frederick douglass

FREDERICK DOUGLASS Frederick Douglass was born into slavery in 1817, in Tuckahoe, Maryland. Because his slave mother, Harriet Bailey, used to call him her "little valentine," he adopted February 14th as his birthday, not knowing the exact date of his birth. He knew very little about his mother since she was employed as a field hand on a plantation some twelve miles away, and she died when he was eight or nine years old. Douglass knew …

…as an Underground Railroad station. In addition, he became impressed with the radical Abolitionist, John Brown, whose advocacy of revolutionary means to end slavery, intrigued Douglass. However, he decided against joining Brown in his plan to overthrow the government. Still, his involvement with Brown was visible enough that a warrant for Douglass' arrest was issued after the Harper's Ferry raid, and Douglass had to again flee; this time, he went to Canada for several months.