‘He became a sensation’: Manchester pays tribute to abolitionist Frederick Douglass

Frederick Douglass spent two years giving talks and lectures in Britain and Ireland in the 1840s. Illustration: Joe Plimmer/Guardian Pictures/Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images/Alamy

He was one of the most important figures of his time, an author, orator and American statesman who was born enslaved. But some of the most important years in the civil rights leader Frederick Douglass’s life were spent in Britain.

This month marks the 180th anniversary of a series of lectures Douglass gave in Manchester, speaking at venues across the region.