Captive Passage - Departure
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Captive Passage: The Transatlantic Slave Trade and the Making of the Americas

Captive Passage
has been made
possible in part by:
National Endowment for the Humanities
Recognition of
additional sponsors
for this exhibition
can be found by
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Frederick Douglass, circa 1848
Born a slave in Maryland in 1817, Frederick Douglass ran away to freedom in 1838 and made his way to New Bedford, Massachusetts. There he learned more about the abolitionist movement, mostly by reading William Lloyd Garrison's paper, The Liberator. After making a moving speech at the 1841 annual meeting of the Anti-Slavery Society in New Bedford, Douglass was invited to become a full-time agent of the Massachusetts Anti- Slavery Society. This marked the beginning of his career as a powerful orator, author, editor, diplomat, and life-long crusader for freedom, justice, and equal rights for African Americans.
Courtesy of Chester County Historical Society

Frederick Douglass

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