Frederick Douglass

Born into slavery on a Maryland plantation, Frederick Douglass grew up to have a way with words. Contemporaries found it hard to believe that an escaped slave with no formal education could be so eloquent. Yet thousands turned out to hear him speak.

A tireless advocate to end slavery, Douglass urged slaves to escape and revolt. He inspired many with his bestselling autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave. Later on, Douglass cemented his status as a pivotal figure in American history when he helped Abraham Lincoln issue the Emancipation Proclamation. He continued to fight for equality during Reconstruction and became the first African American to receive a vote for President of the United States in a major party's roll call vote.

This accessible biography for children examines Douglass's amazing life with easy-to-understand facts and details, alongside elegant illustrations. Back matter includes a timeline and author's notes.32 pages, softcover. Grades PreK-2.

This eloquent and dramatic autobiography of the early life of an American slave was first published in 1845, when its author was about twenty-eight years old and had just achieved his freedom.

Although it was not uncommon during the era of American slavery for articulate Blacks who escaped to have their experiences published, Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass is unique among these "slave narratives" because of Douglass's eloquent power of expression.

My Bondage and My Freedom represents ten years of Frederick Douglass' reflections following his legal emancipation in 1846, and captipulted him into the spotlight as the foremost spokesman for American blacks--free and slave. 364 pages, softcover.