Frederick Douglass

By Cairo and Steven

Frederick Douglass was a famous anti-slavery activist and was most known for his motivational and
insightful speeches and articles. Douglass was born in February of 1818 on Maryland's eastern shore and
came from a multiracial family. 1 Being in a multiracial family was diverse and it made Frederick live a

different life. Douglass was exposed to slavery in Baltimore when he would see brutal beatings. The social
climate was rough because of lynching and he tried to make it peaceful but didnt work out. At the moment

The purpose for most of Douglass speeches and writings was to bring more awareness to slavery which by
that would hopefully help eliminate the Institution of Slavery. Douglass was stuck in jail from January 1st,
1836 to September, 1838 after being caught in the underground system. 2 Which would soon lead him to

settle in Bedford, Massachusetts.

Frederick Douglass helped fight against slavery by making speeches across the North, to eliminate
the way that people viewed race and slavery. The underground system was a way for children, men, women
ito escape for freedom. In 1861, thoughts of slavery turned into a civil war, which Douglass would welcome
in order to become the nations conscience and to begin to take one more step to a new birth of freedom.
When it is finally ours, this freedom, this liberty, this beautiful and terrible thing, needful to man as air,
usable

as earth 3 Such a man, the world says, may lie down until he has sense enough to stand up. It
is useless and cruel to put a man on his legs, if the next moment his head is to be brought against a
curbstone 4 This quote is pointing out that since slavery is being instilled and beaten into people of color so
constantly, there is no point in even acknowledging anything further unless they choose to fight against for
freedom.
Frederick Douglass fought for against slavery because of his passion for freedom and his own past
experiences as being a slave. Because of his passion for freedom, Douglass planned to run away from his
slave owner and later settled in New Bedford, Massachusetts. Frederick then attended lectures at The
American Anti-Slavery Society and soon became a leader in the local black community. After attending a
Anti-Slavery Convention on Nantucket island in 1841, Douglass became a lecturer for the massachusetts
Anti-Slavery Society.5
Frederick Douglass had attention of five presidents and that showed how much matter and
dedication was put into this movement.The attention from five presidents and Douglass used his writing to
help stop slavery.Therefore, that lead to the Emancipation Proclamation. He participated in the Civil War and
The Republican Party. Being in The Republican Party was effective because it helped the Abolitionist
Movement. Overtime, abolitionists grew and had more control. Slave owners were entrenched and
retaliated with a response. Frederick Douglass however fought in the Civil War and as of later on African
Americans would continue to fight on.

United States. National Park Service. "People." National Parks Service. U.S. Department of the
Interior, 14 Nov. 2015. Web. 19 Nov. 2015.
2
"Africans In America."

Public Broadcasting Company. Arlington: PBS, n.d. Web.

1

Porter, Lavelle. "Frederick

Douglass." Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation, n.d. Web. 03 Dec. 2015.

"(1857) Frederick Douglass, "If There Is No Struggle, There Is No Progress" | The Black Past:
Remembered and Reclaimed." (1857) Frederick Douglass, "If There Is No Struggle, There Is No Progress"
| The Black
Past: Remembered and Reclaimed. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Dec. 2015.
5
United States. National Park Service.

"People." National Parks Service. U.S. Department of the

Interior, 14 Nov. 2015. Web. 19 Nov. 2015.
3
4