"Why am I a slave?" little Fred asked himself. "Why are some people slaves and others masters?" Fred kept asking this question as he grew older. He thought about freedom more and more.

Finally his chance came. Disguised as a sailor, he escaped to the North. Once free, Douglass spent his time trying to free others. He made speeches for the abolitionists, printed a newspaper for Negroes and ran an Underground Railroad station. His children helped with the dangerous work of aiding the runaway slaves.

Douglass was the Negro spokesman during the Civil War. He became Lincoln's friend and an advisor to other Presidents. In his long and varied life, he had the reward of seeing many of his dreams come true — but he never stopped working for equal justice for all.

From the dust jacket