Frederick Douglass was an African-American social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. He was born into slavery in Maryland in 1818, but escaped to freedom in the North in 1838. He became a leader in the abolitionist movement, gaining note for his dazzling oratory and incisive antislavery writing. He stood as a living counter-example to slaveholders' arguments that slaves lacked the intellectual capacity to function as independent American citizens. In his time, he was described by abolitionists as a living symbol of freedom and by supporters of slavery as 'the most dangerous Negro' in America. The answer to the crossword is SLAVE, which accurately describes Douglass' life before his escape to freedom.