Frederick Douglass

Frederick Douglass (1818-1895) was an African American in the 19th century. He was born as a slave in Maryland, but learned to read and escaped to the North in the 1830s.
He soon became an abolitionist (someone who wants to end slavery), and worked with other abolitionists such as William Lloyd Garrison. He was the most powerful speaker for abolitionism. Frederick also published his own newspaper "North Star". He wrote books, for example "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave" and "My Bondage and My Freedom". Douglass spent several years in England and Ireland. During the Civil War, Douglass was the most famous black man in the country, and met Abraham Lincoln. After the War, he served as Ambassador to Haiti and an advocate for equal rights for African Americans.