Voices of Freedom: Frederick Douglass
- Jun 12
- 2 min read
Highlighting Juneteenth
Frederick Douglass
(1818-1895)
Abolitionist, Writer, Orator, Ambassador
“Right is of no sex. Truth is of no color.”
Frederick Douglass was born into slavery in Maryland around the year 1818. He never knew for certain who his father was, and as a child was separated from his mother. Like most enslaved persons at that time, he was of racially mixed descent.
At the age of eight, he was sent to serve a white woman in Baltimore, Sophia Auld. At first, she taught young Frederick his letters, but then, in obedience to her husband, tried to deny the boy all reading material. Frederick realized that, in his words, “knowledge is the pathway from slavery to freedom,” and worked at his reading in secret, pouring over every text he could lay his hands on.
When Frederick was 15, he was sent to work for Edward Covery, a farmer who doubled as a “slave-breaker”. Covey whipped Frederick frequently until, when he was 16, Frederick fought back. After that, the beatings ended.
In 1835, when Frederick was 17, he was sent to work in the Baltimore shipyard. There, he fell in love with a free black woman, Anna Murray, who encouraged his desire to be free. On September 3, 1838, Frederick escaped to New York City. Murray joined him there, and they were married. Around that time, he chose the surname “Douglass,” which he spelled with an extra ‘s’ because it suggested strength.
While laboring to support his family, Douglass became involved in the abolition movement, as writer and orator. In time, he began to tour the north, giving anti-slavery speeches. In 1845, the first of his three autobiographies, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, was published. In 1846, he traveled to Great Britain, where he spent the next two years speaking and writing.
After his return to the United States, Douglass used all the tools at his command—his voice, his pen, even his photograph—to work tirelessly against slavery. One is struck by the power of Douglass’s writings, how their passion is amplified by their dignity.
After emancipation, Douglass continued his work against the laws and customs that barred people from participating fully in the civil, political, economic, and cultural life of our nation by reason of color or sex. In 1867, he declared, “A man’s rights rest in three boxes. The ballot box, the jury box, and the cartridge box.” Over the years, he received many honors and appointments, including ambassador to Haiti in 1889.
Frederick Douglass died of a heart attack on February 20, 1895, and is buried in Rochester, New York.
Available at the Kenosha Public Library is The Portable Frederick Douglass, a generous selection of his writings.
