Frederick Douglass

Frederick Douglass is the most famous of the ante-bellum abolitionists although at the time men like William Lloyd Garrison, Wendell Phillips, and Gerritt Smith were considered Frederick's mentors and promoters. But Frederick's fame has outclipped that of the Big Three of Abolition not only due to his longevity and his later political activism, but because his three autobiographies, A Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, My Bondage and My Freedom, and The Life and Times of Frederick Douglass have stood the test of time as good history, good literature, and are far more readable than much of the 19th century's ponderous prose. The first two editions, the Narrative and Freedom, can even be found as e-books for some of the new electronic readers. That is the mark of a classic.

Frederick's books also have a dry, often sardonic, and at times, politically incorrect wit which crops up in his normally serious writing. Even the most former liberal of former liberals will find themselves laughing a bit self-consciously when they read Frederick's story of seeing the sights in Dublin. So for a bit more about Frederick and his life and times, click here.