-
Frederick Douglass was born and named Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey by someone other than his mother. He does not know his accurate age because such information was deemed improper for an enslaved person by his master. This event will be the basis of his moral principles and how he perceives the world—knowing that other white kids have the privilege to know their age but not him. This will temper his mental fortitude and teach him to appreciate kindness from others and especially empathy.
-
-
Frederick Douglass was born into slavery; thus, he only knew how to work the field and avoid trouble. However, this changes when his owner's wife taught him how to read. He then worked in Baltimore as a servant and laborer and changed his name to Frederick Douglass to flee to the North, where he married Anna Murray. I believe the kindness of his owner's wife and his marriage to Anna Murray greatly influenced his advocacy for gender equality.
-
Frederick Douglass first heard about William Llyod Garrison and Wendell Philips in 1839 and made contact with them at an antislavery convention in Nantucket, Massachusetts, in 1841. I believe the knowledge and speech that Douglass heard and learned that day opened up a clear path inside his head to become an abolitionist. In turn, this will help him realize the urgency of giving the ballot to women and African Americans are the same.
-
In 1846, Douglass' British friends, Ellen and Anna Richardson, paid 150 pounds sterling to free him. They raised the money and sent it to the plantation owner, and this freedom allowed Douglass to return to the US after fleeing the slave hunters. Douglass then became the spokesman for emancipation and women's rights. I believe the freedom and power he gained during this time will only drive him to be more determined in his emancipation and gender advocacy campaign.