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Frederick Douglass
February 1818 – February 20, 1895
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Learning to Read
Escape to Freedom
The Struggle
“All Rights for All”
His Work Continues
Chapter 1
Learning to Read
learn, however, Hugh Auld stopped the lessons. Why?
Because Frederick was not free. He was enslaved.
Legally, Frederick was the Auld’s property. In the early
1800s, it was against the law for enslaved people to learn
to read. People who owned slaves worried that enslaved
people would learn about freedom.
Frederick decided he would learn to read, no
matter what. He gave poor white boys from the
neighborhood pieces of bread to teach him what they
learned in school. He used chalk on brick walls and
wooden fences to practice writing. When the Aulds were
away from home, he read the school books of Thomas
Aulds, the family’s only child, or the family Bible.
By the time Frederick was 12, he was a good
reader. He read about slavery, and he read about
freedom. The more he learned, the more he hated being
enslaved. His knowledge gave him a dream. He wanted
liberty.
Frederick Douglass’s love of reading lasted all his life.
All this reading helped him become a good writer and
speaker. As an adult, he used his skill with words to argue
for the freedom of enslaved people.
Why is reading so important? Reading gives people
a away to find out about new ideas. Nearly 200 years
ago, a boy named Frederick learned to read. Reading
gave him a dream, skills, and ideas. Frederick Douglass
was a great writer, speaker, and fighter for civil rights.
Frederick Douglass was born in 1818. When he was
a boy, he lived in the house of Hugh and Sophia Auld. His
first teacher was Sophia Auld. Just as he was starting to
Chapter 1
Learning to Read
1. Who was Frederick Douglass’ first teacher?
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2. What was Sophia Auld’ relationship to Frederick?
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Chapter 2
Escape to Freedom
3. Why did she stop teaching Frederick how to read?
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4. Why was it illegal to teach enslaved people to
read?
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5. Frederick was determined to learn to read no
matter what. After Sophia Auld stopped teaching him
what did he do to continue to learn how to read?
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In the 1830s, the question of whether or not to allow
slavery divided the United States. In states that allowed
slavery, millions of African Americans were forced to
work for no pay. They could be bought and sold like
property.
Most enslaved people lived in bad housing and had
very simple food to eat. They had no rights. Slave
owners could treat them in any way for any reason.
Even slaves who were treated well, however, were
not free. Douglass hated any form of slavery. He said
that all enslaved people wanted liberty, whether or not
the slave owner treated them well.
When Douglass was a young man, Hugh Auld sent
him to work for a shipbuilder in Baltimore harbor.
Douglass had to give the money he earned at this job
to Auld, because Auld was his owner.
As Douglass worked, he made plans to escape to
freedom. Baltimore’s location gave him a good
chance. Every day, trains and ships left the city and
headed north into the free states.
There was one problem, though. Enslaved people
could not go anywhere without permission from their
owners.
Douglass found a way to solve this problem. Some
free African Americans lived in Maryland at this time.
Many lived in Baltimore. Maryland’s laws allowed free
African Americans to travel out of the state if they
could prove they were free.
On September 3, 1838, Douglass dressed up as a
sailor and got aboard a train heading north. He sat in
the car in which African Americans were allowed to
ride.
African American passengers needed to carry
papers that proved they were free. Douglass had
borrowed papers from a free African American sailor.
As the conductor came toward him, Douglass
worried. He did not look like the man described in the
papers. If the conductor looked at them closely,
Douglass would be arrested.
Douglass was lucky. The conductor only glanced at
his papers, and Douglass made it to New York, a free
state.
Even in a free state, Douglass had to worry about
slave-catchers. Slave-catchers tracked down and
captured salves, then took them back south. They got
a reward for each escaped slave they brought back.
Douglass lived in a number of places. He finally
decided to live in New Bedford, Massachusetts. In New
Bedford, he went to abolitionist meetings. Abolitionists
wanted to abolish, or end, slavery.
In 1841, Douglass gave a powerful speech that
thrilled the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society. An
abolitionist group hired him to give more speeches.
Douglass used his freedom of expression for the cause
of freedom.
During the next few years, Douglass made hundreds
of anti-slavery speeches in states in the Northeast. In
1843, he spoke in western Pennsylvania, Indiana, and
Ohio.
Douglass’s speeches won him the respect of
abolitionists, but speaking against slavery could be
dangerous. Douglass and other speakers risked having
things thrown at them, and worse, from people who did
not like their message.
Chapter 2
Escape to Freedom
1. As a young man, where did Hugh Auld send
Douglass to work and what type of work was it?
5. Where did Douglass decide to live?
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6. What type of work did he do there?
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7.
Why was this job so dangerous?
2. What did Douglass do with the money he earned?
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3. Douglass wanted to escape to freedom. Why was
Baltimore a good place for him to make his escape?
Chapter 3
The Struggle
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4. How did Douglass escape?
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Because Douglass was smart and such a good
public speaker, many people didn’t believe he had been
enslaved. They knew slaves were not allowed to learn to
read.
To prove that he had been an enslaved, Douglass
wrote his life story. Thousands of people read the book.
His book became so well-known and told so much about
his past, however, that he was again in danger from slavecatchers.
Douglass went Great Britain, a country where he
didn’t have to worry about slave-catchers. Slavery was
illegal in Great Britain. Antislavery feelings were strong
there.
Douglass stayed in Great Britain for two years, giving
speeches. A group of his British friends raised enough
money to buy his freedom from Hugh Auld. They paid
Auld $711. On December 5, 1846, Douglass became
legally free.
People such as Douglass were conductors on the
railroad. They have food and shelter to escaping slaves or
transported them to their next stop.
Rochester was an important stop on the
Underground Railroad because it was near Canada. At
that time, Canada was part of Great Britain. Like Great
Britain, Canada did not allow slavery or slave-catchers.
Escaped slaves who reached Canada could live safely.
1. Because Douglass spoke so well, many did not believe
that he was once enslaved. How did Douglass prove he
was once enslaved?
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Douglass returned to the United States as a free
man. He settled in Rochester, New York. Douglass started
an anti-slavery newspaper called The North Star. He wrote
articles in favor of rights for African Americans. The North
Star spread Douglass’s ideas around the United States and
the world.
2. What happened as a result of his book?
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Douglass also supported the right of women to vote
at a time when many people did not think that was a
good idea. One of Douglass’s friends in Rochester was
Susan B. Anthony. Like Douglass, Anthony worked against
slavery and for women’s rights.
3. Where did Douglass go to escape slave-catchers?
Douglass hid escaped slaves in his house in
Rochester. He was part of the Underground Railroad. The
Underground Railroad had no trains. It was a secret
network of people, routes, and hiding places that helped
enslaved people escape to freedom.
4. How did Douglass gain his freedom?
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5. What was the name of the anti-slavery newspaper
Douglass started?
Chapter 4
“All Rights for All”
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6. What did Douglass do to help escaped slaves?
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7. What was this secret network called?
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8. What was the Underground Railroad?
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9. Who did Douglass work with to fight for the rights of
women to vote?
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Over the years, disagreements about slavery grew
worse. In 1860, Abraham Lincoln was elected President.
Lincoln was against slavery.
Leaders in some slave states were afraid Lincoln
would end slavery. They left the United States and formed
the Confederacy. The states that stayed in the United
States were called the Union. In 1861, a war began
between the Confederacy and the Union.
During the war, President Lincoln announced that all
enslaved people in the Confederacy were free. His
announcement was called the Emancipation
Proclamation. Emancipation means making someone
free.
Douglass worked to sign up African American men
as Union Army soldiers. African Americans were eager to
fight to end slavery. He also met with President Lincoln to
discuss problems. Douglass complained about the unfair
treatment of African American soldiers in the Union Army.
Douglass and Lincoln did not always agree, but they
admired each other. Their meetings gave Douglass hope
that conditions for African Americans would improve.
2. What were the states that stated with the United States
called?
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When Lincoln was elected a second time, Douglass
traveled to the White House to congratulate the President.
The police refused to let him in because he was African
American. Douglass would not let them turn him away.
When President Lincoln heard that Douglass was at
the door, he said, “Here comes my friend Douglass!” He
told police to let Douglass into the White House, where the
two men talked about Lincoln’s speech earlier in the day.
The Union’s victory over the Confederacy ended
slavery in the United States, but it did not end prejudice.
Douglass’s newspaper had demanded “All rights for all!”
Over the next several years, Douglass kept up the
fight for justice for African Americans. He wrote many
articles and spoke at many events. He also continued to
support equal rights for women and believed that they
should have the right to vote.
Chapter 4
“All Rights for All”
1. Leaders in some slave states were afraid Lincoln would
end slavery. These states left the United States. What did
the form?
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3. A war broke out between the Union and the
Confederacy. At that time, what did President Lincoln
declare?
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4. What was this announcement called?
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5. What does emancipation mean?
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6. Who won the war between the Union and the
Confederacy?
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7. What did the victory of the war mean?
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Chapter 5
“His Work Continues”
List two ways in which Douglass was honored for his work?
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Mapping the Life
By traveling from Maryland to Massachusetts,
Douglass escaped slavery. Then he worked to help others
do the same.
Douglass showed that determination is important to
reaching goals, because reaching them can take a long
time. He also showed that a desire for justice and equality
can guide a person’s life.
In 1967, Douglass became the first African American
to be pictured on a postage stamp. His image appeared
on another stamp in 1995. There is also a statue of
Douglass in Rochester, New York.
Baltimore, New York City, Atlanta, and other cities
and towns have named schools after Douglass. Douglass
was proud of what he had learned and what he had
done in his life. People today admire his bravery and
strength. Douglass knew that his work might not be
finished in him lifetime. Even so, he worked hard for what
he believed in. As Douglass wrote:
We still live, and while there is life,
there is hope…. Let us then…
struggle on in the belief that there
is a better day coming.
1826: He learns to read in Baltimore, Maryland.
1838: He becomes an abolitionist speaker in New Bedford,
Massachusetts.
1848: He starts The North Star in Rochester, New York.
1863: He talks to President Lincoln in Washington, D.C.
Glossary
Abolitionist – a person who wants to end slavery.
Civil rights – rights protected by law.
Conductor – a person who helped people escape to
freedom on the Underground Railroad.
Conscience – an inner sense of right and wrong.
Enslaved – forced to work without pay.
Expression – the ability to speak or write.
Freedom – not being controlled by someone else.
Frederick Douglass
Multiple Choice Assessment
1.
Hugh Auld stopped the lessons because Frederick Douglass
was a
A.
boy
B.
reader
C.
slave
D.
student
2.
Even though the young Douglass had no money, he gave bread
to boys in his neighborhood for their help in learning to read. This is
an example of
A.
freedom of expression
B.
voluntary exchange
C.
emancipation
D.
capital goods
Justice – equal treatment under the law.
Liberty - freedom.
Prejudice – a strong feeling or opinion formed unfairly or
without knowing all the facts.
Rights – freedoms that are protected by a country’s laws.
Slavery - a cruel system in which one person owns and
controls another person.
Underground Railroad – secret network of people and
hiding places to help slaves escape to freedom.
3.
Douglass worked at a shipyard. He sent the money he made at
the shipyard to Hugh Auld because he was forced to work without
A. food
B. housing
C.
reading
D.
pay
4.
In 1830, Baltimore was the largest city in Maryland and an
important shipbuilding center. While working in Baltimore, Frederick
Douglass escaped by dressing as a sailor and
A. taking a train to New York
B. sailing away on a ship
C.
riding a horse to the north
D. hiding in a wagon
Use the map to answer question #10.
5.
After Frederick Douglass escaped, he made speeches for
abolitionist groups. The members of abolitionist groups wanted to
A.
end the practice of slavery
B.
have freedom of expression
C.
meet with President Lincoln
D.
form opinions without facts
6.
had
Douglass wrote a book about his life story to prove to that he
A.
B.
C.
D.
been enslaved
planted cotton
learned to read
lived in Baltimore
7.
Frederick Douglass became legally free when Douglass’s British
friends
A. paid Douglass to make public speeches
B.
called him a determined abolitionist
C.
asked President Lincoln to meet him
D.
bought Douglass from Hugh Auld
8.
Once he was legally free, Frederick Douglass hid other escaped
slaves in his house. He was part of a secret network of people, routes,
and hiding places to help enslaved people escape to freedom. This
network was called
A. The North Star
B.
the Underground Railroad
C.
The Emancipation Proclamation
D.
the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society
9.
Freedom of expression is a positive character trait. Examples of
freedom of expression that can be identified from Frederick
Douglass’s life are his
A.
reading, escape, and book
B.
speeches, book, and posters
C.
escape, posters, and speeches
D.
book, speeches, and newspaper




10.
Frederick Douglass was born in 1818 near Baltimore,
Maryland. What symbol on the map marks the location of Baltimore,
Maryland?
A. 
B. 
C.

D. 
11.
Douglass took a risk or a chance to start and an antislavery
newspaper. This is an example of the productive resource known as
A.
capital resources
B.
entrepreneurship
C.
human resources
D.
natural resources
Use the timeline to answer question #15.
12.
President Lincoln met with and talked with Douglass about
A.
how African Americans were treated in the Union Army
B.
freeing enslaved people in the slave states of the
Confederacy
C.
when to begin the war between the Confederacy and the
Union
D.
working to sign up African Americans as soldiers
against slavery
13.
Frederick Douglas demanded justice when he spoke out against
laws that took away civil rights, such as liberty and the right to vote.
Justice is defined as
A.
opinions formed without knowing the facts
B.
an inner sense of what is right and wrong
C.
freedom to speak or to write about beliefs
D.
the equal treatment for all people by law
14.
President Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass admired
each other because they both
A.
believed in equal rights for African-Americans
B.
lived and worked in the capital, Washington, D.C.
C.
wrote a well-known book about their life story
D.
freed all enslaved people in the Confederacy
The Life and Ideas of Frederick Douglass
1818, Frederick Douglass is born. He is named Frederick Bailey.
1838, Frederick Bailey escapes and changed his name from Bailey to Dougla
1841, Douglass gives one of his many speeches against slavery.
1846, Douglass legally becomes free.
1848, Douglass starts his newspaper.
1863, Douglass talks to President Lincoln.
1967, Douglass’s picture placed on a postage stamp
1995, Douglass’s picture placed on a postage stamp.
15.
When was Frederick Douglass honored by the United States
Postal Service for his ideas about justice and equality?
A.
1818 and 1967
B.
1863 and 1846
C.
1995 and 1967
D.
1967 and 1841