"My feet have been so cracked with the frost, that the pen with which I am writing might be laid in the gashes."

-- Frederick Douglass

"I'm not only an American slave, but a man, and as such, am bound to use my powers for the welfare of my whole human brotherhood."

-- Frederick Douglass
Letter to William Loyd Garrision (1846)

Born into slavery, Frederick Douglass became one of the most articulate and influential figures in African American literature and history. His most famous work is the" Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, "which depicted his personal struggle to escape from slavery.

As a young boy, Douglass was sent to Baltimore as a house servant. He was allowed to learn to read and write. His mistress died, and he was returned to Maryland to work for Hugh Auld.

Frederick and a group of other slaves attempted to escape in 1836, but their plot was exposed. Fortunately, Hugh Auld saved Douglass from being sent South. Instead, Hugh sent him back to Baltimore to Thomas Auld, where Douglass was eventually allowed to hire himself out (he paid his master a certain amount of money every week).

In 1838, he escaped, with the help of some money (borrowed from Anna, with whom he was engaged). He also had a "sailor's protection," which certified that he was a free seaman.

When he arrived in New York, he selected a new name: Frederick Douglass. He began working as a laborer, and he later wrote of his new experience: "A new world had opened upon me."

Douglass sent for Anna, and they were married on September 15, 1838. They settled in New Bedford, Massachusetts — a location purported to be safe from slave-hunters.

Eventually, his skills for oration were discovered by the American Anti-Slavery Socitey, and Douglass began lecturing in public. He told about his painful experiences with slavery, and achieved immense success. His friends in New Bedford were concerned about his safety because it was dangerous for him to appear in public. If a slave-hunter saw him, he could once again loose his freedom.

Even with the danger, Douglass continued to speak out, and he eventually resolved to write the story of his life to counteract the rumors that quested the veracity of his story.

He published "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass "in 1845. The story dramatically portrayed the experience of a slave in the South, but the tale was much more poignant than any anti-slavery tract that had been previously distributed.

Until the publication of Harriet Beecher Stowe's "Uncle Tom's Cabin" (1851-52), Douglass's narrative was the most widely-read anti-slavery document. In the years to come, he would publish several other versions of his story: "My Bondage and My Freedom" (1855), "The Life and Times of Frederick Douglass" (1892).

After the initial publication of his "Narrative, " Douglass spent time in England. He lectured extensively, and also gathered money to buy his freedom.

In one of his speeches he said:

"Then let us pray that come it may,
As come it will for a' that,
That sense and worth, o'er a' the earth,
May bear the gree, and a' that;
"That man to man, the world o'er,
Shall brothers be, for a' that."

Frederick Douglass, "The Color Line"

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