frederick douglass

Frederick Douglass

2006

Frederick Douglass was born February , 1818 in Maryland to a slave named Harriet Bailey . His name was originally Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey . Although Frederick Douglass was born a slave , he was destined for greater stations in life . As a child he hungered for knowledge and was definitely an ambitious young man

Mr . Douglass was sent to work for a master named Edward Covey , known as a famous slavebreaker , because he revolted against a change of lifestyle upon the death of his previous master . Suddenly he was starved

, whipped and forced to do field work . Covey seriously overworked him and often times would cruelly beat him . Finally , Mr Douglass couldn 't take it any longer and fought back . He beat his master , overseer and several other slaves in a fight that lasted two hours . Covey never attempted to beat him again . After trying to plan a slave revolt that ultimately failed , Mr . Douglass was sent back to Baltimore

After returning to Baltimore in 1836 he took every advantage available to a slave in an urban setting with a substantial free African American population . At the age of 20 , he met and fell in love with Anna Murray a free woman . In 1838 , with the help of a black sailor and Anna , Mr Douglass escaped from the South and slavery forever . Less than two weeks later they were married in New York City and then shortly after moved to New Bedford , MA . It was at this time that he began to call himself Frederick Douglass

In March 1839 , he spoke publicly about his life in slavery at a meeting in the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church in New Bedford . He rose to denounce the American Colonization Society 's plan to settle Blacks in West Africa . He passionately relayed his experiences as a slave arguing that Blacks are Americans and should not be sent away from their homeland , but must be freed in it . These remarks caught the attention of William Lloyd Garrison , who was also the publisher of an abolitionist news entitled The Liberator . Prominent white abolitionists asked Mr . Douglass to tell his story at anti-slavery meetings and he soon became a favorite . His popularity grew as he lectured throughout New England , the North and even in Great Britain . His first autobiography entitled The Narrative of Frederick Douglass , published in 1845 sold 5 ,000 copies in its first four months

With this sudden fame Mr . Douglass suddenly found himself in danger of capture and re-enslavement . In Britain , they bought Douglass ' freedom and s were d in Baltimore , designating Mr . Frederick Douglass a free man in the year of 1846

On December 3 , 1847 , the first issue of The North Star , came off the press . This was a for the African American people in an attempt to keep this population informed , as well as form a bond between the slaves and those who were free

Douglass actively recruited black men , slave and free , to participate in the war but...