¶ … Dr. Martin Luther King's, but Frederick Douglass' influence on the civil rights movement in the United States is just as remarkable. Born a mulatto slave in Maryland, Douglass endured most of the typical trials of slavery during his childhood. Witnessing fellow slaves and family members being beaten by their masters, Douglass resolved to escape and after a few failed attempts, finally managed to secure his freedom with a one-way ticket to New York City in 1838. Over the course of his 77-year life, Frederick Douglass devoted every ounce of his soul to advocating the rights and freedoms of blacks. He successfully fought not just to end slavery but to end segregation, discrimination, and all other forms of racism in America.
When Douglass was about thirteen years old, he first...
Exposed to abolitionist papers like the Liberator, Douglass became increasingly active in black affairs. His finesse as an orator granted him the attention of white abolitionists like William Lloyd Garrison, and Douglass was soon touring the lecture circuits with prominent abolitionist groups. Now living as a freed man, Douglass realized that abolition was only part of the problem; he still experienced extreme prejudice, even without physical shackles.
His early exposure to the abolition movement was through white leaders like Garrison, who ironically prevented freed blacks like Douglass from speaking on their own political…
