Thursday, December 2, 2010
December 2, 1860 (Sunday)
"The Republican party does not propose to abolish slavery anywhere, and is decidedly opposed to Abolition agitation. It is not even, by the confession of its President elect, in favor of the repeal of that thrice-accursed and flagrantly unconstitutional Fugitive Slave Bill of 1850. The safety of our movement will be found only by a return to all the agencies and appliances, such as writing, publishing, organizing, lecturing, holding meetings, with the earnest aim not to prevent the extension of slavery, but to abolish the system altogether." (Frederick Douglass, Douglass Monthly, December, 1860)
5 comments:
I often wonder what Douglass and Lincoln talked about when they met... is there a record of their conversation?
That would be interesting to find out...
I found this in the introduction to a book: "The Radical and the Republican: Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln, and the Triumph of Antislavery Politics", by James Oakes, 2007)
"...Lincoln invited Douglass back to the White House for a second meeting. Douglass had been impressed by Lincoln at their first encounter. After leaving the White House the second time, Douglass seemed smitten; he never repeated his harshest criticism against Abraham Lincoln."
"The Eloquent President: A Portrait of Lincoln Through His Words, by Ronald C. White, Jr.
"The next day, August 10, a card was passed into Lincoln's office in the White House from an unexpected visitor. Within minutes after presenting his card, Frederick Douglass was invited in to meet President Lincoln for the first time. Lincoln stood up to welcome Douglass. In their meeting Douglass pressed upon Lincoln the need for more official recognition of black troops. They spoke together about the troublesome issue of unequal pay for blacks.
Douglas was pleasantly surprised by the tone and substance of their conversation. Several months later, in Philadelphia, Douglass spoke of his sense of his first meeting with Lincoln. "I never met with a man, who, on the first blush, impressed me more entirely with his sincerity, with his devotion to his country, and with his determination to save it at all hazards."
There are a couple more books with added anecdotes... I did a google search with Frederick Douglass Lincoln words they spoke together... and you can see the books that came up there...
let me know if you find on that actually writes of the conversations... remarkable....
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