1862
Frederick Douglass was born into a life of slavery on Maryland's Eastern Shore as Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey in February, 1818. He was mistakenly taught to read at an early age, and by his mid-teens was educating other slaves.
After one failed escape attempt at age 15, Douglass escaped to New York on September 3, 1838, where he declared himself a free man and turned his efforts to helping those still held in bondage. As an anti-slavery speaker, he caught the attention of William Lloyd Garrison, one of America's most prominent abolitionists, who soon had Douglass touring the country speaking against slavery on behalf of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society