Frederick Douglass - USA History.

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In Britain and later in Rochester, however, Douglass met political abolitionists, who believed that it was possible to use the political system to fightslavery.

They organized the antislavery Liberty Party, and called for the election of abolitionists to public office.

Garrison believed the North should secede, if necessary,to free itself from the moral stain of slavery.

In contrast, Douglass became convinced that this course of action would only abandon slaves to their masters.

Garrisondenounced Douglass as a traitor to the cause, and the two men, once firm friends, drifted apart. From 1848 through the 1850s, Douglass worked closely with the Liberty Party.

This group of abolitionists had broken off from the American Anti-Slavery Society anddemanded the total destruction of slavery.

But on occasion, Douglass also backed the larger Free-Soil and Republican parties, which pledged only to prevent theextension of slavery to new territories and states. Douglass also rejected Garrison's philosophy that slaves must not actively resist their oppression.

Douglass believed in the right of slaves to rebel and the right offugitives to resist reenslavement.

His house in Rochester was a station on the Underground Railroad, a network of antislavery activists who helped smuggle slaves fromthe South.

He joined other abolitionists in helping many of these runaway slaves to reach safety in Canada. Douglass became a friend of American abolitionist John Brown, who supported the use of armed force to help slaves escape.

Douglass, however, refused to join Brownin an attack planned on the federal arsenal and armory at Harpers Ferry, Virginia (now West Virginia), in 1859.

He warned Brown that seizing the armory would beconsidered an attack on the U.S.

government and could prove disastrous.

After Brown was captured in the raid, Douglass faced charges that he was an accomplice andfled the country to avoid possible arrest for treason.

He came back to the United States about six months later, after furor over the incident had died down. On his return, Douglass campaigned for Abraham Lincoln during the presidential election of 1860.

After the outbreak of the Civil War, he urged Lincoln to expand hiswar aims beyond the stated goal of preserving the Union.

Douglass argued that slavery was the true cause of the conflict and that the Union should make the abolitionof slavery its primary focus.

Douglass also called for the Union Army to recruit slaves and free blacks, and he helped to raise two regiments of black soldiers, theMassachusetts 54th and 55th.

His own sons, Frederick and Lewis, were among the first volunteers for these all-black regiments.

By the end of the war slightly over200,000 blacks had served in the U.S.

Army and Navy.

See also African American History. VI POSTWAR REFORMER During Reconstruction (traditionally 1865-1877) when the United States tried to rebuild after the Civil War, Douglass campaigned for suffrage and full civil rights for allblacks.

He became a leading spokesperson for improving the situation of former slaves.

He also worked for the passage of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments, whichbanned slavery, made all people born in the United States citizens, and prohibited racial discrimination in voting ( see Constitution of the United States).

Most feminists opposed the 14th and 15th Amendments because they did not provide voting rights for women.

Douglass passionately argued that while women ought to have the rightto vote, black men needed the vote immediately to protect them and their families from the political power of Southern whites.

Douglass continued his tireless effort tosecure black rights, but he also actively supported equal rights for women.

In 1872 he was the vice-presidential candidate on the Equal Rights Party slate headed by thefeminist Victoria Claflin Woodhull, the first woman ever to run for the presidency. In 1872 Douglass moved to Washington, D.C., and increasingly became recognized as a leader of America's blacks.

Douglass remained loyal to the Republican Party,despite its declining commitment to black causes after Reconstruction, but his own dedication to reform never wavered.

Douglass held several government posts,serving as U.S.

marshal for the District of Columbia ( see Marshals Service) from 1877 to 1881 and as recorder of deeds for the District until 1886.

He continued his active role in public service from 1889 to 1891 as U.S.

minister to Haiti. Controversy arose during the later years of Douglass’s life.

In 1882 his wife of 44 years died, and in January 1884 Douglass married his white secretary, Helen Pitts.Some blacks, and many whites, criticized him for marrying outside his race, but Douglass categorically rejected the notion that his actions should be constrained by hisskin color.

For him the marriage symbolized one more victory in his lifelong crusade against racial discrimination. At his death in 1895, Douglass had already established his reputation as the foremost African American spokesperson of the 19th century as well as one of the nation’smost effective orators and activists.

Recognition of the scope of his achievements has grown since that time.

His three autobiographies are considered literary classicsand provide compelling testimony about slavery’s impact on those held in bondage.

The story of his struggle to obtain an education and to win his freedom illustrates hisremarkable personal strength and perseverance.

These same characteristics also contributed to his emergence as a prominent civil rights advocate and a leading figurein other national reform movements of the era. Reviewed By:Paul FinkelmanMicrosoft ® Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation.

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