A life told across time
Narrative appeared in 1845, My Bondage and My Freedom in 1855, and Life and Times in 1881, with a later revision. Each book reaches a different point in Douglass’s life.
Book · A CLOSER LOOK
Frederick Douglass’s autobiographies
ABOUT THE BOOK
Douglass wrote Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave (1845), My Bondage and My Freedom (1855), and Life and Times of Frederick Douglass (1881, revised 1892). They revisit and extend his life story at different stages. This reading entry keeps the works distinct; a review of a particular edition can be added here.
A CLOSER LOOK
The story behind it.
His life in his own words, across three autobiographical works.
The later encounters
Life and Times contains Douglass’s accounts of Brown, Lincoln, the war, and life after emancipation. It supplies a primary voice for the relationship thread in this collection.
START HERE
NPS chronology & publications (opens in a new tab)Source for Frederick Douglass’s autobiographies: NPS chronology & publications.
Read the book.
Follow the original source to explore the work in its own context.
Sources & credits
Introductions are grounded in the sources below. Collection notes and reading prompts provide an editorial starting point; personal opinions are identified in the collection’s content.
KEEP EXPLORING
Discover the person. Follow the work.
PersonFrederick Douglass
Read Douglass’s life in his own words.
START WITHFrederick Douglass’s autobiographies
HistoryCivil rightsLiterature
BookI Never Had It Made
Two autobiographical entry points into American struggles over dignity and citizenship, from different historical positions.
EXPLORE THIS WORKJackie Robinson
BiographyCivil rightsSports
SpeechDouglass at the Freedmen’s Monument
Another selected work from Frederick Douglass: A love letter to his friend: Douglass looks back on Lincoln and the distance they traveled.
EXPLORE THIS WORKFrederick Douglass
HistoryCivil rightsWords