Frederick Douglass

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"Life and Times of Frederick Douglass" is the third and last autobiography of Frederick Douglass. In this finial memoir Douglas gives more details about his life as a slave and his escape from slavery than he did in his two previous autobiographies. Frederick Douglass (1818 – 1895) was an African-American social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. After escaping from slavery in Maryland, he became a national leader of the abolitionist movement in Massachusetts and New York, gaining note for his dazzling oratory and incisive antislavery writings. Contents: Author's Birth Removal From Grandmother's Troubles of Childhood A General Survey of the Slave Plantation A Slaveholder's Character A Child's Reasoning Luxuries at the Great House Characteristics of Overseers Change of Location Learning to Read Growing in Knowledge Religious Nature Awakened The Vicissitudes of Slave Life Experience in St. Michaels Covey, the Negro Breaker Another Pressure of the Tyrant's Vise The Last Flogging New Relations and Duties The Runaway Plot Escape From Slavery Life as a Freeman Introduced to the Abolitionists Recollections of Old Friends One Hundred Conventions Impressions Abroad Triumphs and Trials John Brown and Mrs. Stowe Increasing Demands of the Slave Power The Beginning of the End Secession and War Hope for the Nation Vast Changes Living and Learning Weighed in the Balance "Time Makes All Things Even" Incidents and Events "Honor to Whom Honor" Retrospection Later Life A Grand Occasion Doubts as to Garfield's Course Recorder of Deeds President Cleveland's Administration The Supreme Court Decision Defeat of James G. Blaine European Tour Continuation of European Tour The Campaign of 1888 Administration of President Harrison Minister to Haïti Continued Negotiations for the Môle St. Nicolas

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass is a memoir and treatise on abolition written by famous orator and ex-slave, Frederick Douglass. It is generally held to be the most famous of a number of narratives written by former slaves during the same period. In factual detail, the text describes the events of his life and is considered to be one of the most influential pieces of literature to fuel the abolitionist movement of the early 19th century in the United States.

One of the greatest works of American autobiography, in a definitive Library of America text: Published seven years after his escape from slavery, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave (1845) is a powerful account of the cruelty and oppression of the Maryland plantation culture into which Frederick Douglass was born. It brought him to the forefront of the antislavery movement and drew thousands, black and white, to the cause. Written in part as a response to skeptics who refused to believe that so articulate an orator could ever have been a slave, the Narrative reveals the eloquence and fierce intelligence that made Douglass a brilliantly effective spokesman for abolition and equal rights, as he shapes an inspiring vision of self-realization in the face of unimaginable odds.

In 1845, runaway slave Frederick Douglass became, almost overnight, the most celebrated African American author in history with the publication of his Narrative. In stark, powerful prose, he conveyed his observations of owners and overseers, the demoralizing effects of slavery on both slave and slaveholder, and his own triumph over oppression. In the latter part of the century, Douglass became a public figure of enormous stature: an orator, a newspaper publisher, and a statesman. But he is perhaps best remembered as America's first major African American writer, a man whose work still makes a powerful impact on both our minds and hearts. For a new perspective on Douglass' narrative, Henry Louis Gates, Jr.'s, introduction examines its literary and social importance, and considers the issues Douglass raised as the foundation for today's field of African American studies. Gates's illuminating insights, and an extensive bibliography, make this edition essential reading for scholars, historians, and students of African American literature.

<b>A new collection of the seminal writings and speeches of a legendary writer, orator, and civil rights leader</b><br> <b>&#160;</b><br> This compact volume offers a full course on the remarkable, diverse career of Frederick Douglass, letting us hear once more a necessary historical figure whose guiding voice is needed now as urgently as ever. Edited by renowned scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr., and Pulitzer Prize&ndash;nominated historian John Stauffer, <i>The Portable Frederick Douglass </i>includes the full range of Douglass&rsquo;s works: the complete <i>Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass</i>, as well as extracts from <i>My Bondage and My</i> <i>Freedom</i> and <i>Life and Times of Frederick Douglass</i>; <i>The Heroic Slave</i>, one of the first works of African American fiction; the brilliant speeches that launched his political career and that constitute the greatest oratory of the Civil War era; and his journalism, which ranges from cultural and political critique... <p><strong>A new collection of the seminal writings and speeches of a legendary writer, orator, and civil rights leader</strong> </p> <hr /> <p>This compact volume offers a full course on the remarkable, diverse career of Frederick Douglass, letting us hear once more a necessary historical figure whose guiding voice is needed now as urgently as ever. Edited by renowned scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr., and Pulitzer Prize–nominated historian John Stauffer, <em>The Portable Frederick Douglass</em> includes the full range of Douglass’s works: the complete <em>Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass</em> , as well as extracts from <em>My Bondage and My</em> <em>Freedom</em> and <em>Life and Times of Frederick Douglass</em> ; <em>The Heroic Slave</em> , one of the first works of African American fiction; the brilliant speeches that launched his political career and that constitute the greatest oratory of the Civil War era; and his journalism, which ranges from cultural and political critique (including his early support for women’s equality) to law, history, philosophy, literature, art, and international affairs, including a never-before-published essay on Haitian revolutionary Toussaint L’Ouverture. </p> <p><em>The Portable Frederick Douglass</em> is the latest addition in a series of African American classics curated by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. First published in 2008, the series reflects a selection of great works of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry by African and African American authors introduced and annotated by leading scholars and acclaimed writers in new or updated editions for Penguin Classics. In his series essay, “What Is an African American Classic?” Gates provides a broader view of the canon of classics of African American literature available from Penguin Classics and beyond. Gates writes, “These texts reveal the human universal through the African American particular: all true art, all classics do this; this is what ‘art’ is, a revelation of that which makes each of us sublimely human, rendered in the minute details of the actions and thoughts and feelings of a compelling character embedded in a time and place.” </p> <p>For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.</p><h3>Review</h3> <p>“indispensable (…) a timelessly rewarding read in its totality”<br /> <strong>—Maria Popova</strong></p> <h3>About the Author</h3> <p><strong>Frederick Douglass</strong> (1818–1895) was an antislavery lecturer, a journalist, a publisher, and the bestselling author of <em>Narrative of the</em> <em>Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave</em> , followed by <em>My Bondage and My</em> <em>Freedom</em> , and <em>Life and Times of Frederick Douglass</em>. </p> <p><strong>John Stauffer</strong> (editor)is a professor of literature and African American studies and chair of the History of American Civilization program at Harvard. His eight books include <em>The Black Hearts of Men: Radical Abolitionists and the Transformation of Race</em> , <em>Giants: The Parallel Lives of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln</em> , and <em>State of Jones</em> , which was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize.</p>

A collection of twenty of Frederick Douglass’s most important orationsThis volume brings together twenty of Frederick Douglass’s most historically significant speeches on a range of issues, including slavery, abolitionism, civil rights, sectionalism, temperance, women’s rights, economic development, and immigration. Douglass’s oratory is accompanied by speeches that he considered influential, his thoughts on giving public lectures and the skills necessary to succeed in that endeavor, commentary by his contemporaries on his performances, and modern-day assessments of Douglass’s effectiveness as a public speaker and advocate.