David W. Blight

Blight has offered the reader a powerful knowledgeable account of Douglass's life and efforts with compassion. However, my advice would be to have already read one of Douglass's autobiographies or to read one of them in tandem with this work. If a reader has done this extra reading he might find the first 100 pages of Blight's lengthily book tedious and little more than useless filling in what one has already read in the autobiography. After the torturous beginning Blight offers strengthening insightful material to the great abolitionist polemicist, recruiter of black soldiers for the Civil War, and early civil rights leader for the black vote and against the lynching craze. One gets a real sense of Douglass's character and issues confronting him and he, in turn, confronted them. No doubt the length, 750 pages, of this biography is a big minus, sometimes getting in the way, but, otherwise, is profoundly useful in helping one understand Douglass and his times.

Quote: (page 742) “The 'new charge' of rape, Douglass maintained, had tainted everything about race relations across the land. He especially argued that alleged sexual assault and the violence exacted against blacks meant ' paving the way for our (blacks) entire disenfranchisement.' Slavery had always been a 'system of legalized outrage upon black women by white men, and ' no white man was ever shot, burned, or hanged for availing himself of all the power that slavery gave him.' The perceived loss of that power drove men to lynch mobs and ritual killings. Too many white Southerners still lived by a slaveholding mentality: 'Their institutions have taught them no respect for human life, and especially the life of the negro.' ...On the day of Douglass's speech in Washington, January 9, 1894, a black man named Samuel Smith was lynched in Greenville, Madison County, Florida. He had been accused of murder.”… (more)

If there is a more thoroughly researched, well-written account of Frederick Douglass's life I cannot imagine what it would be. Prior to reading this, I was aware of him but only just. Now I feel as though I've met the man. Congratulations and appreciation to author David Blight for that.

Frederick Douglass! What an extraordinary individual!

Born a slave of mixed blood (his white owner fathered him with his black slave mother), he taught himself to read and self-educated himself far beyond what most of us ever achieve. He escaped his owner and literally fought his way to freedom. At least freedom of sorts because prejudice, hate, and bigotry followed him the rest of his life. His career became speaking out against slavery and I doubt there was anyone more prolific or better at it in 19th century America than Frederick Douglass.

Most of us know the Civil War ended slavery and was followed by the Reconstruction Period, a time meant to rebuild the defeated south. I never thought much about that; the war ended, the north won, slaves were freed, the union saved, time to rebuild the south. That's not at all how things went.

Another name for the post Civil War period could easily be the Lynching Period, certainly in the southern states where vengeance for having lost the war was the reaction of many whites. Even today there is no accurate account of how many blacks, and whites who dared to support blacks, were lynched by white mobs, but the number is conservatively in the thousands.

Here we are now in the 21st century when all of this nastiness of our history is just a distant memory, right? Nothing could be further from the truth. Our time of slavery right up to today, including the current administration, is a loud echo of all that happened over 150 years ago. You don't think so? Read this book!

This was a Christmas gift last year. The fact that I am just now adding it to my list of books read should tell you something about how fast I read, how much I read each time I read, how often I read, and/or the length of this book. It's a little bit of all four.

I read a couple of hours every night at an average speed; books, magazines, newspapers, and news feeds. That leaves this book's length to be considered. Just under 850 pages. I mention this only to prepare you for what lay ahead should you choose to take this on. I hope you do.… (more)

"... in his living situation in Baltimore, his intellectual curiosity exploding in the midst of the stultifying Auld household, gazing out on ships parting and arriving in the harbor, Douglass realized that slaveholders fear of outside denunciation...provided proof he was not alone." p. 51
And so began the inspiration for Douglass to reach others who could join him in an endeavor for freedom, not just for himself, but all those in bondage.
This is a very dense book- full of facts, quotes, excerpts of speeches, newspaper editorials, letters, and photographs.
The book chronicles the rich life and influences of Frederick Douglass- not just his professional life as an abolitionist, journalist, orator, and writer, but his personal life. This makes the "prophet" more human. He was beset with family problems, money woes, and scandals. He certainly was not perfect. He was anti-Catholic, dismissive of cultural plurality, and not completely supportive of women's rights. Still, he was a man to be admired.
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