The Honorable Frederick Douglass: An American Story, Part 2 of 2

William Lloyd Garrison had started the “Abolitionists” in New Bedford, a movement dedicated to the absolute and immediate rescinding of slavery from the United States. Together with William Lloyd Garrison, Frederick Douglass commenced a tour of northern states, delivering hundreds of speeches at anti-slavery conventions, which soon propelled the debate of abolitionism to national levels.

To further the cause of slaves still in bondage, Frederick Douglass and his growing family settled in New Rochester, New York. With their help, he established a series of his own abolitionist newspapers, such as “The North Star,” evoking the light of the night sky, stars that escaped slaves would follow when making their voyage to freedom. The paper’s slogan was: “Right is of no [Gender] – Truth is of no Color – God is the Father of us all, and all we are Brethren.”

After His Excellency Abraham Lincoln’s election to US presidency in 1861, national events quickly escalated. Frederick Douglass found himself at the center of a political hurricane as slavery became the single most determining issue of the day. Frederick Douglass personally advised the president at the White House during this critical time, continually reinforcing the abolitionist principles by ensuring that an uncompromising attitude was maintained in regard to the policy of slavery during the ensuing conflict.

“In a composite Nation like ours, made up of almost every variety of the human family, there should be, as before the Law, no rich, no poor, no high, no low, no black, no white, but one country, one citizenship equal rights and a common destiny for all.”

In 1889, His Excellency President Benjamin Harrison appointed Frederick Douglass the US Minister to Haiti, making him the first African American member of the United States federal cabinet. Six years later, the news of Frederick Douglass’ passing at Cedar Hill was met with an outpour of respectful condolence across the United States for the man who had overcome immense challenges during his life to become a respected leader. With great integrity, Frederick Douglass served as a source of great motivation in the movement that put an end to the inhumane practice of slavery, and he dedicated himself to achieving the noble principle of equality for all.