Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave

About this book

Frederick Douglass was born into slavery in Maryland around 1818 and never knew his birthday or his father. In this short, powerful book he describes the whippings, the hunger and the separation of families that he saw and suffered, how he secretly learned to read after his master forbade it, and the day he fought back against a brutal 'slave-breaker', which he calls the turning point of his life.

Context and significance

Published in 1845, seven years after he escaped to the North, the Narrative made Douglass the most famous Black American of his century; he deliberately left out the details of his escape so as not to endanger those still trying. He became a great orator, newspaper editor and adviser to President Lincoln. Read it with Olaudah Equiano's narrative and Up from Slavery.

About the author