i wonder why frederick douglas. anyway, stephen douglas. was reinforcing white supremacy and lincoln was doing what he could to shake his population his his constituents loose of that by just reminding them of something they knew in their heart of hearts that black people had the same rights as white people because guess what they're people i'll point out that that 1853 law if an african-american moved into the state of illinois the free state of illinois got arrested and fined. 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 debt was paid and we think about the free state of illinois for is not really free in the way that we would normally think edna. i want to come over to you. we see changes in lincoln's policies and positions over the course of his political career. can you talk about that evolution? and how do we account for it? it's great that you started with the lincoln douglas debates of 58 because when we talk about that evolution over time, we usually st

frederick douglas made reference to lincoln. he always quoted that divine reparations sentence. the one about the 200 years of unrequited toil and every drop of blood drawn with the lash being. paid by another drone with the sword i think in a way that is what is offered to to african-americans. it is an admission of the nation's guilt. it's an acknowledgment that god was all along on the side of the slave. 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 a

supporters of abortion protesting against the decision of the court climbed to the very top of the frederick douglase in the american capital, launched a smoke bomb there, walked around with a flag. and at the same time, he called on everyone on the internet to join his protest , but there were no volunteers, but the police throughout the country are preparing for possible riots. aleksey veselovsky abramov vladimir voprinsky. irina chernysheva is us tv proms have begun in russia . happy holiday 11 graders congratulated president vladimir putin wished the schoolchildren to find their own path in life, which would reveal their talents and abilities. the head of state expressed confidence that the graduates set the highest bar for themselves, regardless of what profession they choose. when graduations are celebrated all over the country and festivals are held in the regions on the eve of youth day, i want to say something very important for you, today's schoolchildren . we have to create, create the future history of russia, make significant discoveries, set new records inspire others with your achieve

this is how you force power to consume. frederick douglas, said it years ago, power concedes nothing without a demand. never has never will do. i think it's realistic that they will restore abortion rights if we set home hell know, do i think if we come out and raise but he held the majority of us one in for women who has had an abortion. all the women and the men and the doctors, remember that galley dance for close lives before 1973, all the young people in fear for their future. if we flood these streets and don't go home. absolutely, we can compel them to restore legal abortion on demand across the country and nothing less than that is acceptable. miss taylor, thank you so much for your insight. i definitely appreciate you and obviously this is an emotional moment for activists on both sides. we have one group celebrating behind me and we were one group. i was back there talking to them, many of them so they just simply couldn't speak. they were too sad or they were too ang that he give us some bark ground. but what led up to this ruling? well, well, what lead right to this rulin

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. >> 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 you started with the lincoln douglass debate. >> when we talk about th

lincoln prize winning biography a few years ago frederick douglass has moved back to the front of the conversation. so i want to i want to talk about douglas a little bit and maybe use some of the last of our time to to dig deep on frederick douglass and abraham lincoln. now they may have had the most controversial relationship. i think of any african-american historical figure and lincoln. i've i've seen the exact same quotes from douglas used to prove that douglas liked lincoln or douglas hated lincoln, right? so before we talk about the specific meetings or anything like that, can you tell us about what do what do we think or what have we thought about douglas and lincoln and why has that been so controversial? that's a great question. i think a lot of what we think about douglas and lincoln comes from douglas's speech at the dedication of the lincoln statue in washington dc which of course has gotten a lot of media in the last two years is the one that shows lincoln towering over an enslaved man who's rising up from bondage and it was paid for entirely by former slaves started off by charlotte scott a slave from lynchburg, virginia who

as i mentioned before, gregory douglas -- frederick douglass, booker t. washington, demonstrated how important it is to take the handcuffs off. host: eric and washington, d.c. good morning. caller: good morning. this gentleman had a good -- a book, you get your money the best way you can. but, what i get is, we -- he keep thinking we keep blaming people for -- it is not happening, but it is. tell stash stop telling me the sky is dark but it is blue. i am 60 years old. i am not going to degrade you, i do not care how you get your cash. let's give a real example. in washington, d.c. area, there was a predominantly white community. as soon as other folks started moving in, guess where they went. they went across the bridge. the same as d.c., i blame our people because what we have to do is stand up. we are standing up for ourselves. we are asked some angst can be rate -- right. stop using the black men in the house crap. so what if a lot of people do not have fathers in the house. he may not be in the house, but he is in the -- his life. he may not be in the

how dare frederick douglass have the same last name as steven douglas. i couldn't put their last names in the title. so i thought that describes them both. abraham lincoln frederick douglass and their battle to save america soul to make us a more perfect union to get the 13 states together. we got to make certain compromises then we had to beat the british. we did both but it put off a problem that had to be dealt with we thought would sunset the 1820s that went right to the 1860s all throughout time. we had great people stand up and lead us and sometimes for the most unlikely circumstances andrew jackson and orphan kid in the midwest. this guy should have been a criminal he ends up being a war hero two-term president and dominate 50 years of american politics, you take lincoln and douglas their their way they started and when he ended up, you would never predicted either one would be the people to save our country, but i would argue they did but can i take a step back a little and talk about where i started at fox? you guys been watching me a fox. so doe

well grant was spoused by frederick douglass even more than douglas espous lincoln. doug frederick douglass campaigned for grant in both 1868 and 1872 and i'm reminded of the story that at the end of the election in 1872 a group of african americans from philadelphia came to the white house and they said they wanted to come to thank president grant what they said was you are the first president elected by the whole people you represent finally that epitome of our republican values. well grant responded and he said well i fully empathize with what you're saying. it seems to me that every person should have a right to travel on any conveyance railroad that they want and then he made this really remarkable statement, but i believe that every american should have the right to vote. because when ron talks about the ku klux klan, they're real effort was to stop the voting. this was voter suppression. this is a white terrorist organization to stop voter suppression of why because they would vote republican. they would vote 80 to 90 percent republican. so grant then goes on t

frederick sees. >> the whole story is progress takes patience. douglas should have been angry at the lack of progress, pushing lincoln to move as quickly as possible but at the same time you have to admire and respect lincoln's patients. >> the white house looks like it did in 1860 whenlincoln was president . you could line up on that horse and hope the president would see you one-on-one. that's what frederick douglass decided to you. >> lincoln was smitten with douglas. he knew that he carried some baggage with them politically but you wanted to meet douglas. >> after the meeting bond was formed. lincoln released the emancipation proclamation. douglas recruited blacks into the army for the first time. the most a six unit 54th massachusetts in infantry. >> including his own two sons who served. how important the american flag was. what shocked him was africans americans holding the flag, he didn't want to touch the soil. it was so important to use a flag to defend our nation. >> lincoln and douglas would meet a total of three times and together helped li

as i mentioned before, gregory douglas -- frederick douglass, booker t.n, demonstrated how important it is to take the handcuffs off. host: eric and washington, d.c. good morning. caller: good morning. this gentleman had a good -- a book, you get your money the best way you can. but, what i get is, we -- he keep thinking we keep blaming people for -- it is not happening, but it is. tell stash stop telling me the sky is dark but it is blue. i am 60 years old. i am not going to degrade you, i do not care how you get your cash. let's give a real example. in washington, d.c. area, there was a predominantly white community. as soon as other folks started moving in, guess where they went. they went across the bridge. the same as d.c., i blame our people because what we have to do is stand up. we are standing up for ourselves. we are asked some angst can be rate -- right. stop using the black men in the house crap. so what if a lot of people do not have fathers in the house. he may not be in the house, but he is in the -- his life. he may not be in the same hous

>> so, you do see quite an art of change in the relationship between frederick douglass and abraham lincoln. and as you say, douglas changed? >> yes, very much so. >> not just the evolution of lincoln. >> yes, yes. >> yes. well, we have a few minutes left here. still, way too much stuff i want to talk about. but that means that you folks at home, reading "a house built by slaves", and really read this remarkable book. i want to take a minute and do a straightforward plug, for, to address you as my friend. this is a different book that you wrote last year and these two books really to go together can you tell us a little bit about, and your role in this book, officially as an editor. but more than most edited collections, there's a lot of new information, analysis in this book. so briefly tell us a little bit about how "to address you as my friend" brings us to "a house built by slaves". both of them i guess are about interactions? >> yes. i found that about 125 letters from african americans to lincoln. and most of these letters have never before appeared in print. these very famous, large volumes of freedom, south