stephen douglas and frederick douglass had never known. anyway, he becomes a republican for sure in the civil war because the republican party was waging war against slavery, at least it eventually was an many of you know douglass was a ferocious critic of abraham lincoln in the first year, and you're enough of the war because the union government was not moving against slavery, in fact it was protecting fugitive slaves and sending them back to slavery or was trying to, but the final proclamation of january, 1863 douglas not only changed his tune, he appropriated lincoln as lincoln appropriated him and he saw that what was now the civil war had

now become what lincoln had not what you did to become an lincoln's famous words he did not want to become a remorseless revolutionary struggle, but that's exactly what it had become. the rest of douglas is life after 18 to 64 he would campaign every year for the republican candidate for president, republican party would decide which sates-- states to send him to. if there were pockets of free black voters he would be sent there. there were other sections of the country he thought he would work well in, upper new england and for some reason indiana. he was always sent to indiana. indiana was a swing state in the 19th century, folks. and douglas would campaign week after week for hayes, garfield etc. and sometimes he would wonder why because that

republican party was really changing and abandoning his cause, because of emancipation, civil rights, black voting rights, the 14th-- 13th, 14th and 15th amendment, but he never gave up on the republican party into rounder that out, it's quite an issue today like all great questions in history. this has a huge legacy because today let's just call them libertarians, the republican right libertarian right and the cato institute right loves to appropriate douglas because he was a staunch proponent of self-reliance, a little plaques raising themselves by their own institution and their own hard work in their own authority and so on, but everyone in the 19th century to speak of was a proponent of self-reliance, that's not unusual, but sometimes the ways it's a pro-

trade in political discussion, the way douglas is appropriated drives me bit crazy because to do that you have to ignore his entire life of radical abolition , but it's good news because douglas has become like a grand lincoln. everyone wants to have him on their side, claim douglas, he's on our side, no he's on our side what would douglas think of black lives matter, i get asked this all the time. what would donald-- douglas think of donald trump's praise of him. i thought that might not come up tonight. he would say-- now i'm looking to go there. >> you do something so wonderful and beautiful in the text. you are so attentive to and--

>> douglas' first wife, his wife 44 me-- years. he meets her in baltimore, probably in the church, don't know for sure. he was 18 or 19 and she was three years old, she was born free on the eastern shore. they probably played at the same of milk when they were kids, but they didn't know each other. of a fella and love baltimore. he escaped from slavery in late august, 1838 and anna and the extraordinary bravery to pack her bags and wait for a letter and when frederick got to new york city at the foot of chambers street down on the lower west side and found himself safe within 48 hours, i david ruggles house he writes a letter back to baltimore.

we don't know who he wrote the letter too, but whoever he wrote it to whip immediately to anna and anna took the same three trains in the same three fairies and was in new york in the same 38 hours or show to join him and that was an extraordinary act of bravery. she was born free. if they had been caught, we would never have known about either one of them and she remained his help made for all those decades, mother of his five children. she remained illiterate all of her life, by and large and it was a problem. of the most famous african-american man of letters in the world, most famous black men in the world was married to an illiterate woman who could not be part of a professional intellectual life in meaningful ways.

she was very much part of his life and a lot of other ways. we know what we know about her, not entirely but largely from what the children wrote about her and one of the things that's in the walter evans collection in savanna are two new little narratives written by two of the sons. we always had the one that the daughter grow, but-- rosetta, but there are two narratives there when entitled growing up in the douglas home, little narratives about their parents. so, every stage i try to find my way into anna's life. you-- there are no documents that anna wrote, you know no letters, but there are lots of little testimonies about her. she kept that count books. she kept a bank book. she did numbers.

when he didn't and she provided a home and never-- if you get to know douglas at all you'll sense this, he was desperate to make in preserving home because he had never had one and that's what she represented to him. >> let's go to some questions from the audience. >> great. >> one of the first questions, i heard frederick douglass is a bias against native americans. is this true? >> [inaudible] yes, biased is one of those big words. yes. he trafficked in that some in indian stereotypes, no question. for example, when he sometimes would make the case after the civil war in particular for the uprightness and that ambitions

of black people but why people should stop worrying about black folk. let them vote. let them on land. with and get educated. they want to be americans. he would often tried out the image of the vanishing indian and a sometimes do it and not a pleasant language like, the indian just wants to wrap himself in a blanket on walkoff into his hills where the black man wants to own a company and get into the best schools and so forth. it's not pretty. it's a 19th century stereotype that that was all over the culture, but when he-- i have had students read chapters of this in a seminar i have taught and it's jarring when they read it. they went douglas to be in everywhere and forever advocate of indian rights and they want him to be against the reservations. he thought the reservations were probably the right thing, so all too human. >> all too human.

relationship between the grant? >> it's very important. they not after a close which i think was to douglas is sure again. he won the presidency in 1868 or douglas had been a distant admirer of grant like all yankees were. grant appoints him to a commission in 1870, 71, the santa domingo commission, a commission sent to what is now the dominican republic to discuss with the leadership of the dominican or santa domingo whether the us would annex it in the grant administration was trying to annex santa domingo. douglas was the secretary for the commission, was an unofficial number of the commission.

he took one of his sons along with him and he kept a diary on this three-month trip and the caribbean-- actually he went swimming in the surf when dan almost drown according to his diary, but grant put him on that commission and douglas advocated for the annexation appeared douglas became an after the civil war. there are reasons for that. lots of abolitionists did. this is 1870, 71 and reconstruction has not fallen apart yet. of the clan is raging everywhere , but it's not fallen apart yet. douglas was among a large group of former abolitionists that now argued the united states is not abolitionists country. we are the nation of emancipation and should exported we should take the 13th, 14th and 15th amendment now to the world especially still slave societies like the caribbean and give them our ideas. that's not unfamiliar to us. americans also all stripes have

done this for a long time, but when they come back from the santa to mingo commission grant invited the regular commissioners to the white house for a special dinner and did not in my douglas, not a pleasant thing. he always at least from a distance admired grant. in fact, in 1876 he wanted granted to run again. he would know how to trust the other candidates-- despite the scandal, i mean, there were solely granted scandals. he thought grant would probably -- he wanted republicans to win. he did not think grant could lose, but they never had a truly close relationship, which has always made me triply fascinated with the speech douglas gives in 1876, the second greatest speech at the unveiling of the lincoln monument in lincoln park in washington.

ulysses grant was president sitting in the front row and douglas kennett speech and grant it pulled the rope in and unveiled that and-- what did i think rex nothing there, grant must have gone back and had a nap at the white house. did not say word about that turkey should have. >> code in the rise of jim crow impact douglas? >> the rise of jim crow curling the 19th century had an impact because douglas was thrown off lots of trains. he was jim crow to more times in his life than he could by hotels, taverns, restaurants, trains, stagecoaches. it got to be a source of humor for him at times-- sorry. but, later the period we often

talk about with the rise of jim crow by the 1880s, 1890s, douglas lives to see. he until 1895. douglas lives to see the beginning of bitter segregation on the late '80s and into the '90s. you doesn't want to see it's her wish and into the early 20th century. nothing about it as much as i could tell surprises him because he had experienced all the antebellum of jim crow over and over and over. although, he always referred to things like being jim crow did, a form of segregation legal or otherwise. is another area shown proslavery ideas. he would just call it the proslavery vision reconstruction

, proslavery vision brought back to life. for him it was the resurrection of slavery, that's the way he knew how to understand it. >> the wonderful phase you use. >> he calls racism and national faith. >> there you have it. >> it had been. >> it's also why the civil war and emancipation was so important because he hoped-- >> began its. >> and then releasing them backsliding. how influential was douglas getting the vote? >> very important in seneca falls. i don't think he was crucially getting the resolution passed. he was the only male speaker, the only black participant who signed the seneca falls declaration of rights. that he was there, that he gave

presents to this event was huge and he was from that time on an even before always in women's rights man. he wrote essays entitled i'm a women's rights man. he was always for women's right. is also a patriarch in many ways in his private life. it in making that unusual for some radicals and abolitionists, but he was all-- always on women's suffrage, women's economic rights and women's civil rights until the 14th and 15th amendment and he has a terrible breakup as some of you probably know with elizabeth cady stanton and susan anthony. 's susan anthony was with cady stanton laney measures biscuit-- miss behaved badly in the way they treated douglas, especially stand with gracious-- racist

epithets, not just a douglas, but black man. a were fed up and did not want to wait any longer and they wanted women in the 15th amendment, but everyone with one eye open understood that women's suffrage in the 15th amendment never would've passed. everyone knew that, but to stanton anthony at that point it was put us in or you can have your country back. the listed have that choice but to many moments in his life when he has to make decisions and choice about this political if the shoe or that political issue or that strategy or that strategy and it's often the horns of the dilemma. >> whited british supporters hope douglas by his freedom and not british abolitionists mac two reasons. he spent 4587 about-- east was

in the british isles, huge turning point in his life. easter to buy a hero most of the time in ireland, scotland and britain. it made him a patron saint. he only lived four months there and they had to monuments to him. crazy. .com. his british friends began to realize-- first there were a lot of british abolitionist friends who try to convince him to stay in england, moved his family to england, adopt england. he actually thought about it your kids clear, there are letters, but he couldn't. his cause was here in his family was here in the idea he would move anna and for small children to england may no sense. so the richardson sisters from newcastle led the effort to

raise money and did all of the negotiation and letter writing with thomas and hugh and brought his freedom for $730. he was free. the other part of the answer is that the garrison onions, although not care us and himself to his credit, biggest syrian means-- care sony is had strict morals and they said to purchase a slaves freedom of speech complicit with slavery pure dope paid slaveowners. douglas' answer to that was, thank you very much. i will take my freedom. better than not having it. >> one last thing before we end, douglas is telling and in so many ways douglas' story is america's a story. what should we take from this in

this current moment we find ourselves? what does this story teach us? >> you didn't tell me you're going to ask alan. history is never over. history doesn't only hand cycles, it has terrible surprises and it would you think you have won a victory, watch out. he experienced that his life over and over. he's one of those rare reformers, especially radical reformers who lives to see his cause triumphed in his 40s and frankly almost beyond his belief as late as 1858 and 59 abolitionists had reason to believe they would live to see slavery destroyed and a new constitution crashed it out of it, nokia happen. it happened, but then he lives 30 more years to see that very

victory, those causes and constitutional amendments, civil rights acts all but wiped out or erased by the supreme court, by terrorist violence and by a politics that could not and would not preserve it. the trajectory of his life covers of most of the 19th century. it covers the greatest transformative event in our history: the civil war and it covers a great story of from slavery to freedom, which we still in summary ways are living we are still every day fighting over how to define a 14th amendment and what equality before law means. a god knows they are still fighting over the supreme court.

>> on that note, thank you all very much for joining us. [applause]. before you leave i went to remind you we have the book for sale in our smith gallery. a david will be signing book out there. a very warm thank you for moderating tonight's discussion. there so much love to cover and i also want to make sure i make a really empowered correction from my intro because i had just learned before that david paterson is here and i went make the correction he was the 56 governor of new york and also new york state's first african american governor. we are so thrilled to have him with us in the audience. [applause]. always great to have all of you as well. things for joining us.

>> join us this week and poor live coverage of the miami book fair. today at 11:15 a.m. alissa quart on the middle class with her book. 2:55 p.m., fox news politics editor chris stargell discusses his book. 6:00 p.m., former secretary of state john kerry with his memoir watch the miami book fair line this weekend on c-span2 book tv. >> afternoon. my name is who in behalf of the bookstore owner in behalf of the entire step welcome to politics and prose.