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Frederick Douglass
Frederick Douglass (February 1818—February 20, 1895) was born into slavery at Tuckahoe, Maryland, of a white father and a slave mother. After successfully fleeing to New York and then Massachusetts in 1838, he soon became active in the anti-slavery cause. He founded a newspaper, The North Star, and during the 1840s and 1850s was at the forefront of anti-slavery activities. After the Civil War, Douglass became a champion of black enfranchisement and civil rights, writing and arguing eloquently for educational opportunities, military privileges, and the rights of blacks in labor. He was closely identified with the Republican Party and held numerous offices, including that of Minister Resident and Consul General to Haiti. As a writer, Douglass produced three autobiographies, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (1845), My Bondage and My Freedom (1855), and Life and Times of Frederick Douglass (1881, enlarged in 1892). A firm believer in the equality of all people, whether black, female, Native American or recent immigrant, Frederick Douglass famously said: “I will unite with anybody to do right and with nobody to do wrong.”
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Chapter 1
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Chapter 2
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Chapter 3
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Chapter 4
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Chapter 5
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Chapter 6
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Chapter 7
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Chapter 8
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Chapter 9
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Chapter 10A
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Chapter 10B