Frederick Douglass (redirected from Frederick Douglas)

Douglass, Frederick 

(pseudonym of Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey). Born February 1817, in Tuckahoe, Md.; died Feb. 20, 1895, in Anacostia Heights, a suburb of Washington, D. C. American abolitionist and revolutionary democrat. Leader of the Negro liberation movement, public figure, and writer.

Born a slave, Douglass fled to the North in 1838 and took an active part in the antislavery movement. At first Douglass shared the illusions of many abolitionist leaders on the need for moral exhortations to the slaveowners. Later, however, he resolutely supported revolutionary methods of struggle. Douglass’ political activity was subordinated to the idea of the unification of all antislavery forces and the creation of a mass abolitionist party. He took part in the organization of the National Liberty Party and in the Free Soil Party, and he was active in the Negro congress movement and in the work of the underground railroad.

Douglass was a brilliant publicist and orator. In 1847 he began to publish the newspaper North Star, which became one of the leading organs of the antislavery movement. In the 1850’s, under the influence of John Brown, Douglass came out in favor of armed struggle against slavery. He clearly conceived the revolutionary character of the Civil War in the USA (1861-65) and advanced the slogan of immediate emancipation of the slaves. Douglass participated in the formation of the first Negro regiments. During the Reconstruction period he took part in the Negro popular mass struggle for equality in US economic, political, and social life. He played a leading role in the Negro political organization the National League of Struggle for Equality, and he became chairman of the National Colored Labor Union in 1870. Douglass actively supported the democratization of US society and politics and defended the rights of women. His autobiography, The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave (1845; revised editions: My Bondage and My Freedom,1855; and The Life and Times of Frederick Douglass, 1881), exposes slavery.

SOURCES

The Life and Writings of Frederick Douglass, vols. 1-4. Edited by P. Foner. New York, 1950-55.

REFERENCES

Foster, W. Z. Negritianskii narod v istorii Ameriki. Moscow, 1955. (Translated from English.)
Graham, S. Frederik Duglas. Moscow, 1959. (Translated from English.)
Ivanov, R. F. “Frederik Duglas—rukovoditel’ revoliutsionnogo kryla abolitsionistskogo dvizheniia.” In the collection K stoletiiu grazhdanskoi voiny v SShA. Moscow, 1961.
Bekker, M. I. Progressivnaia negritianskaia literatura SShA. Leningrad, 1957.

I. P. DEMENT’EV