Frederick Douglass recounts early years of abuse, his dramatic escape to the North and eventual freedom, abolitionist campaigns, and his crusade for full civil rights for former slaves. It is also the only of Douglass's autobiographies to discuss his life during and after the Civil War, including his encounters with American presidents such as Lincoln, Grant, and Garfield.
I have neither been miserable because of the ill-feeling of those about me, nor indifferent to popular approval, and I think, upon the whole, I have passed a tolerably cheerful and even joyful life. I have never felt myself isolated since I entered the field to plead the cause of the slave, and demand equal rights for all. In every town and city where it has been my lot to speak, there have been raised up for me friends of both colors to cheer and strengthen me in my work. I have always felt, too, that I had on my side all the invisible forces of the moral government of the universe. -from Chapter 17: "Incidents and Events" American icon FREDERICK DOUGLASS (1818-1895)-editor, orator, author, statesman, and reformer-told his life story three times. First, in 1845's Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, he felt it necessary to explain how a man born in chains could rise to national prominence and respect. In 1855, with My Bondage and My Freedom, he expanded upon his story with a more in-depth and even more thoughtful exploration of his life as a slave and his journey to escape it. (Both astonishing-and essential-books are also available from Cosimo.) His third autobiography, The Life and Times of Frederick Douglass-first published in 1881 and presented here in the thoroughly revised 1892 edition-is his most reflective, offering the perspective of a man at the end of long life well lived. Douglass retells the story of his childhood and escape from slavery, offering details that he could not previously reveal, with friends, family, and other innocents still in the thrall of slavemasters. Now, though, with the Civil War and Emancipation well behind the nation, Douglass can also offer more provocative analyses of his own battle for personal freedom and his fight for the very soul of the nation. This classic of African-American literature and of 19th-century American history is a must-read for anyone wishing to consider himself well-read.
"Life and Times of Frederick Douglass" is the third and last autobiography of Frederick Douglass. In this finial memoir Douglas gives more details about his life as a slave and his escape from slavery than he did in his two previous autobiographies. Frederick Douglass (1818 – 1895) was an African-American social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. After escaping from slavery in Maryland, he became a national leader of the abolitionist movement in Massachusetts and New York, gaining note for his dazzling oratory and incisive antislavery writings. Contents: Author's Birth Removal From Grandmother's Troubles of Childhood A General Survey of the Slave Plantation A Slaveholder's Character A Child's Reasoning Luxuries at the Great House Characteristics of Overseers Change of Location Learning to Read Growing in Knowledge Religious Nature Awakened The Vicissitudes of Slave Life Experience in St. Michaels Covey, the Negro Breaker Another Pressure of the Tyrant's Vise The Last Flogging New Relations and Duties The Runaway Plot Escape From Slavery Life as a Freeman Introduced to the Abolitionists Recollections of Old Friends One Hundred Conventions Impressions Abroad Triumphs and Trials John Brown and Mrs. Stowe Increasing Demands of the Slave Power The Beginning of the End Secession and War Hope for the Nation Vast Changes Living and Learning Weighed in the Balance "Time Makes All Things Even" Incidents and Events "Honor to Whom Honor" Retrospection Later Life A Grand Occasion Doubts as to Garfield's Course Recorder of Deeds President Cleveland's Administration The Supreme Court Decision Defeat of James G. Blaine European Tour Continuation of European Tour The Campaign of 1888 Administration of President Harrison Minister to Haïti Continued Negotiations for the Môle St. Nicolas
- This book contains custom design elements for each chapter. This classic of American literature, a dramatic autobiography of the early life of an American slave, was first published in 1845, when its author had just achieved his freedom. Its shocking first-hand account of the horrors of slavery became an international best seller. His eloquence led Frederick Douglass to become the first great African-American leader in the United States. • Douglass rose through determination, brilliance and eloquence to shape the American Nation. • He was an abolitionist, human rights and women’s rights activist, orator, author, journalist, publisher and social reformer • His personal relationship with Abraham Lincoln helped persuade the President to make emancipation a cause of the Civil War.
Frederick Douglass’s changeable sense of his own life story is reflected in his many conflicting accounts of events during his journey from slavery to freedom. Robert S. Levine creates a fascinating collage of this elusive subject—revisionist biography at its best, offering new perspectives on Douglass the social reformer, orator, and writer.
Few Americans have had as much impact on this nation as Frederick Douglass. Born on a plantation, he later escaped slavery and helped others to freedom via the Underground Railroad. In time he became a bestselling author, an outspoken newspaper editor, a brilliant orator, a tireless abolitionist, and a brave civil rights leader. He was famous on both sides of the Atlantic in the years leading up to the Civil War, and when war broke out, Abraham Lincoln invited him to the White House for counsel and advice. Frederick Douglass for Kids follows the footsteps of this American hero, from his birth into slavery to his becoming a friend and confidant of presidents and the leading African American of his day. And to better appreciate Frederick Douglass and his times, readers will form a debating club, cook a meal similar to the one Douglass shared with John Brown, make a civil war haversack, participate in a microlending program, and more. This valuable resource also includes a time line of significant events, a list of historic sites to visit or explore online, and Web resources for further study. Nancy I. Sanders is the author of many books, including America's Black Founders and A Kid's Guide to African American History. She lives in Chino, California.
* Selected as One of the Best Books of the 21st Century by The New York Times * Winner of the Pulitzer Prize in History * “Extraordinary…a great American biography” (The New Yorker) of the most important African American of the 19th century: Frederick Douglass, the escaped slave who became the greatest orator of his day and one of the leading abolitionists and writers of the era. As a young man Frederick Douglass (1818–1895) escaped from slavery in Baltimore, Maryland. He was fortunate to have been taught to read by his slave owner mistress, and he would go on to become one of the major literary figures of his time. His very existence gave the lie to slave owners: with dignity and great intelligence he bore witness to the brutality of slavery. Initially mentored by William Lloyd Garrison, Douglass spoke widely, using his own story to condemn slavery. By the Civil War, Douglass had become the most famed and widely travelled orator in the nation. In his unique and eloquent voice, written and spoken, Douglass was a fierce critic of the United States as well as a radical patriot. After the war he sometimes argued politically with younger African Americans, but he never forsook either the Republican party or the cause of black civil and political rights. In this “cinematic and deeply engaging” (The New York Times Book Review) biography, David Blight has drawn on new information held in a private collection that few other historian have consulted, as well as recently discovered issues of Douglass’s newspapers. “Absorbing and even moving…a brilliant book that speaks to our own time as well as Douglass’s” (The Wall Street Journal), Blight’s biography tells the fascinating story of Douglass’s two marriages and his complex extended family. “David Blight has written the definitive biography of Frederick Douglass…a powerful portrait of one of the most important American voices of the nineteenth century” (The Boston Globe). In addition to the Pulitzer Prize, Frederick Douglass won the Bancroft, Parkman, Los Angeles Times (biography), Lincoln, Plutarch, and Christopher awards and was named one of the Best Books of 2018 by The New York Times Book Review, The Wall Street Journal, The Boston Globe, The Chicago Tribune, The San Francisco Chronicle, and Time.
"Adler, a prolific children's book author, has done a good job describing the trajectory of Douglass's life as he moved from being a slave himself to being a freer of slaves and a tireless civil rights activist. Narrator Charles Turner, who has a deep and resonant voice, uses just the right matter-of-fact yet serious tones that won't overwhelm young listeners but will make an impression on them." -AudioFile
From award-winning author Tonya Bolden comes the fascinating story of one of America’s most influential African American voices Teacher. Self-emancipator. Orator. Author. Man. Frederick Douglass (1818–1895) is one of the most important African American figures in US history, best known, perhaps, for his own emancipation. But there is much more to Douglass’s story than his time spent in slavery and his famous autobiography. Delving into his family life and travel abroad, this book captures the whole complicated, and at times perplexing, person that he was. As a statesman, suffragist, writer, newspaperman, and lover of the arts, Douglass the man, rather than the historical icon, is the focus in Facing Frederick.
A sympathetic study by the great teacher & leader of a career which was identified with the race problem in the period of revolution & liberation. The sketch reveals Douglass as the personification of the historical events that marked the transition from slavery to citizenship.
