Documents by Frederick Douglass
“The United States Cannot Remain Half-Slave and Half-Free”
Source: Frederick Douglass, Address by Hon. Frederick Douglass, Delivered in the Congregational Church, Washington, D.C.,…
“What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?”
Source: Frederick Douglass: Selected Speeches and Writings, ed. Philip S. Foner (Chicago: Lawrence Hill, 1999),…
“What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?”
Source: Frederick Douglass: Selected Speeches and Writings, ed. Philip S. Foner (Chicago: Lawrence Hill, 1999),…
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave Chapter II
SOURCE: Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, Written by Himself (Boston:…
“The United States Cannot Remain Half-Slave and Half-Free”
Source: Frederick Douglass, Address by Hon. Frederick Douglass, Delivered in the Congregational Church, Washington, D.C.,…
Reply of the Colored Delegation to the President
Source: University of Rochester Frederick Douglass Project, a collaboration of the Department of Rare Books,…
Reconstruction
Atlantic Monthly 18 (1866): 761-765. Douglass (1818–1895) was a former slave who became a leading…
“John Brown Not Insane”
Douglass’s Monthly, November 1859. Available online https://goo.gl/h7rv7A One of the most painful incidents connected with…
Did John Brown Fail?
Not to fan the flame of sectional animosity now happily in the process of rapid…
Self-Made Men
The subject announced for this evening’s entertainment is not new. Man in one form or…
The Slaveholders’ Rebellion
FELLOW CITIZENS: Eighty-six years ago the fourth of July was consecrated and distinguished among all…
Our Composite Nationality
As nations are among the largest and the most complete divisions into which society is…
Our Work is Not Done
Ladies and Gentlemen: I confess, at the outset, to have felt a very profound desire…
Cast Off the Mill-Stone
We are determined that our readers shall have line upon line and precept upon precept.…
Why Should a Colored Man Enlist?
This question has been repeatedly put to us while raising men for the 54th Massachusetts…
What Shall Be Done with the Slaves If Emancipated?
It is curious to observe, at this juncture, when the existence of slavery is threatened…
The Constitution of the United States: Is It Pro-Slavery or Anti-Slavery?
...I proceed to the discussion. And first a word about the question. Much will be…
Change of Opinion Announced
The debate on the resolution relative to anti-slavery newspapers [at the annual meeting of the…
The Constitution and Slavery
The assertion which we made five weeks ago, that "the Constitution, if strictly construed according…
The Destiny of Colored Americans
It is impossible to settle, by the light of the present, and by the experience…
The Right to Criticize American Institutions
I am very glad to be here. I am very glad to be present at…
African Civilization Society
"But I entreated you to tell your readers what your objections are to the civilization…
Prejudice Not Natural: “The American Colonization Society”
Frederick Douglass, “The American Colonization Society,” The Liberator, June 8, 1849. Frederick Douglass (1818–1895) was…
The Present and Future of the Colored Race in America
Ladies and Gentlemen, I think that most of you will agree with me in respect…
The Future of the Negro
It would require the ken of a statesman and the vision of a prophet combined…
The Doom of the Black Power
The days of the Black Power are numbered. Its course, indeed, is onward, but with…
Speech on the Dred Scott Decision
Mr. Chairman, Friends, and Fellow Citizens: While four millions of our fellow countrymen are in…
Letter to Harriet Beecher Stowe
My Dear Mrs. Stowe: You kindly informed me, when at your house, a fortnight ago,…
An Address to the Colored People of the United States
Fellow Countrymen: Under a solemn sense of duty, inspired by our relation to you as…
What Are the Colored People Doing for Themselves?
The present is a time when every colored man in the land should bring this…
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave Chapter VII
SOURCE: Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, Written by Himself (Boston:…
Blessings of Liberty and Education
Ladies, Gentlemen ad Friends: As I am a stranger among you and a sojourner, you…
American Slavery
I like radical measures, whether adopted by Abolitionists or slaveholders. I do not know but…
The Address of Southern Delegates in Congress to their Constituents; or, the address of John C. Calhoun and Forty Other Thieves
That ponderous cloud of dismal terror which for a time overhung the national capital, darkening…
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, Chapter VI
My new mistress proved to be all she appeared when I first met her at…
What the Black Man Wants
Mr. President: I came here, as I come always to the meetings in New England,…
The Future of the Colored Race
It is quite impossible, at this early date, to say with any decided emphasis what…
Men of Color, To Arms!
"MEN OF COLOR, TO ARMS!" When first the rebel cannon shattered the walls of Sumter…
Condition of the Country
Our remarks upon the present condition of the country and upon the prospects of the…
“What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?”
Mr. President, Friends and Fellow Citizens: He who could address this audience without a quailing…
Oration in Memory of Abraham Lincoln
Delivered at the Unveiling of The Freedmen’s Monument in Lincoln Park, Washington, D.C. Friends and…