Frederick Douglass was born in Marysland during the February of 1818. He was seperated from his mother at birth and was raised by his grandparents, but his grandmother depressingly abaondoned him on the fields of his master when he was 6. When he was 8, he was sent to the house of some of his master's relatives.(It is believed that Douglass's father may possible have conceived him.) The mistress of the house began to teach Frederick how to read, but her husband found out and stopped her. Douglass took it upon himself to learn how to read by trading his lunch with the local boys in return for reading lessons. When he was 15, he returned to Maryland, and witnessed the horrific injustices his people were facing as a part of their slavery. He tried but failed to escape slavery when he was 18 but he did manage to escape at the age of 20, by impersonating a sailor, in 1838. He escaped to Massachussetts, had a family, and settled down. While in New Bedford, Massachusetts, Douglass began to read The Liberator, William Garrison's abolitionist magazine. He began attending anti slavery conventions and sometimes told of his experiences. He soon after became a leader for the massachusetts antislavery society, and attended the women's rights convention at Seneca Falls in 1848, while even publishing his own aboloitionist magazine, The North Star.
For the many whites who refused to believe that he could have been a slave based on his articulate speech and writing, Douglass wrote his famous autobiography, Life and Times of Frederick Douglass, in 1845, the story of his youth as a slave, which became one of the leading abolitionist narratives of the time. Douglass believed the way to win the war for slavery was through polidicical action, which differed from William Lloyd Garrison's view, so they split up, and Douglass joined James G. Birney's faction, which was had mainly nonviolent views on solving slavery. Once Civil war broke out, Douglass became a recruiter for the 54th Massachusetts infantry, the war's first all black regiment. Douglass became known throughout the world as a daring and hardnosed abolitionist, with an incredible drive for equal rights for all men, and he became a strong supporter of women's rights as well. When Elizabeth Cady Stanton's Declaration of Sentiments, which demanded women's suffrage, was presented at the Seneca Falls Convention, Douglass was one of the first to sign it, and after the convention passed it, he was given a lot of the credit for having it pass. He soon came to the forefront of the abolitionist movement, and was also known as one of the greatest human rights activists in the nineteenth century. He became the first black citizen to hold an important position in the US government, and he even served as a direct advisor to President Lincoln during the war. He asked Lincoln to make abolition an important goal of the Civil war, and he fought for the right of African Americans to be able to fight for the union army.
Without this man, life would seem quite dreary. He left a lasting effect upon the abolitionist and human rights movement, and his tireless efforts for the good of the people left his country forever changed.
Wondo's APUS class thanks Frederick Douglass, and in his honor, this blog has been assembled.
Thank you.
"No man, perhaps, had ever more offended popular prejudice than I had then lately done. I had married a wife. People who had remained silent over the unlawful relations of white slave masters with their colored slave women loudly condemned me for marrying a wife a few shades lighter than myself. They would have had no objection to my marrying a person much darker in complexion than myself, but to marry one much lighter, and of the complexion of my father rather than of that of my mother, was, in the popular eye, a shocking offense, and one for which I was to be ostracized by white and black alike." (Douglass, Life and Times... p. 534.)
"Biography of Frederick Douglass-Champion of Civil and Women's Rights." Frederick Douglass Speeches- Seminars on Race Relations and Gender Equity. Web.27 Oct. 2011 . http://www.frederickdouglass.org/douglass_bio.html.
"Frederick Douglass Biography - Facts, Birthday, Life Story - Biography.com." Famous Biographies & TV Shows - Biography.com. Web. 27 Oct. 2011. http://www.biography.com/people/frederick-douglass-9278324.
"Frederick Douglass." Western New York Suffragists -Winning the Vote. Web. 27 Oct. 2011. http://www.winningthevote.org/f-fdouglass.html>.
For the many whites who refused to believe that he could have been a slave based on his articulate speech and writing, Douglass wrote his famous autobiography, Life and Times of Frederick Douglass, in 1845, the story of his youth as a slave, which became one of the leading abolitionist narratives of the time. Douglass believed the way to win the war for slavery was through polidicical action, which differed from William Lloyd Garrison's view, so they split up, and Douglass joined James G. Birney's faction, which was had mainly nonviolent views on solving slavery. Once Civil war broke out, Douglass became a recruiter for the 54th Massachusetts infantry, the war's first all black regiment. Douglass became known throughout the world as a daring and hardnosed abolitionist, with an incredible drive for equal rights for all men, and he became a strong supporter of women's rights as well. When Elizabeth Cady Stanton's Declaration of Sentiments, which demanded women's suffrage, was presented at the Seneca Falls Convention, Douglass was one of the first to sign it, and after the convention passed it, he was given a lot of the credit for having it pass. He soon came to the forefront of the abolitionist movement, and was also known as one of the greatest human rights activists in the nineteenth century. He became the first black citizen to hold an important position in the US government, and he even served as a direct advisor to President Lincoln during the war. He asked Lincoln to make abolition an important goal of the Civil war, and he fought for the right of African Americans to be able to fight for the union army.
Without this man, life would seem quite dreary. He left a lasting effect upon the abolitionist and human rights movement, and his tireless efforts for the good of the people left his country forever changed.
Wondo's APUS class thanks Frederick Douglass, and in his honor, this blog has been assembled.
Thank you.
"No man, perhaps, had ever more offended popular prejudice than I had then lately done. I had married a wife. People who had remained silent over the unlawful relations of white slave masters with their colored slave women loudly condemned me for marrying a wife a few shades lighter than myself. They would have had no objection to my marrying a person much darker in complexion than myself, but to marry one much lighter, and of the complexion of my father rather than of that of my mother, was, in the popular eye, a shocking offense, and one for which I was to be ostracized by white and black alike." (Douglass, Life and Times... p. 534.)
Works Cited
"Biography of Frederick Douglass-Champion of Civil and Women's Rights." Frederick Douglass Speeches- Seminars on Race Relations and Gender Equity. Web.27 Oct. 2011 . http://www.frederickdouglass.org/douglass_bio.html.
"Frederick Douglass Biography - Facts, Birthday, Life Story - Biography.com." Famous Biographies & TV Shows - Biography.com. Web. 27 Oct. 2011. http://www.biography.com/people/frederick-douglass-9278324.
"Frederick Douglass." Western New York Suffragists -Winning the Vote. Web. 27 Oct. 2011. http://www.winningthevote.org/f-fdouglass.html>.
WOW THIS IS GREAT. A+ FOR SURE
ReplyDeleteI AGREE. THIS IS TREMENDOUS WORK
ReplyDelete