Product Description

As a young man he experienced the brutality of slavery firsthand. As an outspoken leader of the abolitionist movement he became one of the most powerful voiceds in american history. Studio: A&e Home Video Release Date: 04/26/2005

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #59238 in DVD
• Brand: A&E
• Released on: 2005-04-26
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 50 minutes

Amazon.com
Frederick Douglass, the self-taught orator, writer, and abolitionist who was born a slave in the South and made a brave escape to the North, was in the words of one historian: "A major figure in the coming of the Civil War, and the way the Civil War was fought. I think you can say he was the conscience of the nation." Douglass campaigned Lincoln to free the slaves and allow African Americans to serve in the nation's army. An early proponent of women's rights, he campaigned for equal rights for all people and he served as America's first African American statesman when he was appointed diplomat to Haiti. He continued his public-speaking engagements up to his death in 1895 at the age of 78. The comments and analyses of numerous historians and excerpts from the writings and speeches of Douglass present a man driven by a dream, and who worked to make that dream a reality to the end of his days. With no contemporaries alive to comment on the private man, and only brief autobiographical excerpts included from his own works, this portrait tends to simplify the controversies of his life (his second marriage to a white woman rocked even the "liberal" North) and deify the man, but few Americans deserve such tribute more than Frederick Douglass. --Sean Axmaker

Customer Reviews

Courage and Conscience
This accessible overview of Douglass' turbulent life from slavery and persecution to crusading newspaperman and presidential adviser should inform and inspire viewers. This biography recreates the prejudiced atmosphere where the myth of racial inferiority reigned in the South to justify slavery and in the North to rationalize indifference to human suffering. Douglass' fiery speeches still speak to our highest aspirations as Americans united by the creed that "all men (and women) are created equal."

To be Real
This story being a part of history goes without challenge in my mind because, the reports as recorded cannot change what was the way of living then.This is the story of a challenged man , challenged not only by the society that he was a part of but also his own personal being. A must for history enthusiasts.