The Early Life of Frederick Douglass

Fredrick Douglas was born in February of 1818 in the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay in Talbot County, Maryland. He was a slave. Douglass was once given his named by this mother Harriet Bailey. Later, he took the surname of Douglass. His whole name was Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey. Some believe that his grandmother’s cabin east of Tappers Corner was the place of his birth. He wrote of his mother. He wrote of his mother of getting him to sleep. Back then, it was common for enslaved families to be split apart, so Frederick Douglass experienced an early separation from his mother. Frederick then lived with his maternal grandmother, whose name was Betty Bailey. By 6 years old, he was separated from his grandmother and moved into the Wye House plantation. At that location, Aaron Anthony worked as an overseer. Douglass’ mother died when he was only 10. Anthony died too. Douglass was sent to Lucretia Auld or the wife of Thomas Wuld. They made him to serve Thomas’ brother Hugh Auld in Baltimore. By 12 years old, he was taught the alphabet by Sophia (who was Hugh Auld’s wife). Douglass said that Sophia a was kind and tender hearted woman. He said that she treated him “as she supposed one human being ought to treat another.” Hugh didn’t agree with the tutoring, because he believed that literacy would encourage slaves to desire freedom. So, Sophia stopped reading to Frederick Douglass. She even snatched a newspaper away from Douglass. She came to believe in the view that education and slavery were incompatible. Douglass, according to his autobiography, learned to read from white children in the neighborhood and by observing the writings of the men whom he worked. Douglass continued, secretly, to teach himself how to read and write. He later often said, "Knowledge is the pathway from slavery to freedom." Later, Frederick Douglass soon read newspapers, pamphlets, political materials, and books of many types. He was inspired to oppose slavery. He said that the anthology of the Columbian Orator at the age of 12 defined his views on human rights and freedom. The Columbian Orator was first published in 1797. It had essays, dialogues, etc. It was a classroom reader to help students to learn reading and grammar. William Freeland was the person Douglass was sent to next. Freeland taught slaves on his plantation to read the New Testament at a weekly Sunday school. Word spread. More than 40 slaves attended lessons to read. This went onward for six months until other plantation owners used clubs and stones to throw out the congregation permanently (on Sunday). On 1833, Thomas Auld took Douglass back from Hugh (as a means to punish Hugh according to Douglass’s literature). Thomas Auld sent Douglass to work for Edward Covey. Covey was a poor farmer who whipped black people. He whipped Douglas regularly. It nearly broke Douglass psychologically. The 16 year old Frederick Douglass then fought back in self-defense and won the physical confrontation against Covey. Covey never tried to beat him again.

Frederick Douglass escaped multiple times. He tried to escape from Freeland and he was caught. He escaped from Covey and he was caught again. This was in 1836. In 1837, Frederick Douglass met and fell in love with Anna Murray. Anna Murray was a heroic black woman. She was a free black woman in Baltimore about five years older than he was. On September 3, 1838, Frederick Douglass escaped successfully to freedom. First, he boarded a trained from the newly merged Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad (P.W.&B.) railroad line to the Northern cities. The area where he boarded was a short distance east of the previous temporary P.W.& B. train depot in the recently developed neighborhood between the modern neighborhoods of Harbor East and Little Italy. The depot was located at President and Fleet streets. This was east of the Basin of the Baltimore harbor. It’s found on the Northwest Branch of the Patapsco River. The depot was later replaced by the historic President Street Station. It was constructed from 1849-1850. It was also noted as a site of other slave escapes along one of the many routes of the famous “Underground Railroad” and during the Civil War. Douglass then reached Havre De Grace in Maryland (at Harford County, in the northeast corner of the state). It was located on the southwest shore of the Susquehanna River, which flowed into the Chesapeake Bay. This was placed some 20 miles from the free state of Pennsylvania. To him, it was easier to go through Delaware first. Delaware was a slave state. Douglass wore a sailor’s uniform. It was given to him by Anna Murray. She gave part of her savings to cover his travel cost. He used identification papers and protection papers that he had obtained from a free black seaman. Douglas crossed the wide Susquehanna River by the railroad’s steam-ferry at Havre de Grace to Perryville on the opposite shore of Cecil County. He used a train to cross state lines into Wilmington, Delaware. He was at a large port at the head of Delaware Bay. From there, because the rail line was not yet completed, he went by steamboat along the Delaware River further northeast to the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Philadelphia was an anti-slavery stronghold filled with free black people and Quakers. Later, Frederick Douglas traveled into a safe house of noted abolitionist David Ruggles in New York City. Frederick Douglass was filled with joy when he arrived in New York City since he felt that he entered a new world as a free black man. Frederick Douglas sent for Anna Murray to follow him north to NYC. She brought her necessary basics for them to set up a home. They married on September 15, 1838 by a black Presbyterian minister. This was 11 days after Douglass came into New York City. At first, they adopted Johnson as their married name to divert attention. 

Frederick Douglass and Anna Douglass settled into New Bedford, Massachusetts. They stayed with Nathan and Mary Johnson. Afterwards, the couple adopted Douglass as their married name. Frederick Douglass read “The Lady of the Lake” and was inspired to use Douglass since that was the main character of the poem. He saw a white Methodist Church segregated. He was disappointed. So, he joined the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church. That was an independent black denomination. It was first formed in New York City. Sojourner Truth and Harriet Tubman were members of that church too. By 1839, Frederick Douglass was a licensed preacher. He has shown great oratorical skills. He was involved in many religious positions like: steward, Sunday school superintendent, and sexton. He gave his speech in 1840 in Elmira, New York (which was a station on the Underground Railroad. It was later a black congregation being created there and by 1940, it was the region’s largest church). Frederick Douglass worked hard. He joined many organizations in New Bedford. He attended numerous abolitionist meetings. He subscribed to William Lloyd Garrison’s weekly journal “The Liberator.” He also worked with William Lloyd Garrison, who was a famous abolitionist. Garrison promoted the Liberator nationwide. Garrison agreed with Douglass’ anti-colonialism views in 1839. By 1841, Garrison was heard by Douglass as Garrison was speaking. This was at the Bristol Anti-Slavery Society. Douglass told his story and was encouraged to be an anti-slavery lecturer. So, he spoke nationwide and worldwide. Days later, he spoke at the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society’s annual convention in Nantucket. He was 23 years old and Douglass gave an eloquent speech about his life as a slave. In 1845, he toured the East and the Midwest in the American Anti-Slavery Society’s Hundred Conventions project. This was a six month tour. He joined other speakers too. During the tour, slavery supporters constantly accosted Douglass. He did a lecture in Pendleton, Indiana. An angry mob assaulted him. The Hardys or a local Quaker family rescued him. The mob injured his hand causing it to break. It didn’t heal properly and it caused him pain for the rest of his life. There is a stone marker in Falls Park in the Pendleton Historic District that outlines a description of the event. Frederick Douglass wrote his first autobiography called “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave.” It was published in 1845. Many racists didn’t believe that a black man could produce eloquent literature back then, but they were wrong. The book was positively reviewed back then. It was an immediate bestseller in America. In 3 years, it was reprinted nine times. There were 11,000 copies circulating in America back then. It was translated into French and Dutch being published in Europe too. He published three versions of his autobiography during his lifetime (and revised the third of the three). He expanded on the previous one. The 1845 Narrative was his biggest seller. He gained his freedom in 1846. In 1855, Douglass published My Bondage and My Freedom. In 1881, after the Civil War, Douglass published Life and Times of Frederick Douglass, which he revised in 1892. 

Frederick Douglass traveled into Ireland and Great Britain to oppose slavery. He wrote about being treated much better in those areas than in America. He sailed on the Cambria ship to Liverpool in August 16, 1845. This was the time of the Irish Potato Famine in Ireland just starting. In 1847, he was about 29 years old. He befriended the Irish nationalist Daniel O’Connell, who was a great inspiration to him. He spoke in Ireland and Britain in churches and chapels. He dined at places and came into various locations without segregation. It is important to note that the British Empire had racism worldwide. He met Thomas Clarkson in 1846. Clarkson was one of the last living British abolitionists who persuaded Parliament to abolish slavery in the Great Britain’s colonies. People like Anna Richardson and her sister in law Ellen of Newcastle upon Tyne raised funds to buy Frederick Douglass his freedom. Some of his supporters wanted to stay in England. Yet, his wife was in Massachusetts and three million of his black people were in bondage in America. So, he returned into America during the spring of 1847. This was soon after the death of Daniel O’Connell. Many historical plagues celebrate Douglass’ visit in Cork and Waterford, Ireland plus in London. They were revealed in the 21st century. The third plaque adorns Nell Gwynn House, South Kensington in London, where Douglass stayed with the British abolitionist George Thompson. He came into America by 1847. Frederick Douglass published his first abolitionist newspaper called the North Star. He published it from the basement of the Memorial AME Zion Church in Rochester, New York. The North Star's motto was "Right is of no Sex – Truth is of no Color – God is the Father of us all, and we are all brethren." The AME Church and North Star vigorously opposed the mostly white American Colonization Society and its proposal to send blacks back to Africa. This and Douglass's later abolitionist newspapers were mainly funded by English supporters, who gave Douglass five hundred pounds to use as he chose. Douglass also soon split with Garrison. They had an ideological disagreement. Garrison viewed the Constitution was pro-slavery (which it was. Garrison publicly burned the Constitution), so he wanted to disengage in politics even forming a separate state filled with no slavery. Douglass wanted to engage in politics in order for slavery to be abolished in America completely. Frederick Douglass wanted to abolish the institution of slavery and make that change within the Constitution. On September 1848, Douglass sent an open letter to Thomas Auld (who owned him). He criticized him for his bad conduct. In one passage, he asked Auld if members of his family were enslaved, then how he would feel. Of course, slavery is evil. Frederick Douglass supported women’s rights. He was the only African American to attend the Seneca Falls Convention or the first women’s rights convention in upstate New York. Elizabeth Cady Stanton was the leader of the assembly. They promoted women’s suffrage or giving women the right to vote. James and Lucretia Mott opposed suffrage, but Douglass agreed with it. He said that he could not accept the right to vote as a black man if women could not also claim that right. He suggested that the world would be a better place if women were involved in the political sphere: “…In this denial of the right to participate in government, not merely the degradation of woman and the perpetuation of a great injustice happens, but the maiming and repudiation of one-half of the moral and intellectual power of the government of the world…” After these words, the attendees passed the resolution to fight for women to have the right to vote. His opinion as the prominent editor of the paper likely carried weight, and he stated the position of the North Star explicitly: "[w]e hold woman to be justly entitled to all we claim for man." This letter, written a week after the convention, reaffirmed the first part of the paper's slogan, "right is of no sex."

Frederick Douglass supported the 15th Amendment to give black people the right to vote, but Stanton opposed it since it didn't allow women the right to vote. Douglass said that during this time it would be impossible to fight to allow black men and women the right to vote in the late 1800’s. So, Douglass wanted the 15th Amendment first and then fight for women the right to vote afterwards in forming truly universal suffrage. Stanton wanted to attach women's suffrage to that of black men so that her cause would be carried to success.
Douglass thought such a strategy was too risky, that there was barely enough support for black men's suffrage. He feared that linking the cause of women's suffrage to that of black men would result in failure for both. Douglass argued that white women, already empowered by their social connections to fathers, husbands, and brothers, at least vicariously had the vote. African-American women, he believed, would have the same degree of empowerment as white women once African-American men had the vote. Douglass assured the American women that at no time had he ever argued against women's right to vote. Meanwhile, in 1851, Douglass merged the North Star with Gerrit Smith's Liberty Party Paper to form Frederick Douglass' Paper, which was published until 1860. He criticized the hypocrisy of the 4th of July of claiming freedom but having slavery in his famous speech on July 5, 1852. It was an address to the ladies of the Rochester Anti-Slavery Sewing Society. This speech eventually became known as "What to the slave is the 4th of July?"; one biographer called it "perhaps the greatest antislavery oration ever given." In 1853, he was a prominent attendee of the radical abolitionist National African American Convention in Rochester. His was one of 5 names attached to the address of the convention to the people of the United States published under the title, The Claims of Our Common Cause, along with Amos Noë Freeman, James Monroe Whitfield, Henry O. Wagoner, and Vashon. He promoted education for African Americans. He fought for school desegregation in the North. He wanted schools to be open for all children regardless of color during the 1850’s. He met abolitionists John Brown and George DeBaptiste. It was on March 12, 1859. They met in Detroit at William Webb’s house. Douglass met Brown again. Douglass agreed with Brown on fighting slavery, but disagreed with the raid on Harpers Ferry since that would enrage the American public in his view. John Brown did the raid and he was martyred for the cause of human freedom. After the raid, Douglass fled for a time to Canada, fearing guilt by association as well as arrest as a co-conspirator. Years later, Douglass shared a stage in Harpers Ferry with Andrew Hunter, the prosecutor who secured Brown's conviction and execution.

In March 1860, while Douglass was once again traveling in England, his youngest daughter Annie died in Rochester, New York. Douglass sailed back from England the following month, traveling through Canada to avoid detection.
He was photographed constantly and he wanted this to show his image and refute the stereotypes of blackface minstrelsy back then. He used religious imagery to promote freedom and he eventually converted to Christianity. He publicly opposed preachers who supported slavery. He called on churches in the United Kingdom from 1846 and 1848 to not support any American church that permitted slavery. Ministers in Belfast refused to admit slaveholders in their churches. He continued to criticize Thomas Auld for his brutality. Frederick Douglas’ theological views in essence were the ancestor of modern non-denominational liberation theology since he promoted liberation overtly using spirituality as a vehicle. The fireplace mantle features busts of two of his favorite philosophers, David Friedrich Strauss, author of "The Life of Jesus," and Ludwig Feuerbach, author of "The Essence of Christianity." In addition to several Bibles and books about various religions in the library, images of angels and Jesus are displayed, as well as interior and exterior photographs of Washington's Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church. Throughout his life, Douglass had linked that individual experience with social reform. Like other Christian abolitionists, he followed practices such as abstaining from tobacco, alcohol and other substances that he believed corrupted body and soul.


By Timothy