From there, he taught himself to read and write. By the time he was hired out to work under William Freeland, he was teaching other enslaved people to read using the Bible. As word spread of his efforts to educate fellow enslaved people, Thomas Auld took him back and transferred him to Edward Covey, a farmer who was known for his brutal treatment of the enslaved people in his charge. Roughly 16 at this time, Douglass was regularly whipped by Covey. From there he traveled through Delaware , another slave state, before arriving in New York and the safe house of abolitionist David Ruggles.
She joined him, and the two were married in September They would have five children together. In New Bedford, Douglass began attending meetings of the abolitionist movement. During these meetings, he was exposed to the writings of abolitionist and journalist William Lloyd Garrison.
The two men eventually met when both were asked to speak at an abolitionist meeting, during which Douglass shared his story of slavery and escape. It was Garrison who encouraged Douglass to become a speaker and leader in the abolitionist movement.
Douglass was physically assaulted several times during the tour by those opposed to the abolitionist movement. The injuries never fully healed, and he never regained full use of his hand.
Two years later, Douglass published the first and most famous of his autobiographies, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave.
Later that same year, Douglass would travel to Ireland and Great Britain. At the time, the former country was just entering the early stages of the Irish Potato Famine , or the Great Hunger.
While overseas, he was impressed by the relative freedom he had as a man of color, compared to what he had experienced in the United States. When he returned to the United States in , Douglass began publishing his own abolitionist newsletter, the North Star. Twelve years later, in , his home in Anacostia, Washington D.
There are also several statues that have been erected to memorialize Douglass: a statue and memorial placed in Frederick Douglass Circle in Central Park in ; the seven-foot bronze statue in Easton, Maryland, placed in ; and a statue of Douglass unveiled in in the United States Capitol Visitor Center. Unmistakably, Frederick Douglass impacted a strong and powerful influence on literature, but also on humanity as a whole.
Even if he had not accomplished great professional achievements, his story of escaping from slavery and building a prosperous life for himself against all odds is an inspiring story that will never age. Frederick Douglass led his life in a way that encouraging, empowering, and inspiring. Ultius is the trusted provider of content solutions for consumers around the world.
You read that right —We're giving away free scholarship money! Our next drawing will be held soon. Apply today for your chance to win! Claim Offer. Ultius New client? Click here Didn't find what you're looking for? Request Support Get help via email. Still, he does sometimes use a kind of elevated language, and parts of the book can be a bit difficult.
It might be that he's emulating the style of the King James Bible, one book that almost all of his readers would be familiar with. For example, this is how he describes Aunt Hester being whipped: I remember the first time I ever witnessed this horrible exhibition. I was quite a child, but I well remember it. I never shall forget it whilst I remember any thing. It was the first of a long series of such outrages, of which I was doomed to be a witness and a participant.
Any hyphens occurring in line breaks have been removed, and the trailing part of a word has been joined to the preceding line. All quotation marks and ampersand have been transcribed as entity references. All double right and left quotation marks are encoded as " and " respectively. All single right and left quotation marks are encoded as ' and ' respectively.
Indentation in lines has not been preserved. Running titles have not been preserved. African Americans -- Maryland -- Biography. African American abolitionists -- Biography. Abolitionists -- United States -- Biography. Slaves -- Maryland -- Biography. Fugitive slaves -- Maryland -- Biography. Slavery -- Maryland -- History -- 19th century. Slavery -- United States -- History -- 19th century. Plantation life -- Maryland -- History -- 19th century.
Slaves -- Maryland -- Social conditions -- 19th century. Slaves' writings, American -- Maryland. He was a stranger to nearly every member of that body; but, having recently made his escape from the southern prison-house of bondage, and feeling his curiosity excited to ascertain the principles and measures of the abolitionists,--of whom he had heard a somewhat vague description while he was a slave,--he was induced to give his attendance, on the occasion alluded to, though at that time a resident in New Bedford.
Fortunate, most fortunate occurrence! I shall never forget his first speech at the convention--the extraordinary emotion it excited in my own mind--the powerful impression it created upon a crowded auditory, completely taken by surprise--the applause which followed from the beginning to the end of his felicitous remarks. I think I never hated slavery so intensely as at that moment; certainly, my perception of the enormous outrage which is inflicted by it, on the godlike nature of its victims, was rendered far more clear than ever.
There stood one, in physical proportion and stature commanding and exact--in intellect richly endowed--in natural eloquence a prodigy--in soul manifestly "created but a little lower than the angels"--yet a slave, ay, a fugitive slave,--trembling for his safety, hardly daring to believe that on the American soil, a single white person could be found who would befriend him at all hazards, for the love of God and humanity!
Capable of high attainments as an intellectual and moral being--needing nothing but a comparatively small amount of cultivation to make him an ornament to society and a blessing to his race--by the law of the land, by the voice of the people, by the terms of the slave code, he was only a piece of property, a beast of burden, a chattel personal, nevertheless! A beloved friend from New Bedford prevailed on Mr. He came forward to the platform with a hesitancy and embarrassment, necessarily the attendants of a sensitive mind in such a novel position.
After apologizing for his ignorance, and reminding the audience that slavery was a poor school for the human intellect and heart, Page v he proceeded to narrate some of the facts in his own history as a slave, and in the course of his speech gave utterance to many noble thoughts and thrilling reflections. As soon as he had taken his seat, filled with hope and admiration, I rose, and declared that PATRICK HENRY, of revolutionary fame, never made a speech more eloquent in the cause of liberty, than the one we had just listened to from the lips of that hunted fugitive.
So I believed at that time,--such is my belief now. I reminded the audience of the peril which surrounded this self-emancipated young man at the North, --even in Massachusetts, on the soil of the Pilgrim Fathers, among the descendants of revolutionary sires; and I appealed to them, whether they would ever allow him to be carried back into slavery,--law or no law, constitution or no constitution.
The response was unanimous and in thunder-tones--"NO! It was at once deeply impressed upon my mind, that, if Mr.
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