Frederick Douglass was born a slave in 1817.
When Fred was 9, he went to Baltimore to work
and live with the Auld family. Mrs. Auld taught
Fred to read and write along with her own son,
Tommy. When her husband found out he forbade
her to teach Fred any more. Fred went to live with
Mr. Auld’s brother where he was treated badly and
tried to run away. Hugh Auld of Baltimore had his
brother send Fred back to him. He put Fred to work
in his shipyard.
Fred borrowed “free papers” from a sailor and
was able to run away to New York. He changed his
name to Frederick Douglass. He began to speak
out against slavery. He eventually started a Newspaper
called the North Star which helped other slaves
escape to freedom. After the Emancipation Proclamation
was signed, freeing all slaves, Douglass became a personal
friend of President Lincoln. On February 20, 1895
Frederick Douglass died.
