Frederick Douglass

Happy Birthday to a legend.

Frederick Douglas was born February 1818 in Tuckahoe Maryland. He was born a slave so his actual birthday is unknown but later in life he elected to celebrate his birthday on February 14th. Carter G. Woodson chose the week of the 14th for the first Negro History Week because of the important birthdays of Frederick Douglas and Abraham Lincoln. So…not because it’s the shortest month of the year 😉.

During his life, Douglas worked tirelessly as an abolitionist fighting the good fight against slavery. He really made his mark in the abolitionist movement with his poignant and eloquent writing and speeches. He is LITERALLY the poster child of the abolitionist movement.

Fredrick Douglas was an advisor to Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War. Quiet as it’s kept the civil war was not originally about slavery. The bloodiest war ever fought on American soil was essentially pointless until the scope was *adjusted* to be about freedom for slaves. After the war during the reconstruction era Douglas continued to fight for civil rights as well as women’s rights. At this time women’s suffrage was the hot ticket but in the same token the right to vote for African american’s was equally as important. A new group of free people were in American completely vulnerable and Douglas believed their only hope of survival was the right to vote. Now as we know in this time things were a little dicey for women. Women did not enjoy equal rights such as men including the right to vote. Unfortunately, the idea of giving African american men the right to vote before white women was a 100% deal breaker for some of the prominent leaders of the women suffrage movement. Despite the fact that he faced extreme opposition, Douglas believed the newly freed African Americans needed a voice and an opportunity to be heard.

Fredrick Douglas was literally the face of of freedom and today we celebrate his life and his legacy!

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