Born a slave, Frederick Douglass had the odds stacked against his success. He was seperated from his mother at a very young age and was left to fend for himself in the harsh south of the United States pre-Civil War. Growing up, he was hungry for any knowledge he could attain. As he was passed from owner to owner, he taught himself how to read and write while keeping it a secret to whoever owned him. After years of slavery and many difficult tests, at the age of 20, Frederick Douglass lived out his life of a complete hself-made man, publishing several books and becoming known as a prominent member of the abolitionist movement. He and his wife, Anna Murray Douglass, went on to have 5 kids and lived a successful life until Frederick's death in 1895. To this day, he is known as one of the most prominent self-made men because he fits the mold so perfectly; born with nothing, Frederick Douglass overcame all odds and became a very successful man in a very difficult time in history. Along with overcoming slavery and becoming a free man, his books were other great milestones in his life. He created major publicity towards the abolition movement in a time when African Americans were at an all-time low position in society.
Frederick with his wife, Anna Murray-Douglass. Together, they had five children. A year after Anna's death, Frederick Douglass remarried a younger feminist woman named Helen Pitts.
"My Bondage My Freedom." The Federalist Papers Project, thefederalistpapers.org/
ebooks/my-bondage-and-my-freedom. |
"Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave." Barnes &
Noble, Barnes & Noble Booksellers, www.barnesandnoble.com/w/ narrative-of-the-life-of-frederick-douglass-an-american-slave-frederick-douglass/ 1116670483. |
"Self-Made Men." Frederick Douglass Heritage, 1872,
www.frederick-douglass-heritage.org/self-made-men/. Accessed 27 Oct. 2016. |
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