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Frederick Douglass
The man born enslaved who became the most powerful anti-slavery voice in America.
The rise
Born into slavery in Maryland, Douglass taught himself to read, escaped north in 1838, and turned his own life story into a bestselling narrative and a career as the era's greatest Black orator.
What they did
He published the abolitionist newspaper The North Star, advised President Lincoln, recruited Black soldiers for the Union, and campaigned for emancipation and, later, women's suffrage — becoming a symbol that the enslaved could speak, write and lead.
The full picture
He clashed with other abolitionists over strategy and the Constitution, and his hopes for Reconstruction were largely crushed by the return of white supremacy in the South.
Why it matters
Douglass proved the moral case against slavery in his own person and set the standard for Black intellectual and political leadership in America.
“Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.”