Frederick Douglass

(Languages of this post: Interlingua, English)

Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey Douglass nasceva circa 1818 in Tuckahoe, Maryland, presso le Baia Chesapeake. Multe sclavos viveva in latifundos grande in ille epocha. Cata latifundio esseva como un parve village possedite per un familia blanc qui viveva in casas grande in iste latifundios, cuje organisation agricole e social esseva multo simile al latifundios roman e medieval.

Le matre de Douglass esseva Harriet Bailey, e multes crede que su patre esseva le homine qui le possedeva, Captain Aaron Anthony. Frederick non cognosceva su matre multo ben. Illa esseva inviate a un altere latifundo quando Frederick esseva multo juvene, e illa non poteva visitar le multo sovente e moriva quando ille habeva septe annos.

In ille epocha, Frederick viveva con su granpatres, Betsey e Isaac Bailey. Ille diceva que su granpatres esseva multo amabile e esseva respectate per le altere sclavos qui les cognosceva. A causa de isto, al principio ille non sapeva que ille esseva un sclavo.

Le vita de familias afroamerican de ille epocha non esseva stabile. Como lor membros esseva le proprietate legal del personas qui les possedeva, illes sovente esseva vendite e vadeva a altere latifundios distante, e Frederick debeva abandonar le focar de su granpatres quando ille habeva solmente sex annos. Ille diceva que le necessitate de abandonar su granpatres esseva le die le plus triste de su vita, e de ille experientia ille comenciava a apprender lo que le vita de un sclavo vermente significava.

In 1826 Frederick esseva inviate a travaliar pro Hugh Auld, in Baltimore, Maryland. Le marita del senior Auld, Sophia, esseva multo amabile a Frederick. Illa le tractava como si ille esseva un membro del familia e comenciava a inseniar le a leger. Al apprender isto, su marito se irasceva grandemente e prohibeva que illa continuava a facer isto. Le senior Auld diceva que si su sclavos sapeva leger, illes comenciarea a rebellar se e correrea via.

Frederick tamen poteva continuar su lectiones de lectura a causa de un gruppo de pueros blanc in le citate qui esseva contra le sclavitude e insisteva que ille habeva le derecto de apprender a leger e de esser libere.

Le senior Auld inviava Frederick a travaliar pro un fermero povre, Edward Covey, qui sovente le batteva. In 1836 Frederick tentava escappar, ma ille non succedeva in iste tentativa e esseva arrestate, e on le faceva retornar al casa de Hugh e Sophia Auld in Baltimore.

Ille tunc cognosceva e se inamorava con un afroamericana libere, Anna Murray, qui habeva un empleo mundante le casas de familias blanc in le area ubi illa viveva. Illa dava a Frederick moneta, que ille usava pro comprar se un billet pro un traino que le portava a New York City.

Al arrivar a New York, Frederick Bailey cambiava su nomine a Frederick Douglass pro celar su identitate de personas qui ganiava moneta capturante sclavos escappate. Anna Murray le sequeva a New York, e tosto illes se maritava. Illes vadeva a viver in New Bedford, Massachussets e deveniva le patres de cinque filios.

Frederick Douglass deveniva un del plus importante figuras del movimento abolutioniste in le Statos Unite. In 1841, ille vadeva a un reunion del Massachsetts Anti-Slavery Society (Societate Antisclaviste de Massachusetts) in Nantucket e esseva invitate a facer un discurso sur su vita como sclavo.

Ben que ille non habeva preparate un discurso, ille parlava de un maniera eloquentissime e tosto deveniva un leader importante del movimento abolitioniste in Massachusetts. On le invitava a facer altere discursos in citates in multe statos american ubi le sclavitude esseva illegal, e ille continuava a parlar sur su experientias personal como sclavo e descibeva le vita typic del sclavos american, qui sovente esseva victimas de malnutrition fortiate a travaliar omne le die in campos sub un sol periculosemente calide e a dormir in le solo frigide durante le nocte.

Multes qui audiva su discursos credeva que illos esseva mentirose. Illes refusava a creder que ille habeva essite un sclavo proque Douglass pareva esser un homine troppo instruite pro haber suffrite de sclavitude.

Pro probar que ille vermente habeva essite un sclavo, in 1844 Douglass comenciava a scriber su autobiographia, le “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave”, que esseva publicate le anno sequente. Plus tarde ille publicava versiones expandite de iste libro. Douglass deveniva multo famose post le publication de su autobiographia.

In 1852 on le invitava a facer un discurso durante le celebration del independentia del Statos Unite le 4 de julio. In su discurso, Douglass diceva que le independentia statounitese pertineva solmente a gente blanc, non a sclavos afroamerican, pro le quales iste die revela fortemente le discrimination e suffrentia que illes debeva tolerar.

In 1861 le Guerra Civil American comenciava. Frederick Douglass e multe alteres videva le sclavitude como le causa del guerra. Douglass voleva que le afroamericanos poteva participar in le guerra, ma multe blancos, includente Abraham Lincoln, insisteva que le presentia de afroamericanos destruerea le spirito combative del soldatos blanc in su armea. Iste gente anque credeva que soldatos nigre non esseva assatis intelligente pro luctar efficacemente contra le fortias militar del statos del sud american.

Duo annos plus tarde, on permitteva le presentia de soldatos afroamerican in le armea statounitese. Ben que illes esseva tan coragiose como le soldatos blanc, on dava a illes travalios que reflecteva le sclavitude de multes de illes. In un reunion con Abraham Lincoln in Washington, Douglass insisteva que soldatos afroamerican debeva servir in le armea sur un base de equalitate con soldatos blanc. Ben que Lincoln esseva de accordo, ille diceva que un cambio immediate non esseva possibile.

In 1865 le armea de Lincoln habeva vincite in le guerra civil american, e unes menses plus tarde Lincoln esseva assassinate, e al fin de ille anno le sclavitude american terminava. Post le guerra, Douglass deveniva un functionario del governamento federal american. Ma ille continuava su lucta pro le equalitate economic, social, e legal non solmente pro afroamericanos ma anque pro mulieres. Ille moriva in su focar de un attacco cardiac in 1895 al etate de 78 annos.

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Frederick Augustus Washigton Bailey Douglass was born around 1818 in Tuckahoe, Maryland, near the Chesapeake Bay. Many slaves lived in large plantations at that time. Each plantation was like a small village owned by a white family that lived in large houses on these plantations, whose agricultural and social organization was very similar to Roman and medieval latifundia.

Douglass’s mother was Harriet Bailey, and many believe that his father was the man who owned him, Captain Aaron Anthony. Frederick did not know his mother very well. She was sent to another plantation when Frederick was very young, and she was unable to visit him very frequently and died when he was seven years old.

At that time Frederick lived with his grandparents, Betsey and Isaac Bailey. He said that his grandparents were very kind and were respected by the other slaves who knew them. Because of this, he didn’t know at first that he was a slave.

The life of African American families at that time was not stable. Since their members were the legal property of the people who owned them, they often were sold and went to other distant plantations, and Frederick had to leave his grandparents’ home when he was only six years old. He said that the need to leave his grandparents was the saddest day of his life, and from that experience he began to learn what a slave’s life really meant.

In 1826 Frederick was sent to work for Hugh Auld in Baltimore, Maryland. Auld’s wife, Sophia, was very kind to Frederick. She treated him as if he were a member of the family and started to teach him to read. On finding this out, her husband became very angry and forbade her to continue doing this. Mr. Auld said that if his slaves knew how to read, they would start to rebel and run away.

Frederick, however, was able to continue his reading lessons because of a group of white boys in the city who were against slavery and insisted that he had the right to learn to read and to be free.

Mr. Auld sent Frederick to work for a poor farmer, Edward Covey, who often beat him. In 1836 Frederick tried to escape, but he was not successful and was arrested, and he was forced to return to Hugh and Sophia Auld’s house in Baltimore.

He then met and fell in love with a free African American woman, Anna Murray, who had a job cleaning the houses of white families in the area where she lived. She gave money to Frederick, which he used to buy a ticket on a train that took him to New York City.

On arriving in New York, Frederick Bailey changed his name to Frederick Douglass to hide his identity from people who earned money by capturing escaped slaves. Anna Murray followed him to New York, and soon they got married. They went to live in New Bedford, Massachusetts, and became the parents of five children.

Frederick Douglass became one of the most important figures in the U.S. abolitionist movement. In 1841, he went to a meeting of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society in Nantucket and was invited to give a speech on his life as a slave.

Though he had not prepared a speech, he spoke in a very eloquent way and soon became an important leader in the abolitionist movement in Massachusetts. He was invited to give other speeches in cities in many American states where slavery was illegal, and he continued to speak about his personal experiences as a slave and described the typical lives of American slaves, who often were victims of malnutrition forced to work the entire day in fields under a dangerously hot sun and to sleep on a cold floor in the evenings.

Many who heard his speeches believed that they were filled with lies. They refused to believe that he had been a slave because Douglass seemed to be too highly educated to have suffered from slavery.

To prove that he really had been a slave, in 1844 Douglass started to write his autobiography, the “Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave,” which was published the following year. Later on he published expanded versions of this book. Douglass became very famous after the publication of his autobiography.

In 1852 he was invited to give a speech during the celebration of America’s Independence Day on July 4th. In his speech, Douglass said that U.S. independence belonged only to white people, not to African American slaves, for whom this day strongly revealed the discrimination and suffering that they had to put up with.

The American Civil War broke out in 1861. Frederick Douglass and many others saw slavery as the cause of the war. Douglass wanted African Americans to be able to participate in the war, but many white men, including Abraham Lincoln, insisted that the presence of African Americans would destroy the fighting spirit of white soldiers in his army. These people also believed that that black soldiers were not intelligent enough to fight effectively against the military forces of the states of the American South.

Two years later, African American soldiers were allowed to join the U.S. army. Though they were as courageous as white soldiers, they were given work that reflected the slavery of many of them. In a meeting with Abraham Lincoln in Washington, Douglass insisted that African American soldiers should serve in the army on a basis of equality with white soldiers. Though Lincoln agreed, he said that an immediate change was not possible.

In 1865 Lincoln’s army had won the American Civil War, and a few months later Lincoln was assassinated, and slavery ended by the time the year was over. After the war Douglass became an official in the American federal government. But he continued his fight for economic, social, and legal equality not only for African Americans but also for women. He died in his home of a heart attack in 1895 at age seventy-eight.