Editing Frederick Douglass (section)

===Travels to Ireland and Great Britain===
[[File:Plaque to Frederick Douglass, West Bell St., Dundee, Scotland.jpg|thumb|Plaque to Frederick Douglass, West Bell St., Dundee, Scotland]]
[[File:Unidentified Artist - Frederick Douglass - Google Art Project-restore.png|thumb|Douglass in 1847, around 29 years of age]]
[[Image:33 Gilmore Place, Edinburgh (cropped).jpg|33 Gilmore Place in [[Edinburgh]], where Douglass lived in 1846|thumb]]

Douglass's friends and mentors feared that the publicity would draw the attention of his ex-owner, Hugh Auld, who might try to get his "property" back. They encouraged Douglass to tour Ireland, as many former slaves had done. Douglass set sail on the ''Cambria'' for [[Liverpool]], England, on August 16, 1845. He traveled in Ireland as the [[Great Famine (Ireland)|Great Famine]] was beginning.

The feeling of freedom from American [[racial discrimination]] amazed Douglass:<ref name="My Bondage">Douglass, Frederick. [1885] 2003. ''[[My Bondage and My Freedom|My Bondage and My Freedom: Part I – Life as a Slave, Part II – Life as a Freeman]]'', introduction by [[James McCune Smith]], edited by [[John Stauffer (professor)|John Stauffer]]. New York: [[Random House]]. {{ISBN|0-8129-7031-4}}. p. [http://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/douglass55/douglass55.html#p371 371] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170131195955/http://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/douglass55/douglass55.html#p371|date=January 31, 2017}}</ref>

<blockquote>Eleven days and a half gone, and I have crossed three thousand miles of the perilous deep. Instead of a democratic government, I am under a monarchical government. Instead of the bright, blue sky of America, I am covered with the soft, grey fog of the Emerald Isle [Ireland]. I breathe, and lo! the chattel [slave] becomes a man. I gaze around in vain for one who will question my equal humanity, claim me as his slave, or offer me an insult. I employ a cab—I am seated beside white people—I reach the hotel—I enter the same door—I am shown into the same parlor—I dine at the same table—and no one is offended.... I find myself regarded and treated at every turn with the kindness and deference paid to white people. When I go to church, I am met by no upturned nose and scornful lip to tell me, {{'}}''We don't allow niggers in here!''{{'}}</blockquote>

Still, Douglass was astounded by the extreme levels of poverty he encountered in Dublin, much of it reminding him of his experiences in slavery.  In a letter to [[William Lloyd Garrison]], Douglass wrote "I see much here to remind me of my former condition, and I confess I should be ashamed to lift up my voice against American slavery, but that I know the cause of humanity is one the world over. He who really and truly feels for the American slave, cannot steel his heart to the woes of others; and he who thinks himself an abolitionist, yet cannot enter into the wrongs of others, has yet to find a true foundation for his anti-slavery faith."<ref>[https://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/douglass/support12.html ''The Liberator'', 27 March 1846] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210520062708/https://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/douglass/support12.html |date=May 20, 2021 }}; reprinted in Philip Foner, ed., ''Life and Writings of Frederick Douglass'', vol. 1 (New York: International Publishers, 1950), p. 138.</ref>

He also met and befriended the [[Irish nationalism|Irish nationalist]] and strident abolitionist [[Daniel O'Connell]],<ref>{{cite web |last=O'Dowd |first=Niall |title=Frederick Douglass was quickly captivated by Daniel O'Connell in 1845 Ireland |url=https://www.irishcentral.com/roots/history/frederick-douglass-daniel-oconnell |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200822164245/https://www.irishcentral.com/roots/history/frederick-douglass-daniel-oconnell |archive-date=August 22, 2020 |access-date=August 23, 2020 |website=Irish Central }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Douglass |first=Frederick |title=Life and Times of Frederick Douglass, Written by Himself, His Early Life as a Slave, His Escape from Bondage, and His Complete History to the Present Time |title-link=Life and Times of Frederick Douglass |date=1881 |publisher=Christian Age Office |location=London |page=[https://archive.org/details/lifeandtimesfre01douggoog/page/n235 205]}}</ref> who was to be a great inspiration.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Chaffin |first=Tom |date=February 25, 2011 |title=Frederick Douglass's Irish Liberty |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/25/frederick-douglasss-irish-liberty/ |url-status=live |access-date=February 26, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181009132105/https://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/25/frederick-douglasss-irish-liberty/ |archive-date=October 9, 2018}}</ref><ref>Frederick Douglass letter to [[William Lloyd Garrison]] quoted in Christine Kinealy ed. (2018), ''Frederick Douglass and Ireland: In His Own Words, Volume II''. Routledge, New York. {{ISBN|978-0-429-50505-8}}. pp. 67–72.</ref>

Douglass spent two years in Ireland and Great Britain, lecturing in churches and chapels. His draw was such that some facilities were "crowded to suffocation". One example was his hugely popular ''London Reception Speech'', which Douglass delivered in May 1846 at [[Alexander Fletcher (minister)|Alexander Fletcher]]'s [[Finsbury Chapel]]. Douglass remarked that in England he was treated not "as a color, but as a man".<ref name="Ruuth">{{Cite book |last=Ruuth |first=Marianne |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4Lx8nXxmAlcC&q=Douglass%2520-%2520england%2520-%2520not%2520%2522as%2520a%2520color%252C%2520but%2520as%2520a%2520manFrederick+Douglass&pg=PA118 |title=Frederick Douglass: Patriot and Activist |date=1995 |publisher=Holloway House Publishing |isbn=978-0-87067-773-1 |pages=117–118 |language=en |access-date=January 21, 2022 |archive-date=February 17, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220217142500/https://books.google.com/books?id=4Lx8nXxmAlcC&q=Douglass%2520-%2520england%2520-%2520not%2520%2522as%2520a%2520color%252C%2520but%2520as%2520a%2520manFrederick+Douglass&pg=PA118 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1846, Douglass met with [[Thomas Clarkson]], one of the last living British [[Abolitionism in the United Kingdom|abolitionists]], who had persuaded Parliament to abolish slavery in Great Britain's colonies.<ref>[[Simon Schama]], ''[[Rough Crossings: Britain, the Slaves, and the American Revolution]]'', New York: HarperCollins, 2006, pp. 415–21.</ref> During this trip Douglass became legally free, as British supporters led by [[Anna Richardson (abolitionist)|Anna Richardson]] and her sister-in-law Ellen of [[Newcastle upon Tyne]] raised funds to buy his freedom from his American owner Thomas Auld.<ref name="Ruuth" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Frances E. Ruffin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GWQDuizyvD0C&pg=PA59 |title=Frederick Douglass: Rising Up from Slavery |year=2008 |isbn=978-1-4027-4118-0 |page=59 | publisher=Sterling Publishing Co. |access-date=October 26, 2015 |archive-date=August 1, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200801193410/https://books.google.com/books?id=GWQDuizyvD0C&pg=PA59 |url-status=live }}</ref> Many supporters tried to encourage Douglass to remain in England but, with his wife still in Massachusetts and three million of his black brethren in bondage in the United States, he returned to America in the spring of 1847,<ref name="Ruuth" /> soon after the death of Daniel O'Connell.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Chaffin |first=Tom |title=Frederick Douglass's Irish Liberty |work=Opinionator |date=February 26, 2011 |url=https://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/25/frederick-douglasss-irish-liberty/?mcubz=1 |url-status=live |access-date=September 21, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170922052034/https://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/25/frederick-douglasss-irish-liberty/?mcubz=1 |archive-date=September 22, 2017}}</ref>

In the 21st century, historical plaques were installed on buildings in [[Cork (city)|Cork]] and [[Waterford]], Ireland, and London to celebrate Douglass's visit: the first is on the Imperial Hotel in Cork and was unveiled on August 31, 2012; the second is on the façade of Waterford City Hall, unveiled on October 7, 2013. It commemorates his speech there on October 9, 1845.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Fenton |first=Laurence |title=Frederick Douglass in Ireland: the 'Black O'Connell' |publisher=Collins Press |year=2014 |isbn=978-1-84889-196-8 |location=Cork |pages=131, 151 |oclc=869789226}}</ref> The third plaque adorns [[Nell Gwynn House]], [[South Kensington]] in London, at the site of an earlier house where Douglass stayed with the British abolitionist [[George Thompson (abolitionist)|George Thompson]].<ref>{{cite web |website=Embassy of the United States, London |first=Barbara J. |last=Stephenson |title=Remarks at the Unveiling of the Frederick Douglass Plaque |date=February 20, 2013 |url=http://london.usembassy.gov/dcm-speeches/stephenson006.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131015095716/http://london.usembassy.gov/dcm-speeches/stephenson006.html |archive-date=October 15, 2013 }}</ref> On July 31, 2023, the first statue of him in Europe was unveiled in High Street in [[Belfast]].<ref>{{cite web |website=www.bbc.co.uk|first1=Finn |last1=Purdy |first2=Conor| last2=Neeson|title= Frederick Douglass: Belfast statue of black anti-slavery activist unveiled |date=July 31, 2023 |url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-66358247.amp}}</ref>

Douglass spent time in Scotland and was appointed "Scotland's Antislavery agent".<ref>{{cite web |title=Frederick Douglass |url=https://www.nls.uk/exhibitions/treasures/frederick-douglass/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210620030713/https://www.nls.uk/exhibitions/treasures/frederick-douglass/ |archive-date=June 20, 2021 |access-date=June 20, 2021 |website=National Library of Scotland |language=en}}</ref> He made anti-slavery speeches and wrote letters back to the US. He considered the city of Edinburgh to be elegant, grand and very welcoming. Maps of the places in the city that were important to his stay are held by the National Library of Scotland.<ref>{{cite web |title=Maps |url=https://www.nls.uk/exhibitions/treasures/frederick-douglass/maps/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210301035102/https://www.nls.uk/exhibitions/treasures/frederick-douglass/maps |archive-date=March 1, 2021 |access-date=June 20, 2021 |website=National Library of Scotland |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Home |url=https://ourbondageourfreedom.llc.ed.ac.uk/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210217103251/https://ourbondageourfreedom.llc.ed.ac.uk/ |archive-date=February 17, 2021 |access-date=June 20, 2021 |website=Our Bondage & Our Freedom }}</ref> A plaque and a mural at 33 Gilmore Place in [[Edinburgh]] mark his stay there in 1846.

"A variety of collaborative projects are currently [in 2021] underway to commemorate Frederick Douglass's journey and visit to Ireland in the 19th century."<ref>{{cite web |title=Tracing Frederick Douglass's footsteps in Ireland |url=https://www.douglassincork.com/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624201519/https://www.douglassincork.com/ |archive-date=June 24, 2021 |access-date=June 20, 2021}}</ref>