Frederick Douglass was a writer, a speaker, an abolitionist, and a social activist. Born around 1817 in Talbot County, Maryland, young Frederick spent his early years living with his grandmother, who was a slave, and his grandfather before being sent to work on the nearby plantation. He was later sent to Baltimore to serve Hugh Auld, whose wife, Sophia, taught Frederick to read. After Sophia stopped the lessons due to her husband’s disapproval, Frederick continued his studies on his own. These studies led Frederick to contemplate the nature of liberty. He soon learned about abolitionism and, thanks to a neighbor who served as a spiritual mentor, religion, both of which motivated him on his journey to freedom.

Frederick escaped from slavery in 1838, in his second attempt, and moved to New Bedford, Massachusetts, where he took the name Douglass after a Scottish protagonist from Sir Walter Scott’s poem “Lady of the Lake.” There he met and became involved with many abolitionist compatriots. Douglass published a narrative of his life in 1845, after which he traveled to England and Ireland and saw that the prejudice he experienced at home was unique to the United States.