Frederick Douglass

Frederick Douglass (1818-1895) was a leading abolitionist and journalist in nineteenth century United States.

Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, who later became known as Frederick Douglass, escaped slavery in 1838, and fled to New York. Over the next decades, Douglass became an articulate speaker and critic of slavery. By the time of the War of Secession, Douglass was one of the most famous black men in the country, known for his oratories on the condition of the black race, and other issues such as women's rights.

Following the Union's defeat in the War of Secession and the subsequent recognition of the Confederate States, Douglass could no longer work for abolition directly; instead, he supported the Republican Party's hard line against the Confederacy. He also worked for racial equality within the US, an unpopular position since many Americans blamed the black man for the War of Secession (and, later, for the Second Mexican War).

Douglass was thrilled when the Republicans recaptured the presidency in 1880 with James G. Blaine. He supported Blaine's war against the Confederate States over President James Longstreet's acquisition of the states of Chihuahua and Sonora from Mexico. During the war, he covered the Army of the Ohio's campaign against Louisville, Kentucky. Like most supporters of the war, he was deeply troubled by the incompetence of the army's commander, General Orlando Wilcox. He periodically visited the front lines of the Army and was at one point captured by Confederate forces. He was held briefly and met with General Thomas Jackson before being released at the urgent personal order of Confederate President James Longstreet.

Douglass did not fully realise that his capture and release had played a significant role in the Confederacy's victory in the war, due to Longstreet's skilful diplomacy. The veteran abolitionist's immediate release served to give the Confederacy an image of magnanimity which helped cement its alliance with Britain and France, whereas if he had been harmed public opinion in these countries would have strongly turned against the Confederates. However, the price of that alliance - a price which Longstreet was willing to pay - was the manumission of the slaves. Thus, Douglass' involvement in the war also helped bring about his lifelong dream, to see his people freed from slavery - even if it was not ac achieved the way he would have wanted, by a liberating US Army and with the Blacks becoming full-fledged citizens.

Following the defeat of the Army of the Ohio, Douglass returned home to Rochester, where he witnessed a British naval raid across the Great Lakes from Canada. He was bitterly disappointed that the support for his cause he had once found in Britain and France had apparently been eroded by the Anglo-Franco-Confederate alliance that was a forerunner to the Entente, though of course he supported London's insistence that the Confederacy manumit its slaves as a condition for military support.

Douglass also journeyed to Chicago for a Republican Party caucus. He could not support his friend, former President Abraham Lincoln's efforts to focus the Party on worker's rights, rather than hostility to the Confederate States. Lincoln left the Republicans and joined the Socialist Party.

Douglass returned home frustrated and beaten, though he continued to struggle against racism (which had seen an upsurge in the wake of the US's second defeat by the Confederates) for the rest of his life. He was tempted to leave the US and move to Liberia.

He did not live to see his country finally defeat his lifelong enemy in the Great War, but was also spared knowing the horrors which his people would endure under the Freedom Party.