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and returned to the plantation. In 1838, he finally managed to escape from Maryland for good. Once he reached Pennsylvania, he was sheltered in Philadelphia by a Quaker family. He traveled to New York City, then Massachusetts, which was a relatively safe haven for an escaped slave. From Massachusetts, Frederick contacted Anna Murray and she moved north to marry him. Frederick soon changed his last name from Bailey to Douglass. His literacy helped him join the growing abolitionist movement in Massachusetts. He founded an important newspaper, the North Star , and his autobiography, published in 1845, became a best-seller. Frederick Douglass would become one of the most famous and eloquent speakers against the institution of slavery in the United States. A CRUEL SYSTEM The institution of slavery was established in North America more than 150 years before the United States existed. Spanish settlers in North America and the Caribbean had used slaves from Africa for labor since the sixteenth century. In 1619, twenty African slaves were brought to the British colony of Virginia. They would be the

Scan here for a brief overview of American slavery.

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Escaping from Slavery