Black History
Frederick Douglass (1818-1895) was a social reformer and advocate, abolitionist, orator, writer, minister, and statesman. Born to an enslaved family in 1818, Frederick Douglass never knew his actual birthday, a fact not uncommon for those enslaved. So, after escaping slavery in 1838, he chose his own date: February 14. This year marks the 200th birthday of Douglass, and we’re celebrating his bicentennial all year long.
In his lifetime, Douglass published multiple autobiographies, edited four different abolitionist newspapers, traveled the world speaking out against slavery and in the pursuit of social justice, and helped move forward legislation regarding suffrage for African Americans and women. One of the greatest reformers in United States history, Douglass profoundly influenced the social and political history of the nineteenth century, and continues to influence and inform us today.
On April 16, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed into law the District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act. The act freed approximately 3,000 slaves and paid slave owners for their release, thus ending slavery in the District of Columbia. Twenty-one years later, on the anniversary of emancipation in D.C., Frederick Douglass delivered a speech at Congregational Church. This pamphlet includes the address delivered by Douglass, along with correspondence between Douglass and others.
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