Frederick Douglass

Frederick Douglass (born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, c. February 14, 1818^[a] – February 20, 1895) was an American abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. He escaped from slavery in Maryland in 1838. He became a famous leader of the abolitionist movement in Massachusetts and New York.^[5]

Frederick Douglass
Douglass, c. 1879
United States Minister Resident to Haiti
In office November 14, 1889 – July 30, 1891
Appointed by	Benjamin Harrison
Preceded by	John E. W. Thompson
Succeeded by	John S. Durham
Personal details
Born	Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey c. February 14, 1818 Cordova, Maryland, U.S.
Died	February 20, 1895(1895-02-20) (aged 76–77) Washington, D.C., U.S.
Resting place	Mount Hope Cemetery, Rochester, New York, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Anna Murray ​ ​ (m. 1838; died 1882)​ Helen Pitts ​ (m. 1884)​
Relatives	Douglass family
Occupation	Abolitionist suffragist author editor diplomat
Signature

Douglass wrote three autobiographies about his time as an enslaved person. They are Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave (1845), My Bondage and My Freedom (1855) and Life and Times of Frederick Douglass.

Douglass spent several years in England and Ireland. During the Civil War, Douglass was the most famous black man in the country. He met Abraham Lincoln. From 1889 to 1891, he was United States minister resident (ambassador) to Haiti under President Benjamin Harris. He was an advocate for equal rights for African Americans.

Notes

1. Douglass estimated that he was born in February 1817.^[1] In Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom, p. 9, David W. Blight writes that "a handwritten inventory of slaves, kept by his owner at birth, Aaron Anthony, recorded 'Frederick Augustus, son of Harriet, Feby. 1818.'"^[2] This fact was originally revealed in 1980 by Dickson J. Preston in Young Frederick Douglass, p. 36.^[3] Douglass celebrated his birthday on February 14, a date now observed as Douglass Day.^[4]