Frederick Douglass
by Gregory

I am Frederick Douglass and when I was young I was bleak and poor. I was born in 1817. I lost my grandmother and was a slave. I was a slave to a man named Captain Anthony and then he gave me to his relatives to be their slave.

For the first few year of my life, I never saw my mother. Then when my grandmother died I was sent to my mother to be a slave with her. As a slave I did not get enough food, I worked long hours, and I was always sad. When I was with Captain Anthony I learned to read and write by Ms. Auld. But he did not want me to learn so she had to stop teaching me. But I keep teaching myself to read and write.

Then one day a man offered me a way to escape slavery. The man had freedom papers and would let me use them to run away. So I used them and ran away. I ran to Bedford, Massachusetts. I started a new life. I got a job and married a woman named Anna Murray. I even changed my name to Douglass to make sure I would not get caught for running away. Then I joined an abolitionist group to end slavery. I began to speak against slavery and I told people about my life. I even wrote a book about my life. This made me have to run away because my owners wanted me back. But my friends bought my freedom and I came back.

I started a weekly newspaper called the North Star. I even spoke to President Lincoln about letting black men to fight in the Civil War. After the civil war I spoke against slavery until I died in February 20, 1895. My beliefs and words helped people understand that all people are equal.

I think that if I lived in the 1900’s I would help Martin Luther King, Jr. I would help him fight for equal rights. It is something I believe in and I would help anyone who believes the same.

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