Frederick Douglass

I

Introduction

Frederick Douglass (1817?-1895), the most prominent African American orator, journalist, and antislavery leader of the 19th century. Douglass, an escaped slave, campaigned for the end of slavery and published three versions of his autobiography. In these works he described his experiences as a slave in the South and as a fugitive in the North. He also depicted life as a free black before the American Civil War (1861-1865) and his rise to national prominence during and after the war. In later life he continued to work for full civil rights for blacks and held several government positions.

II

Early Life

Douglass, whose original name was Frederick Augustus Bailey, was born in 1817 in Talbot County, Maryland. The child of a slave, Harriet Bailey, and an unknown white man, Frederick also became a slave because by law children followed the status of their mothers. He was separated from his mother at a very early age and never knew her well. He initially lived with his grandparents and then was placed under the care of a woman called Aunt Katy, who raised slave children on the plantation of Colonel Edward Lloyd.

At the age of seven or eight, Frederick was sent to Baltimore to the home of Hugh and Sophia Auld, who were relatives of his master, Thomas Auld. Sophia Auld began to teach Frederick to read from the Bible until her husband forbade such instruction. Frederick had already learned basic literacy skills and secretly used books belonging to Sophia Auld's son to teach himself. When he was about 13, he bought his first book, The Columbian Orator. By studying this work, Frederick became convinced of the injustice of slavery and the right of all people to be free. From the book he also learned public speaking techniques that would later make him one of the greatest orators of his age.

The Aulds found Frederick too independent, so they sent him back to Thomas Auld. His master tried to force him to submit more readily to slavery. When Frederick was about 17, Auld sent him to work for Edward Covey, a 'slave breaker' who specialized in shattering the spirit of rebellious slaves. Covey had Frederick beaten daily for the slightest violation of impossibly strict rules. After nearly six months Frederick resisted Covey, wrestling him to a draw in a fight. After that Covey never attempted to beat him again. Frederick later described his conflict with Covey as “the turning point of my 'life as a slave.'” Before the battle Frederick believed he was 'nothing,' but after it, he emphatically wrote: 'I was a man now.'

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Covey returned Frederick to Auld, who then sent him back to Baltimore as an apprentice in a shipyard. He not only learned the caulker’s trade, which involved making ships watertight, but he also learned to write by tracing letters on the prows of these ships. In September 1838 Frederick obtained papers supplied by a free black seaman and, dressed as a sailor just back from sea duty, took a train from Baltimore to New York.

Once in New York, Frederick made his way to the home of David Ruggles, one of the leading black abolitionists in the nation. Ruggles helped him decide on a new name—Frederick Johnson—and also helped him contact his fiancée, Anna Murray, a free black from Baltimore. She arrived a few days later and married Frederick. The couple went to New Bedford, Massachusetts, where Frederick hoped to find work as ship's caulker. However, because of racial discrimination, he was forced to work as common laborer. Frederick struggled to provide for his wife, and nine months later, his first child. The couple eventually had five children, including two sons who served in the United States Army during the Civil War. While in New Bedford, Frederick also decided that his surname, Johnson, was too common. He changed it to Douglass, the name of a character in the poem The Lady of the Lake (1810) by Scottish writer Sir Walter Scott.

III

Abolitionist Orator

Douglass began to read the antislavery weekly The Liberator, published by abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison and soon joined Garrison’s followers in New Bedford. In 1841 he attended the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society convention in Nantucket, where he was asked to speak. Douglass related his experiences as a slave, and his passionate address made such a profound impression that the society hired him as a full-time agent. In this position, and later as an agent for the larger American Anti-Slavery Society, he traveled throughout much of the North, speaking at antislavery meetings, giving public lectures, and helping to recruit members for the societies. He campaigned against slavery, but also for the civil rights of free blacks. He spoke at several meetings that were broken up by white mobs, but he continued to lecture as a strong antislavery advocate.

Douglass soon became the leading black abolitionist and one of the most famous orators of the time. His eloquent words about his treatment as a slave were a powerful weapon against slavery. But as his oratory grew more polished, audiences began to question whether he had ever been a slave. To dispel these doubts, he published his first autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (1845). In this work he named his former owners and described every aspect of his life under slavery. Douglass, however, omitted details about his method of escape so as not to jeopardize similar attempts by other slaves. His Narrative was one of the most effective accounts written by a fugitive slave, and it became a major source of information about slavery and a classic of American literature. Douglass later wrote two more autobiographies: My Bondage and My Freedom (1855) and Life and Times of Frederick Douglass (1881, revised 1892).

When Douglass published the details of his life as a slave, he was in danger of recapture under the provisions of the Fugitive Slave Laws, which allowed masters to seize runaway slaves and return them to bondage. Because of his growing prominence, Douglass feared the Aulds would send agents to capture him and return him to Maryland. Thus, in 1845 Douglass went abroad, and for two years he toured England and Ireland, speaking against slavery. His oratory made as great an impression in Great Britain as it had at home. In 1847, after British friends purchased his freedom, Douglass returned to the United States.

IV

Editor and Journalist

In October 1847 Douglass decided to start a newspaper managed and edited solely by blacks to disprove the proslavery argument that blacks were 'naturally inferior.' William Lloyd Garrison objected, arguing that Douglass's talent as an orator would be wasted. Nevertheless, Douglass moved to Rochester, New York, and began publishing a weekly called The North Star. This publication later became Frederick Douglass’ Weekly and was followed by Douglass’ Monthly, which originated as a supplement to the Weekly. Douglass published his newspapers almost continuously from December 1847 through May 1863, and he quickly gained fame as a journalist as well as an orator.

In his papers Douglass championed the rights of free blacks and slaves and supported a number of other causes, most notably women's rights. In 1848 Douglass participated in the first women's rights convention, held at Seneca Falls, New York, and throughout his career he advocated women's equality.

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