Frederick Douglass was an American abolitionist, women's suffragist, editor, orator, author, statesman and reformer. He was called both "The Sage of Anacostia" and "The Lion of Anacostia" and is one of the most prominent figures in African-American history and United States history.

He was born into slavery but secretly taught himself to read and write - a crime punishable by death. Because of this, we now possess what may be the most eloquent indictment of slavery ever written.

This book takes us into the fields, cabins, and manors of the pre-Civil War South and shows in vivid detail the heartlessness of slaveholders. Douglass finally managed to excape and became a famous orator, minister, and leader of his people.