Life and Times of Frederick Douglass

Frederick Douglass, (1817-1895), was the leading spokesman for African Americans in the 1800's. Born a slave, Douglass became a noted reformer, author, and speaker. He devoted his life to the abolition of slavery and the fight for black rights. Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey was born in Tuckahoe, MD. He changed his name to Douglass to avoid capture after he fled from his master in 1838. He arrived in New Bedford, Massachusetts and because he was a black man, could only find work as an unskilled laborer. His life changed from that of an unskilled laborer to sought-after speaker when the Massachusetts Antislavery Society hired him as a lecturer. Douglass was an outspoken pioneer in the anti-slavery movement. He protested the discriminatory practices of segregated employment, education, worship and public transportation. His house was a station on the Underground Railroad. He conferred with Abraham Lincoln on several occasions and helped recruit African Americans for the Union Army during the Civil War. The Life and Times of Frederick Douglass is the expanded version of the autobiography he published in England.