Frederick Douglass Historical Timeline

Frederick Douglass
A Brief Historical Timeline

1818: Frederick Augustus Bailey was born a slave in Talbot County, MD.

1826: Age 8, Frederick was taught the alphabet and a few words by his slave holder’s wife Mrs. Auld. From there he taught himself to read.

1838: Age 20, he disguised himself as a sailor and escaped North with the help of a free black woman, Anne Murray; whom he later married and had 5 children. Frederick adopted the name “Douglass” from a narrative poem by Sir Walter Scott, “The Lady of the Lake”.

1839: Meets abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison. Frederick Douglass also became a licensed preacher in the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church (AME Zion).

1841-1847: Douglass spoke at abolitionist meetings in Massachusetts and becomes employed as a lecturer for the Anti-Slavery Society.

1845: Publishes “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave”. He eventually leaves for England and Scotland to escape slave hunters.

1846: English admirers purchase Douglass’ freedom and he returns to the US.

1847: Publishes the North Star, a weekly newspaper in Rochester, NY. Douglass becomes an eloquent spokesman for the Emancipation and for the Rights of Women.

1859: Douglass refuses to support John Brown and his planned raid on Harper’s Ferry.

1861-1864: Douglass works to aid the Union cause and began recruiting black soldiers across the North; bringing nearly 200,000 Black American men, including 2 of his sons, into he Union forces. Meets with Lincoln to improve the treatment of black soldiers. Attends Lincoln’s Second Inauguration.

1872: Moves to Washington, DC, purchases the 15 acre Cedar Hill Estate.

1877: Becomes a Federal Marshall for Washington, DC.

1881: Becomes the first Recorder of Deeds for Washington, DC.

1884: A widower, he marries Helen Pitts, a white woman from Rochester, NY. They travel to England, France, Italy, Egypt and Greece (1886-1887).

1889-1891: Frederick Douglass is appointed Minister Resident and Consul General to the Republic of Haiti. He eventually resigns and returns to Cedar Hill (1891). Douglass continued to speak for the oppressed people and as a champion of Human Rights.

1895: Frederick Douglass dies on February 20th at Cedar Hill after attending a Women’s Rights meeting. Helen Pitts Douglass worked to preserve the home in his memory.