Frederick Douglass

Frederick Douglass was the preeminent black abolitionist of the nineteenth century, famed as an orator, author, and editor of the antislavery newspaper the North Star. His influence extending beyond the abolitionist movement, Douglass was instrumental in pressuring President Abraham Lincoln to issue the Emancipation Proclamation in 1862 and to permit black soldiers to serve in the Union army during the Civil War. Although they frequently differed, especially over Lincoln's tendency to prefer cautious, incremental approaches to the slavery issue, Douglass was an invited guest to the president's second inauguration in 1864. Lincoln singled Douglass out for a special greeting and asked his opinion of the inaugural speech, observing "There is no man in the country whose opinion I value more than yours."

Douglass was himself a fugitive slave. Born Frederick Bailey, he served under a series of masters in his...