He is a lover of his country who rebukes and does not excuse its sins. -Frederick Douglass

Frederick Douglass is born a slave (perhaps the bastard son of his owner), separated from his mother at a young age, and raised in ignorance for a horizon-less life of servitude. In his own words, Douglass tells about the habitual mistreatment he suffered-the graphic abuse only matched in intensity by his continual desire for freedome. Learning to read and becoming a Christian transformed Douglass’s life, and his escape from slavery set him on the path to become a powerful orator and one of America’s greatest champions for human rights.

This Canon Classic was written during the violent decades of the mid-1800s and began to open the public’s eyes to the horrors of slavery in America. Unlike many other thrift editions, our classics are printed on thicker text stock and feature individualized designs that prioritize readability by means of proper margins, leading, characters per line, font, trim size, etc. Each book’s materials and layout combine to make the classics a simple and striking addition to classrooms and homes, ideal for introducing the best of literary culture and human experience to the next generation.