Frederick Douglass

Frederick Douglass was born into slavery with the name Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey near Easton in Talbot County, Maryland. He was uncertain of his exact birth year, but he knew it was either 1817 or 1818. In 1838, he escaped from slavery and went to New York. Shortly thereafter, he changed his name to Frederick Douglass. He held significant state positions and became—without his approval—the first African American candidate for Vice President of the United States. He emerged as the greatest American orator of his time, as well as one of the most important writers and abolitionists of the 19th century. He died in 1895.