Fredrick Douglass And The Anti-Slavery Movement

Fredrick Douglass was born Fredrick Augustus Washington Bailey, in Maryland in 1818 to Harriet Bailey. There were two mysteries surrounding Fredrick’s early life: one, the actual date of his birth and two, the identity of his father. Even though his father has not been confirmed, it is believed that Douglass’ father was Harriet’s slave master. At the very tender age of ten, Douglass’ mother died suddenly. Shortly after her death, Fredrick was sold to Hugh Auld, where he began working on his plantation. While working on the plantation, Douglass was taught how to read by his slave master’s wife. However, the lessons stopped per the request of his slave master, yet, that did not stop him from continuing to learn how to read. At the age of sixteen, he was sold to a “slave breaker,” named Edward Covey, who was a very harsh slave master. After spending less than a year under Covey’s control, he tried to escape with a group of slaves, but was later caught by authorities and was

He spoke impromptly in many places, but his most famous speech that helped to kick start his role in the anti-slavery movement, was in Nantucket where he told the story of his life as a slave. This speech was so moving that one of the attendees, Lloyd Garrison, asked him to become a public speaker for the American Anti-Slavery Society. Shortly after he joined the American Anti-Slavery Society, Douglass published his first autobiography entitled, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave. During this time, he was also writing for many different newspapers, such as North Star, Fredrick Douglass’ Paper, and Douglass’ Monthly. Fredrick was a very strong advocate for the freedom of slaves and worked very closely with President Lincoln to help fight for freedom. Going hand in hand with his fight against slavery, Douglass was also joined in the fight for women’s