Frederick Douglass
(1818–1895)
Despite being born into slavery, Frederick Douglass (born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey) gained freedom and an education and inspired others through his oratory and his life. Douglass fought hard for his freedom, as did many others like him, but what makes Douglass such an extraordinary figure in history is the fact that his struggle was to become an inspiration for all who believe in equality for all people.
Douglass was a young man of nineteen when he escaped from slavery and began to build a new life as a free man. Eager to help other slaves, he attended abolitionist meetings and read their newspapers. Three years after his escape, at one such meeting, Douglass was asked to speak about his experiences. That meeting and Douglass's speech changed the young man's life forever. Douglass began a career as a speaker for the abolitionist movement, traveling widely to denounce slavery. He not only criticized slavery; he shared his personal experiences and private emotions and became renowned for his oratory, moving entire audiences to tears with his words.
A great believer in the power of the written word, Douglass used it as another tool in his crusade. He started his own abolitionist newspaper, The North Star, and used it to express his political and social theories. He was the first African American freeman in the United States to own a printing press.
As he continued to write and travel, Douglass realized that the public needed something more personal that would expose the ugliness of slavery, going beyond secondhand accounts and rumors of plantation life. This realization prompted Douglass to write his autobiography.
In 1845, when Douglass was twenty-seven, his book was published. The genre of the slave narrative was not unknown; there were over one hundred narratives in circulation before the end of the Civil War. However, most of these narratives were transcribed by abolitionists from accounts told to them by individuals who had escaped from slavery. These narratives were attacked as untruthful or exaggerated. Douglass's Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Written by Himself, was not only direct and informative, but the facts could be verified: The names he used in the book belonged to real people, and the descriptions of the events were accurate. For this reason, Narrative was a dangerous book. It was also a very successful book.
Douglass's writing style produced not only a well-constructed work of literature but also an emotionally forceful story. Simple and descriptive, without embellishment, Narrative achieves its purpose of informing the reader.
Douglass continued to speak and write, and ten years after the publication of his first book, his second autobiography, My Bondage and My Freedom, added details, particularly those of his escape to freedom, to the first account. This, too, sold well. However, his third autobiography, Life and Times of Frederick Douglass, was not as successful.
Douglass never gave up on his battle against slavery. An idealist until the end, Douglass transcended his era. His Narrative and his life's work are not only about the personal experience of slavery; they are about the importance of freedom. Douglass's belief that freedom is not a luxury but a human right still moves his readers as much today as it did over a hundred years ago.
