Frederick+Douglass+-+SP09

Frederick Douglass Most Important Years: 1824-1852 Frederick Douglass' importance as a reformer starts from the day he was enslaved for the first time to a man named Aaron Anthony. This starts his importance as a reformer because if it were not for the sites he saw and the actions that took place while he was a slave, he wouldn't have been nearly as devoted to the cause of the end of slavery. While a slave, he endured many hardships like eating mush or not having any food at all. Also, there were times when saw his family members being beaten by their owner for not working hard enough or fast enough. He was beaten many times by the famous Edward Covey especially when Frederick rebelled against him and began to fight him. But, Frederick did not begin his work as an Abolistionist until he ran away to Pennsylvania in 1838.

In 1838, Frederick had ran away from slavery and began his international journey as an Abolitionist. The first thing he did as a "free" man was change his name from Frederick Bailey to Frederick Douglass so it would be harder for slave catchers to find him. The first thing he noticed when he went to the North was that people worked more quietly and more efficiently when they weren't whipped as opposed to those who were. He first heard of the anti-slavery movement when he suscribed to the Liberator which was edited by the famous William Lloyd Garrison which would later become Frederick's hero. Douglass was very moved by their opinions and ideas that they presented against slavery like the idea that African-Americans should not be forced to move back to Africa. Frederick saw his hero for the first time in August 1841; the same month that Frederick would speak for the first time to the anti-slavery movement. This was Douglass' big break as Garrison told him to be a traveling public speaker for the anti-slavery movement. Douglass accepted and went around telling people about his life as a slave. From the get go, Douglass was loved as a speaker by many people that heard speak as he talked about slave owners beating their slaves and forcing the females to "breed" with certain slavery. This helped go against the proslavery accounts that were being spread by the south who said that slave had a better life than most poor whites. In addition to going against slavery, he talked about the racism and segregation that was occuring in the south and north. He also helped spread the word about a bill that was being passed that gave voting rights to poor whites but not blacks. In 1843, Douglass continued his work by joining the Hundred Conventions project which was a tour that went out west to spread the word about anti-slavery. This was a very dangerous mission for many mobs of proslavery people would attack them and other Abolitionists that got in their way. This is when Frederick realized that this was his purpose in life, to stop slavery. At the end of 1844 and the beginning of 1845, Douglass wrote a book about his life as a slave as a way to tell people who were beginning to not believe him that he was telling the truth. But this book was a double-edged sword as it endangered his freedom which is why he decided to speak publicly in England. For two years, Frederick spoke publicly in England beginning with his voyage in the Cambria where he gave lectures to the people on-board. Britain loved Douglass as people gathered round to hear speak of the evil salve system in which he was a part of as a child. In addition to slavery, Douglass spoke about other important issues besides slavery like the idea that owners would force their slave to get drunk on holidays as a form of enterainment for them. Also, he helped other countries like Ireland and Scotland by speaking about issues that were that were occuring in that area. The climax of Douglass' speech giveng was in 1846 when he gave a speech against the American temperance convention by saying that they didn't mention a single thing about the use of alcohol on slaves. In 1847, Douglass finally sailed back to the U.S after his English friends bought his freedom form his last owner. When he returned home, Frederick recieved a lot of criticism for acknowledging the fact that he was owned by an owner. He rebuttal was that his freedom was given by his friends not his owner or as he called him, his kidnapper. The last great task that he would accomplish before the 1850's was his anti-slavery newspaper that was put in place after William Lloyd Garrison passed away.

Frederick's newspaper was called the North Star and it was published in Rochester New York. In addition to anti-slavery, Frederick also fought for women's rights with women like Susan B. Anthony, and Lucretia Mott. His paper would later be called Frederick Douglass' Newspaper due to financial issues but his paper lived till 1860 and was the start of his independence from white abolitionists. As his paper prospered, so did his views towards women's rights as he attended the first women's rights convention. But his anti-slavery views also changed as a friend by the name of John Brown gave him the idea that slavery could not be ended by just peaceful means. He also decided that slavery could be ended with political reforms. In addition, he decided to build the first black vocational school which would train african-americans to become skilled trades-men but it was shot down due to insufficient funds. Also, because his children weren't allowed to be taught with white people he started fighting for de-segregation in schools and would accomplish this in 1857. He was also an important part in the underground railroad in which he was the superintendent in his area and sheltered many blacks that were running away. These are the major ideas and accomplishments that Frederick Douglass presented as an Abolitionist.

Thomas, Sandra. “Frederick Douglass.” 1 March 2009. [] “Frederick Douglass.” //Wikipedia.// 1 March 2009. Wikimedia. 1 March 2009. []