Today, we commemorate the life of Frederick Douglass on (what is believed to be) the 206th birthday of one of the country’s most famous Americans. Born in February 1818, the exact date of his birth is unknown, though he would regularly celebrate it on Feb. 14. He would become an orator, author, newspaper publisher, and one of the country’s most famous abolitionists.
Most people are familiar with the story of Douglass. He’s not one of the obscure or relatively unknown historical figures that I previously covered in my Black History’s Heroes Series. Douglass played an integral role in ending slavery in the United States, forming the first all-black military units, and advancing civil rights for black people after the Civil War.
Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey was born into slavery on Holme Hill Farm in Talbot County, Maryland. His mother was of African descent, and his father was of European descent, with many accounts suspecting this was his enslaver. He started working at the age of 6. He lived on the farm with his grandmother and his mother on a plantation located 12 miles away. It is believed he only saw his mother a handful of times before her death when Douglass was 7.
Several historical accounts of his life suggested that he correlated literacy with freedom and taught himself how to read. When he was 12, he read The Columbian Orator, a collection of “revolutionary essays” about natural rights. It helped mold his mind and develop ideas about freedom. As a result, he began to rebel against his owners.
Around the age of 20, Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey escaped from slavery and took residence in New York City. In New York, he would eventually change his last name to Douglass. His girlfriend, Anna Murray, helped him escape by providing clothing and other supplies. She would eventually go to New York City to be with Douglass, and they were married less than two weeks after Douglass escaped from slavery. They would subsequently relocate to Massachusetts.
There, he became active in the abolitionist movement. He became known for his oratorical skills and was recruited by the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society. He was paid to give speeches around the country about the horrors of slavery and why it should be abolished. Slowly but surely, Douglass helped change the minds of the country about slavery. One of his most famous speeches was delivered on July 4, 1852: “What, to the American slave, is your Fourth of July?”
He continued efforts for racial equality for the next several years until the Civil War. In 1860, Douglass wrote his autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave. It would become his most famous work. It was widely heralded by readers and cited as one of the works used to help persuade Americans to want to end slavery.
“From my earliest recollection, I date the entertainment of a deep conviction that slavery would not always be able to hold me within its foul embrace; and in the darkest hours of my career in slavery, this living word of faith and spirit of hope departed not from me, but remained like ministering angels to cheer me through the gloom,” Douglass wrote. “Thus is slavery the enemy of both the slave and the slaveholder.”
During the Civil War, Douglass continued with abolition efforts, including meeting and advising President Abraham Lincoln and working to form military regiments for black Americans to enlist and fight in the war. He was also instrumental in helping with the ratifications of the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments to the Constitution, outlawing slavery and granting black Americans citizenship and the right to vote.
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He would continue fighting for civil rights during Reconstruction, aiding President Ulysses S. Grant in political battles against the Ku Klux Klan. Douglass also helped drum up support for the Civil Rights Act of 1871. He would become the first black American to hold high office when appointed ambassador to the Dominican Republic.
Douglass would live until 1895. His legacy still lives on today as a pioneer in ending slavery, striving for racial equality, and promoting civil rights.