Douglass, Frederick. American orator. Born in 1817, a mulatto slave in Maryland, but escaped as a young man. In 1841 Douglass began to deliver lectures against slavery, which attracted much attention. In 1845-47, he made a very successful lecturing tour in England and, returning to America, he became a newspaper editor. From 1876 to 1881 he was United States marshal for the District of Columbia. Died 1895.

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