"Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass," 1845

Frederick Douglass became a leader in the anti-slavery movement when he spontaneously stood up and spoke at an abolitionist meeting in 1841. Douglass wrote about his life as a slave to support the growing abolitionist movement. This book led to his career as a reform journalist. His gut-wrenching tales about life on the plantation in Maryland turned thousands of skeptical Americans into active abolitionists.