having research frederick douglass and pretrade frederick douglass >> there will be time for questions. i will let the audience members to know when to stand up and go towards the microphone. prof. levine: i will give a cleric response. douglass was -- a quick response. douglass was an ambassador to haiti in the late 1880's and he will became friendly with haitian leaders. he lost his job because american governmental people thought he was too sympathetic to haiti. and hait tapped him to run the haitian pavilion at the chicago world's. that is a whole different story about douglass. about hait, his interesting political friendships. and the problems of actually being a politician because he could not hold on to the job. >> he started a bank. it didn't do well, but he did start a bank. he really frederick douglass was a rock star. he was like the jimi hendrix of his day. today, everybody wants to be a basketball star or rap star. well, public speaking was that he was the sydney 48, the great actor, as far as his fame. so, a lot of times we do not know that frederick douglass had that ki

a slave, in 19 -- in 1845, he published his most famous work, the narrative of the life of frederick douglass, an american slave. this made him so famous in his own time, he had to flee to great britain or otherwise risk being captured as a fugitive slaves. while in england, ireland and scotland, douglass became an international celebrity as an anti-slavery speaker. british supporters bought him out of slavery in 1846, and in 1847, douglass returned to the united states as a free man. he decided to go to rochester, new york instead of massachusetts because his british supporters had given him money so he could buy a printing press and start an anti-slavery newspaper, which he called "the north star." he did not want to compete with garrison's anti-slavery newspaper, "the liberator," and ." rochester would remain his home base for many years until he relocated to washington, d.c. around 1870. garrison, a white man, was angry at douglas for starting a competing anti-slavery newspaper , and in 1850, the two men publicly broke with each other. this is significant to the 1852 speech which is the f

opposite on the courthouse lawn is a statue of frederick douglass, the great abolitionist from talbot county. i think that is exactly what we want to do, create a dialogue, have people going there and saying, douglas and the monuments to the soldiers are in a dialogue. that is perfect, brilliant idea. i think it is counter monuments right behind the jefferson davis monument on monument avenue, that is a counter monument, the word love. i think these kind of counter monuments invite discussion. obviously there needs to be text associated with the monuments, the jefferson davis monuments in -- on monument avenue in richmond, virginia i think literally makes no reference to slavery. it talks about him as the defender of the rights of states. it in races the idea of -- erases the idea of slavery and slavery as part of the civil war. we say, when this was put up, right at the turn of the 20th century, slavery was being erased from the memory of the civil war and now we know more, so that is the kind of contextualization that invites ongoing discussion. not just yes or no, on or off decisio

the national archives in washington dc will -- host the errtrayal of a speech by forma slave frederick douglass on the meaning of american independence to slaves. following the performance, a discussion is held within actor, a national park ranger, and university of maryland professor, author of "the lives of frederick douglass." this is about 70 minutes. >> it is a pleasure to welcome our guest today who will perform for us shortly. he will moderate our discussion and last but not least, robert s levine from the university of maryland, college park. professor levine has been an source for more than 30 years.

i wanted to weave in some figures were fairly well-known, make sure frederick douglass was in there. but i also wanted to get people in the story who they don't always realize that it was a man named joseph miller who is enslaved in kentucky. by 1864 even though kentucky is still union state the remained in the union, joseph miller runs away and was able to join the army. he insists on bringing the family with him. in the book i weave in some accounts of men who would often join the union army but left their families at home and getting letters from their lot live saying come back and get us. were getting horribly abuse. but joseph miller brings his family with him. he was promised in exchange for his service. his family could remain in camp and they would all have their freedom by november of 1864 union force in kentucky are building barracks for winter quarters. they realize the section of camp for african-americans are the contraband section of camp are going to have to be moved out they decide. they forcibly remove the african-americans had been escaping slavery, coming to this c

>> guest: it means the same thing what it meant to frederick douglass, you know. while you can have the general celebration and everything, we have a different perspective from the african-american community. this was a long history to understand exactly the distinction in terms of the celebration for one community and the kind of lack of observers on the other part of the community. what does it mean to people who have a history of bondage, history of segregation, a history of jim crow is him. you have to understand that kind of sensitivity that might be distinct from one community to another. obviously when you start talking about this history of this country and the role of african-americans in terms of providing that celebration, that's a whole other question. because we been in the forefront of the so-called battle for freedom, justice and liberty in this country from day one, from day one. going back to chris come in terms of the so-called boston massacre, since that moment, and you can look at it across the years, the matter what kind of incident or what ki

i wanted to weave in some figures who are fairly well known, frederick douglass and key figures likethat but also wanted to get people in these stories people don't always realize and one of the most powerful stories is joseph miller who was enslaved in kentucky. by 1864, kentucky is a union state remains in the union, joseph miller runs away and is able to join the army and he insists on bringing family with them. there are accounts of men who went to join the union army but left their families at home and getting letters that you need to get us, we are getting beaten, horribly abused but joseph miller brings his family with and he was promised in exchange for his service his family could remain in camp and would all have their freedom. by november 18, '64 union forces in kentucky are building winter quarters and realized the section of camp where african-americans are, the contraband has to be moved out and they forcibly remove the african-americans who had been in escaping slavery coming to the camp, told they were provided for, forcibly put these individuals in wagons and removed

this statue is in the shadow of frederick douglass' home. there are many demands floating about to do something with that piece. and when lincoln was inaugurated and talked about the sin of slavery. his second inauguration, he looked at a statue of george washington, that was in the plaza of the u.s. capital, for both of his inaugurations, which was even that was taken away. people thought it ludicrous, because washington was bare-chested, they called him georgie in the bath. you can still see it in the national museum of american history in some corner. that used to be in the capital plaza. so these things do change. i don't like destruction, i like context. gary gallagher took edith and me to see a monument in santa fe. a white victory over a native american tribe it sits in a plaza where american indian merchants come and sell their wares. and it had a phrase on it, this is the place where the noble white settlers defeated the savage indians. so the community's response was to take out the word "savage" they just scratched it out. context

you got to keep in mind frederick douglass, what's going on. love is not a plague thing. unbelievable vulnerability willing to take a risk, open yourself, emptying yourself to be of service to the most vulnerable. the underdogs, those who have been trashed, margin alized from imgrants, elderlies, transfolks, and so forth. but i, when you think of amos, and -- >> don't critique me. >> i don't know enough about you, but if i did, i would have something to say. all of us need to be criticized, brother. >> be a voice for the voice. we need to be a voice for the voiceless. yes. >> absolutely. >> we all -- >> we are fallible, though, brother, that's all i'm saying. >> but only voices we're hearing for justice are progressive voices, not conservative voices as well, we won't get the message. what i hope my congregation will do is be radical missionaries who enter both parties and then engage in this democratic process. largely, we are having african-american and hispanics ignored because they don't vote. we don't vote. we don't engage. we don't -- we are not active when in the p

i love what happened in talbot , where on thend courthouse lawn there is a statue of frederick douglass, the great abolitionist. that is exactly what i want to do. we need to create a dialogue. toglass and the monuments confederate soldiers are in dialogue. i think that is a brilliant idea. right behindents, the jefferson davis monument is the word love. there needs to be a sort of text associated with the monuments. the jefferson davis monument in richmond, virginia, make no reference to slavery. him as aabout defender of constitutionalism and the rights of states. idea of slavery having anything to do with the civil war. up, righthis was put at the turn of the 20th century, slavery was being erased from the memory of the civil war. now we know more, and that is the kind of contextualization that invites discussion, not just a yes or no discussion to remove a statue. host: (202) 748-8001 for republicans. (202) 748-8000 for democrats. (202) 748-8002 for independents. our guest is al brophy, university of alabama school of law. moore, illinois. you're up first. caller: good morning. i ag

did he have a relationship with frederick douglass? >> he absolutely did. he and frederick douglass met with secretary of war standon and in fact with president lincoln around trying to lobby to get formerly enslaved men to be included in the union. by the way, also a number of letters back and forth between the two men, some of which are in the exhibit that we have. >> i have a writing process question. i was in tim wendell's class when you talk about the secret rescue and i was just curious how you feel either your voice changed or just your maybe approach to organizing this book changed from your first major piece to this one. >> that's a great question. got my masters degree in writing from johns hopkins and kim tim wen wendell was my thesis adviser and i spoke to your class. the first time you try to write a book you have no idea what you're doing and your editor wants you to have it done bay certain deadline and they're not holding your hand, so i think my experience with -- as bag researcher at national geographic compelled me to make sure i got ever

the district released renderings of the future frederick douglass bridge. this is the design that will replace the 68-year-old bridge that's there now not far from nats park crossing the anacostia. planners expect they'll have this new bridge in place by 2021. >>> now to the latest on the growing north korean threat, president donald trump spoke with reporters today doubling down on his initial tough talk about the rogue nation and its threat to fire missiles at guam, a u.s. territory. >> let's see what he does with guam. if he does something in guam, it will be an event the likes of which nobody has seen before, what will happen in north korea. >> reporter: when you say that, what do yo >> congress has heard enough of the tough talk. "president trump needs to tone down the rhetoric and recognize that words have consequences." in a statement, "he is responsible for preventing any acts of aggression toward our community." >>> the president addressed the opioid crisis. it's a national emergency. families from west hollywood to west virginia know it and presid

obelisk to confederate soldiers and an opposite on the courthouse lawn, there is a statue of frederick douglass, the great abolitionist from talbot county. that is exactly what i want to do. we need to create a dialogue. douglass and the monuments to confederate soldiers are in dialogue. i think that is perfect. i think that is a brilliant idea. counter monuments, right behind the jefferson davis monument is a counter monument, the word love. i think these kinds of counter monuments invite discussion. obviously there needs to be sort of texts associated with the monuments. the jefferson davis monument in richmond, virginia, makes literally no reference to slavery. it talks about him as a defender of constitutionalism and the rights of states. it erases the idea of slavery having anything to do with the civil war. that is i think the perfect place for having contextualization. whenever this was put up, right at the turn of the 20th century, slavery was being erased from the memory of the civil war. now we know more, and that is the kind of contextualization that invites discussion, not just a ye

host a portrayal of a speech by former slave and abolitionist leader frederick douglass on the meaning of american independence to slaves. following the performance, a discussion is held with the actor, a park the ranger and autho

. >> did you ever read frederick douglass you -- a view? even but not for a long time and it remember. but then he says this whole bit about the constitution proslavery is wrong. and that is the incentive to fully enfranchised and as a representation of the house of representatives to make people free. and that causes was the first document in history that contemplates or encourages and to cast does those anti-slavery in all sorts of ways. >> that is an accurate argument in many respects in that it is repugnant because we are a slave holding nation at the time. with that ugly year in american history?. >> one of the greatest things about the document is article five hour founders said we're not smart enough. in bin said here is the up process but did you feel that process is invoked as often as it should be?. >> no. it should be more often to maintain a the legitimacy of the government as we continue to amend that as society changes. rather than gloss over those features we should amend the constitution if we decide who of the federal gover

next, the national archives in washington dc host the portrayal of an 1852 speech by frederick douglass on the meaning of american independence to slaves. following the performance, discussion is held with an andr, national park ranger professor robert levine. this is about 70 minutes. >> now on to our program. it's my pleasure to welcome our three special guests today. johnson, supervisory park , whor here in washington will moderate our discussion ,ater, last but not least robert f levine, distinguished professor from the university of maryland college park. professor levine has been an influential foe

. >>> so frederick douglass is being recognized a year after the civil war ended. and it was republished this morning how to deal with a treacherous president who stood in the way. at the time it was first published, the president was andrew johnson who was sim that a athleticic to the confederate states. douglass's advice to congress was whatever may be tolerated, no republic is safe. the tolerance of prift class, or denies to any of its citizens equal rights and equal means to maintain them. the constitution of the united states amongst the distinction on citizens on account of color. if the constitution knows non, it is clearly no part of the duty of a republican congress now to institute one. >>> claiming a person can't do their job because of a race is the definition of a raist comment. i do absolutely disavow those comments. i think they're wrong. i don't think they're right headed and think thing is something i don't even personally relate to. >> that was probably the high point of house speaker paul ryan's toughness when it comes to donald trump. it came la

hi, david, you're on. >> caller: yes, hi, home of frederick douglass. i have a book called the dred scott case, won a pulitzer prize in 1979. is that book still relevant or are there more up-to-date books that you would recommend? thank you. >> thank you. >> just today i tweeted out that i was rereading farnbalker and i think it is still a treatment of the dred scott case. there are questions that it aligns and among those are the much more human dimensions of the case. the story of the scott family is not one that farnbalker really told in any particular detail. so we know a great deal more about that today. but i would say that still for me, farn balker is a book we go back to. >> it is an excellent text. it captures politics masterfully. the other thing is farn balker continues to write elsewhere, we have an essay written by him more recently in a book that marked the centennial of the dred scott decision and that is available as well. i would say look that book but also look for anything else the man was written. he made a significant contribution t

. >> this mural begins with a quote by frederick douglass about ernest ntion, working hard which is foundationwhat we are as americans. p these were immigrants from italy and freedman from the united states who did this work to create probably the most iconic memorial in washington d.c. >> i thought from the florida avenue across going across the bypass it's a really good view if there. >> 50,000 people aday can see this muriel by riding up and down the red line between rhode island avenue and noma and also our visitors on amtrak or mark or can see at the from the strain stations. >> with all the controversy taking down confederate statues this is amazing statement. >>> this is homage to what it takes to be parts of the history of this country. and what it takes to build. these things don't magically appear on the mall. it's a lot of hard work and lot of craftsmanship and department of general services wanted to honor that. >> it makes me tier up it's amazing i love. it. >> and that is news at 10:30 we have a busy night on final five i'll see you 11:30 with that. sarah and shawn with news at 1

this statue is in the shadow of rhetoric jobless -- the symbolic shadow of frederick douglass's home. there are many ideas about what to do with that piece. when lincoln was inaugurated and talked about the sin of slavery, he looked at a statue of george washington that was in the plaza of the u.s. capitol for both of his inaugurations, which -- even that was taken away. people thought it was ludicrous because washington was bare chested. people called him georgie in the bath. in some corner, it used to be in the capital plaza. i like context. mey gallagher took edith and to see a monument in santa fe, a monument to white victory over the native american tribes. plaza where american indian merchants come and sell their wares and it has a phrase, this is the place where the noble white settlers defeated the savage indians. so, the community's response was to take out the word savage. they just scratched it out. context means a lot, so there is a way to con -- contextualize works of art that people may find disturbing. pressrmichael: i want to more on this. it is more than just works of

in maryland there's a statue of frederick douglass, the great abolitionist who is from talbot alongsideument put up in the early 20th century to con federal soldiers. i think that's exactly the kind of dialogue we want. these statues are almost surely going to come down. nothing so powerless as an idea whose time has passed. they'll come down, but i think there's a danger in taking them down. >> i think the danger in leaving them up is even greater. again, in a neutral atmosphere where we're objective or as fair as possible, the professor's point is salient and combing jent. in the midst of culture where we battle over what those are, martin luther king, junior, couldn't get a birthday until the president of the united states, ronald reagan, begrudgingly signing the legislation said we'll see in 20-some-odd years if he's a communist. if we couldn't agree that martin luther king junior was worthy of celebration of the ideals of this country, we know when we look at robert e. lee or stonewall jackson, what we're arguing this is a manifestation of our ideals. there are a lot of kids who ar

. >>> so frederick douglass is being recognized a year after the civil war ended. it was republished this morning how to deal with a treacherous president who stood in the way. at the time it was first published, the president was andrew johnson who was sim that a athleticic to the confederate states. douglass's advice to congress was whatever may be tolerated, no republic is safe. the tolerance of prift class, or denies to any of its citizens equal rights and equal means to maintain them. the constitution of the united states amongst the distinction on citizens on account of color. if the constitution knows non, it is clearly no part of the duty of a republican congress now to institute one. to prove to you that the better choice for him is aleve. he's agreed to give it up. ok, but i have 30 acres to cover by sundown. we'll be with him all day as he goes back to taking tylenol. yeah, i was ok, but after lunch my knee started hurting again so... more pills. yep... another pill stop. can i get my aleve back yet? for my pain... i want my aleve. get all day minor arth

you can go back and find frederick douglass bitterly complaining about the monuments of robert lee asoing up. there was a vigorous national debate even at that time. >> as poppy pointed out yesterday, when these went up, the turn of the century. >> and the '50s and '60s. the context matters, what was being pushed and what happened in this country. jim crow, civil rights, when they were erected. there was a reason they were erected. >> the president tweeting this morning. >> oh, good. >> publicity seeking lindsey graham falsely stated i said there is moral equivalency between the kkk, neo-nazis and white supremacists. there's a dot, dot, dot because he's going to say something more. let's cut him off at the pass. he did say it. when you say there is wrong on both sides, i know what they're trying to sell now. we're all trying getting phone his supporters. we're saying the people -- they're saying that's moral equivocation. that's wrong. that's what lindsey graham was talking about. >> just because trump did not use the phrase there is a moral equivalency doesn't mean that wasn't the me

about the later period after the whole abolitionist beginning with william lambert, here's frederick douglass comes to detroit, and he meets with john brown. there's a marker of it downtown on, you know, second baptist church was very instrumental in that. >> yeah. >> of course, st. matthews was going to be instrumental later on. we cannot ignore the church, you know are, and this whole coming together in terms of resistance, you know, the whole idea of self-determination? it was coming from a number of church leaders who were affiliated with the abolitionist movement, but no one more pronounced and profound than william lambert. his story, i mean, that would make just a fascinating film -- >> yeah. >> -- to see the kind of stuff he went through, the mystery system that he put together. they had a coding, kind of a secret cold, secret language, you know? they had trained all these individuals on the underground railroad in case you encountered some of those bounty hunters out there. i mean, it's so instructive and later on his involvement with frank matthews' church and his involvement in the

no full-sized stat use of black americans were placed inside the capitol until 2013 when frederick douglass and rosa parks were added. yet confederate soldiers and politicians have been part of the collection for over 100 years. joining me now is bertram hayes davis, a great grandson of jefferson davis who was the president of the confederacy. it's so good to have you on. i've been wanting to have this conversation with you all day. thank you very much. what do these confederate statues represent to you as a direct descendant of the president of the confederacy? >> well, i think the statues represent history. and it's a very interesting position to say that when we look at a statue, it represents the history of the person from birth to death, not just a portion of their life. as we look at monuments to a confederate soldier, they probably represent the soldiers that fought in the civil war and for the south. so they are representative of history and it's important we understand that as we go forward. >> do you think they belong on capitol hill? >> i think they were placed there for a reason

he doesn't know frederick douglass isn't alive.aims he can't release his tax returns because they're under audit, then says he's not going to release them at all. he signs a ban on muslims that he claims isn't a ban on muslims. he compliments the president of the philippines for murdering drug addicts. hours after a terror attack in london he starts a fight with their mayor. after criticizing obama for playing golf he plays golf every weekend. he accidentally shares classified intelligence with the russians. he tweets a typo at midnight, then wakes up and claims it was a secret message. [ laughter ] he praises jim comey in october, calls him a coward in june. he fires him. he lashes out at his own attorney general for recusing himself from an investigation. he hires the mooch, he fires the mooch. he bans the transgendered in the military without telling anyone in the military he's doing it. he plays chicken with kim jong un. and that's just some of the list. if i went through all of it it would be longer than the menu at the cheese

frederick douglass was out there encouraging people to enlist. he had sons who enlisted.t was critical. the role that african-americans ended up playing in the war was critical to the union. brian: what tripped it for the union to allow blacks to come into the service? cate: i think it was part necessity, part -- there were enough people out there, you know, people pushing for a long time for this to happen. but the union also started seeing that the south had an advantage because they had slave labor, and so when the war first started, they had -- slaves were building fortifications. they were doing lots of work. they were giving the south an advantage, and one of the things that smalls did through his heroic act was he convinced a lot of people in the north that african-americans were willing to fight for their freedom. it's hard to imagine, but at that point, a lot of people questioned whether they would. and that's one of the major contributions of smalls is that he became this focal point for people to see that african-americans were willing to do whatever for their

. >> you could be interviewing frederick douglass tonight. [laughter] >> oh, my. oh, my. can you believe it? really, it's -- well, i'm -- i want to restore our recognition of who we and are why we are the way we are, and what we stand for, and i think more and more that as important as grade school, high school, college, universities, advanced degrees, all of that is and essential, maybe as important as any of it is how we're brought up as -- at home. how we were raised to behave. telling the truth, for example. or treating people with kindness. tolerance. empathy. and hard work. i grew up in pittsburgh, pennsylvania, where people not only worked hard but if you were a hard worker, that counted high in how you were appreciated by other people. i remember my father used to say, charlie, he drinks too much but he is a good worker. or, fred, he is a terrible exaggerator and tells stories that it don't quite believe but he is a good worker. if you were a good worker, that forgave all other failings and that's how we got where we are, by working very, very hard. was doing my w

people like frederick douglass who are celebrated now, people thought he was prophetic and the new what he was doing, starting to get more recognition. [laughter] here, if youis out go back and read the literature at that time, a lot of people thought that abolitionists were these crazy individuals, these israel -- ridiculous people. they thought it was not doable, not palatable. clear, -- i want to be clear. i am not making slavery and mass incarceration analogous, but when we look back at individuals who are advocating for what at that time was seen as radically a responsible, public policy initiatives, -- radically irresponsible public policy initiatives, and we look at them now and say man, those people were really ahead of their time. invitedl are not even to this conversation -- these people are not even invited to the conversation, they are seen as not serious, as ridiculous. i think it is a understatement thate historical context exists around questions of abolition and questions of creating a blank slate. these things have been done before, and a want to ensure that certain peo

the only person i could think of is very, very close to buckley, probably frederick doug douglass in the last century. why? he was an editor, a writer. bill buckler was not just columnist. i can't think of any column hiss who founds political moms and political organizations. whenever there's a cause he's out there the founded the american conservative union, founded young americans for freedom. wherever there was a cause he was out there mobilizing. he was a campus politician and many of those traits he brought into the public square, because he was a charismatic personalityive extraordinary sense of air i.r.a. air -- wit. he loved talking to young people. did 70 campuses a year. in this time. and a newspaper column, editing a magazine, running a show. presidents came acourting. people wanted his endorsement. as much as they ever cultivated anybody else. too bad he didn't live a few more years to perfect this skills on the internetment. he master ever form of communication. he would find you, or you would find him, whether it's on your car radio in your newspaper, whether it's watch

with the assertion that all men are created equal, it's therefore significant and in the great frederick douglass tradition, we're having this event on july 3 and not july 4. just before douglass gave his speech, rochester's reverend raymond read the complete text of the declaration of independence. then frederick douglass walked to the stage. ladies and gentlemen, the meaning of july 4th for negro, otherwise known as "what to a slave is the fourth of july?" [applause] >> friends and fellow citizens, he who could address this audience without a quailing sensation, has stronger nerves than i have. i do not remember ever to have appeared before anyone more shrinkingly, nor with greater distrust of my ability, than i do this day. the fact of the matter is, the distance between the platform and the slave plantation from which i escaped is considerable and the difficulties in getting from the latter to the former are by no means slight. that i am here today, to me, is a matter of astonishment as well as of gratitude. with little experience and less learning, i have managed to place my thoughts hastily

that is the history of frederick douglass. >> [laughter] but what is needed with every movement did they say we cannot do anything any more. thinking about those who killed those they were acquitted. in that it is terribly frustrating. and unless you keep up pressure rubber co but the factor is it requires persistence and a lot of time to lose strategizing about different things that you do and because the media will follow you everybody said that'll nation was fixated than people said oh hell. so they also need new people to come in on the campuses to do other stuff. putin then we hate trump and russia then in fact, i am more concerned about north korea. so then they needed new energy to get involved in to keep it going racism is not going away. >> if you think of the free south africa movement they want to make south africa at governor will convert that i did was around investment but it was say proposition and from those of doing business with south africa mezzo to make it ungovernable. so that issue of the imagination that did not have any power. and then to make an ungovernable. thi