it's about anna marie douglass, the wife of frederick douglass. right now, here's another very intriguing and challenging part of this genre. now, anna marie douglass, of course, it's a very real person. she was frederick douglass, his wife of 44 years. but anna remained illiterate all of her life. so we do not have much of anything that anna wrote. we have her her voice to some extent, as spoken about or written about her children or four surviving adult children, and to some extent, commentary about her. but it takes it takes a skilled researcher. i mean, i did some of this for my biography. you have to get at anna, her life, her story through other people and through side doors to her experience. you get at her through the context in which she lived. but she was a truly crucial person in the life of not only frederick douglass, but certainly his family and his is for children. and their 21 grandchildren. and so dinah berry proposed to do this, a short biography of anna marie do now and what and what diana is likely to do. although i don't know,

escape as adult acute wrote the firs his three autobiographies entitled narrative of the life of frederick douglass. it is one of the books that shaped america and our new series starting september 18. next, a conversation on the life of frederick the. -- frederick douglas. >> good evening everyone. i am alex kassl and it is a joy to welcome you to our auditorium. tonight program is a lecture in biography for fall 2018. the lecture was founded in the owner of the late mike glad steen, a man of passion for biography. i would like to thank edith and her family who are with us for their generous support of this lecture series. [applause] as well for their ongoing support. we do two of these per year so keep an eye out for the next lecture in biography. i would like to thank and recognize all the chairman's council members who are with us for their great work and support. i also just learned that we have former governor -- assistant governor david paterson in the audience with us tonight. we would like to recognize and thank him. [applause] alexander: so welcome. tonight's program will last an hour and

the old man summoned things up as life and times of frederick douglass. it's a text that's full of name dropping. he wants you to know all the famous people he knows, the presidency has advised and on and on. for us scholars, it's a go mind of -- a gold mine of stories, events, details. what we know about his relationship with john brown, especially down to the people of the attack. we know from that text. and he revises the third one another time in 1892. the autobiographies are one form, but he mastered the short form political editorial. the political essay for his newspaper. he could write in a very different voice. he could go after a political issue, whether it's the dred scott decision or whatever it is, in just kinda nail it in 400 words. he also wrote these elaborate speeches. as texts. the fourth of july speech is a masterpiece of writing first. there's a letter where he says, i work for three reasons period he says eyelet -- i work longer on this than anything i have ever delivered, and you can tell. if i could ever get him in a room and ask hi

and for frederick douglass to say, for lincoln to say that, impressed frederick douglass very profoundly, as well it might. it wouldn't have sounded out of place in the mouth of a presbyterian minister, say, reflecting on the nation's ordeal of the war. but for a president to say that, it's truly extraordinary. and i think that douglass's understanding of that and how radical it was and how deep it was and how much it reflected his sense of justice and his compassion for blacks, i think is truly remarkable. and therefore that paragraph deserves to be more carefully scrutinized than the more famous final paragraph that immediately follows it. >> thank you for calling our attention to it and thank you for reading it. noah feldman, the second inaugural? >> i strongly agree with michael and his emphasis on that paragraph. i would say that that paragraph amounts to what we would call the political theology of the united states. a political theology is the use of religious ideas, distinctively religious ideals, to explain political events and to give them meaning. i think that what lincoln is

frederick douglass would sayay that. impressive frederick douglass profoundly as well it might. reflecting on the nation's ordeal but for a president to say that is truly extraordinary. i think douglass' understanding of that and how radical it was and how deep it was. i might reflected a sense of justice and its compassion for blacks is truly remarkable. that paragraph deserves to be more carefullysc scrutinized thn the more famous final paragraph that follows it. quick thinking for calling our attention to it and thank you for reading it. andy now the second inaugural progressives agree with this emphasis on that paragraph i've seen that paragraph amount to what we call the political theology of the united states for political theology is the use of religious ideas distinctively religiousal ideaso explain political eventsha and o give them meaning. i think what lincoln is doing is offering a version i would not call a secularized but the theology that's heavily dependent on protestant christian ideas so in this picture slavery could be a real sin. something had to happen. much

lewis henry douglass who was the first sign of frederick at work with h his father as a journali. he was the corresponding secretary and was involved in writing responses about the meeting. emphasize here and emphasized this throughout the book. douglass is not d. is often working with other black activists and that's part of what i really explore in the book. johnson agreed to a meeting with this black delegation because he thought it would go well and serve as good publicity. he had a stenographer named james who is well known as the pioneer in shorthand. he could take wonderful notes. johnson wanted him there because he thought the meeting would go really well in which you once again that is those who are for black people. a transcript of the meeting appeared in a d.c. newspaper that night which is an incredible tribute to the stenographer clephane at a corrected version appears the next morning, at that account for appeared in newspapers around the country. i found it in newspapers in nevada, in california for example. the meeting was basically an effort to get johnson on board

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

johnson joins lincoln at the reception and i'm going to let frederick douglass. tell the story of what happened next. this is from douglas's 1881 life and times of frederick douglas. so it's about 16 years. later. i was standing in the crowd when mr. lincoln touched mr. johnson appointed me out to him the first expression which came to his face in which i think was the true index of his heart was one of bitter contempt and aversion. seeing that i observed him. he tried to assume a more friendly appearance, but it was too late. it is useless to close the door when all within has been seen. his first glance was the frown of the man. the second was the bland and sickly smile of the demagogue. i turned to this is dorsey douglas is cool, my friend and said whatever andrew johnson may be he certainly is no friend of our race. it's it's a great passage. douglas is a great writer. i am an english professor and i like the metaphor of this idea of a door. sorry. let me go back. oh the door opening and closing showing johnson's true feelings the thing i want to emphasize abo

ocber 9, the life of frederick douglass. common law by oliver wendell october 23, advs of huckleberry finn by mark twain. the neday night, my a byill look out there. their eyes were watching, ee tohoos a personal statement by milton rose and finally we conclude the words of cesar chavez on november 28. books that shaped america starts september 18. well, we are still live at the national book festival. the 23rd time in a row that book tv has been here and we have a couple more hours of coverage. in a few minutes you will be hearing from authors talking about black writing and identity. after that, food and culture. we have two more guests coming to the such. one is chasten buttigieg. i have something to tell you is the name of his book followed by doug brinkley who has written a number of books on everything historical. we will talk to him about the ark of history. in the meantime, we want to show you another author. this was beverly gage. she had a pulitzer prize-winning book out this year about hoover and the fbi. here she

dramatically describing this convention in his 1881 license with frederick douglass.da facing down andrew johnson. but facing down the republican. i do not think that johnson supported the performances. actually douglas, johnson became much more reactionary by the end of 1865. i will just say by way of conclusion that when johnson went on the road in 1869 attempting to become a congressman, must have had the vote and suddenly he needed them all of these speeches that he gives, about his internal lipstick as you can be. you can also say he is kind of needy. he wants love. and yet he is doing the worst possible things to black people while he is president. the irony is, precisely because he is, they had to speed up the passage and ratification of the amendment. by 1870, ulysses s grant is president. onthe question is, where did things go wrong? it is not just about johnson. when you talk about reconstruction in the black perspective you get a larger sent of the white racism everywhere. douglas was one of the great fighters against that racism to a time of his death. and

that was, it's a long time between that and frederick douglass. what richard wright did was bring some of the same emotions, feelings the repercussions of what had happened with frederick douglass. so many writers especially in the african-american tradition talk about the impact of that book. in fact, desmond ward one of the authors at the book festival said when she was like i didn't learn about this in school. i didn't know about some of this. that book had quite a bit of influence. host: one of my original lists that i created, it was all more contemporary authors. we made the determination and this is how the library broke it up as well, if the year increments. -- 50 year increments. we chose to books from each 50 years. that made it hard, because there were so many in the last 40 years that we are all familiar with. roots, barry my heart at wounded knee. we could have chosen those and it would be easy but this is a history series so we wanted to go through history and that's why we chose two of them from each 50 year increments. let's hear f

frederick douglass and other african-americans turned on him more quickly. they compared him to the president of the confederacy and warned the games of the civil war were on the verge of being lost because of the treachery. douglas and other black activists believed that something needed to be done and that takes us to douglas' second meeting february 7th, 1866. .. these are two members of the group. george downing was a black activist. he was at restaurant tour from rhode island that moved to washington d.c. he had become friends with charles' arbiter. he got the job of being in charge of the. he was the leader of the group. dallas was the first son of frederick and ana. i had worked with his father as a journalist. he was the corresponding secretary was involved in writing responses about the meeting. and one thing i want to emphasize here and i emphasize this throughout the book it. he's not acting alone. an activist and part of what i really explore. the he was going to serve as publicity. he had a sonographer, who is a well-known as a pioneer in shorth

lots of people know about lincoln's interaction with frederick douglass because douglas described him in his out of artifice in some detail. but little has been done about lincoln's interaction with other black people. and so thanks to the enormous utility of modern databases i was able to take up a lot of new information. everything i've written needs to be updated thanks to these databases. and so what i have found is that both in springfield andnd in washington lincoln interacted with large number of black people, all of them commented on how respectful he was, how kind and how generous, and it wasn't just courtesy but also gestures and actions based on appeals that they made that indicates to my way of thinking that lincoln was an instinctive racial egalitarian. >> fast dating. thank you so much for that thank you for calling our attention to the tremendous significance of digitized primary texts which have indeed transformed the struggle research and understanding of lincoln. no fret -- noah feldman you said the constitution was broken as you put in the "new york times," lincoln

and it was to deal with the and calls people of color, it's a negative and thought frederick douglass the one who she's new and told her what was wrong with that. many of the people in my community for all the work to did. they were very good friends in spite of that. they learn about that because they were lost in the home for a period of time and he did her eulogy. so it was an enduring relationship but there was one that was tone deaf to the original sin of racism and where it fits that is something that has to be on that. to participate in women's groups, you've got to believe. the monument officers by our commission of the essential part there is no statute of women. it would be a statute of women and was originally at the last moment and decided that was enough. and it was a certainty and they have the upkeep of the statute they have the names of all the other suffragists they had at the time. now we have women in this central area. for me, when i heard there were no statute of women, at least that is one thing when i got right so i found out they were going to go ahead with it

hoxie mentioned frederick douglass. who are some of the other important characters in your narrative? >> there are a lot of people across the board from abolitionist lecturers, black activists who come in and out of the story. i have already partner who i worked with. -- i have a writing partner that i worked with. she said it is like in the ordinary movie, you would have -- in the mainstream, hollywood movie you would have seen over the last number of years, you would have henry daniel webster. where more recently, frederick douglass at the center of the story. now, these characters get walk on roles. that is how i like to see them. some of them come in and out, they are great lecturers. they kind of show the craft of telling the story and what it means to live a life and freedom in the north and overseas. it is the president of the united states and secretary of state, daniel webster figuring out how they would try to help recapture this. there international celebrities that get another craft abroad. lots and lots of

the final paragraph as one people know best, frederick douglass and that speech i mentioned, the markableagraph is one that you can start off with jesus. the defenses, but by whom the offense comes? and it comes. passing through time to remove and goes north and south by whom the offense came so any departure by those divine attributes always ascribed to him. we pray this gourmet speedily cost away but if god wills it continue until 250 years total to the paid going so it must be together and it is truly remarkable and reveals his commitment to racial equality and the address of the president something to the effect having enslaved black people in the war has gone so long because he is heavily balanced, 250 years of colonel and income was generated by that equal to the wages to be displayed in the war was incredibly letting will and there were 150,000 is is seven and a half million men will was just thewa pope of the and it ws extraordinary for him later to say that it was profound. it would not have sounded out of place for the minister to say this but for a president to say that is trul

frederick douglass gained his credentials. it is not coincidental the people that participated in the movement chose what is known as the freedom church to a large social justice agenda soso i thk that there needs to be some concentration on that but more particularly more recently i was at a meeting where most of the delegates to the meeting were women. there were three women vying for office and maybe half a dozen men ando there were two positios available but no women were e elected. there is also the issue of women still not being comfortable voting for other women, and i think that that needs to be more fully explored by those that come next. as for the harriet tubman home and at the national park, we use our naturalization ceremony to amplify women's suffrage and let them know people fought very hard to have the vote and why it was important for them to participate fully. in previous times, the league of women voters used to be there to give out information to help begin the educational process. i know i'm taking a lot o

. >> frederick douglass came by language when he was a slave. he continued over and over in his free life after he escapes from slavery and you have to remember he lives 20 years a slave than another seven years as a fugitive slave until his british friends bought his freedom. he is always in those years the 1840's and 1850's even into the civil war years trying to perfect hiwriting style, his craft. >> from the c-span archives tonight on c-span. be sure to watch the new series s that shaped america in congress beginning monday,f september 18. live at 9:. eastern on c-span, c-span now, or online at c-span.org. c-spanshop.org is the online store. browse through products, apparel, oaks, home to core, and accessories. there is something for everyone and sales help support our nonprofit operation. this year book tv marks 25 years of shining a spotlight on leading nonfiction authors and their books. from author talks, interviews, and festivals. book tv has provided viewers with a front row

recalls the life and writings of a former slave and order frederick douglass. >> frederick douglass came by language when he was a slave. he continued over and over in his free life after he escaped from slavery and you have to remember, he lives 20 years slave and another seven years as fugitive slave until his british friends bought his freedom. he is always in those years the 1840's and 1850's and even into the civil war years trying to perfect hisng style, his craft. >> from the c-span archives tonight on c-span. be sure to watch the series books that shaped america in partnership with trary of congress beginning monday, september 18 live at 9:00 p eastern on c-span, c-span now, or online at c-span.org. >> the federalist is one of the new series.s america in our a college president taught a class about the development of the u.s. constitution. he talks about the aim of the federalist papers. >> good evening, welcome to class number two of our study. last week, we looked at the history a brief look at history that led to the drafting of the constitution. i want to talk about that. as

and he quotes frederick douglass here education means emancipation.and he he believes that misconstruing. so what happens just really quick? the court upholds a voucher program where you can use vouchers for community schools, magnet schools, private schools and and other religious schools. and that's the hook that the union others challenge it on is believe that using it for catholic schools and schools violates establishment clause just. thomas points out in a number of ways in a writing how it would contorting the establishment clause say a parent's choice is governed by that in really simple terms. and what i mean by that is the voucher was such that the money the voucher went to the parents to use as they saw fit. and one other thing i should mention is, they could also choose to get a voucher not send their kids out of public schools, but use it for tutoring. so the program was aimed to really the educational opportunity cities for cleveland kids and give their parent a say and in fact they created a twitter page for the book. it's called the pe

in 1845 slavery still divided the country but former slave frederick douglass's autobiography further the cause of abolition. as our nation a matured, books and ideas continued to shape our nation from huckleberry finn to the harlem renaissance. these are the ideas that shaped america. join in the conversation with comments at c-span. books that take you down the mississippi river to the open prairies of nebraska into the pacific coast. books that examine free-market capitalism and workers strikes. books that shaped america. lived for 10 weeks, monday night at 9:00 eastern on c-span, c-span.org, and c-span radio, starting september 18. >> c-span is your unfiltered view of government. brought to you by and more. including spark life. clicks the greatest town on earth is a place you call home. right now we are all facing our greatest challenge. that is why sparklight is working around the clock to keep you connected. we are doing our part so is easier to do yours. >> sparklight supports c-span as a public service along with these other television providers. giving you a front row seat t

. >> frederick douglass came by language when he was a slave.e continued over and over in his free life after he escaped from slavery and you have to remember, he lives 20 years slave and another seven years as fugitive slave until his british friends bought his freedom. he is always in those years the 1840's and 1850's and even into the civil war years trying to perfect hisng style, his craft. >> from the c-span archives tonight on c-span. be sure to watch the series books that shaped america in partnership with trary of congress beginning monday, september 18 live at 9:00 p eastern on c-span, c-span

as a result, you had hbcus and a role movement -- a real movement like with frederick douglass to build on that. but then his vision eventually entered and took a step back. host: you pointed out that writers at the time, frederick douglass was one of them, that reconstruction was not only about rebuilding the south, restoring rights to african-american citizens, but about rebuilding the nation. guest: yes. we pitted poor whites against poor blacks with the start of jim crow. not having access as a citizen. that is where we were at for almost a hundred years until the civil rights movement. then you had a switch from more of dependence on government programs. we are saying there is a very new wants approach between public sector and private sector and we think there should be as much of an investment in civil society. host: chris, you wrote in t book that the simple question that stands out is, what is the plan for these disenfranchised communities? the question for the conservative movement is, how do we address it in a meaningful way that is consistent with conservative ideals? do you

we did not know sojourner truth and frederick douglass personally.derick douglass is a statue from the district of columbia. not yet the state but nonetheless that still makes very, doctor mcleod bethune the first. again a real tribute to the state of florida. what an honorn, for us all. now, since, well, you have to know about kathy castor. relentless, persistent, constant optimistic, created in every way. and as members knew what kathy was up to, they were all sharing their stories, especially when we announced the unveiling of the statue. barbara lee told us that her mother worked with dr. mary mcleod bethune. where is joyce beatty? i saw her a minute ago. a her grandmother, or your mom? okay, so her family for a number of generations worked there. and i'm sure many other members will have their stories about their association. again, since the announcement of the statue the members have been identifying themselves. she had many friends, whether she realized it or not. there are many people associating themselves with her. and how poetic that doct

you have allies from the beginning, frederick douglass is the one who stood up in seneca calls when it look like elizabeth cady stanton's revolution for women for vote wasn't going to pass and his words were the ones that convinced the rest of the people that they should go ahead and vote for it and it passed the day and that's why we talk about that being the beginning of the savage movement thanks to that first hour, frederick douglass and you find men throughout the entire course but especially at the end. once you have the vote in congress it comes down to the wire. there were four pronged suffrage congressman brought in on stretchers, including theater systems of tennessee, he broke his shoulder but refused to have it set. he stayed there in great pain because he wanted to make the other people feel guilty to vote i the one that always gets me is frederick x of new york. he came down from the deathbed of his wife who was an ardent suffragist, cast his vote, turned around and goes back to her funeral and the thing is that time in 1918 italy passed by one vote. they needed every sin

effect for the most famous african-american leaders in the 19th century really of all times, frederick douglassveral speeches we spoke about african-americans might find land of peace in the west and how the states should support this endeavor financially. but to support this appeal, douglas immigrated native americans so it is speech to the american enterprise the city of 1869, douglas estes. negro is like a white man in the indian and the taste and tendencies in this position to accept civilization. the union rejects our civilization and it is not filled with the negro coming he remains with you under all circumstances and slavery and it freedom. now here we can see the clear dichotomy be made between african-americans and white americans in one hand and native americans on the other hand in the first native americans are on the bedside the uncivilized side. and really joining african-american goals behavior with the white people are civilizations heard in another earlier speech, for the landless. and the people of the national domain was an enterprising and intelligent and race of immigrants

then another experience of this chaos with frederick douglass is when he is beaten by an overseer and he runs away, he runs into the woods, but he encounters a prophet slash priest slash medicine man who then tells him that, you know, you know, a child of god. i'm going give you some right here. you wear this over on the left side and you go back and you tell that overseer you are a child of god and you went back and told him he beat them for hours and said, i'm a child of god don't you ever beat me again? which an incredible thing for this enslaved african to say that i am a human being. and he continues on with moments every time that there was a moment of chaos. he i'm going to employ for my good if there is something that explodes gnashing ailey i'm going to use it to community create the suffering of my people and douglass was a genius at dealing with issues of chaos and the black struggle over and over again, chaotic moments. and yet we come up with these times to be able to demonstrate how we can operate at a different level in this nation. that's the black tradition. the black

one of the most famous african-american leaders of the 19th century and really ryabout time, frederick douglass several speeches were he spoke about how african-american's my prevent piece of the west now the united states should support this endeavor financially but to support this appeal, integrating native american so this speech of the american antislavery society in 1869, douglas said this, and erupts more like the way men in the indian in his taste and tendencies his position to accept civilization in the andean reset projects or civilization is not filled with vapor new york they lets you remains with you no matter under slavery and in freedom. and now here, we can see a clear dichotomy made between african-americans and white americans i would have to have the native americans on the what other native americans are the outside and the uncivilized side.. really joining african-american schools and behaviors with white people and they are civilization hurried another earlier speech from landless, douglas. and people of the national domain were in surprising intelligence race of immigrants

what real frederick douglass actually said about america in his famous speech, what to the slave is the nation on the earth guilty of practices more shocking and bloody than are the people of the united states at this very hour. and for it is not light that is needed but fire. it is not the gentle shower but thunder. we need the storm, the whirlwind, and the earthquake. but that speech with douglass's actual words probably would be banned in florida too because why teach accurate history when you can teach the watered down conservative version of it. what's even more ironic is as conservatives argue that teaching about gay people and the atrocities of slavery is indoctrination, here is how prager himself described his fake university's content at a moms for liberty conference last month. >> i really wanted to hear what evidence do you have that i am despicable. so it was fascinating, i spent at least ten minutes there until i just had to come in here, and all i heard was, well, because you indoctrinate kids. which is true, we bring doctrines to children. that's a very fair statement. i