Frederick Douglass: The Right to Dignity
Author | Benge, Janet & Geoff |
---|---|
Grades | 4th – Adult |
Format | Heroes of History |
Specs | 208 pages |
The vicious cycle of slavery ate away at Frederick’s soul, until eventually he gave up all hope of freedom. As a strong young slave, he had to always appear subservient to his cruel master. But Frederick knew he was at a breaking point. He knew that one day he was going to explode with uncontrolled anger. Then there would be no telling what he might do.
Born into slavery in Maryland, Frederick Douglass was separated from his mother during infancy, then taken from his grandparents at the age of six to serve at the “Great House” on the Wye Plantation in Maryland. He never imagined the cruelties he would witness or the indignities of his family being treated like cattle to be sold, divided, and scattered far and wide.
Escaping from slavery, Frederick Douglass became a national leader of the abolitionist movement in America, the greatest orator of his day, an influential newspaper publisher, writer, and statesman, and the most important African American of the nineteenth century (1818–1895).