Frederick Douglass An Abolitionist

Frederick Douglass was arguably the most impacting abolitionist in the time surrounding the civil war. This individual began as a mere slave who sought to learn and enhance himself towards a better future. He went through many brutal phases in which he would be beaten, along with many other slaves. This caused him to one day escape and become one of the most important abolitionist who helped to stop slavery. He was a true inspiration to all people, whether you were black or white. As the first black person to be a government official, Frederick Douglass’s background history truly enhanced how he became one of the primary leaders of the abolitionist movement.

Frederick Douglass had a very harsh background whilst the time that he was enslaved.

His birth name was Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey the whole time while he was a slave, until later when he changed it. As a child, Frederick Bailey lived alongside his grandmother, until he was selected by an owner to be their slave. Frederick Bailey did not know his parents very well. His mother was a black slave who died when he was only ten years old. The only thing he knew about his father was that he was a white slave owner. This means that Frederick Bailey was the son of a white father and black mother, an overall mixed race individual. However, since he was partially African American, he still got treated harshly as the rest of them would. He worked on a plantation where he performed tasks including farming and harvesting crops. Frederick Bailey was put to many difficult degradations of slavery. He was beaten, whipped and was mostly kept cold and hungry, just like a typical slave. The positive side of his situation was that his slave owner’s wife taught him how to read, write and other basic education. By the age of twelve, this bright individual had completely perfected the whole alphabet. This was an amazing accomplishment for a slave during this time period. As he continued to learn and grow, his slave owner demanded his wife stop teaching him. This was due to him, believing that Frederick would use the skills he acquired to escape from slavery to the northern states. This did not stop him from learning as he independently continue on acquiring knowledge from the white children in the area. Once his owner died, Frederick Bailey was sent to work on his owner’s son in law’s plantation. His new slave owner was far more brutal than his previous one as he would whip him and his fellow slaves a lot more. Moreover, he was tired of this deadly treatment and decided that it was time for him to escape.

Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey was a mere twenty year old young man when he made his daring escape from slavery. He actually tried to escape twice, both times being very risky, however on the first attempt he got caught. His fellow slave decided to betray him and snitch on him hoping that he could be rewarded for doing such a noble thing. One his slave owner found out, he decided to put Frederick Bailey in jail. He was then taken out of prison and sent to work very tiring long hours in the shipyards. He couldn’t take it anymore, so he made a witty plan of escape. This plan was far smarter than the first as he actually had an idea of how to execute is plot. In his autobiography Frederick Douglass wrote “I felt assured that if I failed in this attempt, my case would be a hopeless one… It would seal my fate as a slave forever.” Evidently, he knows that if he doesn't take this opportunity he will remain a slave who will be watched at all times. His plan was very intelligent. He decided to pretend to be a free black sailor, and he proceeded to disguise himself in the way. He borrowed the identity of another man so the people would not be able to distinguish who he really was. He kept on him “free papers”; documents that were kept on a freed slave to tell apart from a runaway one. Douglass did not match any of the physical features of the freed sailor’s, so if the inspectors were to pay close attention they would definitely be able to distinguish between the two. However, Frederick Bailey was not caught and he made his risky escape from Baltimore but safely made it to New York. There were many slave catchers roaming the streets in search for the fugitives, but Frederick was smart enough to avoid them. As soon as he reached his destination, he changed his name from Frederick Bailey to Frederick Douglass so his real name would not be on the wanted fugitive list. Overall, Frederick Douglass was now a free man, but his next goal was to work to free his fellow slaves still stuck in harsh conditions.

After his escape from slavery, Frederick Douglass became one of the most renowned abolitionist in the history of America. To begin, Frederick Douglass moved to New Bedford, Massachusetts in hopes of being safer from people in search of fugitive slaves. Prior to this, Frederick Douglass met his love named Anna Murray, whom he later married. Him and his wife later joined a black church and began to attend abolitionist meetings. He even decided to read The Liberator which was the abolitionist newspaper by William Lloyd Garrison. This would later inspire him to create his very own newspaper called The North Star which would also fight against slavery. William Lloyd Garrison heard about Frederick Douglass’s ideas in the abolitionist meetings, so he decided to add him into his newspaper. Douglass would then give his first speech at the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society's annual convention only a few days later. Moreover, Frederick Douglass was now one of the top abolitionist in America due to his inspiring words and tone used in his speeches. As a former black fugitive slave, it was an honor for him to be able to speak to each of these people and inspire them to also push towards the total abolishment of slavery. Eventually, Douglass started the newspaper called The North Star. He received many volunteers to aid him in his push for awareness and soon his newspaper was reaching the popularity of the much more matured newspaper by William Garrison. In conclusion, Frederick Douglass successfully fought against slavery even after facing such a dreadful past.

Before the Civil war began, Frederick Douglass was arguably the most impacting African American man during his time.

Firstly, he advised President Abraham Lincoln to allow slaves to fight if they wished. This is because he believed that the African Americans should be allowed to help fight with the Union against the Confederacy for their own freedom. Even though Douglass and Lincoln were close friends, he still decided to support John C. Frémont over Lincoln solely on the issue that he did not push for the suffrage of black Freedman. However, Lincoln understood this and passed the Thirteenth Amendment which abolished all slavery in the United States. Frederick Douglass later received many government honours, one of which he was the United States Ambassador for the Dominican Republic. Subsequently, two years later he decided to quit the job because he had many objections to US government policies. Lastly, Douglass ran as the first African American in United States history to run for a presidential position. He was running as Vice President for Victoria Woodhull on the Equal Rights Party in 1872. Although, Frederick Douglass was unaware that he was even supposed to be running. This resulted in him not campaigning and ending up losing. All of these honors were still very big for Frederick Douglass as he became the first African American to ever be in a government level

job.

Overall, Frederick Douglass’s background history truly enhanced how he became one of the primary leaders of the abolitionist movement.

His family also played a key role in his rise to the top abolitionist in America. His wife Anna Douglass and he had five children: Rosetta, Lewis Henry, Frederick Jr, Charles Redmond and Annie. Many of his children played major parts in supporting Frederick Douglass in his speeches and also working for the betterment of his newspaper The North Star. Many years later, after his wife died, Frederick Douglass married a white woman’s suffragist named Helen Pitts. She was the daughter of another abolitionist named Gideon Pitts Jr. Furthermore, a few of Harvard’s students urged Frederick Douglass to write his autobiography called The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. Throughout his life he wrote three more copies, enhancing each one with more information that he didn’t include in the previous. Frederick Douglass passed away on February 20, 1895. In conclusion, throughout his long life he was known to be the best abolitionist in his time, whilst considering his

past.