author
Frederick Douglass
1818–1895
Born into slavery and self-educated in the face of brutal barriers, he became one of the most powerful voices for freedom and equal rights in 19th-century America. His autobiographies and speeches still stand out for their moral force, clarity, and courage.
8 Audiobooks
Collected Articles of Frederick Douglass
by Frederick Douglass
My Bondage and My Freedom
by Frederick Douglass
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave
by Frederick Douglass
John Brown: An Address at the 14th Anniversary of Storer College
by Frederick Douglass
Life and times of Frederick Douglass : His early life as a slave, his escape from bondage, and his complete history
by Frederick Douglass
Three addresses on the relations subsisting between the white and colored people of the United States
by Frederick Douglass
Abolition Fanaticism in New York Speech of a Runaway Slave from Baltimore, at an Abolition Meeting in New York, Held May 11, 1847
by Frederick Douglass
Why is the Negro Lynched?
by Frederick Douglass
About the author
Frederick Douglass was an American abolitionist, writer, editor, orator, and public figure who was born into slavery in Maryland in about February 1818 and escaped in 1838. After reaching the North, he rose to national prominence by speaking and writing about slavery with remarkable precision and power.
He is especially remembered for Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave (1845), the book that helped establish him as a major literary and political voice. He later published additional autobiographical works, edited newspapers, and continued to argue not only for the abolition of slavery but also for equal rights more broadly.
Douglass remained active in public life after the Civil War, serving in several federal posts and continuing to speak on justice, citizenship, and democracy until his death in Washington, D.C., on February 20, 1895. For listeners today, his work offers both a firsthand account of American slavery and the voice of a writer who turned personal experience into lasting moral witness.