Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass

by Freedman, Russell

• ISBN13: 9780547385624
• ISBN10: 0547385625
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2012-06-19
• Publisher: Clarion Books

Summary

From Newbery medalist Russell Freedman, a clear-sighted account of two surprisingly parallel lives and how they intersected at a critical moment in US history. Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass were both self-taught, both great readers and believers in the importance of literacy, both men born poor who by their own efforts reached positions of power and prominence--Lincoln as president of the United States and Douglass as the most famous and influential African American of his time.Douglass, an impassioned spokesman for racial justice, thought President Lincoln wasn't addressing issues of race soon enough or firmly enough, but came to respect and admire him. For his part, Lincoln agreed with much of what Douglass argued for--but he had a war to win and a nation to reunite, and had to make changes when and how he could. The lives of these extraordinary men and the details of their brief friendship are narrated against the backdrop of race relations and politics before and during the Civil War. Includes about 70 archival photographs, bibliography, source notes, and index.