Frederick Douglass (1817-1895) was an American born into slavery and kept in bondage until his escape at the age of 21. Once in free society his skill as an orator and author of powerful abolitionist material swiftly brought him renown. He wrote series of autobiographical works of which The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass is the first and offers the most detail of his life in bondage. Douglass's influence as an eloquent black speaker for the abolition of slavery is without peer and credited with awakening many to the extent and wretchedness of slavery in America.