Frederick Douglass: A True Ally

“When a great truth once gets abroad in the world, no power on earth can imprison it, or prescribe its limits, or suppress it….Such a truth is woman’s right to equal liberty with man.” -Frederick Douglass

Frederick Douglass stands as one of the earliest, most formidable, and ardently vocal proponents of racial justice and equality in the United States. Although most people know about Douglass’ activism around the abolition of slavery and emancipation, not many know of his identity as a women’s rights activist.

In addition to speaking out against slavery, Douglass was a strong proponent of gender equality. Not satisfied to merely support the cause from afar, he actively participated in promoting women’s right to vote, forming personal relationships with key movement leaders, Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. In his social and political activism, he announced his commitment to the cause by including “Right is of no sex” in the motto of his weekly newspaper, the North Star.

Unabashed in his support for the suffragist movement, Douglass advocated for equal representation not only in writing, but also at public events. On July 20 1848, Frederick Douglass and about forty other men joined the assembled crowd of 200 women at the Seneca Falls Convention to pass eleven resolutions, one of them in support of women’s right to vote. Perhaps more than anything previously mentioned, his 1888 speech on women’s suffrage best demonstrated his deep commitment to advancing women’s rights.

The speech took place on Saturday, March 31, 1888, the sixth day of the inaugural International Council of Women. During the 10 AM morning session, “Conference on Pioneers,” Douglass took the stage. Standing on the platform, he addressed the members of the audience, among them President Grover Cleveland and his wife, Frances Clara Cleveland Preston. In his speech, Douglass established himself as a humble and longtime ally of the women’s suffrage movement, highlighting its progress over time.

Recalling the beginning stages, Douglass spoke of how he had joined the early network of supporters. Though he acknowledged that the women leading the cause demonstrated a great dose of fortitude, looking back, Douglass also recalled that they had few allies. To that end, he offered his assistance and input as needed. From 1848 until 1888, Douglass understood the significance of employing his privilege as a man, noting in his speech that “there was a time when, perhaps, we men could help a little.”

At the same time, Douglass emphasized that he and all male allies only played a supportive role in the movement. It was not their space to speak on behalf of women perfectly capable of representing themselves. To this end, he continuously centered women—the oppositions they faced, the iron-clad arguments they crafted, the successes they enjoyed, and progress they made—in his speech, from start to end. He made it a point to state that men who entered the space as supporters mainly had one role: listening so that women could take center stage.

Douglass ended his speech by celebrating the progress of the women’s suffrage movement. By 1888, it had grown in prominence and its message had extended onto the international stage. He stressed that women had ignited a movement rooted in truth, a movement that would not die. Forty years after the Seneca Falls Convention, Douglass reaffirmed his support as an ally and his hope for the “final triumph of women’s cause, not only in this country, but throughout the world.”

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