Frederick Douglass

Frederick Douglass (* 1817 or 1818 in Talbot County, Maryland, † February 20, 1895 in Washington, DC; born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey ) was a former slave and later abolitionist and writer. He was regarded as the most influential African American of the 19th century.

Life

Frederick Douglass was born into slavery. He was allowed to his mother, Harriet Bailey, have little contact, let alone be with her ​​death there. She died when he was seven years old. He lived with his maternal grandmother, Betty Bailey. It is believed that his father must have been its owner. Douglass describes in his autobiography that events in which the owner was for his own father, often transpired. According to him, this kind led constellation in some very dramatic situations in his "family ". The origin of the newborn was clearly evident by the lighter skin color. The wife of the owner responded accordingly angry, and he was treated very badly by it. Frederick Douglass was rented from one to the next slave owners. In 1825, he came to Baltimore, where he lived as a house slave and day laborers. There he learned in the family of Master Hugh's his mistress as a " friendly and warm-hearted woman ," which dealt with " in the simplicity of her heart " him "how human beings should treat each other according to their understanding. " Till his Lord under band, she taught him to read and write. Douglass was now a great need to master these skills and he persisted in this effort. He achieved his goal by Baltimore, he made ​​contact with white children and was informed by them.

After various attempts to escape from the hands of slavery, he finally succeeded in 1838, to take flight and flee to freedom in New York. The success of this experiment was based on the loaned " letter of protection " of a sailor. He then changed his name from Frederick Augustus Washington native Bailey to Frederick Douglass. So it was the custom of escaped slaves.

Douglass ' success as an abolitionist

After request Frederick Douglass spoke in 1840 at a meeting of abolitionists in Nantucket, Massachusetts, about his experiences in slavery. By this he laid the foundation for his subsequent appearances as a professional speaker against slavery. He was also active as a writer and published in 1845 his first book "A Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave".

1845 Douglass traveled to Great Britain and Ireland, where he held together with the abolitionists William Lloyd Garrison talks about slavery and English friends raised money and it " freely bought " from slavery. During this trip he organized together with Scottish abolitionists a campaign against the Free Church of Scotland because of their decision to accept money from slave owners. The thus created public sensation also forced the 1846 in London held the founding conference of the Evangelical Alliance to take up the issue of slavery, which led to a deep split in the conference. Then Frederick Douglass condemned in a London held before the Anti-Slavery League speech ( " Slavery in the Pulpit of the Evangelical Alliance " ) that while slave owners were invited to the Conference of the Evangelical Alliance, but no Quakers, which is strong in the fight against slavery had committed. He also pointed to the relationship between slavery and Christianity in the U.S. and complained that the churches were the strongest allies of the slavery system in the Southern U.S..

In the following years he took, among others, in 1848 as the only African-American man at the meeting for the equality of women in Seneca part and recruited 1863 black soldiers for the army of the Northern states. 1864 was his second audience held at Abraham Lincoln, where he fought for the equality of black soldiers in the army. In 1870 he was the keynote speaker at the ceremony for the ratification of the 15th Amendment. In 1872 he started as a vice presidential candidate on the side of Victoria Woodhull in the presidential elections; However, the votes for the nominee first wife were invalid due to non-achievement of the required age. As the consummation of his work for equality, he was in 1891 appointed by President Benjamin Harrison as the successor of John EW Thompson to the Messenger and Consul General in the Republic of Haiti and the Commissioner for Santo Domingo.

Honors

Representation in art

Works

  • Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave
  • My bondage and my freedom publisher: Miller, Orton & Mulligan, 1855 - ISBN 1404371680
  • The Heroic Slave. Autographs for Freedom. 1853
  • Slavery and freedom. Autobiography. From the English transfer of Ottilie Assing. Hoffmann und Campe, Hamburg 1860 ( limited preview on Google Book Search, MDZ Munich)
  • John Brown. An address by Frederick Douglass, at the fourteenth anniversary of Storer College, Harper 's Ferry, West Virginia, May 30, 1881 Publisher: . Morningstar job Printing House, Dover NH 1881
Talbot County (Maryland) Glory (1989 film) Stephen M. Weissman Integrated Authority File
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