i teach douglass every year, i lecture on douglass.we have to add some important speeches that come later, especially after the war, and especially his 1876 speech at the dedication of the memorial to get an assessment from a rock ribbed abolitionist, frederick douglass, who grew to appreciate the task lincoln had and grew to appreciate even more, the consent, the support he needed from especially white northerners and out west, to win the war. but for that, there would be no emancipation. early in the war and in fact throughout the war, douglass is one of lincoln's fiercest critics, no doubt. >> they met in august of 1863 where douglass challenges lincoln on black pay and the protection of black p.o.w.'s. douglass sends lincoln this letter. michelle, can you talk about this second meeting with frederick douglass and the letter that douglass sent? >> right, and the letter that douglass sends is august 29th, 1864, if anybody wants to check it online, it's there. they meet in the white house, and the thing that you have to understand abo

lincoln and frederick douglass. now in our next presenter's book, he tells the little known story of how two american heroes moved from strong disagreement to friendship and how that process changes the entire course of history. i am pleased talking to the stage new york times the best-selling author and fox news host mr. brian kilmeade. as much as as much as i enjoy the standing ovation when you start with a standing ovation, you'd only go backwards. so that's what i worry. so i appreciate everybody being here tonight. i've never been invited to a book festival. so to be invited was great to have a book ready to go with fantastic, and i'm so glad everything lined up to be here in a beautiful saturday, and there's no kentucky basketball scrimmage that's keeping all of you busy. that would allow you to show up. but i think we have a few things in common. i don't care about politics. i think we all love the country. we also know where we come from has not been perfect. it's not been a straight line, but we always get

that was frederick douglass. he had a thirst for learning. we are all talk of education water schools could teach he could not find a school for he be sitting there watching the other white kids who are friendly with them because he was under the belief kids do not seefr color as we are. frederick douglas born a slave is best friends growing up her white kids because kids did not care. frederick douglass of the 1840s rates i think it will take a generation to live and die before they realize there is no difference between the races. that is why we protest as i digressed second and third graders and why we care so much what they learn. because they told us it matters. abraham lincoln one year of formal schooling when you're combined he could never sit in the classroom.o his dad says i'm always suspicious of those people who learn to do the reading and writing. that is what he's up against. but he want to learn he never stopped reading he had the reputation of a great intellect and great mind a great kindness, great strength. and then he said i

don't recruit frederick douglass. guess who told them all so frederick douglass. turn around says now pay him the same and when they get caught i want them treated the same as white guys. so he wasn't going to stop until he got everything but he understood where lincoln's coming from. and i thought this quote would be something we can enjoy a few of them. actually, i think we're going to see a tape. this is actually the tape. i'll finish up with a few quotes quotes. this is a look at the book that maybe you're all gonna get the american civil war over 600,000 would die over the course of four years. for the united states to survive then reunify and become for the first time a nation-free for all they would need extraordinary leaders to emerged above the rest abraham lincoln the president frederick douglass the freedom fighter together. they would make america more perfect union. america has been blessed to have the right people the right time. you think back to those days in the civil war where brothers literally fought blood brothers fathers fought their kids. be

[laughter] frederick douglass -- no, not frederick douglass -- [inaudible] freudian slip, big time! that's another pitch of one. by the name steven douglas's birth name, two s is. he dropped that around the late 18 [inaudible] , late 50s, i wonder why? >> frederick douglass. >> anyway, stephen douglas was reinforcing white supremacy and lincoln was doing what he could to shape his population shake his constituents loose of that but just reminding something they knew in the heart of hearts, that black people had the same rights as white people. and guess what? there people. >> law if an if an african american moved into the free state of illinois, i think it was $50. if they couldn't pay the $50, they would be auctioned off. and someone could purchase their labor until the date was paid. and we think about the free state of illinois, not really free in the way we normally think. i want to come over to you. we see changes in lincoln's policies and possessions over the course of the political career. can you talk about that evolution? and how do we account for it? and it's great that y

frederick douglass is a unifying character so frederick douglass is one we both mentioned, john graham before he met him lincoln in a much admired john grant and he believes that he had been easy of the other people of slavery and frederick douglass had been a former any natural gravitated towards the emphasis on o ending slavery almost five pretty good because because john printed invited them to take part in this and john brown saying okay, boy i should get a high profile abolitionist like frederick douglass to come along this moment in the credibility something we would not have otherwise and especially somebody who had been a slave. but douglas said no, and part of the reason the douglas said no, he recognizes this is probably a suicide mission pretty and he understood having been a slave himself, having read the moment when you going to recognize that they enslave the folks in her first. not going to just follow anybody who seems to have this crackpot to start a work of the going to be the chances of surviving this war. and that is exactly what happened pretty and part of the resp

frederick douglass may have translocated himself.he may have physically fled his legal owner but in the eyes of the law, he's an outlaw. he's outside of the law's protection. he goes to the united kingdom and for two years. he's there giving speeches selling copies of his autobiography and it's not until friends of his on both sides of the pond pay 150 pounds sterling 700 and some odd dollars in american cash. it's not until in the eyes of the law. he has been manated is he able to return to the united states in 1847 and live as a free man now, there's still a fugitive slave act, of course and in 1850, it makes it incredibly difficult for a free black person to be secure in his freedom for all the reasons we know but the point is you need the law. you need the government to do its job and so it's both lincoln as the great emancipator making it a part of the effort and as he puts it in the emancipation proclamation and act of justice so you have to have the action and the initiative of the enslaved. liberating themselves physically, b

book that lincoln was the black man's president and you have you have several speeches of frederick douglass that you begin with including in 1865 eulogy on lincoln where he said no people at class of people in the country have a better. reason for lamenting the death of lincoln then have the colored people. what is the significance of that? speech? and why do you believe that lincoln was the black man's president? well, thank you very much for your kind introduction and thank you for inviting me. i feel a little out of place because my book is focused the central theme i'm book is let's not focus on lincoln speeches and writings and policies in the light. let's focus on lincoln's interaction with black people both in springfield and in washington, but the title of the book comes from a eulogy that frederick douglass delivered on june 1st 1865 in cooper union the premiere site in the country to give up major speech. and it was covered widely in the new york press, but it's been on accountably ignored by historians and anthologists of douglas's speeches. and in this remarkable speech he says

frederick douglass is the unifying character here. so frederick douglass is the one who met john brown before he met abraham lincoln and you much admired john brown. he believed john brown had a sense of the immediate needs of the people of fredericks. frederick douglass being a former slave, being one of the most this most noted abolitionists naturally gravitated towards the emphasis that john brown placed on antislavery almost by any means. because john brown invited him to take part in the raid on harpers ferry. john brownsaid okay, if i can get a high-profile abolitionist like frederick douglass to come along this will lend credibility . and especially somebody who had been a tslave. but douglas says no and part of the reason douglass says know is that herecognizes that this is probably a suicide mission . douglas understood having been a slave himself and having weighed the moment when you're going to go before him he denies that the enslaved folks and the enslavement of harpers ferry are not just going to follow anybody who tose

and it's a kind of vision of divine reparations and the fact that frederick douglass so latched on to that passage i think is in isn't indication that he understood what what lincoln was doing there with that with that line. think thank you very much indeed for that and thanks to all of you for this parsing of these. centrally important speeches. it's so meaningful to learn with all three of you. we have just seven minutes left or only constitution center will lose to end on time, but i think that's enough time for one question to each of you and some very brief closing thoughts. so michael brougham bonnie zedek asks, how did lincoln react to the seneca falls convention in 1848 into voting rights for black women as well as white women was either friend of black woman as well as black men. and what final thoughts would you like like to share with our friends? well, we have no. direct illusion and anything that lincoln center wrote about the seneca fallscon convention, but he was i've argued in my book a kind of proto-feminist that he was opposed to the sexual double standard of a husba

it's not anything new frederick douglass made this point du bois ral. us in carter g woodson who created what was at the time -- history week that became african-american history month all of them made this point about the blacks essential contribution to this country where she goes wrong. this is the you know, if that's the good there's the bad and the ugly the bad is her understanding of the founding which where she claims that the declaration was was issued to preserve slavery. she was actually told the new york times editors were actually told by leslie harris in northwestern university professor who specializes in revolutionary history, you know that parts. not right that wasn't a primary cause of independence didn't matter. they shut that out. so so the bad is the founding her account of the founding and the ugly is her account of lincoln. so once she got on to lincoln, that's my turf that that's when i said, all right, i have a day job, but i got a i need to deal with this and so read my essay to get a more. gracious response to that so she claim

we push about by talking about frederick douglass and his views can you talk about thoseed experiences men? >> and frederick douglass did ugnot exist and they lived at the same time that never met each other directly in dealing with the same issues found different perspective and different short-term goals he is the unifying character to meet john brown before he met abraham lincoln and much admired john brown that he had a sense of the immediacy of the evil and frederick douglass being a slave himself is on the most noted abolitionist country gravitated toward the emphasis he placed on ending slavery by almost any means because john brown invited him to take part on the radon harpers ferry and he things if i could get a high profile like frederick douglass to come along thiswn will land credibility we wouldn't have otherwise and especially someone who has been a slave but douglas says now. and that he recognizes this is probably a suicide mission. having been a slave himself and they just will not follow anybody has a crackpot scheme to wage a war and then to survive and that is exact

and his season lincoln and can you talk about douglass' experiences with these two men and how douglass viewed them pretty. >> for small, as a part where john brennan abraham lincoln, if they had existed or something like him, because sort of a parallel lives of john brown and abraham lincoln at the same time but they never met each other in the paths never met directly in dealing with the same nation bit different perspectives and short term goals and frederick douglass is a unifying character so frederick douglass is the one who met john brown before he met abraham lincoln any much admired john brown a believe that john brown is a sense of immediacy of the evil of slavery. he understands the former slave himself and escaped, be one of the most abolitionist in the country naturally gravitated towards the emphasis that john brown placed on any slavery, almost like - because john brown should take part in harpers ferry and john brown seo people if i can get a high profile abolitionist roderick douglas to come along, this will have credibility. and especially, somebody who had been a slav

reporter: of people here's interacting with including frederick douglass and how complicated and sophisticated their constitutional arguments were a but i did it because i ws independently interested, i didn't think it would connect up with anything i was doing as a law professor but then evan and i started collaborating on the work on the 14th amendment, it was quite obvious and o i had an article published in the journal of legal analysis which was about each and every cause in the 14th amendment and how they intercede and servery the process fly in constitutionalism but when we started working on it, what we needed to take account of was the degree to which the republican party, the successor party from the liberty party and eventually the republican party as an antislavery party had taken on board many of these arguments, not all but many of the arguments andd eventually enshrined them into the text of the constitution itself in 1 section one of the 14th amendment and i think getting back to your original points when you think of originals or, you think of the founding, i think it's unfort

and in that speech, which is i think one of his top five speeches, frederick douglass, does something astonishing. a great man admits that what he spent an awful long time saying about lincoln was not quite right. as you read that speech, you follow douglas's evolution in his thinking about lincoln. so it's well worth your time. i don't know. what was the question? . >> the -- >> douglas said from the genuine abolition ground, lincoln was dull, cold, indifferent. but viewed from the ground of a statesmanship, which lincoln was bound to view the subject matter as he said he was swift, zealous, radical, and determined. but for lincoln preserving union and making that the priority, he wouldn't have able to save the union or liberate black people. >> you said it much better than me. >> i'm quoting douglas. [ applause ] . >> and the woodrow wilson talked about the living constitution. >> yeah, yeah, yeah. >> and the significance of that today versus 1850 when we were dealing with what you just talked about. >> i told y'all it was a great book. i have a feeling they will be sold out. don'tt

frederick douglass. booker t. washington. rosa parks. martin luther king. dr. ben carson. i could go on and on. you see, i stand here today as the first black person elected, representative of florida's 19th congressional district. i'm the third ever black republican ever elected in the great state of florida. during black history month, we pay homage to all those who came before us. and those who continue to empower the lives throughout the black community in america. you see, black history is american history. and even though today we might have a lot of issues about the polite of black -- plight of black people in our country, it's without question that the advances, many of which have come in america, have been through the hands, the intellect, the ingenuity, the innovation of black americans who have contributed to the great fabric of our country. it really makes the contributions of black americans more than just for the black community. it makes it for all of america. it's what helps the red, white and blue that we all revere actually be meaningful. because of all t

how come nobody seems to have noticed horace greeley frederick douglass are still arguing for a firm? emancipation policy in september of 1862 where they just not in the loop as to what the government was actually doing as far as emancipation is concerned or am i not in the loop? it's a very interesting question and i've struggled with it myself. i am in the process of writing an article based on a wide sampling of newspaper and diary reactions to general benjamin butler's contraband ruling in the late may of 1861 in which lincoln's order response to the contraband policy was as you know to send a letter telegram to butler in in fortress monroe saying your decision not to return to fugitive slaves is is approved. that that telegram was reprinted in newspapers all around the country and republican newspapers accompanied with editorial saying we told you so we told you you wouldn't get your fugitive slaves back and southern newspapers published it and with editorial saying we told you so we told you they wanted to keep our fugitive slaves and wouldn't return them that they would emancip

douglass. you must know it will come. leader? >> i think what it tells you is that he understood that he was a politician who had to educate public sentiment, but he wanted to listen to people from the outside. here is douglass criticizing him. he doesn't take offense. he said you said this about me and he smiles, but says i know. you but don't worry, my word once it's out there will be met. he moved with public sentiment. he knew without it you can't go anywhere. at the same time he respected the movements on the outside. every social change in our country comes from a movement. the abolitionists did that, and the gay movement, the civil rights movement, they need the person inside to exercise the power. this's the combination of partnership we're going to see in this. >> it's an interesting look. "abraham lincoln" airs tonight and tomorrow night on the history channel at 8:00. thank you for being here. >> i'm very glad to be with you, eva. >>> coming up, big news from big time rush. ♪ 'cause i'm never giving you up ♪ ig

frederick douglass campaigneddm against the 14th amendment because he thought it didn't secure rights in one hand it was citizenship which he thought entailed voting rights and people whose access to those records we have consistentlyly demanded voting rights and frederick douglass said if you continue to look on in this amendment you'll find in section 2 that apparently southern states continue to disenfranchise people on the basis of race along as they prepared to pay representation in the form of representation to congress. he and other abolitionists like wendell phillips and william lloyd garrison dedicated themselves t to saying we need o do better than the 14th amendment.e >> guest: if i could say one more thing about section 2, that addition is what many feminists at the time who oppose the 14th amendment and the reason they did so because of their previous approaches to constitutionalism the constitution was gender-neutral and words refers to the masculine he that meant undercutting rational uses human beings in that context. it could mean gender but it didn't mean gender the

by the time of the lincoln/douglass debates, you had systematized shorthand which is why we have a really good stenographic record of the lincoln/douglass is debates or, to be more precise, multiple stenographic records, and some historian toes have noted slight differences in those records. really it was not until the 20th century that substantial numbers of people could actually hear the president's voice. if you look at the chart here, households with radio sets this 1922 -- in 1922 there were only 60,000 households in the united states that had radio sets. by 1932, the election of franklin roosevelt, that number was up to 18.4 million. there were some presidential radio addresses during the 1920s. calvin coolidge actually had a pretty good voice for radio. herbert hoover did some speaking on the radio. but really when we think about presidents and the electronic media, we're thinking about franklin d. roosevelt. and roosevelt is famous for the so-called fireside chats. an or not thing to know though -- an important thing to know about the fireside chats, a lot of people think he did t

dou douglass. glad to see you. have a seat.out the tardy hesitating vacillating policy of the president of the united states. tardy and hesitating perhaps, but vacillating -- >> i tend to speak my mind. >> so i've watched some of your series. it is riveting. i must say. i just happen to be reading a book on abe lincoln with my 9-year-old son so it really does -- >> yea. >> your series helped bring to life so much of what we've read about. not just his leadership but even going back to his tough childhood and in your series, you know, you are also not only you are speaking but we're hearing from former president obama, mary frances berry just to name a few. do you feel you all are helping to humanize lincoln in a way people haven't been able to see before? >> what the series really tries to accomplish is to have abe, young abe become president lincoln. so you'll see the making of a leader. it's not simply a biography, but what are those moments in time when he develops the leadership qualities we need? humility and empathy and r

. >> the next witness president of the frederick douglass foundation and the chairman advisory boardboard black voices for childcare recognized for five minutes. >> good morning to all the members of the subcommittee. lift every voice and seeing will forever have a powerful place inre american history and a continual reminder equality and injustice must be defended it was written in the time jim crow which was a dark time in history of which i lived in and hadf the opportunity to put jim crow when i participated from greensboro north carolina. it was first performed in public to celebrate the birthday of abraham lincoln which reminds me of the resiliency when we came about of slavery and then eventually broke the back of jim crow one of my concerns is that the great inspirational song not be used out of context to take us back to those times that they are not viewed as racist by having a difference of opinion but history shows us the unifying progress that america has made in one of the examples progress with the highest position in the land such as electing president obama is the fi

yeah, the only one more point that i would add to this is that frederick douglass actually campaigned against the 14th amendment because he thinks he thought that it didn't secure suffrage rights on the one hand. it was committed to citizenship which he thought entailed voting rights as most black people. who who's the who's access to whose records we have now they consistently act asked for voting rights. they consistently demanded voting rights and roger douglas said look if you continue to look on in this amendment, you'll find in section two that's apparently southern states can continue to disenfranchise people on the basis of race. so long as they're prepared to pay representation in the form of representation to congress. he considered that a limitation and he and other abolitionists like wendell phillips and william lloyd garrison dedicated themselves to saying we need to do better than the 14th amendment. we need to do better if i could just say one more thing about section two and the addition of the word male in the constitution this that edition is what led many feminists

even frederick douglass, he spoke at the unveiling of the statue and commented and wrote about how it was like the man was an animal, rather than a human. he was still enslaved. it had to do with freedom. what was ironic about the statue was is a portrait of the face of the kneeling man is modeled after a photograph of a man named archer alexander. , who was known to the patron of the statues, the man organizing the constitution. alexander escaped from his owner in the midwest during the civil war. he made it to a free state and was kidnapped by people who wanted to resell him into slavery. he escaped from them again. so the irony of someone who freed himself not once, but twice, being used as a portrait to represent this very powerless looking man. host: we are at the halfway point of our conversation. i want to spend just a few minutes, something you mentioned to your readers. horatio -- you called him the father of -- and created controversy at the capital. what is important to know that right now? erin: the first american to be commissioned to create public art for the capital. it

the left doesn't want you to know the history of frederick douglass because his black history doesn'tarrative what you're selling to black america for generations i'm not buying what they're selling anymore it is time. steve: rob smith president and founder it's so great. tell us your plan what you hoping to achieve quick. >> i got the idea for the douglas society speaking at a conservative conference a couple years ago and i was one of two black people there with conservatives or republicans not that they are racist but there is no pipeline to get younger by conservatives involved so what you want to do with the douglas society is threefold we want to reach out to young disaffected african-americans and conservatives where they are. they are not generally going to mainstream media outlets so to build the website and specifically on instagram with the douglas society to highlight the amazing by conservatives doing things out there in the media like senator tim scott to the other congressmen to a myriad of black conservative that is out there and there is no place online to find all of

we should well heed the words of frederick douglass, the fugitive slave turned abolitionist and prophetic9th-century america. he said slavery and only slavery -- the democratic party is not a party of the people part of big government, inflation, regulatory intervention, surveillance state, in the undermining of american foundational ideas with liberty, love of god, love of nation, and love of family. during the reagan administration, the working-class abandoned the democratic party and came home to the gop. an accelerated, under president trump and his acts are -- affirmation to make america great again. [applause] mr. wilkerson: it was bill clinton who explicitly dissed any pretense of support for the working class in favor of courting big money, corporate interests. he argued publicly that they have no choice. they'll vote for me anyhow. abandoned them, you do have a choice. there working for class -- the working class are coming home to the conservative movement now. democrat on paper, american at heart. to you, i say, come home to america. we love you and we will not betray you. than

and in early, in [inaudible] maryland, henry [inaudible] douglass was arrested and tried by a military commission for wearing his confederate uniform in public, in other words, for violating his parole. [inaudible] always in which we can see these terms changing. but in west virginia, unionists felt particularly stung by speed and grant's decision which said that rebels could return to west virginia. now, while west virginia's were equally as unhappy about the likes of a potential boost in their midst, they had another reason for being worried. west virginia had been admitted as a state to the union in 1863. but it wasn't clear that this was going to hold. there was a great deal of the year that virginia would reclaim those counties that had left the state, to reclaim them as part of virginia. and if rebels returned and voted, they could potentially chilly out nobody unionists, and the state might in fact we vote to virginia. there were some 18,000 virginians who had fought for the confederacy. now the union [inaudible] of having thousands of paroled confederate returning to state they

that is frederick douglass as much as george washington. can the humanities be saved? if so how? >> i will start. you had me at shakespeare, your version of it. can the humanities be saved? that assumes they are lost and i'm not sure that is the case. beauty will save the world. we live in a world. we are turning instinctively, the humanities, to find something we are missing. universities have increasingly turned in the other direction. if the purpose of the university is job placement, we shouldn't have university. there's a more efficient way to put young people in jobs and make them go through four years of coursework and getting into debt to have their starting job. the purpose of university is additive. as young people are reaching their maturity we have an opportunity to turn them into critical thinkers in a complex way and those prepared to spend life seeking human flourishing. you can't do that without the humanities. life is not a quantitative, it is qualitative. institutionally, higher education is moving away from the humanities. we are not going to let it get far. we

an american slave by frederick douglass. currently reading as she mentioned a minute ago the bible the new international version. harlem shuffle colson whitehead's new book the sweet fly paper of life by roy decar carava and langston hughes beaufort delaney and james baldwin through the unusual door. this is edited by stephen wick swing times by zadie smith and the price of the ticket by james baldwin mr. baldwin's name came up three times. on your list cheryl cash and why is that? well, nobody beats james baldwin is a you know 20th century writer for for me. for the power of his language for the truth-telling it would and and his own emotion and passionate would just jump off off the page, you know. i've worked very very hard fifth book. to be a writer and to be a good writer who's i have literary ambitions and you know, i find myself going back to baldwin and he he was also a writer who was engaged with the civil rights movement engaged with the civil rights of his time. i i try to be so he's inspires me on so many levels,