American Writers Museum

Frederick Douglass was a relentless advocate for change and constantly challenged the status quo in American society through his writing and speeches. Everyone who seeks change faces obstacles they must overcome. Using what you learned navigating through the Frederick Douglass: Agitator Resource Kit, address the questions below.

Frederick Douglass-Agitator

From the end of the Civil War until his passing in 1895 Douglass continued his public speaking with more than 800 speeches. He also wrote all the time, published his newspaper, and served in various government positions for more than 30 years.

Explore the later life of Frederick Douglass

A brilliant orator, writer and social justice agitator, Frederick Douglass meticulously cultivated his image through photography. His portrait was taken over 160 times, in sittings across the country, making Douglass the most photographed American of the 19th century. 

The Most Photographed Man of the 19th Century

The words of Frederick Douglass ring true today just like they did 150 years ago. Watch this video to hear students from Young Chicago Authors read short quotes from some of Douglass’ famous speeches. YCA helps young people from all backgrounds to understand the importance of their own stories and those of others, so that they can pursue the path they choose and work to make their communities more just and equitable.

Bringing Douglass’ Words to Life

Frederick Douglass changed his times, but he never changed the clarity of his mission: equality for all. Author and orator Frederick Douglass was a “self-made man” (the title of one of his most popular speeches). To Douglass, a self-made man was an activist who sought to eradicate the sins of society. He escaped from slavery to become one of the most eloquent voices of abolitionism. The official end of slavery in 1865 marked the second phase of Douglass’ career. His words – passionate, brilliant, and powerful – denounced violent racism in the South while demanding true equality for all Americans.

https://exhibits.americanwritersmuseum.org/exhibits/frederick-douglass/

Educator Overview-Frederick Douglass Agitator.pdf

Frederick Douglass: Agitator

Writing

English Language Arts

Douglass was a strong supporter of the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments, which outlawed slavery, granted citizenship to “all persons born or naturalized in the United States,” and gave African-American men the right to vote.

At the same time, Douglass had grave concerns about entrenched racism in the South. He feared that slavery had ended in name only.

Members of the House of Representatives celebrate after passing the 13th Amendment. Abraham Lincoln was assassinated less than four months later. "At the end of that year, the 13th amendment went into effect." 

Photo credit: Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division

The summer before this essay was published, Congress had passed the 14th Amendment, which granted African-Americans the rights of citizenship. Yet, as Douglass explains, citizenship has no meaning without the right to vote.

He details practical and moral reasons for giving African Americans the right to vote, chief among them being a unified North and South.

The Library of Congress houses much of Douglass’ work–an archive that contains contents of Douglass’ home office. This image is of one of Douglass’ many handwritten manuscripts. 

Photo credit: Frederick Douglass Papers at the Library of Congress

Douglass felt renewed hope in 1883, despite the Supreme Court’s partial overturn of the Civil Rights Act of 1875.

Perhaps the fact that African-Americans had been free for 20 years–a whole generation–reminded him that progress had been made. As he wrote in a different essay, “I see colored people steadily rising.”

This illustration depicts Douglass in his role as U.S. Marshal for the District of Columbia. He was first African-American confirmed for a presidential appointment by the U.S. Senate. 

Photo credit: Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Photographs and Prints Division, The New York Public Library

Given ongoing violence and discrimination, some Americans–black and white–wondered if it made sense for African Americans to stay in the United States. Douglass disagreed.

In this essay, he lists all the reasons why African-Americans would stay, from the practical (it’s expensive to move) to the intangible (things are getting better).

This image of a stylish young woman (taken around 1880) is a “carte de visite,” a photo card given to friends and family. 

The speech finds Douglass weary, contemplating the future of African-Americans in general and wondering aloud about the next generation of civil rights activists. He notes that it is difficult to offer new thoughts on the “same subject, before the same audience.”

He even goes as far as to say that, “I wish that your choice of speaker had fallen upon one of our young men …. I want to see them coming to the front as I am retiring to the rear.” In the speech that follows, he offers advice to those who will follow him.

In this 1883 illustration, Douglass, the “colored champion of freedom,” is wreathed by other African-American men of accomplishment. 

Chicago hosted the World’s Columbian Exposition in 1893 in honor of the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’s voyage to America. The fair took place across 700 acres (that’s about 530 football fields!), and more than 20 million tickets were sold.

Yet, African-Americans could not get jobs at the fair, and were not allowed to create an exhibit showing their culture.

This view of the fairgrounds illustrates why the exposition was called “the white city,” a nickname that must have been bitterly ironic to the African-Americans excluded from the year-long event. 

Douglass was one of the few African-Americans at the World’s Columbian Exposition, he served as a representative for the country of Haiti. Angered by the discrimination, he partnered with fellow activist-writers Ida B. Wells, Ferdinand Lee Barnett, and Irvine Garland Penn.

They wrote and distributed this pamphlet together. Douglass would later write a short preface to Wells’ masterpiece about lynching, The Red Record.

Resource Kits

Object Library

Museums

Frederick Douglass: Agitator

Explore the later life of Frederick Douglass

Background Knowledge

13th, 14th & 15th Amendments