Douglass, Frederick

Douglass, Frederick ( c. 1817 – 95 )
US Black abolitionist . Born in slavery in Maryland, he made his escape to the free states in 1838 . In 1841 he became an agent for the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society and a prominent advocate of abolition. An adviser of Lincoln during the American Civil War , he remained throughout his life an advocate of full civil rights for all.