Frederick Douglass, Author at The Imaginative Conservative

About Frederick Douglass

Frederick Douglass (1818-1895) escaped from slavery in 1838, and in the years following became a leader in the American abolitionist movement. He wrote three autobiographies and founded an antislavery newspaper, The North Star.

Oration in Memory of Abraham Lincoln

By Frederick Douglass|2020-04-13T09:47:18-05:00November 18th, 2019|Categories: Abraham Lincoln, American Republic, Civil War, History|

I have said that President Lincoln was a white man, and shared the prejudices common to his countrymen towards the colored race. Looking back to his times and to the condition of his country, we are compelled to admit that this unfriendly feeling on his part may be safely set down as one element of [...]

“What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?”

By Frederick Douglass|2020-07-04T13:01:34-05:00July 19th, 2019|Categories: American Republic, Declaration of Independence, History, Independence Day, Slavery|

This is the 4th of July. It is the birthday of your National Independence, and of your political freedom. This, to you, is what the Passover was to the emancipated people of God. Fellow-citizens, pardon me, allow me to ask, why am I called upon to speak here to-day? What, to the American slave, is [...]