Frederick Douglass (3-5)

Frederick Douglass was a brilliant leader of the movement to abolish slavery. Douglass was once enslaved but learned to read at a young age. He was the first African American citizen to hold a high-ranking federal appointment in the U.S. government, serving as ambassador to Haiti.

Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey was born sometime in 1817 or 1818 in Talbot County, Maryland, to an enslaved woman. His father was a white man who abandoned his son. At age eight, Frederick was sent to Baltimore, Maryland, to work for Hugh Auld, who had borrowed him from his brother, Thomas Auld. Auld’s wife, Sophia, taught Frederick to read, which was uncommon for enslaved people at that time. Sadly, Hugh Auld stopped the lessons because he believed enslaved people should not be educated. Education was dangerous. Frederick continued his studies in secret, with the help of friends.

In 1838, Frederick escaped from slavery in a carefully planned journey to New York City, where he lived as a free man. He married Anna Murray of Baltimore, a free woman. They settled in New Bedford, Massachusetts, and Frederick changed his last name to Douglass.

In 1841, abolitionists in Nantucket, Massachusetts, held a convention. They invited Douglass to describe his experiences as an enslaved man. His stirring recounts of his former life marked the beginning of his career as an abolitionist.

Douglass was an inspiring speaker; however, some critics doubted he could ever have been enslaved. Douglass addressed the critics in 1845 and wrote an autobiography, The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave.

In 1847, Douglass moved to Rochester, New York, and founded the antislavery newspaper The North Star. While in Rochester, Douglass helped freedom seekers to escape slavery in Canada through the Underground Railroad.

During the American Civil War, Douglass advised President Abraham Lincoln regarding slavery and African Americans serving in the Union Army. Douglass suggested that formerly enslaved people should be given weapons to fight for the North.

After the Civil War, Douglass held several government offices, including an ambassadorship in Haiti. He also continued to fight for human rights until he died in Washington, D.C., on February 20, 1895.

New Jersey Student Learning Standards:

• 6.1.2.CivicsDP.1: Explain how people work together to make decisions in a community.
• 6.1.2.HistoryCC.3: Make inferences about how past events, individuals, and innovations affect our current lives.