Frederick Douglass 1817/1818 (?) - 1895

1
Frederick Douglass1817/1818 (?) - 1895
2
Early Life

• Frederick Douglass was born a slave in Maryland.
• His name was Frederick Augustus Washington
  Bailey.
• His mother, a slave, was Harriet Bailey.
• He had five siblings.

3
Early Life

• His father, who was white, was rumored to be
  his master, Aaron Anthony.
• Of my father I know nothing.
• Frederick Douglass

4
Early Life

• He was separated from his mother soon after
  birth.
• It was a common custom in the part of
  Maryland from which I ran away to part children
  from their mothers at a very early age.
  Frequently before the child had reached its
  twelfth month its mother would be taken from it
  and hired out at some farm a considerable
  distance off. The child would be placed under
  the care of an old woman, too old for field
  labor. Frederick Douglass

5

• The practice of separating children from their
  mothers and hiring the latter out at distances
  too great to admit of their meeting, except at
  long intervals, is a marked feature of the
  cruelty and barbarity of the slave system. But
  it is in harmony with the grand aim of slavery,
  which, always and everywhere, is to reduce man to
  a level with the brute. It is a successful
  method of obliterating from the mind and heart of
  the slave all just ideas of the sacredness of
  family
• 
  Frederick Douglass

6
Early Life

• His mother died in 1826.
• I never saw my mother, to know her as such,
  more than four or five times in my life, and each
  of these time was of very short duration, and at
  night. She was hired by a Mr. Stewart, who lived
  about a dozen miles from my house.She was a
  field hand, and a whipping was the penalty for
  not being in the field at sunriseI do not
  recollect ever seeing my mother by light of
  day. Frederick Douglass

7
Early Life

• Later in 1826 Aaron Anthony, his master, died.
• Douglass then became the property of Thomas Auld,
  Anthonys son-in-law.
• He was sent to Baltimore to live with Hugh and
  Sophia Auld.

8
Early Life

• Sophia Auld taught Douglass to read until her
  husband stopped her.
• Hugh Auld believed that education made slaves
  rebellious.

9
Early Life

• In 1833 Douglass was sent back to work for Thomas
  Auld.
• He taught other slaves to read, but when Auld
  found out, he forced Douglass to stop.
• Douglass continued to secretly practice reading
  and writing.

10
Early Life

• In 1834 Thomas Auld rented him out for a year
  to Edward Covey who was known as a slave
  breaker.
• This would prove to be the turning point in
  Douglass life.
• After being beaten by Edward Covey, Douglass
  fought back.

11
The Turning Point

• This battle with Mr. Covey was the turning
  point in my career as a slave. It rekindled the
  few expiring embers of freedom, and revived
  within me a sense of my own manhood. It recalled
  the departed self-confidence, and inspired me
  again with a determination to be free.It was a
  glorious resurrection, from the tomb of slavery,
  to the heaven of freedom.cowardice departed, and
  bold defiance took its place and I now resolved
  that, however long I might remain a slave in
  form, the day had passed forever when I could be
  a slave in fact.
• Frederick
  Douglass

12
Freedom

• At the age of 21 he escaped from slavery.
• He changed his last name to Johnson to hide from
  slave hunters.

13
Marriage

• On September 15, 1838 Douglass married Anna
  Murray, a free woman.
• The marriage was performed by James W. C.
  Pennington, an escaped slave.
• The couple moved to New Bedford, MA.

14
His Name

• Douglass changed his name one last time.
• He took the last name of Douglas from a character
  in Sir Walter Scotts poem The Lady of the Lake.
• He changed the spelling to Douglass.

15
Children

• Frederick Douglass and Anna Murray had five
  children.
• Rosetta Douglass - June 24. 1839 Lewis Henry
  Douglass - October 9, 1840 Frederick Douglass
  - March 3, 1842 Charles Remond Douglass -
  October 21, 1844 Annie Douglass March 22,
  1849

16
His Career

• Douglass worked for several years in the New
  Bedford shipyards and machine shops.
• He became a minister in the African Methodist
  Episcopal Zion Church.

17
His Career

• In 1841 he met the abolitionists, William
  Lloyd Garrison (pictured) and William C. Coffin.
  
• He was hired as a speaker for the Massachusetts
  Anti-Slavery Society.

18
His Career

• In 1845 he met Susan B. Anthony and became
  involved in the womens rights movement.

19
His Career

• In 1845 Douglass went on a speaking tour of Great
  Britain.
• His English friends raised money to purchase his
  freedom.
• December 5, 1846 Douglass was manumitted after
  Hugh Auld received 711.66 (deed on left).

20
His Career

• In respect to political rights we hold women
  to be justly entitled to all we claim for manAll
  political rights which is expedient for man to
  exercise, it is equally so for woman. Frederick
  Douglass The North Star

• In 1848 he participated in the first feminist
  convention in Seneca Falls, N. Y.

21
His Career

• Also in 1848 Douglass met abolitionist John Brown
  (pictured).
• Douglass became actively involved in the
  underground railroad.

22
His Career

• In 1859 John Brown was arrested and hanged for
  leading a raid on the federal arsenal at Harpers
  Ferry.
• Douglass fled to Canada and then went on a
  speaking tour of England to avoid arrest on
  charges of being an accomplice in the raid.
• In April 1860 he returned to the United States.
  He was not charged in the raid.

23
His Career - Newspapers

• 1847 1851Published The North Star, an
  abolitionist weekly
• 1851 1860Published Frederick Douglass Paper
• 1859 1863Published Douglass Monthly
• 1870 1874New National Era, a weekly newspaper
  for African-Americans

24
Douglass wrote three autobiographical books.

• The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass,
  an American Slave (1849)
• My Bondage and My Freedom (1855)
• Life and Times of Frederick Douglass (1881)
• Read them online
• http//memory.loc.gov/ammem/doughtml/words.html

25
His Career

• The Civil War began in 1861.
• Douglass recruited men for the 54th Massachusetts
  Infantry, the first regiment of African-American
  soldiers.

26
His Career

• After the war Grant appointed Douglass to the
  commission investigating the possibility of
  annexing the Dominican Republic to the U. S.
• In 1872 the Equal Rights Party nominated Douglass
  for vice-president of the U. S.

27
Cedar Hill

• He moved his family to Washington, D. C. in 1872
  after fire destroyed his home in Rochester
• He purchased Cedar Hill in 1878.
• 20 room house
• 9 acres of land
• Later he purchased the adjoining 15 acres.
• Visit Cedar Hill http//www.nps.gov/frdo/index.ht
  m

28
His Career

• In 1877 Hayes appointed Douglass U. S. Marshal of
  the District of Columbia .
• 1881 Garfield named Douglass Recorder of Deeds
  for the District of Columbia.

29

• August 4, 1882, Anna, his wife of 44 years died
  from a stroke.
• Douglass went into a depression.

30
Second Marriage

• Douglass married Helen Pitts, a white woman, on
  January 24, 1884
• She had been his secretary.
• Their interracial marriage created controversy.

31

• About the marriage
• I think this is about the last sensation of
  which I can possibly be the cause.There are a
  million people in this country of mixed bloodI
  know of a colored woman here in Washington who is
  the mother of ten children by one of our late
  most influential citizens, but no noise was made
  over the fact, simply because the woman was his
  concubine, and not his wife. It would seem that
  what the American people object to is not the
  mixture of the races, but honorable marriage
  between them. Frederick Douglass

32

• During 1886-87 he and Helen toured Europe and
  Africa.

33

• In 1889 he was appointed U. S. Minister Resident
  and Consul General to the Republic of Haiti.
• Many considered Douglass too sympathetic to
  Haitian interests. He resigned the position in
  1891.

34
Death February 20, 1895

• On the 20th Douglass spoke at a meeting of the
  National Council of Women.
• He died suddenly of a heart attack as he was
  describing the meeting to his wife.
• He collapsed in the hall at Cedar Hill.

35
Funeral

• It was estimated that 10,000 people paid their
  respects while the body lay in state.
• Approximately 3,000 attended the funeral services
  which were held in the Metropolitan A. M. E.
  Church in Washington, D. C.

36

• He was buried in Mt. Hope Cemetery,
  Rochester, N. Y.

37

• Frederick Douglass was a unique and a
  remarkable character, and those who mourn his
  death are not of one race or of one
  continent. Chicago Journal February 2, 1895

38

• A monument was dedicated in Rochester,N. Y.
  to Frederick Douglass on June 6, 1899.
• Then Governor Theodore Roosevelt gave the
  address.
• Over 30,000 people were present.

39

• Liberty for all, chains for none. Frederick
  Douglass February 13, 1864
• Frederick Douglass is truly the Father of
  the Civil Rights Movement.

40
O, Douglass! thou hast passed beyond the shore,
But still thy voice is ringing o'er the gale.
Thou'st taught thy race how high her hopes may
soar, And bade her seek the heights, nor faint
nor fail.
- Paul Laurence Dunbar
41
(No Transcript)
42
For more information about Frederick Douglass

• The Frederick Douglass Papershttp//memory.loc.go
  v/ammem/doughtml/doughome.html
• American Visionaries
• www.cr.nps.gov/museum/exhibits/douglass
• Frederick Douglass National Historic
  Sitewww.nps.gov.frdo.freddoug.html
• Jacob Lawrence Virtual Archive and Educational
  Centerhttp//www.jacoblawrence.org/art04.html
• Meet Amazing Americans Frederick
  Douglasshttp//www.americaslibrary.gov/cgi-bin/pa
  ge.cgi/aa/douglass

43
Works Cited

• Frederick Douglass Papers. American Memory
  Historical Collections. Library of Congress.
  Available http//memory.loc.gov/ammem/doughtml/
  doughome.html
• Frederick Douglass. American Visionaries.
  Park Net. Available http//www.cr.nps.gov/muse
  um/exhibits/douglass/