Frederick Douglass was born into slavery in Tuckahoe, Maryland. As a child, he worked as a house servant in Baltimore. When Douglass was about 15 years old, he was sent to work in rural Maryland as an agricultural slave laborer. Douglass escaped to freedom in 1838. He moved to Massachusetts and became a speaker for the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society. In 1845 he published his autobiography. He then moved to Great Britain, where he lectured for the abolitionist cause. In 1847 Douglass returned to the United States after other abolitionists collected money to buy his official freedom. Douglass founded the abolitionist newspaper the North Star in 1847 and edited it until 1860. During the Civil War he helped President Abraham Lincoln recruit black soldiers. After the war Douglass fought for equal rights for African Americans. He also supported women’s rights, a cause he had taken up before the war. From 1877 until 1881 Douglass served as U.S. marshal and then became recorder of deeds for the District of Columbia. In 1889 he was appointed U.S. minister to Haiti. Douglass died in the District of Columbia in February 1895.
