Free Downloads Frederick Douglass : Autobiographies : Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave / My Bondage And My Freedom / Life And Times Of Frederick Douglass (Library Of America)
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Series: Library of America (Book 68)
Hardcover: 1100 pages
Publisher: Library of America (February 1, 1994)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0940450798
ISBN-13: 978-0940450790
Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 1.5 x 8.2 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #226,835 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #154 in Books > History > Americas > United States > Civil War > Abolition #157 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Leaders & Notable People > Social Activists #558 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Ethnic & National > African-American & Black
Frederick Douglass (1818?-1895) was the greatest African American leader of the Nineteenth Century. He was born a slave on the Eastern Shore in Maryland and grew up on plantations on the Eastern Shore with several years in Baltimore. He was a physically powerful, highly intelligent, and spirited youth and developed quickly a hatred of the slave system. As a slave, he taught himself to read and write, and learned the art of public speaking from the church and from a book of orations popular at the time that feel into his hands. He escaped from slavery at the age of 20 and moved to New Bedford,Massachusetts. He became part of the Abolitionist Movement and achieved fame as a public speaker. He became a newspaper editor and writer. During the Civil War, he assisted in the recuritment of black troops. He met President Lincoln on several occasions and became a great admirer. In later years, Douglass was aligned with the conservative "stalwart" wing of the Republican party and continued to speak out for the rights of African-Americans, to oppose (somewhat belatedly) the end of Reconstruction, and to work for the life of the spirit and the mind.Frederick Douglass wrote three autobiographies which are given in this volume. The first, shortest, and best was written in 1845, seven years after Douglass had escaped from slavery. It tells in graphic and unforgettable terms the story of Douglass' life as a slave, the growth of the spirit of freedom in himself. and the early part of his life as a free man in New Bedford.The second autobiography was written in 1855. It repeats much of the earlier story and describes Douglass's visit to Great Britain.
President Lincoln regarded Douglass as "one of the most meritorious men, if not the most meritorious man, in the United States". Douglass thought it gossly unfair that black Union troops were getting paid less than whites. He went to the White House and managed to meet Lincoln in private to present his argument. Lincoln agreed and told Douglass that he would sign any executive order and any other documents necessary to assure that it would be done. They became friends and, to my knowledge, he was the first black man to be invited to the White House for a social engagement. He attended the evening celebration at the White House followng Lincoln's second inaugural.Douglass spent his first 20 years of life as a slave and was totally self-educated. He purchased his freedom (with some financial assistace) and wrote two best selling autobiographies before the age of 20. Thereafter, etited his own newspaper and gave brilliant orations in the days when great orators were famous.Douglass's home overlooking Washington is now an historic landmark open to the public. As an old man he sat in his rocker on the front porch and greeted an endless string of young black men asking him how they could further the civil rights movement. His only advice was to "agitate", "agitate" and "agitate".As a kid I recollect walking around with an "I Like Ike" sign. Winston Churchill was around then and was occasionally interviewd. Eleanor Roosevent was a driving force in Adlai Sevenson's presidential campaign. We kids thought her voice was very strange. The only name for niggers was niggers, who lagged closely behind Jews and Catholics in the society from which I came.It's amazingly wonderful how much society has changed during my own lifetime. Diversity is America.
Frederick Douglass : Autobiographies : Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave / My Bondage and My Freedom / Life and Times of Frederick Douglass (Library of America) Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave: (Library of America Paperback Classic) Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave (Barnes & Noble Classics) Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Written by Himself (Norton Critical Editions) The Classic Slave Narratives: The Life of Olaudah Equiano / The History of Mary Prince / Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass Frederick's Journey: The Life of Frederick Douglass (Big Words) When I Was a Slave: Memoirs from the Slave Narrative Collection (Dover Thrift Editions) Friends for Freedom: The Story of Susan B. Anthony & Frederick Douglass Houses of Civil War America: The Homes of Robert E. Lee, Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln, Clara Barton, and Others Who Shaped the Era My Bondage and My Freedom (Penguin Classics) Freedom In Bondage Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass: The Story Behind an American Friendship Frederick Douglass and the Abolitionist Movement (Jr. Graphic African American History) Picturing Frederick Douglass: An Illustrated Biography of the Nineteenth Century's Most Photographed American The Collected Autobiographies of Maya Angelou (Modern Library) The American Slave Coast: A History of the Slave-Breeding Industry The Radical and the Republican: Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln, and the Triumph of Antislavery Politics Who Was Frederick Douglass?
