In honor of Black History Month I am devoting February’s blogs to history that is no longer taught in schools. The history of America is not complete unless we know it all – the good, bad and ugly. Unfortunately, the only history we hear is the bad and ugly with the good being edited out as it is politically incorrect at this moment in time. The sad truth is that most of us know little of the rich history and heritage of Black Americans. If we as a people do not have the complete picture of our history we are operating at a deficit and subject to manipulation by those with less than pure motives.

I will highlight three godly men that exhibit what the American dream is all about and what it means to live life on purpose regardless of their circumstances. All three had dreams that propelled them throughout their lives to ignore those who tried to convince them they couldn’t overcome their circumstances. I will begin, in order of their births, with Frederick Douglass.

Frederick Douglass (1818-1895) was born into slavery on the Eastern Shore of Maryland in 1818, and was given the name Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey (Baly), after his mother, Harriet Bailey. During the course of his remarkable life, he escaped from slavery, became internationally renowned for his eloquence in the cause of liberty, and went on to serve the national government in several official capacities. Through his work, he came into contact with many of the leaders of his time.

What is truly remarkable about Frederick Douglass is the fact that he made the decision to escape from slavery when he was six years old. He knew he would need to know how to read when he escaped so figured a way to achieve this goal. He was able to talk the plantation owner’s sons to teach him to read even though it was illegal to teach slave children to read. His plan was to escape when he turned sixteen but put off escaping a year until he had taught himself to write.

His early work in the cause of freedom brought him into contact with a wide array of abolitionists and social reformers, including William Lloyd Garrison, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, John Brown, Gerrit Smith and many others. Garrison mentored the young Douglass, and taught him that the Constitution was a pro-slavery document. Douglass accepted this claim until a later time when he decided to study the Constitution and the writings of the framers for himself.

What he discovered was that the Constitution was actually an anti-slavery document. He concluded:
“The Constitution is a glorious liberty document. Read its preamble; consider its purposes. Is slavery among them? Is it at the gateway? Or is it in the temple?  It is neither.  If the Constitution were intended to be, by its framers and adopters, a slaveholding instrument, why neither slavery, slaveholding, nor slave can anywhere be found in it?  Now, take the Constitution according to its plain reading and I defy the presentation of a single pro-slavery clause in it. On the other hand, it will be found to contain principles and purposes entirely hostile to the existence to slavery.”

As a major stationmaster on the Underground Railroad, he directly helped hundreds on their way to freedom through his adopted home city of Rochester, NY. Renowned for his eloquence, he lectured throughout the U.S. and England on the brutality and immorality of slavery. He helped recruit African American troops for the Union Army, was a publisher, and his personal relationship with Lincoln helped persuade the President to make emancipation a cause of the Civil War.

In 1872, Douglass moved to Washington, D.C., where he initially served as publisher of the New National Era, a publication intended to carry forward the work of elevating the position of African Americans in the post-Emancipation period. During this period, Douglass also served briefly as president of the Freedmen’s National Bank, and subsequently in various national service positions. He received presidential appointments from Republican Presidents Ulysses S. Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes, and James A. Garfield. Democrat President Grover Cleveland removed Frederick Douglass from office, but Republican Benjamin Harrison reappointed him.

Frederick Douglass had four life empowering values that guided his thoughts and actions. These were:
1. Respect for the Constitution or the Rule of Law. When asked about the three-fifths clause his response was that it was instituted to deny pro-slavery states additional pro-slavery representatives in Congress.
2. Respect for Life. All life is valuable and sacred. He was committed to telling the truth about the cruelty of slavery from his own personal experiences. His preaching of this truth agitated the issue to the general population and thus helped grow the anti-slavery movement.
3. He believed in limited government so a man could freely pursue his dreams and keep more of the fruits of his labor. The role of government was to be narrowly defined by providing basic protection of individual rights. ‘Let the Negro alone to find his own way after emancipation’ was his response to the question of the government’s responsibility.
4. He believed in Personal Responsibility. In 1865 he wrote “…And if the Negro cannot stand on his own legs, let him fall also. All I ask is give him a chance to stand on his own legs! Let him alone! … your interference is doing him positive injury.”

Frederick Douglass was an amazing man and role model for us all. It is a shame that his story is not taught in our schools anymore.
[Biographical information obtained from America’s God and County by William J. Federer and Frederick Douglass Republicans by KCarl Smith.]

Next week we will look at Booker T. Washington.

Dinner Table Discussion: What character qualities did Frederick Douglass exhibit in order to achieve his freedom and position of influence?