Frederick Douglass was born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey in February 1818. And, he was born a slave. His mother, of whom he saw very little, was Harriet Bailey and his father was rumoured to be his mother’s white owner.

Not a very auspicious start for the man who would go on to become an inveterate world traveller, (visiting Ireland, Scotland and England), and one of the most photographed Americans of the 19th century. As an orator, it’s likely that more Americans heard him speak than anybody else. His every word was published in the newspapers. He was, by all accounts quite the celebrity!

He was born in a shack not unsimilar to the one in the picture, just as trains and steamboats were starting to make travel easier. In his late 20s, he escaped from his owner and went on the run. He learned how to read and write and eventually published several autobiographies.

And he spoke publicly.

And when he did, not only did he win people over to the causes of the abolition of slavery, equal rights, women’s suffrage and the idea of dialogue and cooperation among peoples, but he completely overturned the generally held idea that black slaves were intellectually inferior to their owners.

By the time of his death, electricity, telephones and phonographs had been invented, and he was an early adopter of all. In fact, he was very much in favour of technological development. As are we.

We are sure that if he were still with us, Frederick Douglass would be one of the first navibrators . We bet he’d also be one of the first to get his hands on our Navibration watch and Navibration stick when they hit the market!

Join us and Frederick Douglass when you visit Washington D.C. There is no better way to experience the American capital.

https://www.navibration.com/guides/143/Washington%20D.%20C.