Frederick Douglass: Freedom Fighter

by Lillie Patterson Author

Frederick Douglass spent his childhood as a slave. As he grew older he became painfully aware of the cruelties and injustices forced upon his people. Families were broken up, slaves were brutally treated and were regarded by their masters as pieces of property rather than fellow human beings. But young Douglass did not feel like a piece of property and he thought about freedom more and more. Later, disguised as a sailor, he escaped to the North, and began the dangerous business of helping to free other slaves. He made speeches for the Abolitionists, printed a newspaper for Negroes and ran an Underground Railroad station. As a Negro spokesman during the Civil War, he became Lincoln's friend and an advisor to other presidents. Throughout his long life, he worked faithfully to advance the cause of freedom.