Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass and Other Works

“If there is no struggle, there is no progress.”—Frederick Douglass Born into slavery in Talbot County, Maryland, Frederick Douglass became a champion of the abolitionist movement after escaping to the North in 1838. Douglass later remarked upon his arrival in New York, “I have often been asked how I felt when I first found myself on free soil. And my readers may share the same curiosity.” Readers did indeed share in this curiosity and Douglass became a much-admired orator and writer, active in