With all the eyebrows being raised recently pertaining to Trump’s knowledge of Fredrick Douglass I decided to write about him. Unlike my post from yesterday regarding Claudette Colvin and the bus boycotts Fredrick Douglass was taught to us in school. Not sure as to why Trump’s knowledge is so poor on a subject that was taught to many in elementary school.

Fredrick Douglass (February 1818-February 20,1895) was a born into slavery he was a abolitionist and writer. Abolitionist is (especially prior to the Civil War) a person who advocated or supported the abolition of slavery in the U.S. Fredrick Douglass was born Fredrick Augustus Washington Bailey he changed his name to keep from being captured. Fredrick Douglass mother was black and father was white he quoted this on the subject about his father “Men do not love those who remind them of their sins.” Douglass wrote a book about his life as a slave it was very descriptive and he used the real name of his owner. Once Douglass used his owner’s real name it placed him in danger of being captured.

What  I didn’t learn in school was that Fredrick Douglass was married twice his first wife Anna Murray- Douglass was black and they had five children together. Anna and Fredrick Douglass were married from 1838-1882 until she died. Fredrick Douglass second wife his former secretary was white her name was Helen Pitts Douglass. Helen and Fredrick Douglass were married from 1884-1895 until he died. Fredrick Douglass second married was not welcomed by anyone. Even though Helen’s parents were abolitionist they didn’t approve of their marriage and they stop talking to her. Helen Pitts Douglass said this pertaining to her marriage “Love came to me, and I was not afraid to marry the man I loved because of his color.” Douglass has this to say about his marriage to Helen,” No man, perhaps, had ever more offended popular prejudice than I had then lately done. I had married a wife. People who had remained silent over the unlawful relations of white slave masters with their colored slave women loudly condemned me for marrying a wife a few shades lighter than myself. They would have had no objection to my marrying a person much darker in complexion than myself, but to marry one much lighter, and of the complexion of my father rather than of that of my mother, was, in the popular eye, a shocking offense, and one for which I was to be ostracized by white and black alike.”

I enjoyed refreshing my memory about Fredrick Douglass and learning about Helen Pitts Douglass. Helen Pitts Douglass fought for the legacy of her husband and that showed how much she loved him.