by Stephanie Joynes

Created on: August 14, 2008

Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, who later became known as Frederick Douglass, is arguably one the most famous African-Americans of the 19th century. Born on February 14, 1818, he began life as a slave in Maryland. Self-educated, Douglass eventually escaped to the North, became a freed man, and enjoyed a well celebrated career as a noted abolitionist and gifted orator.

Separated from his mother when he was just an infant, and unsure of who exactly his father was, Douglass was raised primarily by his grandmother, Betty Bailey. He was sent to serve Hugh Auld in Baltimore, Maryland and was taught how to read by his Auld's wife, Sophia. Once he knew how to read, he absorbed whatever information he could get his hands on, from newspapers to political speeches to books.

Douglass was sent from owner to owner but finally broke away to freedom on September 2, 1828 where he dressed as a free black sailor and boarded a train Havre de Grace, Maryland. From there he made his way to Wilmington, Delaware on to Philadelphiam and within 24 hours settled in New York.

Douglass moved to Washington, D.C. after the Civil War, when arsonists were said to have burned his house in Rochester, NY. He held ambassadorial positions to the Republic of Haiti and the Dominican Republic, but eventually resigned over disagreements with government policy. In 1872, Douglass became the first African-American to receive a nomination for Vice- President of the United States along side Victoria Woodhull, the first woman to for President.

Douglass's public speaking skills were put to the ultimate test when he attended Abraham Lincoln's memorial service. Members of the audience, unhappy with the eulogies given by scheduled speakers, insisted Douglass stand and say a few reluctant words. With no preparation, Douglass offered such a memorable tribute to the president who freed the slaves and preserved the Union that the audience gave him a standing ovation- a rare occurrence at that time.

In 1877, Douglass purchased his final home in Washington, D.C. along the Anacostia River, but five years later his wife, Anna Murray Douglas passed away and left him in a deep depression. Two years later, he remarried. But this marriage caused a storm of controversy. The African-American activist married a white feminist named Helen Pitts who twenty years younger than himself. Today, his home in Washington, D.C. is known as the Frederick Douglass National Historic Site thanks to his widow who helped preserve his legacy.

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