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Person1818 – 1895

Frederick Douglass

Born enslaved in Maryland, he escaped to become the leading abolitionist orator and writer, and recruited Black soldiers for the Union

Born enslaved on a Maryland plantation, he taught himself to read in secret and in 1838 escaped north disguised as a sailor. He won fame as an abolitionist orator, and his autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave (1845), had a great impact. From 1847 his newspaper The North Star argued for abolition and women’s suffrage. During the war he recruited Black soldiers for the Union and met Lincoln to protest their unequal treatment. Afterwards he served as US marshal for the District of Columbia and minister to Haiti, among other posts.

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3 related events

  1. 1
    1859John Brown’s Raid on Harpers Ferryrelated figure

    The abolitionist John Brown seized the federal armory at Harpers Ferry to start a slave uprising, but was overpowered by Marines, captured and hanged that December.

  2. 2
    1862 – 1863Emancipation Proclamationrelated figure

    Lincoln declared the enslaved people in the rebelling Confederate areas forever free; freeing the slaves became a war aim, and Black soldiers joined the Union army.

  3. 3
    1865Thirteenth Amendment — Abolition of Slaveryrelated figure

    Congress passed a constitutional amendment banning slavery and involuntary servitude, which took effect on ratification by the states in December 1865, ending slavery throughout the United States.

People who appear alongside

  • Abraham Lincoln1809 – 1865

    16th US president (1861–1865) who preserved the Union in the Civil War and issued the Emancipation Proclamation; assassinated just after the war ended

  • John Brown1800 – 1859

    Abolitionist who advocated armed struggle; he fought in Kansas and in 1859 raided the Harpers Ferry armory, for which he was hanged

  • Robert E. Lee1807 – 1870

    Confederate general who led the Army of Northern Virginia to many victories, lost at Gettysburg and surrendered at Appomattox in 1865

Themes this person appears in

  • The American Civil War1850 – 1865

    From the Compromise of 1850 to Lincoln’s assassination — a nation divided over slavery fought four years of civil war, preserving the Union and ending slavery