe
• Birth Country: United States
• Gender: Male
• Best Known For: Frederick Douglass was a leader in the abolitionist movement, an early champion of women’s rights and author of ‘Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass.’
• Interesting Facts
• Frederick Douglass first learned to read and write at the age of 12 from a Baltimore slaveholder's wife.
• To much controversy, Douglass married white abolitionist feminist Helen Pitts.
• Douglass became the first African American nominated for vice president of the United States.
• Death Year: 1895
• Death date: February 20, 1895
• Death City: Washington, D.C.
• Death Country: United States

We strive for accuracy and fairness.If you see something that doesn't look right, contact us !

CITATION INFORMATION

• Article Title: Frederick Douglass Biography
• Author: Biography.com Editors
• Website Name: The Biography.com website
• Url: https://www.biography.com/activists/frederick-douglass
• Access Date:
• Publisher: A&E Television Networks
• Last Updated: July 15, 2021
• Original Published Date: April 3, 2014
• If there is no struggle there is no progress. . . . Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• People might not get all they work for in this world, but they must certainly work for all they get.
• I would unite with anybody to do right and with nobody to do wrong.
• Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is made to feel that society is an organized conspiracy to oppress, rob and degrade them, neither persons nor property will be safe.
• The life of the nation is secure only while the nation is honest, truthful, and virtuous.
• [I]n all the relations of life and death, we are met by the color line. We cannot ignore it if we would, and ought not if we could.
• If I ever had any patriotism, or any capacity for the feeling, it was whipt out of me long since by the lash of the American soul-drivers.
• The ground which a colored man occupies in this country is, every inch of it, sternly disputed.
• The lesson of all the ages on this point is, that a wrong done to one man is a wrong done to all men. It may not be felt at the moment, and the evil day may be long delayed, but so sure as there is a moral government of the universe, so sure will the harvest of evil come.
• 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.
• To educate a man is to unfit him to be a slave.
• 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.
• There is no negro problem. The problem is whether the American people have loyalty enough, honor enough, patriotism enough, to live up to their own constitution.
• 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.

Abolitionists

Harriet Tubman

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Abraham Lincoln

Susan B. Anthony

Lucretia Mott

Harriet Beecher Stowe

Alexandre Dumas

Henry David Thoreau

Mary Ann Shadd Cary

James Garfield

Jean-Jacques Dessalines

Frederick Douglass

One of the most prominent civil rights figures in history, Frederick Douglass escaped from slavery and spent his life advocating for social justice, holding a place within the ranks of such prominent figures as President Lincoln, William Lloyd Garrison, Harriet Tubman and Susan B. Anthony.  Douglass saw the fruits of his labor with the 13th Amendment, but was more than aware of the long struggle African-Americans would face in the years to come.

Born into slavery in Bay-side Talbot County, Maryland in 1818, Douglass, born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, was the son of Harriet Bailey and a white man.  Separated from his mother as an infant, he lived with his maternal grandmother Betty Bailey until the age of seven. 

At the age of twelve, Douglass was sent to Baltimore to serve the family of Hugh and Lucretia Auld, “a kind and tender-hearted woman.” It was Mrs. Auld who first taught him the alphabet, in spite of the fact that she was breaking the law by doing so.  Douglass, aware of the power of a good education, secretly taught himself to read and write, resolving to one day escape to freedom.

In 1832, Douglass was sent out of the city to the plantation of Hugh’s brother, Thomas Auld.  Thomas, in turn, sent Douglass to the notorious “negro-breaker and slave-driver” Edward Covey.  Covey prided himself on his ability to crush any slave’s will to resist enslavement and beat Douglass savagely.  One day when he was sixteen Douglass fought back and physically bested Covey, who never whipped him again.

On September 3, 1838, dressed in a sailor’s uniform and carrying papers provided by a free black seaman, Frederick Douglass escaped aboard a train bound for Havre de Grace, Maryland.  From there, he continued to New York and eventually New Bedford, Massachusetts, where he settled.  As he would remark to audiences years later: “I appear before you this evening as a thief and a robber.  I stole this head, these limbs, this body from my master and ran off with them.” Douglass soon married Anna Murray, a free black woman he had met while enslaved in Baltimore, with whom he had five children: Charles, Rosetta, Lewis, Frederick Jr. and Annie, who died at the age of ten. 

In 1841, while attending anti-slavery meetings Douglass met William Lloyd Garrison, founder of The Liberator and one of the most outspoken abolitionists in the country.  Garrison encouraged Douglass to share his story, catapulting his career.  Douglass began giving lectures at abolitionist conventions, quickly earning a reputation as an eloquent and compelling speaker.

In 1845, Douglass, with the encouragement of Garrison and Wendell Phillips, another prominent abolitionist, published his celebrated Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave.  The work was an instant success.  Critics charged that it was so well-written that it could never have been composed by a black man.  The narrative made Douglass a widely-known public figure, even beyond abolitionist circles, which led some of his allies to fear for his safety, lest his former owner Thomas Auld come looking for his now-famous ‘property.’ Accordingly, Douglass sailed for the United Kingdom later that year.  Douglass remained abroad for two years, during which time a group of English admirers made arrangements to purchase his freedom. 

During the turbulent decade of the 1850s Douglass worked tirelessly for emancipation, breaking with William Lloyd Garrison over his approach (Garrison would publicly burn copies of the Constitution, which he regarded as a patently pro-slavery document) in order to publish his own newspaper, the North Star.  By the Civil War Frederick Douglass was the most prominent black man in the United States.  During the war Douglass consistently petitioned President Lincoln to make emancipation an explicit war aim and to sanction the raising of colored regiments.  Two of his sons served in the 54th Massachusetts regiment, the first to be comprised of African-American soldiers.

After seeing his life’s work vindicated with the passage of the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments to the Constitution, Douglass held various government posts and continued to labor through the period of Reconstruction and beyond to secure civil rights for freedmen, sagely remarking, “Verily, the work does not end with the abolition of slavery, but only begins.” 

Douglass moved to Washington D.C. in 1877 and became the editor of the New National Era.  His wife Anna died five years later.  Douglass was remarried two years later to Helen Pitts, a white feminist and the daughter of an abolitionist colleague and friend, Gideon Pitts Jr.  In 1888, he became the first African-American to receive a vote for President of the United States in a major party’s roll call at the Republican National Convention in Chicago.  Frederick Douglass died February 20, 1895, and is buried in the Mount Hope Cemetery in Rochester.

Susan B. Anthony

Elizabeth Cady Stanton

John M. Whitehead

You may also like.

• Skip to global NPS navigation
• Skip to this park navigation
• Skip to the main content
• Skip to this park information section
• Skip to the footer section

Exiting nps.gov

Alerts in effect, "i would unite with anybody to do right and with nobody to do wrong.".

Frederick Douglass spent his life fighting for justice and equality. Born into slavery in 1818, he escaped as a young man and became a leading voice in the abolitionist movement. People everywhere still find inspiration today in his tireless struggle, brilliant words, and inclusive vision of humanity. Douglass's legacy is preserved here at Cedar Hill, where he lived his last 17 years. Read More

The only way to get inside Frederick Douglass's home is to be on a guided tour. Rangers lead tours at scheduled times.

Born enslaved, Frederick Douglass escaped slavery and became an abolitionist, equal rights advocate, statesman, and more.

Cedar Hill was the name of Frederick Douglass's estate in Anacostia.

This is a competition for students to test their public speaking skills and for them to become great orators like Frederick Douglass.

The site cares for thousands of original objects that belonged to the Douglasses.

Browse historic images of Frederick Douglass, his family, and Cedar Hill.

As a young woman, Anna Murray helped Frederick Bailey escape from slavery. They adopted the name "Douglass" after marrying.

The Growlery was a place where Frederick Douglass went to read, write, and think. See it during your visit!

After Frederick Douglass passed away, his second wife Helen preserved Cedar Hill as a historic house museum.

Last updated: March 2, 2024

Park footer

Contact info, mailing address:.

1411 W Street SE Washington, DC 20020

771-208-1499 This phone number is to the ranger offices at the Frederick Douglass National Historic Site.

Stay Connected

Explore subjects and stories related to this park.

Book Review: Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

by David T. Dixon

Posted on October 12, 2021

Frederick Douglass hardly needs an introduction to students of the American Civil War. David Blight’s 2018 Pulitzer Prize-winning biography of one of the most famous nineteenth century persons of color stands alone as the definitive treatment of his life. But in 1845, Douglass was not yet a world-renowned orator and civil rights champion. His autobiography was his first appearance to a broad public audience on a national stage and featured a man of superior intelligence, incisive analytical skills, and a remarkable facility for language. Many contemporary white readers only familiar with racist tropes and stereotypes were taken aback by Douglass’s intellect and eloquence and shocked by his candor.

“I often found myself regretting my own existence and wishing myself dead,” recalled Douglass in 1845, less than seven years after he escaped from bondage. “I have no doubt that I should have killed myself, or done something for which I should have been killed.” The depths of anguish and despair in this first of Douglass’s three autobiographies offered readers a stark, intimate glimpse of the insidious evils of chattel slavery. First-hand accounts of formerly enslaved people exposed the hypocrisy of slaveholders’ assertions that this savage institution was divinely ordained. “Between the Christianity of this land, and the Christianity of Christ,” Douglass contended, “I recognize the widest possible difference.”

Douglass’s compelling narrative remains relevant today as Americans grapple with realizing the elusive ideal of equality promised in the Declaration of Independence, envisioned by Lincoln in the Gettysburg Address, and fought for by civil rights activists like Martin Luther King and John L. Lewis. In the 21 st century, the battle over Civil War memory continues in earnest amid renewed racial tensions. Reading Douglass’s autobiography alongside state secession ordinances does much to dispel the final, futile whimpers of present-day Confederate apologists and the Lost Cause lies of happy, contented enslaved people.

Douglass himself anticipated and exposed the sham of future Lost Cause mythology when he recalled traditional Christmas holiday celebrations wherein ostensibly benevolent masters granted enslaved workers a weeklong furlough from their labors. This custom, according to Douglass, was a “gross fraud” designed to “disgust their slaves with freedom” by plying them with liquor, thereby “plunging them into the lowest depths of dissipation.” Feeling as if they might as well be “slaves to men as to rum,” this cunning deceit was designed to manipulate enslaved people into contemplating a scant difference between prospective liberty and their present condition. Why run away if freedom consists of depravity and debauchery?

Douglass finally found hope, redemption, and the courage to escape his fate not in faith, but through literacy. His arduous and secretive efforts to teach himself and others to read and write exposed him to the writings of abolitionists and future white allies like William Lloyd Garrison while arming himself with the rhetorical weapons and confidence he would need to survive as a free man in a North dominated by white supremacists. Douglass dared not reveal intimate details of his escape, lest he endanger those who helped him along his path to freedom. Once the book had been published, Douglass himself was forced to flee to England for his own personal safety.

Mercer University Press’s reprint of Douglass’s classic bestseller (it went through nine editions and had sold more than 30,000 copies by 1860) features an unusual forty-eight-page introduction by Scott C. Williamson, Professor of Theological Ethics at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary. Mercer published Williamson’s biography of Douglass in 2002, focusing on his moral and religious thought.

Williamson begins his lengthy introduction by comparing Douglass’s escape to freedom with Henry David Thoreau’s escape to Walden Pond in a quest to live a simpler life. It is a novel and jarring comparison that may strike a discordant note with some readers accustomed to more traditional approaches to the editing of slave narratives. Is Williamson trying too hard to impose the interdisciplinary approach of Mercer’s “Voices of the American Diaspora Series” by inventing this unusual juxtaposition? Thoreau’s longings for solitude certainly appears as a rich white man’s problem when contrasted with an enslaved person’s dire dilemma and burning desire for freedom; yet Williamson argues that by comparing these two seekers, one may discern similarities in their experiences as each yearned for different kinds of freedom. The contrast between their relative stations in life holds more promise for understanding the immense gap between the black and white experiences in the mid-nineteenth century; a yawning chasm of racial intolerance and injustice that vexes us to this day.

No understanding of the Civil War period is complete without some knowledge of Frederick Douglass. To read him tell of his experiences as an enslaved person and share his hardship, hopes, and setbacks is a moving exercise in fathoming what the publisher calls “the waking nightmare of American slavery.”

David T. Dixon is the author of Radical Warrior: August Willich’s Journey from German Revolutionary to Union General (Univ. of Tennessee Press, 2020).

Share this:

2 responses to book review: narrative of the life of frederick douglass.

• Pingback: Around the Web November 2021: Best of Civil War & Reconstruction Blogs and Social Media - The Reconstruction Era

Accurate review of Douglass’ first hand account of his life in our great American experiment. This is a must read autobiography especially for all of us who are dug in on what we believe. An eye opening account of human nature, human thought and human life in and out of bondage within the US caste system. Appreciate your scholarship sir

Please leave a comment and join the discussion! Cancel reply

ECW Podcast

Publications.

Contributors

• , Frederick Douglass , Harriet Tubman , Underground Railroad
• Commonlit | Letter from Frederick Douglass to Harriet Tubman

Name: Class:

Letter from Frederick Douglass to Harriet Tubman By Frederick Douglass 1868

In 1869, Sarah Hopkins Bradford published an authorized biography called Scenes in the Life of Harriet Tubman. Harriet Tubman was an abolitionist who helped slaves escape through the Underground Railroad . She often worked with fellow abolitionist Frederick Douglass, a public speaker and author. When Harriet Tubman reached out to Frederick Douglass requesting he speak to her accomplishments, he responded with this letter. As you read, take notes on how Frederick Douglass defines private and public accomplishments.

Rochester, August 29, 1868

[1] Dear Harriet:

I am glad to know that the story of your eventful life has been written by a kind lady, and that the same is soon to be published.1 You ask for what you do not need when you call upon me for a word of commendation.2 I need such words from you far more than you can need them from me, especially where your superior labors and devotion to the cause of the lately enslaved of our land are known as I know them. The difference between us is very marked.3 Most that I have done and suffered in the service of our cause has been in public, and I have received much encouragement at every step of the way. You, on the other hand, have labored in a private way. I have wrought4 in the day – you in the night. I have had the applause of the crowd and the satisfaction that comes of being approved by the multitude,5 while the most that you have done has been witnessed by a few trembling, scarred, and foot-sore bondmen6 and women, whom you have led out of the house of bondage, and whose "Harriet Tubman, nurse, spy, and scout" by IIP Photo Archive is heartfelt, “God bless you,” has been your only licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0 reward. The midnight sky and the silent stars have been the witnesses of your devotion to freedom and of your heroism. Excepting John Brown7 – of sacred memory – I know of no one who has willingly encountered more perils and hardships to serve our enslaved people than you have. Much that you have done would seem improbable to those who do not know you as I know you. It is to me a great pleasure and a great privilege to bear testimony for your character and your works, and to say to those to whom you may come, that I regard you in every way truthful and trustworthy.

1 Your friend,

Frederick Douglass.

Letter from Frederick Douglass to Harriet Tubman by Frederick Douglass is in the public domain.

1. A reference to the biography written by Sarah Hopkins Bradford, Scenes in the Life of Harriet Tubman, to be published in 1869. 2. Commendation (noun): praise 3. noticeable 4. worked 5. Multitude (noun): a great number of people 6. “Bondman” is an archaic term for “slave.” 7. John Brown was an American abolitionist who Harriet Tubman was working with to start a liberation movement among enslaved African Americans in Virginia. The plan failed and Brown was hanged after being found guilty of treason , the murder of five men, and instigating a slave revolt. 2 Text-Dependent Questions

Directions: For the following questions, choose the best answer or respond in complete sentences.

1. PART A: Which statement identifies the central idea of the letter? A. Harriet Tubman contributed to the abolitionist movement in mostly unknown, unrecognized ways. B. Frederick Douglass is upset that not more people know about Harriet Tubman’s contributions to the abolitionist movement. C. The accomplishments that go unknown are more important than those recognized and appreciated by the public. D. The sacrifices that Harriet Tubman made for the abolitionist movement can be rivaled by no one.

2. PART B: Which detail from paragraph 2 best supports the answer to Part A? A. “I am glad to know that the story of your eventful life has been written by a kind lady, and that the same is soon to be published.” B. “I need such words from you far more than you can need them from me, especially where your superior labors and devotion to the cause of the lately enslaved of our land are known as I know them.” C. “The midnight sky and the silent stars have been the witnesses of your devotion to freedom and of your heroism.” D. “I know of no one who has willingly encountered more perils and hardships to serve our enslaved people than you have.”

3. How does the quote in paragraph 2, “the most that you have done has been witnessed by a few trembling, scarred, and foot-sore bondmen and women, whom you have led out of the house of bondage” contribute to the development of ideas in the text? A. It shows how thankful freed slaves were of Harriet Tubman. B. It provides an example of Harriet Tubman’s secret accomplishments. C. It depicts the journey to freedom as a difficult one. D. It expresses Frederick Douglass’s desire for more people to know about Harriet Tubman’s accomplishments.

4. How does Douglass compare his and Tubman’s reputations? A. They are both well-known abolitionists who have worked in the public spotlight. B. Tubman has a better reputation than Douglass because she put her life at risk for the cause. C. Douglass has a wider reputation than Tubman at the time because his work was public and hers private. D. Douglass believes that he earned his more esteemed national reputation because he faced more public scrutiny than Tubman.

3 5. How does Douglass view Tubman’s work in the context of John Brown’s work? Cite evidence from the text in your answer.

4 Discussion Questions

Directions: Brainstorm your answers to the following questions in the space provided. Be prepared to share your original ideas in a class discussion.

1. Frederick Douglass discusses how Harriet Tubman does not receive applause for her private actions in the abolitionist movement – what are the benefits to contributing privately to a cause? What are the disadvantages or dangers?

2. In the context of the text, how do people create change? Were Frederick Douglass’s public actions more impactful than Harriet Tubman’s private forms of resistance and protest? Cite evidence from this text, your own experience, and other literature, art, or history in your answer.

3. What makes Tubman a hero in the eyes of Douglass? Do you agree with his assessment? How has Tubman become a national hero?

4. Tubman put herself at risk of recapture and death to free other slaves, breaking the law to do so. In the context of the text and Tubman’s legacy, what is good and how do we know?

5. Harriet Tubman was largely unknown during her life, but has since become an American hero. What can Americans do to shine a light on lesser-known heroes from the past? Why do you think many heroes end up going unnoticed?

• Abolitionist Movement
• 150Th Anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation
• Juneteenth” Comes Ployer and Free Laborer
• Harriet Jacobs's Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl; a Literary Weapon
• Essay for Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Monument by Kate Clifford Larsen
• Freedom for Slaves by Lauren Nguyen
• Driving Tour Map Byway Sites Along Your Journey
• Harriet Tubman: Conductor on the Underground Railroad
• Juneteenth One-Sheeter
• Harriet Tubman Presentation
• Quiz for INCIDENTS in the LIFE of a SLAVE GIRL
• Underground Railroad Sites
• Overview of Women's Suffrage in the United States Compiled by the Center for American Women and Politics
• Justification for Harriet Tubman (Washington-Tubman High School)
• Underground Railroad Timeline
• Student Directed Reading
• The Two Harriets: Heroines of the Civil War
• Harriet Tubman Background Information & Activities
• Coming of the Civil War Tour
• Juneteenth Lesson
• If You See the Following Icons ……
• Rev. Lacey Hunter the Community Church of Sebastopol June 21, 2020 Text: Genesis 21:8-21 & the Radical Legacy of Juneteenth “I Go to Prepare a Place for You”1
• Harriet Tubman--White Paper
• The Movement to End Slavery Key Terms & People
• African American Women Activists, 1830-1896 by Vi
• Harriet Tubman and the End of Slavery
• Who Was Harriet Tubman?
• The USCTI's Student Mini-Conference and Di
• Born of Earnest Struggle the 1862 Maryland Campaign: Slavery and the Emancipation Proclamation 1 2
• Civil War to Civil Rights
• Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad State Park & Visitor Center Welcome Guide
• African-Americans in Boston : More Than 350 Years
• Harriet Tubman
• Abolition Democracy, the City, and Black Feminist Political
• Presentation Frederick Douglass
• Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad
• Thematic Unit: Heroes Essential Question: Why Do People Act Heroically?
• Slavery and Freedom
• Harriet Tubman Escaped Slavery to Become a Leading Abolitionist. She Led Hundreds of Enslaved People to Freedom Along the Route of the Underground Railroad
• Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Land, 21613
• ©Reading Through History
• “Is This Freedom?” a Political Theory of Harriet Jacobs's
• ELA Y MATEMÁTICAS
• Web-Based Resources by Dr. Kate Larson
• Civil Rights Activists: Harriet Tubman
• Harriet Beecher Stowe and Harriet Tubman”
• Black Writers in New England
• Frederick Douglass
• Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Byway Where Ordinary People Did the Extraordinary
• Juneteenth: Let’S Make It Personal This Year What Occurred Between 7:50 -8:00 That April Morning Ultimately Changed the Trajectory of My Life
• ABOLITIONISTS Frederick Douglass William Lloyd Garrison Grimkè Sisters
• Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
• Jacob Lawrence
• At the Crossroads of Freedom and Equality: the Emancipation Proclamation and the March on Washington
• Who Freed the Slaves During the Civil War?
• The Emancipation Proclamation, Harriet Tubman, and the March on Washington - a Legacy and a Future
• Harriet Tubman Biography
• 1. What Is an Abolitionist? 2. How Does the Author Compare Harriet Tubman and Harriet Beecher Stowe? 3. Harriet Tubman's Work To
• Harriet-Tubman.Pdf
• The Magic Sash Episode 5: Harriet
• Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Civil Rights an Invitation to Celebrate Juneteenth
• Beyond Emancipation Juneteenth Cincinnati Booklist of Juneteenth Booklist for Teens
• Journeys to Freedom
• Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Monument Cambridge, Maryland National Park Service, U.S
• Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Driving Tour Guide
• The Underground Railroad and Harriet Tubman
• Standard: the Student Will Demonstrate an Understanding of the Causes, the Course, and the Effects of the American Civil War (4 – 6)
• Underground Railroad Resources in the United States
• Myths & Facts About Harriet Tubman
• 2000 Brochure
• Meet the Women Who Changed Lives Through Their Work in Civil Rights
• Harriet Tubman Web Hunt: Leading the Way to Freedom
• Harriet Tubman Museum
• The Abolitionists
• Shedding Light Upon the Shadows: an Examination of the Use of Voice As Resistance and Reclamation of the Black Woman from Enslavement to Freedom
• Harriet Tubman & the Underground Railroad
• Driving Tour Map
• Section E the Underground Railroad in Massachusetts
• Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Byway Driving Tour Guide Larry Hogan Governor Boyd K