Frederick Douglass

Frederick Douglass has always been a very important character i

n the Civil War era. He has gained this because he not only was an amazing speec
h giver, but also one of the first African Americans to make a true statement in
US history. By lecturing all the people he did, he made a huge difference in t
he way the European eyes viewed Africans and African Americans. Douglass is show
n to be extremely significant through his speeches, narrative, and other memorab
le acts by exemplifying a strong, prideful, and powerful man. He proved to many
newly freed black men and women that their race cannot be a reason to back down
and allow bad things to happen, but that it should be a reason to stand up for w
hat they believed in and to show pride for their ethnicity. While Douglass tried
to get black men to stand together he tried to get the white men to view the Af
rican Americans with the same respect as anyone of the same ethnicity. Douglass
gained the reputation of being renowned for his eloquence in the cause of liberty
.
Douglass was born half black half white, but of course took on the tasks
of a black man by becoming a slave. His name during this time was not Frederick
Douglass though, but Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey. He changed it becaus
e he had escaped from slavery and had become a laborer in Massachusetts, hoping
to never be found and captured again. Frederick had been a slave since birth, b
ut through many adventures of running away, being beaten, and losing hope, he fi
nally gained success and was able to excel as a free African American. Frederick
was owned by Edward Lloyd at first. He was then sent to Hugh Auld, where he lea
rned to read and write. After, he was sent to Edward Covey, where he first attem
pted escape, but was soon captured again. In consequence he was sent back to Hug
h; once back with Hugh, Douglass learned to be a sailor. By this time Douglass w
as fed up with being a slave, so he attempted at escaping again and was successf
ul by taking the train to New York. To prevent from being found Frederick change
d his name at this time. Frederick had his first speech at an antislavery meetin
g in Massachusetts in 1841, and for the next four years he delivered antislavery
speeches in New England and middle states. He knew he should spread his concern
s worldwide, so he then left America and lectured abroad to achieve British symp
athy for the abolitionist cause. Frederick Douglass published the Narrative of t
he Life of Frederick Douglass in order to give his listeners more background on
his lectures. Frederick also wrote for The North Star in an antislavery weekly.
By this time Frederick had gained much support on the abolitionist cause
. The Civil War though was a big issue for the newly freed African Americans bec
ause Abraham Lincoln was extremely hesitant on allowing black men to fight in th
e war along side the Union troops. Douglas had a huge impact on Lincoln s final de
cision because he allowed Lincoln to see the black men as the citizens they had
deserved to be viewed as. Because Douglass had so much practice influencing man
y people into believing in his abolitionist cause, he must have had nearly no pr
oblem influencing Lincoln into believing in the African Americans and their will
to fight. Lincoln passed the Emancipation Proclamation, allowing all slaves to
be freed, but was still hesitant on allowing the black men to draft into the war
. The Union was in need of troops, but because the men were so new to being citi
zens it was a difficult for many leaders to accept. Frederick worked very hard i
n order to win over Lincoln and allow black men to be drafted into the Union s tro
ops. The African Americans had a lot of pride in their county once being freed
from slavery and wanted the entire nation to be freed from the horrible traditio
n, so they believed that fighting for the Union would be the best way to express
this and give to their country, but there was still a lot of influencing needed
to be made in order to get these new citizens to enlist. Once Lincoln finally
allowed for the new troops to enlist, Douglass worked to get the men to enlist i
n the war and fight for their country. This shouldn t have been a difficult task f
or Douglass because he was able to relate completely to the backgrounds of these
former slaves and could create lectures that could gain the attention of his li
steners very easily.
Douglass tasks in the Civil War effected his life because through the exp
erience he most likely gained a huge respect for all leaders of the nation. Doug
lass own sons, Charles and Lewis, enlisted in the war, which probably effected Do
uglass by giving him a lot of fear and stress hoping that his sons turn out alri
ght once the war is through. Douglass had to deal with the same type of horrific
waiting that many American families had to suffer throughout the war because of
his sons, but Douglass knew that while it was a risky situation it was a very b
rave and strong action that his sons did. In 1871, President Grant appointed Do
uglass as assistant secretary of Santo Domingo Commission. This is obviously a
very big deal because black men had just recently been released from slavery. Th
en in 1877 through 1881, Douglass became the marshal of the District of Columbia
. As Douglass got older he only gained more power politically and proved to be a
very important political figure even though he is of a different race. Once Dou
glass was relieved of his job as marshal he was given the job of recorder of the
district from 1881 to 1886. Douglass had a lot of experience writing while writ
ing his narrative that this job was most likely a simple task for him. Then in 1
889 through 1891, Douglas became the American minister and consul general in Hai
ti.
Throughout Douglass life from 1817-1895 when Douglass died in Anacostia H
eights, DC, Douglass only gave the impression of being an extremely well-educate
d, influential man.