Frederick Douglass Archives - Teaching American History

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Secession in Arkansas and Tennessee

In the upper South, during the secession crisis of early 1861, the circumstances of Missouri, Kentucky, Arkansas, and Tennessee were similar in many respects. Majorities in each were both proslavery…

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…

Lessons of the Hour (excerpt)

… Do not ask me what will be the final result of the so-called negro…

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 Folly of Colonization

But I now come to another proposition, held up as a solution of the rare…

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…

The Civil Rights Case

"You take my house when you do take the prop That doth sustain my house;…

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…

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