FREDERICK DOUGLASS

Frederick Douglass

Ø Born February 1818, Tuckahoe, Maryland, U.S.

Ø Education: Self taught

Ø Took notice of problems with slavery/ engaged in solving it

Ø Worked with Abraham Lincoln to enlist blacks in the war

Ø Showed that knowledge is power that leads to equality

IMPORTANT ISSUES

-The Civil War, beginning in 1861, raised several issues, not the least of which was what role the black man would play in his own liberation--since one of the main objectives of the war was emancipation of the slaves. Douglass kept this issue alive. In 1863, as a result of his continued insistence (as well as of political and military expediency), President Abraham Lincoln asked him to recruit African American soldiers for the Union Army. As the war proceeded, Douglass had two meetings with Lincoln to discuss the use and treatment of African American soldiers by the Union forces. In consequence, the role of African American soldiers was upgraded each time and their military effectiveness thereby increased

In 1868, Douglass supported the presidential campaign of Ulysses S. Grant. President Grant signed into law the Klan Act and the second and third Enforcement Acts. Grant used their provisions vigorously, suspending habeas corpus in South Carolina and sending troops there and into other states; under his leadership over 5,000 arrests were made and the Ku Klux Klan received a serious blow.

Douglass continued his speaking engagements. On the lecture circuit, he spoke at many colleges around the country during the Reconstruction era, including Bates College in Lewiston, Maine in 1873. He continued to emphasize the importance of voting rights and exercise of suffrage.

SOLUTIONS

Womens rights-I fought for equality and liberty for all

ABOLITION- strong feelings of abolishing slavery

Education- Knowledge is power/ key to freedom

Relations

Lyman Beecher- opposing ideas on equality

Lydia Marie Child and Wendell Philips- same ideas concepts