AchievementMay 1845· literature
Frederick Douglass Publishes His Autobiography, Narrative of the Life
Frederick Douglass published Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, one of the most influential books in American literature. The 125-page autobiography sold 5,000 copies in four months and 30,000 within five years. It demolished pro-slavery arguments about Black intellectual inferiority and became a foundational text of American abolitionism.
Key figures
Resources
Primary sources·2
Primary source· Primary
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (1845, full text)
Frederick Douglass
The complete text of Douglass's landmark 1845 slave narrative.
Primary source· Primary
Frederick Douglass Papers
Library of Congress
~7,400 items: correspondence, speeches, and writings of Frederick Douglass.