Fredrick Douglass
Frederick Douglass: He was born into slavery but escaped at age 20. From that day on Frederick Douglass was a major abolitionist. Douglass wrote three autobiographies and those were major books in the slave world. He gave them hope and a reason to fight. For 16 years he edited a black newspaper. He recieved an award for how inspiring his writing was. He was born a slave. His mother who was also a slave and his father may have been the slave owner. Douglass welcomed the Civil War as a chance to abolish slavery. During the war he was a propagandist for the Union and worked to abolish slavery. Frederick was a black soldier recruiter, and on occasion he was Abraham Lincoln's presidential advisor. Most of his hopes and dreams were made impossible by reconstruction during the gilded age, but he believed so strongly in abolishing slavery that he kept lecturing and touring to spread awareness. He also toured for women's rights. In the 1870s Frederick moved Washington D.C. There he became a newspaper writer, then became the president of a bank called Ill Fated Freemans. Brilliant, cunning, and kind, Frederick Douglass, became a symbol for abolishing slavery.
http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/frederick-douglass
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Douglass