View source for Frederick Douglass

{{Stack begin}}{{Infobox Historical Figure
| name=Frederick Douglass
| image=Douglass.jpg
| nationality={{Americans|[[United States]]}}
| religion={{Methodist|Methodism}}
| birth={{1810s Births OTL|1818}}
| death={{1890s Deaths OTL|1895}}
| cause of death= {{CardiovascularOTL|Heart attack}} or stroke
| occupation= {{Authors of|Non-Fiction}}, {{OTLAmbassadors|Diplomat}}, {{Journalist|Journalist}}, {{Publisher|Publisher}}, Orator, Political Activist, {{Clergy|Preacher}}, Born a {{Slave|[[Slavery in the United States|slave]]}}
| political party = {{RepublicansOTL}},<br>Equal Rights Party
| spouse= [[Anna Murray Douglass]] ({{WidowedPeopleOTL|d. 1882}})<br>Helen Douglass (1884)
| children=[[Lewis Douglass|Lewis]] and four others{{ParentswithDeceasedChildrenOTL}}}}{{Clearright}}{{Southern Victory Historical Character
| appearance =''[[How Few Remain]]''
| political party = {{RepublicansATL|[[Republican Party (Southern Victory)|Republican Party]]}}
||type of appearance = Direct {{POV}}}}{{Clearright}}{{Powerless Historical Character|novel or story=Novel|type of appearance=Posthumous reference}}{{Stack end}}'''Frederick Douglass''' (born '''Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey''', 1818, died February 20, 1895) was an [[American]] abolitionist (having been born in [[Slavery in the United States|slavery]]), women's suffragist, editor, orator, author, statesman, ambassador, and reformer.

After escaping from slavery in [[Maryland]], Douglass became a national leader of the abolitionist movement in [[Massachusetts]] and [[New York (state)|New York]], gaining note for his oratory and incisive antislavery writings. He wrote several autobiographies describing his experiences as an enslaved person. Following the [[American Civil War]], Douglass remained an active campaigner against slavery and for equal rights of all people.

==Frederick Douglass in [[Southern Victory]]==
By the time of the [[War of Secession]], '''Frederick Douglass''' was one of the most famous [[Black people (Southern Victory)|black]] men in the [[United States of America (Southern Victory)|United States]].

Following the Union's defeat in the War of Secession and the subsequent recognition of the [[Confederate States (Southern Victory)|Confederate States]], Douglass could no longer work for abolition directly; instead, he supported the [[Republican Party (Southern Victory)|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 [[President of the United States (Southern Victory)|presidency]] [[United States Presidential Election, 1880 (Southern Victory)|in 1880]] with [[James G. Blaine (Southern Victory)|James G. Blaine]]. He supported Blaine's war against the Confederate States to prevent [[President of the Confederate States (Southern Victory)|President]] [[James Longstreet (Southern Victory)|James Longstreet's]] acquisition of the states of [[Chihuahua (Southern Victory)|Chihuahua]] and [[Sonora (Southern Victory)|Sonora]] from [[Mexico (Southern Victory)|Mexico]]. During the war, he covered the [[Army of the Ohio (Southern Victory)|Army of the Ohio's]] [[Siege of Louisville|campaign]] against [[Louisville (Southern Victory)|Louisville]], [[Kentucky (Southern Victory)|Kentucky]]. Like most supporters of the war, he was deeply troubled by the incompetence of the army's commander, General [[Orlando Willcox (Southern Victory)|Orlando Willcox]]. 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 (Southern Victory)|Thomas Jackson]] before being released at the urgent personal order of President Longstreet.

Douglass did not fully realize that his capture and release had played a significant role in the Confederacy's victory in the war, due to Longstreet's skillful diplomacy. The veteran abolitionist's immediate release served to give the Confederacy an image of magnanimity which helped cement its alliance with [[United Kingdom (Southern Victory)|Britain]] and [[France (Southern Victory)|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 [[Royal Navy (Southern Victory)|British]] naval raid across the [[Great Lakes (Southern Victory)|Great Lakes]] from [[Canada (Southern Victory)|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 (Southern Victory)|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 (Southern Victory)|Chicago]] for a Republican Party caucus. He could not support his friend, former President [[Abraham Lincoln (Southern Victory)|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 of the United States (Southern Victory)|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 (Southern Victory)|Liberia]], but chose not to do this as it would abandon his people back home.

He did not live to see the USA finally defeat the CSA in the [[Great War (Southern Victory)|Great War]], but was also spared knowledge of the [[Population Reduction|horrors]] which his people would endure under the [[Freedom Party]].

==Frederick Douglass in ''[[Powerless (novel)|Powerless]]''==
'''Frederick Douglass's''' picture was on the [[West Coast People's Democratic Republic|WCPDR]] twenty dollar bill.<ref>''[[Powerless (novel)|Powerless]]'', pg. 102, loc. 1481, ebook.</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}} 

{{S-start}}
{{S-off}}
{{s-bef|before = John E. W. Thompson }}
{{s-ttl|title  = [[United States]] Minister Resident to [[Haiti]] | years = 1889–1891 }}
{{s-aft|after  = John S. Durham}}
{{S-ppo}}
{{s-bef|before = New party}} 
{{s-ttl|title = Equal Rights Party candidate for [[Vice President of the United States]]|years = 1872}} 
{{s-aft|after = Marietta Stow<br><small>''(National Equal Rights Party)''</small>}}
{{S-end}}
{{Third-Party Presidential Tickets}}
{{Powerless}}
{{Southern Victory}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Douglass, Frederick}}
[[Category:Inconsistencies]]
[[Category:People Born in a Defunct United States]]
[[Category:POWs of the Second Mexican War]]
[[Category:Unsuccessful US Vice Presidential Nominees (OTL)]]