Frederick Douglass : Selected Speeches and Writings

by Unknown

• ISBN13: 9781556523496
• ISBN10: 1556523491
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Trade Book
• Copyright: 1999-09-01
• Publisher: Chicago Review Press

Summary

One of the greatest African American leaders and one of the most brilliant minds of his time, Frederick Douglass spoke and wrote with unsurpassed eloquence on almost all the major issues confronting the American people during this life -- from the abolition of slavery to women's rights, from the Civil War to lynching, from American patriotism to black nationalism. But no substantial one-volume collection of his speeches and writings has ever been published before now. Between 1950 and 1975, Philip S Foner collected the most important of Douglass's hundreds of speeches, letters, articles and editorials into an impressive five-volume set, now long out of print. Abridged, adapted, and supplemented with several important texts that Foner did not include, Frederick Douglass: Selected Speeches and Writings presents the most significant, insightful, and elegant short works of Douglass's massive oeuvre.

Author Biography

Philip S. Foner wrote and edited over 100 books, including The Black Panthers Speak, The History of Black Americans, and the 10-volume The History of the Labor Movement in the United States. Yuval Taylor edited I Was Born a Slave: An Anthology of Classic Slave Narratives; as editor of Lawrence Hill Books, he directs The Library of Black America series. He lives in Chicago.

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION	xi	(6)
Yuval Taylor
PREFACE	xvii
Philip S. Foner
Part One: From 1841 to the Founding of The North Star	1	(88)
The Church and Prejudice, speech delivered at the Plymouth Church Anti-Slavery Society, December 23, 1841	3	(1)
To William Lloyd Garrison, November 8, 1842	4	(4)
The Folly of Our Opponents, The Liberty Bell, 1845	8	(2)
My Slave Experience in Maryland, speech before the American Anti-Slavery Society, May 6, 1845	10	(4)
To William Lloyd Garrison, September 1, 1845	14	(3)
To William Lloyd Garrison, January 1, 1846	17	(3)
To William Lloyd Garrison, January 27, 1846	20	(4)
To Francis Jackson, January 29, 1846	24	(3)
To Horace Greeley, April 15, 1846	27	(3)
An Appeal to the British People, reception speech at Finsbury Chapel, Moorfields, England, May 12, 1846	30	(10)
To Samuel Hanson Cox, D.D., October 30, 1846	40	(9)
To Henry C. Wright, December 22, 1846	49	(5)
Farewell Speech to the British People, at London Tavern, London, England, March 30, 1847	54	(21)
The Right to Criticize American Institutions, speech before the American Anti-Slavery Society, May 11, 1847	75	(8)
To Thomas Van Rensselaer, May 18, 1847	83	(3)
Bibles for the Slaves, The Liberty Bell, June, 1847	86	(3)
Part Two: From the Founding of The North Star to the Compromise of 1850	89	(62)
To Henry Clay, The North Star, December 3, 1847	91	(6)
What of the Night? The North Star, May 5, 1848	97	(2)
"Prejudice Against Color," The North Star, May 5, 1848	99	(2)
The Rights of Women, The North Star, July 28, 1848	101	(2)
The Revolution of 1848, speech at West India Emancipation Celebration, Rochester, New York, August 1, 1848	103	(8)
To Thomas Auld, September 3, 1848	111	(6)
An Address to the Colored People of the United States, The North Star, September 29, 1848	117	(5)
The Blood of the Slave on the Skirts of the Northern People, The North Star, November 17, 1848	122	(3)
Colonization, The North Star, January 26, 1849	125	(2)
The Constitution and Slavery, The North Star, February 9, 1849	127	(2)
The Constitution and Slavery, The North Star, March 16, 1849	129	(5)
To H. G. Warner, Esq., The North Star, March 30, 1849	134	(3)
Comments on Gerrit Smith's Address, The North Star, March 30, 1849	137	(4)
Colorphobia in New York! The North Star, May 25, 1849	141	(2)
To Capt. Thomas Auld, Formerly My Master, September 3, 1849	143	(3)
Government and Its Subjects, The North Star, November 9, 1849	146	(2)
The Destiny of Colored Americans, The North Star, November 16, 1849	148	(3)
Part Three: From the Compromise of 1850 to the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854	151	(122)
Henry Clay and Slavery, The North Star, February 8, 1850	153	(3)
At Home Again, The North Star, May 30, 1850	156	(2)
A Letter to the American Slaves, The North Star, September 5, 1850	158	(5)
Lecture on Slavery, No. 1, delivered in Corinthian Hall, Rochester, New York, December 1, 1850	163	(7)
To Gerrit Smith, Esqr., January 21, 1851	170	(3)
Change of Opinion Announced, The Liberator, May 23, 1851	173	(1)
To Gerrit Smith, Esqr., May 21, 1851	174	(2)
The Free Negro's Place Is in America, speech delivered at National Convention of Liberty Party, Buffalo, New York, September 18, 1851	176	(2)
Freedom's Battle at Christiana, Frederick Douglass' Paper, September 25, 1851	178	(5)
On Being Considered for the Legislature, Frederick Douglass' Paper, October 30, 1851	183	(1)
Extract from a Speech at Providence, Frederick Douglass' Paper, December 11, 1851	184	(1)
Hon. Horace Greeley and the People of Color, Frederick Douglass' Paper, January 29, 1852	185	(2)
Horace Greeley and Colonization, Frederick Douglass' Paper, February 26, 1852	187	(1)
The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro, speech at Rochester, New York, July 5, 1852	188	(18)
The Fugitive Slave Law, speech to the National Free Soil Convention at Pittsburgh, August 11, 1852	206	(4)
To Gerrit Smith, Esqr., November 6, 1852	210	(1)
A Call to Work, Frederick Douglass' Paper, November 19, 1852	211	(2)
To Harriet Beecher Stowe, March 8, 1853	213	(6)
The Heroic Slave, Autographs for Freedom, 1853	219	(28)
The Black Swan, Alias Miss Elizabeth Greenfield, Frederick Douglass' Paper, April 8, 1853	247	(1)
The Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin, Frederick Douglass' Paper, April 29, 1853	248	(2)
The Present Condition and Future Prospects of the Negro People, speech at annual meeting of the American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society, New York City, May 11, 1853	250	(10)
The Claims of Our Common Cause, address of the Colored Convention held in Rochester, July 6-8, 1853, to the People of the United States	260	(11)
A Terror to Kidnappers, Frederick Douglass' Paper, November 25, 1853	271	(2)
Part Four: From the Kansas-Nebraska Act to the Election of Abraham Lincoln	273	(150)
The Word "White," Frederick Douglass' Paper, March 17, 1854	275	(1)
The End of All Compromises with Slavery--Now and Forever, Frederick Douglass' Paper, May 26, 1854	275	(2)
Is It Right and Wise to Kill a Kidnapper? Frederick Douglass' Paper, June 2, 1854	277	(4)
Anthony Burns Returned to Slavery, Frederick Douglass' Paper, June 9, 1854	281	(1)
The Claims of the Negro Ethnologically Considered, address delivered at Western Reserve College, July 12, 1854	282	(16)
The Kansas-Nebraska Bill, speech at Chicago, October 30, 1854	298	(13)
The Anti-Slavery Movement, lecture delivered before the Rochester Ladies' Anti-Slavery Society, March 19, 1855	311	(21)
To Hon. Chas Sumner, April 24, 1855	332	(1)
The True Ground upon Which to Meet Slavery, Frederick Douglass' Paper, August 24, 1855	333	(2)
The Final Struggle, Frederick Douglass' Paper, November 16, 1855	335	(1)
To Gerrit Smith, May 23, 1856	336	(2)
Fremont and Dayton, Frederick Douglass' Paper, August 15, 1856	338	(4)
The Do-Nothing Policy, Frederick Douglass' Paper, September 12, 1856	342	(2)
Peaceful Annihilation of Slavery Is Hopeless, quoted by William Chambers, American Slavery and Colour, New York, 1857	344	(1)
The Dred Scott Decision, speech delivered before American Anti-Slavery Society, New York, May 14, 1857	344	(14)
West India Emancipation, speech delivered at Canandaigua; New York, August 3, 1857	358	(11)
Resolutions Proposed for Anti-Capital Punishment Meeting, Rochester, New York, October 7, 1858	369	(3)
Capt. John Brown Not Insane, Douglass' Monthly, November, 1859	372	(4)
To the Rochester Democrat and American, October 31, 1859	376	(3)
To Helen Boucaster, December 7, 1859	379	(1)
The Constitution of the United States: Is It Pro-Slavery or Anti-Slavery? speech delivered in Glasgow, Scotland, March 26, 1860	379	(11)
To My British Anti-Slavery Friends, May 26, 1860	390	(2)
The Chicago Nominations, Douglass' Monthly, June, 1860	392	(4)
To James Redpath, Esq., June 29, 1860	396	(1)
To William Still, July 2, 1860	397	(1)
The Prospect in the Future, Douglass' Monthly, August, 1860	398	(3)
The Presidential Campaign of 1860, speech at celebration of West India Emancipation, August 1, 1860	401	(12)
The Late Election, Douglass' Monthly, December, 1860	413	(4)
Speech on John Brown, delivered in Tremont Temple, Boston, December 3, 1860	417	(6)
Part Five: From Secession to the Emancipation Proclamation	423	(92)
Dissolution of the American Union, Douglass' Monthly, January, 1861	425	(4)
The Union and How to Save It, Douglass' Monthly, February, 1861	429	(3)
The Inaugural Address, Douglass' Monthly, April, 1861	432	(7)
A Trip to Haiti, Douglass' Monthly, May, 1861	439	(3)
The Fall of Sumter, Douglass' Monthly, May, 1861	442	(3)
Sudden Revolution in Northern Sentiment, Douglass' Monthly, May, 1861	445	(2)
How to End the War, Douglass' Monthly, May, 1861	447	(3)
Nemesis, Douglass' Monthly, May, 1861	450	(1)
The Past and the Present, Douglass' Monthly, May, 1861	451	(3)
Notes on the War, Douglass' Monthly, July, 1861	454	(4)
The Decision of the Hour, substance of a lecture delivered at Zion Church, Sunday, June 16, 1861	458	(5)
The War and Slavery, Douglass' Monthly, August, 1861	463	(5)
The Rebels, the Government, and the Difference Between Them, Douglass' Monthly, August, 1861	468	(1)
To Rev. Samuel J. May, August 30, 1861	469	(1)
What Shall Be Done with the Slaves If Emancipated? Douglass' Monthly, January, 1862	470	(4)
The Future of the Negro People of the Slave States, speech delivered before the Emancipation League in Tremont Temple, Boston, February 5, 1862	474	(12)
The War and How to End It, speech delivered at Corinthian Hall, Rochester, New York, March 25, 1862	486	(7)
To Hon. Charles Sumner, April 8, 1862	493	(1)
The Slaveholders' Rebellion, speech delivered on the 4th day of July, 1862, at Himrods Corners, Yates Co., New York	494	(15)
To Gerrit Smith, September 8, 1862	509	(1)
The President and His Speeches, Douglass' Monthly, September, 1862	510	(5)
Part Six: From the Emancipation Proclamation to the Eve of Appomattox	515	(60)
Emancipation Proclaimed, Douglass' Monthly, October, 1862	517	(4)
The Work of the Future, Douglass' Monthly, November, 1862	521	(2)
A Day for Poetry and Song, remarks at Zion Church, December 28, 1862	523	(2)
"Men of Color, to Arms!" March 21, 1863	525	(3)
Why Should a Colored Man Enlist? Douglass' Monthly, April, 1863	528	(3)
Another Word to Colored Men, Douglass' Monthly, April, 1863	531	(3)
Address for the Promotion of Colored Enlistments, delivered at a mass meeting in Philadelphia, July 6, 1863	534	(4)
To Major G. L. Stearns, August 1, 1863	538	(2)
The Commander-in-Chief and His Black Soldiers, Douglass' Monthly, August, 1863	540	(3)
Valedictory, Douglass' Monthly, August, 1863	543	(3)
Our Work Is Not Done, speech delivered at the annual meeting of the American Anti-Slavery Society held at Philadelphia, December 3-4, 1863	546	(7)
The Mission of the War, address sponsored by Women's Loyal League and delivered in Cooper Institute, New York City, January 13, 1864	553	(14)
To an English Correspondent, [June, 1864]	567	(2)
To William Lloyd Garrison, Esq., September 17, 1864	569	(1)
To Theodore Tilton, October 15, 1864	570	(5)
Part Seven: Reconstruction, 1865-1876	575	(50)
The Need for Continuing Anti-Slavery Work, speech at Thirty-Second Annual Meeting of the American Anti-Slavery Society, May 10, 1865	577	(3)
The Douglass Institute, lecture at Inauguration of Douglass Institute, Baltimore, September 29, 1865	580	(6)
Reply of the Colored Delegation to the President, February 7, 1866	586	(4)
The Future of the Colored Race, The North American Review, May, 1866	590	(2)
Reconstruction, Atlantic Monthly, December, 1866	592	(6)
To Theodore Tilton, [September, 1867]	598	(1)
To Josephine Sophie White Griffing, September 27, 1868	598	(2)
To Harriet Tubman, September 29, 1868	600	(1)
Salutatory, The New National Era, September 8, 1870	601	(5)
Seeming and Real, The New National Era, October 6, 1870	606	(2)
To A. M. Powell, Esq., October 7, 1870	608	(1)
The Unknown Loyal Dead, speech delivered at Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia, on Decoration Day, May 30, 1871	609	(1)
Letter from the Editor, The New National Era, June 13, 1872	610	(2)
Give Us the Freedom Intended for Us, The New National Era, December 5, 1872	612	(2)
To Hon. Gerrit Smith, September 25, 1873	614	(1)
Oration in Memory of Abraham Lincoln, delivered at the unveiling of the Freedmen's Monument in Memory of Abraham Lincoln, in Lincoln Park, Washington, D.C., April 14, 1876	615	(10)
Part Eight: The Post-Reconstruction Era, 1877-1895	625	(152)
There Was a Right Side in the Late War, speech delivered at Union Square, New York City, on Decoration Day, May 30, 1878	627	(6)
John Brown, speech delivered at Storer College, Harper's Ferry, West Virginia, May 30, 1881	633	(15)
The Color Line, The North American Review, June, 1881	648	(8)
The United States Cannot Remain Half-Slave and Half-Free, speech on the occasion of the Twenty-First Anniversary of Emancipation in the District of Columbia, April 16, 1883	656	(13)
Address to the People of the United States, delivered at a Convention of Colored Men, Louisville, Kentucky, September 25, 1883	669	(16)
The Civil Rights Case, speech at the Civil Rights Mass-Meeting held at Lincoln Hall, Washington, D.C., October 22, 1883	685	(8)
To Elizabeth Cady Stanton, May 30, 1884	693	(2)
To Francis J. Grimke, January 19, 1886	695	(1)
Southern Barbarism, speech on the occasion of the Twenty-Fourth Anniversary of Emancipation in the District of Columbia, Washington, D.C., April 16, 1886	696	(9)
To W. H. Thomas, July 16, 1886	705	(1)
The Woman's Suffrage Movement, address before International Council of Women, Washington, D.C., March 31, 1888	706	(5)
I Denounce the So-Called Emancipation as a Stupendous Fraud, speech on the occasion of the Twenty-Sixth Anniversary of Emancipation in the District of Columbia, Washington, D.C., April 16, 1888	711	(13)
The Bloody Shirt, speech delivered at the National Republican Convention, Chicago, June 19, 1888	724	(1)
The Nation's Problem, speech delivered before the Bethel Literary and Historical Society, Washington, D.C., April 16, 1889	725	(15)
Introduction to The Reason Why the Colored American Is Not in the World's Columbia Exposition, 1892	740	(6)
Lynch Law in the South, The North American Review, July, 1892	746	(4)
Why Is the Negro Lynched? The Lesson of the Hour, 1894	750	(27)
INDEX	777