EDUCBA

EDUCBA

MENUMENU
  • Blog
  • Free Tutorials
  • Certification Courses
  • Login
Home Miscellaneous Leaders Frederick Douglass
Secondary Sidebar
Miscellaneous
  • Leaders
    • Benjamin Franklin
    • Tatya Tope
    • Vinayak Damodar Savarkar
    • Frederick Douglass
    • Franklin Delano Roosevelt
    • Robert Kennedy
    • Booker T. Washington
    • Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel
    • Lal Bahadur Shastri
    • Thomas Alva Edison
    • Mangal Pandey
    • Kunwar Singh
    • Abraham Lincoln
    • George Washington
    • Albert Einstein
  • Essay (72+)
  • Advantages and Disadvantages (76+)
  • Full Form (123+)
  • Historical Places (15+)
  • Holidays (37+)
  • Hotels (174+)
  • Machines (10+)
  • Movement (13+)
  • Temples (105+)
  • Tourist Places (279+)
  • Celebrities (55+)
  • Entertainment (2+)
  • Food and Dining (43+)
  • Freedom Fighters (9+)
  • Historical Monuments (18+)
  • Machines (3+)

Frederick Douglass

About Frederick Douglass

Frederick Douglass was the most influential African American of the 19th century. He was an abolitionist, a social reformer, and a writer. His autobiography called “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave” is counted among the most important works of American literature.

Frederick Douglass

(Image Credit: National Park Service)

Watch our Demo Courses and Videos

Valuation, Hadoop, Excel, Mobile Apps, Web Development & many more.

Surprising facts

Here are some fascinating facts About Frederick Douglass You Never Knew Before:

#1 Preaching and Writing Career

As a young man, Douglass took inspiration from the sermons of Charles Grandison Finney and decided to become a preacher. He was ordained as a minister in 1839 and continued to preach throughout his life. In addition to preaching, Douglass wrote articles for various publications, including The Liberator and The North Star. His writing career culminated with the publication of his autobiography in 1845.

#2 Political Involvement during Reconstruction

Frederick Douglass was an abolitionist, human rights activist, and one of the strong figures in American history. He was also deeply involved in politics during the Reconstruction era, working tirelessly to ensure that African Americans received the full rights and protections guaranteed by the Constitution.

#3 Close Advisor to President Abraham Lincoln

Douglass was a close advisor to President Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War and was crucial in convincing Lincoln to issue the Emancipation Proclamation. After the war, Douglass continued to work for African American rights, serving as a delegate to the 1866 international Convention of Free Negroes in Paris.

#4 His real name

Most people know Frederick Douglass simply as Frederick Douglass, but did you know that this was not his given name? Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, born on the Eastern Shore of Maryland in February 1818, was born into slavery. He was named after his mother’s owner, Colonel Anthony. At the age of seven, he was taught how to read and write by the wife of one of his masters. However, once his master discovered he could read, he stopped it and forbade further instruction. Despite this roadblock, Douglass continued to teach himself how to read and write. In 1838, he escaped slavery by posing as a free sailor and sailed north to New York City. It was there that he changed his name to Frederick Douglass.

#5 Slave education

Despite the legal prohibition against slaveholders teaching enslaved people to read and write, Frederick Douglass was determined to get an education. He began secretly learning how to read and write with the help of some of the white children in his neighborhood. Once he learned how to read, he started borrowing books from a local free black man and reading as much as possible.

#6 The North Star newspaper

In 1851, Frederick Douglass started his newspaper, The North Star. It was an abolitionist newspaper that was published weekly. It was one of the most popular black newspapers of its time.

#7 U.S. Ambassador to Haiti

In his later years, Frederick Douglass served as the U.S. Ambassador to Haiti. President Rutherford B. Hayes appointed him in 1877, and he served until 1881. During his time as ambassador, Douglass worked tirelessly to improve conditions in Haiti. He helped to negotiate several treaties between the Haitian government and other countries, including the United States.

#8 Speaking engagements

Frederick Douglass was a gifted orator and gave many speeches throughout his lifetime. In 1841, he gave a speech at an anti-slavery convention in Nantucket that drew national attention. This speech launched his career as an abolitionist lecturer. Douglass also got an invitation to speak at many prestigious events, such as the Women’s Rights Convention in Seneca Falls in 1848 and the Fourth of July celebration in Rochester in 1852

#9 The Freedman’s Savings Bank

The United States Congress created Freedman’s Savings Bank to help African Americans save money. In 1865, builders constructed the bank and encouraged African Americans to deposit money. The bank aimed to stabilize Freedman financially but failed in 1874.

#10 Women’s rights advocate

Frederick Douglass was a fierce advocate for women’s rights and even wrote an essay entitled “The Claims of Women to the Suffrage.” In it, he argued that women deserved the right to vote because they were just as capable as men and that denying them this right was a form of oppression. He also believed that giving women the vote would help to achieve equality for all people.

Conclusion

It is hard to imagine the courage, grit, and resilience it must have taken for Frederick Douglass to escape slavery and become one of America’s most important activists. His influential work as an abolitionist, women’s rights campaigner, and the author is a testament to his commitment to justice and human equality.

Primary Sidebar
Footer
About Us
  • Blog
  • Who is EDUCBA?
  • Sign In
  • Live Classes
  • Corporate Training
  • Certificate from Top Institutions
  • Contact Us
  • Verifiable Certificate
  • Reviews
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  •  
Apps
  • iPhone & iPad
  • Android
Resources
  • Finance
  • Data Science
  • Software Development
  • Excel
  • Design
  • Project Management
  • Personal Development
  • Marketing
  • Human Resource
Certification Courses
  • Financial Analyst Course - All in One Bundle
  • Data Science Course - All in One Bundle
  • Software Development Course - All in One Bundle
  • Excel VBA Course - All in One Bundle
  • Design Course - All in One Bundle
  • Project Management Course - All in One Bundle
  • Personal Development Course - All in One Bundle
  • Marketing Course - All in One Bundle
  • Human Resource Course - All in One Bundle

ISO 10004:2018 & ISO 9001:2015 Certified

© 2023 - EDUCBA. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THE CERTIFICATION NAMES ARE THE TRADEMARKS OF THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS.

EDUCBA

*Please provide your correct email id. Login details for this Free course will be emailed to you

Let’s Get Started

By signing up, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

EDUCBA

*Please provide your correct email id. Login details for this Free course will be emailed to you
EDUCBA

*Please provide your correct email id. Login details for this Free course will be emailed to you
EDUCBA Login

Forgot Password?

By signing up, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

This website or its third-party tools use cookies, which are necessary to its functioning and required to achieve the purposes illustrated in the cookie policy. By closing this banner, scrolling this page, clicking a link or continuing to browse otherwise, you agree to our Privacy Policy

Loading . . .
Quiz
Question:

Answer:

Quiz Result
Total QuestionsCorrect AnswersWrong AnswersPercentage

Explore 1000+ varieties of Mock tests View more