Frederick Douglass1817/1818 (?) - 1895

Early Life

• Frederick Douglass was born a slave in Maryland.

• His name was Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey.

• His mother, a slave, was Harriet Bailey.

• He had five siblings.

Early Life

His father, who was white, was rumored to be his master, Aaron Anthony.

“Of my father I know nothing.” Frederick

Douglass

Early Life

He was separated from his mother soon after birth.

“It was a common custom in the part of Maryland from which I ran away to part children from their mothers at a very early age. Frequently before the child had reached its twelfth month its mother would be taken from it and hired out at some farm a considerable distance off. The child would be placed under the care of an old woman, too old for field labor.”

Frederick Douglass

“The practice of separating children from their mothers and hiring the latter out at distances too great to admit of their meeting, except at long intervals, is a marked feature of the cruelty and barbarity of the slave system. But it is in harmony with the grand aim of slavery, which, always and everywhere, is to reduce man to a level with the brute. It is a successful method of obliterating from the mind and heart of the slave all just ideas of the sacredness of family…”

Frederick Douglass

Early Life

His mother died in 1826. “I never saw my mother, to know her as such,

more than four or five times in my life, and each of these time was of very short duration, and at night. She was hired by a Mr. Stewart, who lived about a dozen miles from my house….She was a field hand, and a whipping was the penalty for not being in the field at sunrise…I do not recollect ever seeing my mother by light of day.”

Frederick Douglass

Early Life

• Later in 1826 Aaron Anthony, his master, died.

• Douglass then became the property of Thomas Auld, Anthony’s son-in-law.

• He was sent to Baltimore to live with Hugh and Sophia Auld.

Early Life

Sophia Auld taught Douglass to read until her husband stopped her.

Hugh Auld believed that education made slaves rebellious.

Early Life

• In 1833 Douglass was sent back to work for Thomas Auld.

• He taught other slaves to read, but when Auld found out, he forced Douglass to stop.

• Douglass continued to secretly practice reading and writing.

Early Life

In 1834 Thomas Auld rented him out for a year to Edward Covey who was known as a “slave breaker.”

This would prove to be the turning point in Douglass’ life.

After being beaten by Edward Covey, Douglass fought back.

The Turning Point “This battle with Mr. Covey was the turning point

in my career as a slave. It rekindled the few expiring embers of freedom, and revived within me a sense of my own manhood. It recalled the departed self-confidence, and inspired me again with a determination to be free….It was a glorious resurrection, from the tomb of slavery, to the heaven of freedom.…cowardice departed, and bold defiance took its place; and I now resolved that, however long I might remain a slave in form, the day had passed forever when I could be a slave in fact.”

Frederick Douglass

Freedom

• At the age of 21 he escaped from slavery.

• He changed his last name to Johnson to hide from slave hunters.

Marriage

• On September 15, 1838 Douglass married Anna Murray, a free woman.

• The marriage was performed by James W. C. Pennington, an escaped slave.

• The couple moved to New Bedford, MA.

His Name

• Douglass changed his name one last time.

• He took the last name of Douglas from a character in Sir Walter Scott’s poem The Lady of the Lake.

• He changed the spelling to Douglass.

Children Frederick Douglass and Anna Murray had

five children.

Rosetta Douglass - June 24. 1839 Lewis Henry Douglass - October 9, 1840

Frederick Douglass - March 3, 1842 Charles Remond Douglass - October 21,

1844 Annie Douglass – March 22, 1849

His Career

• Douglass worked for several years in the New Bedford shipyards and machine shops.

• He became a minister in the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church.

His Career

In 1841 he met the abolitionists, William Lloyd Garrison (pictured) and William C. Coffin.

He was hired as a speaker for the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society.

His Career

In 1845 he met Susan B. Anthony and became involved in the women’s rights movement.

His Career

• In 1845 Douglass went on a speaking tour of Great Britain.

• His English friends raised money to purchase his freedom.

• December 5, 1846 Douglass was manumitted after Hugh Auld received $711.66 (deed on left).

His Career

In 1848 he participated in the first feminist convention in Seneca Falls, N. Y.

“In respect to political rights we hold women to be justly entitled to all we claim for man…All political rights which is expedient for man to exercise, it is equally so for woman.”

Frederick DouglassThe North Star

His Career

• Also in 1848 Douglass met abolitionist John Brown (pictured).

• Douglass became actively involved in the “underground railroad.”

His Career

• In 1859 John Brown was arrested and hanged for leading a raid on the federal arsenal at Harper’s Ferry.

• Douglass fled to Canada and then went on a speaking tour of England to avoid arrest on charges of being an accomplice in the raid.

• In April 1860 he returned to the United States. He was not charged in the raid.

His Career - Newspapers

• 1847 – 1851Published The North Star, an abolitionist weekly

• 1851 – 1860Published Frederick Douglass’ Paper

• 1859 – 1863Published Douglass’ Monthly

• 1870 – 1874New National Era, a weekly newspaper for African-Americans

Douglass wrote three autobiographical books.

• The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave (1849)

• My Bondage and My Freedom (1855)

• Life and Times of Frederick Douglass (1881)

Read them online:http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/doughtml/words.html

His Career

• The Civil War began in 1861.

• Douglass recruited men for the 54th Massachusetts Infantry, the first regiment of African-American soldiers.

His Career

• After the war Grant appointed Douglass to the commission investigating the possibility of annexing the Dominican Republic to the U. S.

• In 1872 the Equal Rights Party nominated Douglass for vice-president of the U. S.

Cedar Hill

• He moved his family to Washington, D. C. in 1872 after fire destroyed his home in Rochester

• He purchased Cedar Hill in 1878.– 20 room house– 9 acres of land

• Later he purchased the adjoining 15 acres.

• Visit Cedar Hill: http://www.nps.gov/frdo/index.htm

His Career

• In 1877 Hayes appointed Douglass U. S. Marshal of the District of Columbia .

• 1881 Garfield named Douglass Recorder of Deeds for the District of Columbia.

• August 4, 1882, Anna, his wife of 44 years died from a stroke.

• Douglass went into a depression.

Second Marriage

• Douglass married Helen Pitts, a white woman, on January 24, 1884

• She had been his secretary.

• Their interracial marriage created controversy.

About the marriage:

“I think this is about the last sensation of which I can possibly be the cause.…There are a million people in this country of mixed blood…I know of a colored woman here in Washington who is the mother of ten children by one of our late most influential citizens, but no noise was made over the fact, simply because the woman was his concubine, and not his wife. It would seem that what the American people object to is not the mixture of the races, but honorable marriage between them.”

Frederick Douglass

During 1886-87 he and Helen toured Europe and Africa.

• In 1889 he was appointed U. S. Minister Resident and Consul General to the Republic of Haiti.

• Many considered Douglass too sympathetic to Haitian interests. He resigned the position in 1891.

Death – February 20, 1895• On the 20th Douglass

spoke at a meeting of the National Council of Women.

• He died suddenly of a heart attack as he was describing the meeting to his wife.

• He collapsed in the hall at Cedar Hill.

Funeral

• It was estimated that 10,000 people paid their respects while the body lay in state.

• Approximately 3,000 attended the funeral services which were held in the Metropolitan A. M. E. Church in Washington, D. C.

He was buried in Mt. Hope Cemetery, Rochester, N. Y.

“Frederick Douglass was a unique and a remarkable character, and those who mourn his death are not of one race or of one continent.”

Chicago Journal

February 2, 1895

A monument was dedicated in Rochester,N. Y. to Frederick Douglass on June 6, 1899.

Then Governor Theodore Roosevelt gave the address.

Over 30,000 people were present.

“Liberty for all, chains for none.”

Frederick Douglass February 13, 1864

Frederick Douglass is truly the “Father of the Civil Rights Movement.”

O, Douglass! thou hast passed beyond the shore, But still thy voice is ringing o'er the gale. Thou'st taught thy race how high her hopes may soar, And bade her seek the heights, nor faint nor fail.

- Paul Laurence Dunbar

For more information about Frederick Douglass

The Frederick Douglass Papershttp://memory.loc.gov/ammem/doughtml/doughome.html

American Visionarieswww.cr.nps.gov/museum/exhibits/douglass

Frederick Douglass National Historic Sitewww.nps.gov.frdo.freddoug.html

Jacob Lawrence Virtual Archive and Educational Centerhttp://www.jacoblawrence.org/art04.html

Meet Amazing Americans : Frederick Douglasshttp://www.americaslibrary.gov/cgi-bin/page.cgi/aa/douglass

Works Cited

“Frederick Douglass Papers.” American Memory Historical Collections. Library of Congress. Available: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/doughtml/doughome.html

“Frederick Douglass.” American Visionaries. Park Net. Available: http://www.cr.nps.gov/museum/exhibits/douglass/