Oration in Memory of Abraham Lincoln by Frederick Douglass
Frederick Douglass delivered this speech at the unveiling of The Freedmen’s Monument in Memory of Abraham Lincoln in Washington, D.C. on April 14, 1876. Continue reading
Why Should a Colored Man Enlist? by Frederick Douglass
Shortly after the Emancipation Proclamation (January 1863), Frederick Douglass published a stirring message—“Men of Color, To Arms!”—and worked tirelessly to recruit soldiers for the black regiment being organized in Massachusetts. Continue reading
The Last Flogging by Frederick Douglass
This selection is excerpted from his 1855 memoir, My Bondage and My Freedom, which recounts Douglass’s early life as a slave, his daring escape to freedom, and his distinguished career as an abolitionist orator and political activist. Continue reading
Speech on Decoration Day by Frederick Douglass
Like Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., Frederick Douglass (circa 1818–1895) was concerned with the meaning of Memorial Day and the danger that it would be forgotten or, worse, wrongly remembered. Continue reading