Frederick Douglas

The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave was written by Frederick


  Douglass himself.   He was born into slavery in Tuckahoe, Maryland in approximately 1817. He has,


  "…no accurate knowledge of my age, never having seen any authentic record containing it" (47).   He


  became known as an eloquent speaker for the cause of the abolitionists.   Having himself been kept as a


  slave until he escaped from Maryland   in 1838, he was able to deliver very impassioned speeches about


  the role of the slave holders and the slaves.   Many Northerners tried to discredit his tales, but no one was


  ever able to disprove his statements.  


  Frederick Douglass does offer a biased review of slavery, as he was born into it, yet even in his


  bias he is able to detect and detail the differences in the slave holders cruelty and that to which he was


  subjected.   From being whipped and humiliated daily, "a very severe whipping… for being awkward"


  (101), to being able to find his own work and save some money, "I was able to command the highest


  wages given to the most experienced calkers" (134), he is able to give the reader a more true picture of


  slavery.   His poignant speeches raised the ire of many Northerners, yet many still felt the slaves deserved


  their position in life.   Douglass, for his own safety, was urged to travel to England where he stayed and


  spoke until 1847 when he returned to the U.S. to buy his freedom.   At that point, he began to write and


  distribute   an anti-slavery newspaper called "The North Star".   Not only did he present news to the slaves,


  but it was also highly regarded as a good source of information for those opposed to slavery.


  During the Civil war, Douglass organized two regiments of black soldiers in Massachusetts to


  fight for the North.   Before, during and after...