Frederick DouglassSlave, Public speaker & Author
B. 1818 D. 1895 Testimony: In their Own WordsI have often been asked, how I felt when first I found myself on free soil. And my readers may share the same curiosity. There is scarcely anything in my experience about which I could not give a more satisfactory answer. A new world had opened upon me. If life is more than breath, and the 'quick round of blood,' I lived more in one day than in a year of my slave life. It was a time of joyous excitement which words can but tamely describe. |
Actions
-Physically attacked his slave master after months of beatings. He was not beaten again.
- Secretly taught himself to read and write saying "knowledge is the pathway from slavery to freedom."
- Escaped slavery and became a vocal opponent of it while living in the North, including writing an autobiography, Narrative of a Life of a Slave, which became a best-seller.
- Attended Seneca Falls Convention on women’s rights and spoke forcefully in favor of the demands of the women.
-If not for his vocal support it is unlikely the Declaration of Sentiments, a document outlining the rights women should have, would have been approved by the convention.
-Despite his support for women’s rights he later argued that voting rights for black men were more important. He argued that women had some voice as long as their husbands could vote since they could influence them. Black men had no such influence.
-Refused an invitation by John Brown to join an assault against southern slave owners.
- Through his powerful speeches and writings he helped prove that slaves were intelligent enough to be free to run their own lives.
-Became the most popular speaker on a 6-month tour of abolitionist speakers in the north.
-Wrote a letter to his former slave master asking him how he would feel if Douglass kidnapped his daughter and treated her like he had treated Douglass’ family.
-Created his own newspaper where he wrote about issues involving abolition and women’s rights.
- Secretly taught himself to read and write saying "knowledge is the pathway from slavery to freedom."
- Escaped slavery and became a vocal opponent of it while living in the North, including writing an autobiography, Narrative of a Life of a Slave, which became a best-seller.
- Attended Seneca Falls Convention on women’s rights and spoke forcefully in favor of the demands of the women.
-If not for his vocal support it is unlikely the Declaration of Sentiments, a document outlining the rights women should have, would have been approved by the convention.
-Despite his support for women’s rights he later argued that voting rights for black men were more important. He argued that women had some voice as long as their husbands could vote since they could influence them. Black men had no such influence.
-Refused an invitation by John Brown to join an assault against southern slave owners.
- Through his powerful speeches and writings he helped prove that slaves were intelligent enough to be free to run their own lives.
-Became the most popular speaker on a 6-month tour of abolitionist speakers in the north.
-Wrote a letter to his former slave master asking him how he would feel if Douglass kidnapped his daughter and treated her like he had treated Douglass’ family.
-Created his own newspaper where he wrote about issues involving abolition and women’s rights.
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