Black abolitionist and orator Frederick Douglass was born a slave in 1818.

Often called the father of the civil rights movement, Frederick Douglass was born a slave on this day in 1818 on Holmes Hill Farm in eastern Maryland. Although it was against the law for slaves to do so, Douglass learned to read and write. At the age of 20 he escaped to New York, where he became a masterful orator and advocate for human rights. He was the founder of The North Star, an influential newspaper in Rochester, New York, where his print shop became a stop on the Underground Railroad. Recognized as a brilliant public speaker, he was appointed to various offices by five U.S. presidents. 

Xpeditions 
Read about Douglass and others associated with the Underground Railroad in the Xpeditions lessonWould You Have Helped Out? (6-8). In this lesson, students must decide if they would have taken the risks faced by the people who helped others escape from slavery

Finding Your Way: The Underground Railroad (K-2) introduces students to the Underground Railroad and examines some things escaping slaves used to find their way north.

In Quilting: The Story of the Underground Railroad (3-5), students use the Internet to research the dangers faced by escaping slaves and the factors that helped them make it to freedom.

Students analyze John Brown’s attitudes and actions against slavery as well as the differences between his views and those of other people who were active in the abolitionist movement in John Brown and the Underground Railroad (9-12).

EDSITEment 
EDSITEment offers the curriculum unit From Courage to Freedom: Frederick Douglass's 1845 Autobiography (9-12), in which students read the first of Douglass' three autobiographies, "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Written by Himself." 

In the first lesson, From Courage to Freedom: The Reality behind the Song (9-12), students focus on the first two chapters, in which Douglass uses incidents of cruelty that he witnessed along with songs of the slaves themselves—spirituals—to emphasize the distinction between the myth and the reality of slave life.

In the second lesson, From Courage to Freedom: Slavery’s Dehumanizing Effects (9-12), students focus on chapters six and seven, in which Douglass discusses the effects of slavery on both slave and slave owner.

The final lesson, From Courage to Freedom (9-12), focuses on chapters nine and ten, in which Douglass discusses his own defense of himself against an abusive "slave-breaker."

The EDSITEment lesson Perspective on the Slave Narrative (9-12) introduces students to this important literary genre, popular during the 19th century. The lesson focuses on the Narrative of William W. Brown, An American Slave (1847), which, along with the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (1845), set the pattern for this genre.

In Introducing the Essay: Twain, Douglass, and American Non-Fiction (9-12), students read and analyze essays by Frederick Douglass and Mark Twain. They explore the various methods for writing essays and their basis in rhetorical tradition.

Smithsonian's History Explorer
View the archived panel discussion Uneasy Partners: Lincoln and Frederick Douglass, LBJ and Martin Luther King, Jr. Lecture Video (9-12) to hear experts compare, contrast, and contextualize the relationships between President Lincoln and Frederick Douglass and President Johnson and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The content of the discussion includes a comparison of the figures as orators, comparing these historic figures to President Obama, and the personal and political constraints of the relationships among these figures.

ARTSEDGE 
The ARTSEDGE lesson What Does this Song Really Say? (K-4) focuses on the music of slaves and the messages hidden within lyrics that helped slaves escape along the Underground Railroad. This lesson is part of a unit titled Harriet Tubman: Secret Messages Shared through Song (K-4), in which students explore the messages of slaves in quilts and songs.