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Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey
Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey was born in Tuckahoe, Maryland, in February 1818. -
Born a Slave
When Douglass turned about the age of 8, he was sent to Baltimore to work for one of his master's relatives. There, helped by the wife of his new master, he began to educate himself. He later worked in a shipyard, where he worked on ships, making them watertight. -
Freeing Himself
In 1838, Frederick fled from his master, and went to Massachussetts, New Bedford, to be exact. To avoid being returned, he dropped both of his middle names and replaced his last name with Douglass. He got a job, but people refused to work with him because he was black. -
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First Steps
Douglass wrote a speech about how he felt about slavery in 1841. In 1843 he was protesting on trains by sitting in the white only sections. He also protested against religious descrimination. -
Autobiography
In 1845, Douglass published his autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, but later moved to England, for fear that he would be captured after being known as a runaway slave. -
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Segregation in Rochester, New York
Somewhere between 1850 and 1860, Douglass ran a successful campaign against segregated schools in Rochester, New York. -
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Civil War
During the Civil War, Douglass recruited many African Americans to fight for the Union Army (North). -
The Death of Frederick Douglass
Frederick Douglass lived his life the way he wanted to, but when he eventually died, he had lived 77 (or 76 depending on his birthday) years. Before his death though, he wrote two expanded versions of his autobiography. They were: My Bondage and My Freedom (1855), and Life and Times of Frederick Douglass (1881).
