Quick overview
- Autobiography published in 1845
- Written by a man who escaped slavery in Maryland
- Key abolitionist text
What is Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass about?
Frederick Douglass published this autobiography in 1845, seven years after escaping from slavery in Maryland. He describes his childhood, the separation from his family and the cruelty he saw as an enslaved person.
Douglass explains how he secretly learned to read and write, how he came to see literacy as the way out, and how he finally reached the North. The book became a key text of the abolitionist movement and made him a public figure. Douglass was about twenty-seven when it appeared, and he later became a leading speaker, writer and adviser to Abraham Lincoln.
Read Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass online
How to read it on a Kindle, Kobo or phone
Kindle: download the EPUB and send it with Amazon's Send to Kindle (web, app or email). Amazon converts it for your device. Kobo, Pocketbook, Apple Books and Google Play Books open the EPUB directly. The PDF keeps the page layout and suits printing or a large tablet.
Is Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass free to download?
Yes. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass was first published in 1845, so it is in the US public domain. Frederick Douglass died in 1895, so it is also free in the EU, where copyright ends 70 years after death. This edition comes from Standard Ebooks, which releases its texts under CC0.
What is Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass about?
It is Douglass's own account of growing up enslaved in Maryland, learning to read, and escaping to freedom.
When was Frederick Douglass's Narrative published?
It was published in 1845.
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