Frederick Douglass’s Speech at the Federated Church in 1857

Dedication:

The African American Heritage Trail of Martha’s Vineyard honors the life of Frederick Douglass, Abolitionist, Author, Educator.

On Sunday evening, November 29, 1857, Federick Douglass, a studied lecturer on slavery, delivered a thought-provoking speech on the “Unity of Man” before a full house at this historic church meetinghouse.

Born into slavery about 1818, Douglass later successfully escaped north to Massachusetts at age twenty and became the voice against slavery. Fearing capture and re-enslavement, Douglass went to England, continued to exclaim against slavery, and raised enough money to buy his freedom to return to America. He settled in Rochester, NY and became a champion of equality and freedom for enslaved people. Douglass also was active in the women’s suffrage movement and established a newspaper that centered its focus on fundamental human rights and the intersection between slavery, the treatment of black people, and women. He had become a man of international stature and was perhaps the most important person to speak on Martha’s Vineyard in the 19th century.

Read more: 

Myrick S. (2018, July 3). Douglass Speech Is Reminder That Not Everyone Is Free. Vineyard Gazette.