Useful Links
Biography with text dependent questions
https://www.learningforjustice.org/classroom-resources/texts/frederick-douglass
Short Biography
https://www.pbs.org/blackpress/news_bios/douglass.html
Biography with related links
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p1539.html
Information about Douglass' escape from slavery and his work as an abolitionist
https://www.nps.gov/frdo/learn/historyculture/frederickdouglass.htm
Douglass’ Involvement with the Freedmen’s bank, 1874
https://calendar.eji.org/racial-injustice/jun/28
Primary Sources
Buying Frederick Douglass’s freedom, 1846 A Spotlight on a Primary Source by Hugh AuldJ. MeredithWalter Lowrie These documents illustrate some of the negotiations between Anna Richardson in England and Hugh Auld in Maryland as they arranged Douglass’s manumission. The situation was complicated by the fact that Hugh Auld and his brother, Thomas Auld, had both owned Douglass at different times. Through Walter Lowrie in New York, the Richardsons insisted that Hugh prove his full ownership of Douglass or have Thomas sign the paperwork as well. Thomas sold his portion to Hugh, and Hugh proceeded to finalize the paperwork to "render him entirely & Legally free" in December 1846. As a result, Douglass was able to return to the United States a free man. https://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-resources/spotlight-primary-source/buying-frederick-douglass%E2%80%99s-freedom-1846 Frederick Douglass Describes Enslavers (excerpt from 1846 autobiography) https://www.learningforjustice.org/classroom-resources/texts/hard-history/frederick-douglass-describes-enslavers War with Mexico In this editorial, published in the abolitionist newspaper the North Star, Douglass presents his perception of the U.S. government and citizenry’s motivation for fighting. https://www.learningforjustice.org/classroom-resources/texts/hard-history/war-with-Mexico The Claims of the Negro, Ethnologically Considered https://www.learningforjustice.org/classroom-resources/texts/hard-history/the-claims-of-the-negro-ethnologically-considered Fighting Rebels With Only One Hand This text is an essay written in Douglass' Monthly in September 1861. It argues that the Union army should include African-American soldiers. https://www.learningforjustice.org/classroom-resources/texts/fighting-rebels-with-only-one-hand The following passage is excerpted from a speech given by Douglass to the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society in April 1865 https://www.facinghistory.org/reconstruction-era/what-black-man-wants Frederick Douglass’s tribute to Abraham Lincoln, 1880 https://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-resources/spotlight-primary-source/frederick-douglass%E2%80%99s-tribute-abraham-lincoln-1880 Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Written By Himself. https://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/douglass/douglass.html http://utc.iath.virginia.edu/abolitn/dougnarrhp.html Frederick Douglass Papers at the Library of Congress https://www.loc.gov/collections/frederick-douglass-papers/about-this-collection/ |
"What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?" (July 5th, 1852)
https://teachingamericanhistory.org/document/what-to-the-slave-is-the-fourth-of-july/
lesson
https://edsitement.neh.gov/student-activities/frederick-douglasss-what-slave-fourth-july
Frederick Douglass' descendants deliver his 'Fourth of July' speech
https://www.npr.org/2020/07/03/884832594/video-frederick-douglass-descendants-read-his-fourth-of-july-speech
Douglass, who himself escaped enslavement years before, gave the speech on July 5, 1852 at an Independence Day celebration in Rochester, New York.
https://www.learningforjustice.org/classroom-resources/texts/what-to-the-slave-is-the-fourth-of-july
Frederick Douglass Describes Enslavers (1846)
https://www.learningforjustice.org/classroom-resources/texts/hard-history/frederick-douglass-describes-enslavers
Lessons
Lesson plans about the abolitionist movement, the underground railroad, and slavery & Civil Rights
https://rbscp.lib.rochester.edu/2885
Lesson Plan based on Douglass’ autobiography
One of Douglass's goals in his autobiography is to illustrate beyond doubt that slavery had an insidious, spirit-killing effect on the slaveholder as well as the slave. In other words, in the master-slave relationship both parties suffered, whether it was spiritual corruption, physical pain, or both. Douglass asks his readers to consider the effects of this "peculiar institution" on humanity.
Questions
What does Frederick Douglass's life illustrate about the United States in the 19th century?
What does Douglass's narrative reveal about how slavery affects slaveholders and supporters of slavery?
Objectives
Evaluate the significance of slave narratives within the history of the United States.
Analyze the historical circumstances of Douglass's escape and contrast his experiences as a free man with others in the North.
Evaluate Douglass's argument regarding the effects of the institution of slavery on slave holders and supporters of slavery.
https://edsitement.neh.gov/lesson-plans/lesson-2-courage-freedom-slaverys-dehumanizing-effects
Lesson Six – From Slave to Star: Frederick Douglass’ Rise
Students use objects that belonged to Frederick Douglass to determine what he valued and how these items may have inspired him in his fight for emancipation. Students use the objects to develop tours of the Frederick Douglass home.
https://www.nps.gov/museum/tmc/Slavery/From_Slavery_to_Freedom.html
https://rbscp.lib.rochester.edu/2885
Lesson Plan based on Douglass’ autobiography
One of Douglass's goals in his autobiography is to illustrate beyond doubt that slavery had an insidious, spirit-killing effect on the slaveholder as well as the slave. In other words, in the master-slave relationship both parties suffered, whether it was spiritual corruption, physical pain, or both. Douglass asks his readers to consider the effects of this "peculiar institution" on humanity.
Questions
What does Frederick Douglass's life illustrate about the United States in the 19th century?
What does Douglass's narrative reveal about how slavery affects slaveholders and supporters of slavery?
Objectives
Evaluate the significance of slave narratives within the history of the United States.
Analyze the historical circumstances of Douglass's escape and contrast his experiences as a free man with others in the North.
Evaluate Douglass's argument regarding the effects of the institution of slavery on slave holders and supporters of slavery.
https://edsitement.neh.gov/lesson-plans/lesson-2-courage-freedom-slaverys-dehumanizing-effects
Lesson Six – From Slave to Star: Frederick Douglass’ Rise
Students use objects that belonged to Frederick Douglass to determine what he valued and how these items may have inspired him in his fight for emancipation. Students use the objects to develop tours of the Frederick Douglass home.
https://www.nps.gov/museum/tmc/Slavery/From_Slavery_to_Freedom.html
The North Star
Issues of the newspaper
This copy of the North Star is the one-year anniversary issue of the paper. It is fairly typical in its mix of reprinted news, speeches, letters, essays, and advertisements, along with some features and curios that have little to do with slavery. On page 1 Douglass lays out his core objectives: “to attack SLAVERY in all its forms and aspects” and to “promote the moral and intellectual improvement of the COLORED PEOPLE.” He includes stories on slavery in Washington, D.C., an international history of race and caste, an antiwar essay, a piece on the French constitution, and a reprint from a Pennsylvania antislavery newspaper with a declaration congruent with the North Star’s own agenda: “No white men can do for them [free blacks] what they can do for themselves.” The paper also carries on page 1 a story about a new free black settlement in upstate New York and two items with practical advice on dress: “Have the courage to wear your old clothes, until you can pay for new ones
https://americanantiquarian.org/earlyamericannewsmedia/exhibits/show/news-in-antebellum-america/item/128 This issue, published September 8, 1848, contains several anti-slavery essays and letters, including a letter from Douglass to his previous enslaver Thomas Auld, titled [To My Old Master], as well as a critique of the Liberian colonization movement, news of the rebellion in Ireland, poetry, notices of anti-slavery society meetings around the region, and general advertisements. https://transcription.si.edu/project/14480 |
Frederick Douglass Newspaper Collection, 1847-1874Description of the Collectionhttps://blogs.loc.gov/headlinesandheroes/2020/01/frederick-douglass-newspapers-1847-1874-now-online/
https://www.loc.gov/collections/frederick-douglass-newspapers/?dl=page&fa=number_page:0000000001%7Cnumber_lccn:sn84026365&sb=date&st=gallery
From the North Star, 3 December 1847; Reprinted in Philip Foner, ed., Life and Writings of Frederick Douglass, vol. 1 (New York: International Publishers, 1950), p. 280.
https://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/douglass/support15.html
The North Star editorial- The rights of women
https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/sis/resources/historical-documents/north-star.html
https://www.loc.gov/collections/frederick-douglass-newspapers/?dl=page&fa=number_page:0000000001%7Cnumber_lccn:sn84026365&sb=date&st=gallery
From the North Star, 3 December 1847; Reprinted in Philip Foner, ed., Life and Writings of Frederick Douglass, vol. 1 (New York: International Publishers, 1950), p. 280.
https://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/douglass/support15.html
The North Star editorial- The rights of women
https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/sis/resources/historical-documents/north-star.html
Activist Shaun King On Why He's Reviving Frederick Douglass' 'North Star' Paper
https://www.npr.org/2018/11/10/666569978/activist-shaun-king-on-why-hes-reviving-frederick-douglass-north-star-paper
https://www.npr.org/2018/11/10/666569978/activist-shaun-king-on-why-hes-reviving-frederick-douglass-north-star-paper