Fredrick Douglass And The Abolitionist Movement

The abolitionist movement was a social and political push for the direct liberation of all slaves and the termination of racial discrimination and segregation that started during the 1830s and continued on until the 1870s. During the abolitionist movement there were various major figures that played a huge role in the movement such as David Walker whose Appeal created a path for future Abolitionists and encouraged the movement. William Lloyd Garrison whose publication of an anti-slavery newspaper The Liberator was considered the formal start of the abolitionist movement. However, of all the individuals that played their part in the Abolition Movment in the United States I believe that the individual that had the greatest impact during the movement

He was born on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Fredrick was separated from his mother as an infant and lived with grandmother on a Maryland plantation. As a child Fredricks owner sent him to Baltimore to live as a house servant with the family of Hugh Auld. Auld’s wife began teaching him how to read which Auld ended because he considered that learning would make him unfit for slavery. This lead Fredrick to continue his learning secretively and on his own. At the age of sixteen after the death of his master Fredrick returned as a field worker at the Maryland plantation and was later appointed out in Baltimore as a ship caulker. In 1833 Fredrick attempted to escape with three other slaves but were all caught before they were able to. At the age of twenty Fredrick was able to escape from slavery, he escaped to New York City and then New Bedford Massachusetts where he changed his last name to Douglass to avoid those looking for

He was able to return from his two-year speaking tour as a free man and with the financial support of those he met during his tour he was able to start the publication of his own antislavery newspaper in Rochester, New York known as the North Star. Douglass edited the influential black newspaper for sixteen years, 1847 to 1860. Douglass’s publications gave him the ability to reach a broader audience which allowed him to be able to stimulate public opinion which then led to him becoming one of the leaders of the abolitionist movement on his own right. He achieved worldwide fame as a speaker and author of prodigious persuasive power. Through his countless speeches and editorials Douglass was able to impose an appealing accusation against slavery and racism which provided a determined voice of hope for his people, was able to incorporate antislavery politics, and speak of his own variety of American ideals. Douglass broke over an issue with William Lloyd Garrison, another abolition leader, who disagreed with the requirement for a separate black oriented press and Douglass’s support of political action to increase moral inducement. In 1851 Douglass associated himself with the group of the movment led by James G. Birney and also had a close relationship with John Brown. However, Douglass did not agree with Brown’s violent strategies