Biography of Frederick Douglass

 

Frederick Douglass was born in February 1818 as a slave on a tobacco, corn, and wheat farm. He was born in Talbot County, Maryland. Frederick’s mother named him Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey. Frederick never knew his father, but he did know that he was a white man. Some people say it was Captain Aaron Anthony, Frederick’s first owner.

Frederick Douglass started to work as a slave when he was six years old; no matter what the temperature was he was working in the fields. He did not have shoes, socks, pants, or a jacket. Frederick worked in only a shirt that went to his knees. Frederick Douglass would take a book to his slave owners’ sons and they would teach him how to read. 

He saw how slavery made beasts not only of slaves but of the people who owned slaves. Frederick Douglass wanted freedom more than anything! While Frederick Douglass was working in a shipyard he met free African Americans and they helped plan Douglass’ escape to freedom. To make it difficult for slave owners to find him, Frederick changed his name from Bailey to Johnson then finally to Douglass. His first wife was Anna Murray. They moved to Massachusetts and had five children.

In 1841 Frederick Douglass met William Lloyd Garrison, editor of an anti-slavery newspaper. Frederick was hired to travel to other cities and speak about slavery and sell subscriptions. In 1845, Douglass wrote an autobiography—The Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave. Frederick Douglass used his real name and his master’s name in this narrative, which put him in danger of getting caught. When Frederick Douglass went to New York, he started the newspaper, The North Star; later it was called Frederick Douglass’ paper.

In 1863, Frederick Douglass helped gather soldiers for the first black unit in the union army and three of his sons joined. In 1865, at President Lincoln’s inauguration, Frederick Douglass was at the white house to shake his hand, but Douglass was not allowed inside—Abraham Lincoln allowed him in.   In 1877, Frederick Douglass was named General; the first African American to hold high rank.

In 1882, Anna Murray died. In 1884, Frederick Douglass married Helen Pitts, she was a white woman. Frederick Douglass made the comment that his first wife was black for his mother, and his second wife was white for his father. In 1895, Frederick Douglass had a heart attack and died at age 77.