Life and times of Frederick Douglass

Description

Frederick Douglass in his own majestic words — the fullest account of an extraordinary life. Born into slavery in Maryland, never knowing his exact birthdate, Douglass escaped bondage in 1838 and became the most photographed American of the nineteenth century and the nation’s leading voice against slavery. Life and Times of Frederick Douglass, his third and final autobiography — first published in 1881 and revised in 1892 — is the complete story, told with the orator’s cadence that made him famous.

Where the earlier Narrative (1845) and My Bondage and My Freedom (1855) end, this volume continues: the electrifying meetings with President Lincoln, the recruiting of Black regiments for the Union cause, the editorship of his newspapers, and the long, unfinished fight for full citizenship after emancipation. It is history written by a man who made it — and who never stopped demanding that America live up to its promises.

The capstone of American slave narrative and essential reading for understanding the Civil War era. Start here if you read only one Douglass — then read the other two.

Born into slavery in Maryland and never knowing his exact birthdate, Frederick Douglass escaped bondage in 1838 and rose to become the most photographed American of the 19th century — and the nation’s leading voice against slavery. Life and Times of Frederick Douglass, his third and final autobiography, first published in 1881 and revised in 1892, is the fullest account of that extraordinary journey, told in his own majestic words.

Where his earlier Narrative (1845) and My Bondage and My Freedom (1855) focused on slavery and escape, this volume carries the story forward: Douglass’s meetings with President Lincoln, his recruiting of the 54th and 55th Massachusetts Colored Regiments, the triumph of emancipation, and his later service as U.S. Marshal of the District of Columbia and Minister to Haiti.

Inside, readers will find:

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• A firsthand history: the Civil War, Reconstruction, and the fight for Black citizenship from the inside.
• Unforgettable encounters: Lincoln, John Brown, and the presidents who shaped a nation.
• Oratory in print: the powerful prose of America’s greatest 19th-century speaker.
• A complete life: from slave cabin to statesman — the capstone of Douglass’s autobiographical trilogy.

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Essential reading for students of American history, Life and Times of Frederick Douglass is both a personal testament and a cornerstone of the slave-narrative tradition.