ABOUT THE SHOW

Frederick Douglass is best known to most Americans and around the world for his bracing first autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, originally published in May 1845 after he had escaped from Maryland to freedom in Massachusetts. Less known is what happened next.

The Narrative exposed the true horrors of slavery in the US and a price was put on Douglass’ head. With the support of abolitionists on both sides of the Atlantic, he fled to the British Isles until things cooled off. He landed first in Ireland, where he was meant to lay low for a few days. Instead, he stayed for four months, spoke to packed crowds all over Ireland, became an international star, and, above all, felt- for the first time- like a human being.

Told in the limited series format over eight episodes, this epic true story of Douglass' transformative experience on his Irish journey has something for everyone. Douglass' story would be quite enough, as he tours Ireland as a 27-year-old with a young wife and children at home, a family man truly on his own for the first time growing as an orator, activist, author and freedom seeker finding his life's work.