The Life of FrederickDouglass

By Jessica McElrath, About.com

Dates: February 1818 – February 20, 1895

Born a slave, yet determined to be free, Frederick Douglass escaped from slavery and became one of the most influential figures of the 19th century. He became a powerful speaker in the anti-slavery circuit, an author, an advocate for women’s rights, and held several government positions after the Civil War.

Life as a Slave

Frederick Douglass was born on the Eastern Shore of Maryland in February 1818. He was named Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey. His mother, Harriet Bailey, was a slave on a plantation in Tuckahoe, Maryland. Douglass and his mother belonged to Aaron Anthony who was the plantation superintendent and probably his father. He did not have much contact with his mother who was hired out to a neighboring plantation. She was only able to visit on a few occasions because the twelve-mile journey was too far to travel on a regular basis.

As a young boy, Douglass lived with his grandparents until he was six. He was then sent to live on the Lloyd Plantation, where he stayed until he was sent to Baltimore when he was eight years old. In Baltimore, he lived with Hugh and Sophia Auld. At his new home, Sophia Auld began to teach him to read. However, when her husband found out he forbid it, and she stopped.

Despite this setback, Douglass had a revelation about slavery when he overheard Hugh Auld explain to his wife about why she should not teach him to read. Auld explained that, "if you teach that nigger how to read, there would be no keeping him" and he would "become unmanageable, and of no value to his master." According to Douglass: "I now understood what had been to me a most perplexing difficulty -- to wit, the white man's power to enslave the black man.... From that moment, I understood the pathway from slavery to freedom." Douglass realized that there was power in learning to read.

Douglass became determined to learn to read. He studied every chance he got. He learned from white playmates he met on the street. He carried bread with him to give to the poor hungry ones in exchange for their help. He later learned to write by watching carpenters initial shipbuilding timber. He mastered the letters by challenging his playmates ability to write better than him. Additionally, he learned by copying the letters from Webster's Spelling-Book and practiced by using the old writing books of the Auld's son.

From Slavery to Freedom

In 1832, after Aaron Anthony died, Douglass went to live with Thomas Auld on the Lloyd Plantation. In 1834, his new master hired him out to Edward Covey, a slave breaker, who was known for whipping and working slaves hard. He endured many whippings until the day that he fought back and prevailed. This event gave Douglass spirit again. In 1836, he made an unsuccessful attempt to escape. He was soon sent back to Baltimore.

His second attempt was successful. Equipped with the identification papers of a sailor friend, he dressed as a sailor, and traveled to New York City by train and steamboat. On September 3, 1838, he escaped from slavery. Shortly after his arrival, he married Anna Murray, a free black woman he had met in Baltimore. They settled in New Bedford, Massachusetts. During their marriage, they had five children together.

In 1841, Douglass began his life as a public figure and abolitionist. After hearing William Lloyd Garrison's anti-slavery speech, Douglass was inspired to tell his story. He spoke at the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society annual convention about his experience as a slave. His speech was powerful and eloquent. He was encouraged by Garrison, who became his mentor, to continue speaking.

In 1845, he wrote about his life as a slave in the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave. After its publication, he traveled to England, Scotland, and Ireland where he continued speaking against slavery. Upon his return to the United States in 1847, he moved to New York and published the weekly paper called the North Star.

During the Civil War, he was active in recruiting black soldiers for the Union Army. Douglass also became an advocate of women’s rights. Later in his life, he served the government in several positions. From 1877 to 1881, he was the U.S. Marshall of the District of Columbia, from 1881 to 1886 he served as the recorder of deeds for the District of Columbia, and from 1889 to 1891 he was the minister to Haiti.

After Douglass' wife died in 1882, he married his former secretary Helen Pitts in 1884. On February 20, 1895, after speaking at the National Council of Women, he died of a heart failure at his home Cedar Hill in Anacostia, Washington, D.C.