Frederick Douglass

Frederick Douglass (1818–1895) was a civil rights advocate and social reformer who rose above his early years in slavery to become one of the most influential figures of the nineteenth century. After escaping slavery as a young man, Douglass became an abolitionist, working to put an end to slavery. He supported the American Civil War (1861–1865) and worked with Union forces as part of the propaganda campaign to help the war movement. Douglass was also an author and newspaper editor, and he gave lectures on topics related to race.

Douglass was born into slavery as Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey in Maryland in February 1818. He barely knew his mother, Harriet Bailey, who was enslaved. At the time, enslavers would put...