Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, was born February 14, 1818 '' February 20, 1895). He was an , editor, author, statesman and reformer.Frederick Douglass as most of us know him, is one of the most important African-Americans in history. Douglass is the very first African-American to be nominated as Vice Presedent. Douglass was a firm believer in the equality of all people.
Frederick Douglass was born a slave in Maryland, near Hillsboro. He was separated from his mother when he was an infant. Douglass lived with his maternal grandmother Betty Bailey. The identity of his father is unknown. At the age of six, Douglass was separated from his grandmother and moved to the Wye House plantation. When Anthony died, his owner at time, Douglass was given to Lucretia Auld and Thomas Auld. Lucretia sent Douglass to serve Thomas' brother Hugh Auld in Baltimore. When Douglass was twelve, Hugh Auld's wife, Sophia, started teaching him the alphabet, breaking the law against teaching slaves to read. When Sophia's husband discovered this, he disapproved, saying that if a slave learned to read, he would become dissatisfied with his condition and desire freedom. And this is what he did not want. Douglass later said that statement was the first anti-abolitionist speech he had ever heard. Douglass did learn to read from white children in the neighborhood and watching the writings of men he worked with. He began to read newspapers, political materials, and books of any and every type, This led him to question slavery. Douglass started teaching other slaves how to read. For six months their study went unnoticed,untill other plantation owners noticed their slaves were being educated. One Sunday they burst in on the gathering and dispersed the slaves permanently. Dissatisfied with Douglass, Thomas Auld sent him to work for Edward Covey, a poor farmer who had a reputation as a "slave-breaker." There Douglass was whipped regularly, but he finally rebelled against the beatings and...