Person · 1818–1895
Frederick Douglass
Born enslaved, he escaped to become the most influential Black American of the 19th century — an electrifying orator, writer, newspaper editor, and statesman.
The defining figure of 19th-century abolition and Black political life.
Frederick Douglass taught himself to read in defiance of the law, escaped slavery in 1838, and within a few years became the abolitionist movement's most powerful voice. His 1845 Narrative was a bestseller; his newspaper, The North Star, carried the masthead "Right is of no Sex — Truth is of no Color."
He pressed Lincoln to make the Civil War a war against slavery and to enlist Black soldiers, recruited for the USCT (two of his sons served), and after emancipation fought for the vote and for full citizenship. He held federal office and remained, until his death in 1895, the conscience of the nation on race.
On the timeline
- May 1845Frederick Douglass publishes his Narrative
Douglass's autobiography becomes a landmark of American letters and the abolitionist cause.
- December 3, 1847Frederick Douglass launches The North Star
Douglass founds his abolitionist newspaper under the masthead "Right is of no Sex — Truth is of no Color."
- July 5, 1852"What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?"
Frederick Douglass delivers the most searing abolitionist speech of the era, exposing the hypocrisy of celebrating liberty in a slaveholding nation.
- January 1, 1863The Emancipation Proclamation
Lincoln declares the enslaved in rebel states free, transforming the war into a fight for freedom.
Resources
Primary sources·4
~7,400 items: correspondence, speeches, and writings of Frederick Douglass.
~7,400 items: correspondence, speeches, and writings of Frederick Douglass.
The complete text of Douglass's landmark 1845 slave narrative.
~7,400 digitized items: speeches, correspondence, and writings.
Videos·1
The web
Connections to other moments, systems, and investigations — the links rarely drawn together.
- connects to·EventJohn Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry
John Brown urged Douglass to join the raid; Douglass refused, judging it doomed, but kept the confidence.