Fredrick Douglass
Summary
Fredrick Douglass is an abolitionist leader who was born into slavery in the year 1818. He was born in Maryland in Talbot County. Fredrick rose to become one of the intellectuals of his time by becoming an advisor of the President. He was also seen as a liberator because he championed for women’s rights and lectured thousands of people on a range of causes that affected the Irish government. Moreover, Fredrick Douglass is an author who several books regarding slavery as well as his life in the Civil war. Some of the books include “Narrative of the life of Fredrick Douglass an American Slave’.
In the time of the Civil War, Fredrick Douglass was the famous black man in America and used his status to influence the role of African Americans in the country. It is reported that in 1863, Fredrick consulted with President Lincoln Abraham on the treatment of Black soldiers, and later conferred with President Andrew Johnson about the black suffrage. In the same year, President Abraham Lincoln started Emancipation Proclamation that focused on freeing all slaves. This was an initiative started by Fredrick Douglass. Despite the victory, Fredrick supported John Fremont for the presidency in 1864. Fredrick cited disappointment by Lincoln for failing to endorse suffrage for blacks publicly. Cases of slavery were rampant everywhere in the United States, and Fredrick felt that the law was not supportive of eradicating the problem.
In 1877, Fredrick reconciled with Thomas Auld and held several meetings concerning slavery and solutions to it. So many people criticized the idea and wanted him to go all alone or work with Fremont to save slaves. Fredrick Douglass died on February 20, 1895, from a heart attack and stroke shortly after returning from a meeting in Washington. His body was buried in Mount Hope Cemetery in Rochester, New York.
In another story, Sarah Roberts was a young African American girl who was forced to walk past the white schools on her way to Abiel Smith School. This was unfair to her, and because it was a sign of racism and discrimination. Sarah and her father took the City of Boston to court to seek rights of freedom in 1848. Even though they lost the case, in 1855, all Boston schools were integrated following the law passed in Massachusetts to eliminate segregation.
In 1848, Sarah Roberts was asked to enroll in an all-black-public school. Abei Smith was the commonly known elementary school for African Americans. Sarah’s father and other African American printers challenged the city for the continuous practice of racism and discrimination. The lawyer Robert Morris who was an African American lawyer, took charge to present documents before the court to challenge issues of racism subjected to African Americans. He wrote to the court that any child unlawfully excluded from school should recover damages from the city by which such public instructions are supported. Morris and Co-counsel Charles held that the law that was passed in Massachusetts protected all men of color from any manner of racism and discrimination. They wanted the court to protect people of color from racism and especially children from public schools. Ironically, the chief justice Lemuel Shaw claimed that racial segregation was allowed in public schools by the Massachusetts constitution and law.
William Cooper Nell, an abolitionist, and author wrote about notable achievements made by black people in the American Revolution. Nell remembered after his phenomenal performance how he was denied an opportunity to have dinner with classmates because he was black. He elaborates on how racial discrimination has been a significant setback to the progress of African Americans and how the American Revolution enabled them to attain freedom.