Douglass Have To Do If There's No Struggle, There Is No Progress?

To quote the famous Frederick Douglass, “if there is no struggle, there is no progress…” and I assure you, there was struggle that resulted in not only progress for him, but for the nation as a whole. Frederick Douglass did many things that were deemed as impossible during his time period under the circumstances which the nation was under. To tell you more about this man I will be giving you a brief introduction into his personal life and into his remarkable achievements as a world renowned American abolitionist, author, and orator.
Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey was born in February of 1818, although no one knows the exact date, was born on the eastern shore of Maryland to a slave woman. He lived the life of a slave for twenty years
before escaping, however he failed several times when he attempted. He first tried to escape his old master but failed. He then attained a new master and again tried to escape from him in 1836. A year later, Douglass met and fell in love with Anna Murray, a free black women living in Baltimore who was five years older than he. Her freedom gave Douglass the strength to obtain his own free status; as Douglass said himself: “I did not know I was a slave until I couldn’t do the things I wanted.” Upon escaping Douglass had to take many routes through other slave states to reach the free state of New York, upon arrival he sent for his lover, Murray, to join him. After escaping on September 3, 1838, once untied with Anne Murray, they were married on September 15, 1838. At first the couple adopted Johnson as their married name to divert any attention away from them and then later on adopted Douglass. The two went on to have five children: Rosetta, Lewis, Frederick Jr., Charles, and Annie (who died at the age of ten). Anne remained with Douglass through all of his travels and prominent work supporting him every step of the way until her death which occurred in 1882. Two years later, Douglass remarried to lady by the name of Helen Pitts, a white feminist from New York. Twenty or so years before Douglass’ death, he bought the family’s final home in Washington D.C. and on February 20, 1895, Frederick Douglass attended a meeting held for the National Council of Women in Washington D.C., during which he was brought up on stage and received a standing ovation, died shortly after his return home from a massive heart attack or stroke.
After obtaining his freedom, Frederick Douglass accomplished many different prominent and outstanding things within society that he is well remembered for today.
After his Marriage to Murray and their move to Massachusetts, Douglass joined a church called the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church which was an independent denomination established in New York. In 1839, Douglass became a licensed preacher which helped Douglass hone in on his oratorical skills. Aside from that, he joined several other organizations and regularly attended abolitionist meetings. These meetings introduced him to new people that spoke on the subjects which got him inspired to start speaking on them himself. Douglass gave his first speech on the subject of anti-slavery about his own life as a slave in 1841. In 1843 he then joined the American Anti-Slavery Society “Hundred Conventions” project and became a lecturer himself. Douglass is also a famous author for publishing three autobiographies, the first one being published in 1845 and becoming a best seller. After taking a tour of Ireland in 1845, upon his return to the United States Douglass founded a newspaper called the North Star and wrote on many important issues. In 1848, Douglass took up fighting for women’s rights and as the only black person to attend the meeting in sequence falls. By the time the Civil War came about, Douglass was already one of the most famous men of century. Since Douglass had many strong views on abolishing slavery and wrote many articles and speeches on the subject, he also started conferring with President Lincoln on the matter. Douglass was a consultant to Lincoln on the abolishment of slavery until Lincoln’s untimely demise. During the reconstruction era, Douglass still continued to work for the quality of African American and
women.
Frederick Douglass was a man of good integrity that inspired so many others of his time. Douglass’ contributions to our modern day society have let us live the lives we live today. Because of this one man, we can almost owe it all to him that we have equality for all, the abolishment of slavery, and women’s rights. His one act of courage lead him onward to do many remarkable things that we still remember and are thankful for to this very day.