How Did Frederick Douglass Contribute To The Abolitionist Movement

Frederick Douglass was born in a slave cabin near Talbot County, Maryland, in February, 1818. and died on February 20, 1895. Douglass was attending a meeting of the National Council of Women in Washington, D.C. Returning home, Douglass died of a massive heart attack or stroke. He was buried in Mount Hope Cemetery in Rochester, New York. Douglass never met his father, and had little time to share with her mother as she was also a slave. Despite all this circumstances Douglass is considered the most important African American person of the 19th century because of his character and his involvement in the abolitionist movement.

At the age of 8, Douglass was sent to Baltimore to work as a Houseboy with Hugh and Sophia Auld, relatives of his master.

In 1841, at an anti-slavery convention, Douglass mortified the audience with his speech, telling them his experiences as a former slave. “ As a public speaker, he excels in pathos, wit, comparison, imitation, strength of reasoning, and fluency of language” ( WM. Lloyd Garrison, 1845). Due to his natural eloquence Douglass was given the job of being a lecturer for the next couple years. Such was his talent, that people began to doubt about his person, and thought that his anecdotes were false. To prove them wrong Douglass wrote his autobiography “The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass” in 1845 where he reveals everything about himself. With his identity known, and the world knowing he was a fugitive slave he was in danger, therefore he had to flee once again, this time to Scotland, Ireland, and England. In England he continued with his anti-slavery speeches, and such was the shock of the British that in December, 1846 a group of British man bought his freedom from Douglass’ former slave owner, and finally Douglass was able to return to the U.S legally a free

Now in new York City Douglass started the publication of his own newspaper, the North Star, which was later renamed Frederick Douglass’ Paper and Douglass Monthly. It soon became the most popular anti-slavery newspaper along the liberator. Now with a wider audience and being able to influence his thoughts on millions of people he became one of the leaders of the abolitionist movement on his own