frederick douglass was born into slavery around 1818 in maryland he was separated from his mother as an infant and spent his early life at several different plantations slave owners were often hostile to the idea of slaves being educated so douglas taught himself to read and write in secret using a variety of books and newspapers in 1833 douglas was transferred to a baltimore shipyard where he met and fell in love with anna murray a free black woman who helped him to escape to new york city once in the north douglas married anna and resettled in massachusetts in 1839 he became a preacher and joined the abolitionist cause he was an excellent public speaker and soon began touring the united states with the american anti-slavery society however as douglas was still legally a slave his new career put him in great danger in 1845 to escape potential problems douglas embarked on a speaking tour of great britain and ireland it was an enormous success and douglas's supporters raised enough money to buy his freedom during the american civil war douglas became an adviser to president abraham lincoln and urged him to issue the emancipation proclamation which declared among other things that slaves would be free if they escaped to union territory he also encouraged lincoln and later president andrew johnson to push for a series of constitutional amendments that outlawed slavery and protected the rights of black americans after the war douglas served as a u.s marshal and diplomat and continued to fight for human rights and racial equality douglas's relentless advocacy helped to shift public opinion against slavery and secure freedom for millions of people for these reasons frederick douglass is our 48th hero of progress [Music] [Music] you