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Search - Douglass and Lincoln: How a Revolutionary Black Leader and a Reluctant Liberator Struggled to End Slavery and Save the Uni

Douglass and Lincoln How a Revolutionary Black Leader and a Reluctant Liberator Struggled to End Slavery and Save the Uni
Author: Paul Kendrick, Stephen Kendrick

The influence Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln had on each other and on the nation altered the course of slavery and the outcome of the Civil War. Although Abraham Lincoln deeply opposed the existence of slavery, he saw his mission throughout much of the Civil War as preserving the U nion, with or without slavery. Frederick Douglass... more », a former slave, passionately believed the war?s central mission to be the total abolition of slavery. During their meetings between 1863 and 1865, and through reading each other?s speeches and letters, they managed to forge a strong, mutual understanding and respect that helped convince Lincoln the war could not be truly won without black soldiers and permanent emancipation. Paul Kendrick is an assistant director of the Harlem Children's Zone in New York City. His father, Stephen Kendrick, is the senior minister of First Church in Boston. They are the coauthors of Sarah's Long Walk: The Free Blacks of Boston and How Their Struggle for Equality Changed America, which was named one of the five best history books of 2005 by The Christian Science Monitor. Although Abraham Lincoln was by nature deeply opposed to the existence of slavery, he saw his mission throughout much of the Civil War as one of preserving the Union, with or without the "peculiar institution." In coming to accept the necessity of emancipation, Lincoln was influenced by many forces, including the stirring voice of Frederick Douglass. A former slave, Douglass passionately believed the war's central mission to be the total and permanent abolition of slavery. During three seminal meetings between 1863 and 1865, and through reading each other's speeches and letters, they managed to forge a strong, mutual understanding and respect that helped convince Lincoln the war could not be truly won without eradicating slavery. In their provocative account, Paul and Stephen Kendrick draw on unpublished letters and rarely used black abolitionist sources to offer a far-reaching reappraisal of the Civil War's full meaning; and through the prism of Frederick Douglass's life they present a surprising portrait of a president no less heroic for his hesitancy over slavery, yet more human in the tangle of his conflicting emotions. Just as a final accounting of the Civil War is incomplete without acknowledging the great and hidden contribution of the black troops that filled the Union ranks?almost two hundred thousand at the end of the war, around a quarter of the entire union army?so, the Kendricks argue, our appreciation of Lincoln is deepened when his life is paired with that of Douglass, without whose rhetorical fire those black troops might never have been mustered. Their relationship was a long contest of wills, from Douglass's disappointment with Lincoln's first inaugural address?he dismissed the enigmatic president with the biting assessment "What an excellent slave hound he is"?to their last meeting four years later, when Lincoln asked Douglass how he liked his second inaugural, to which he replied: "Mr. Lincoln, that was a sacred effort." Shattered by Lincoln's assassination soon after, Douglass invoked him often in speeches over the next thirty years, praising his achievement while never losing sight of what he considered his shortcomings as Reconstruction devolved into the era of Jim Crow. Douglass and Lincoln is an epic story of two men who challenged each other to greatness. "The Kendricks, a father-son team, focus on the relationship between Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. They describe a 'strange partnership,' where 'in the midst of deep and weighty disagreements, they managed to forge a strong mutual understanding and respect.' The abolitionist Douglass urged Lincoln to move faster on emancipation and civil rights, while the politically minded Lincoln would only go as fast as public opinion allowed. The Kendricks attempt to portray the political restrictions on Lincoln, but they're not above accusing him of racism. Even after Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, the authors show Douglass advocating tirelessly to enable African-American soldiers to fight in the Union army, to earn equal pay and promotions . . . The Kendricks are right in stating that both Lincoln and Douglass came to see the war, with its 620,000 dead, as the horrific price the nation paid for the sins of slavery. Unfettered by politics, Douglass reached this conclusion first, yet Lincoln reached it in the end, achieving deeply moral goals through the imperfections of politics . . . The Kendricks have done wonderful work exploring one of the most complex and important relationships in American history."?Chuck Leddy, The Christian Science Monitor

"The second lively history written by this father-and-son team."?Unitarian Universalist

?Paul Kendrick (assisant director, Harlem Children's Zone) and his father, Stephen (senior minister, First Church in Boston), carefully study two men who confronted the powerful elites of their era, Lincoln able to become an insider and Douglass exerting power in the very face of exclusion. Each man's views moderated, Douglass coming to admire Lincoln after initial disappointment and Lincoln coming to recognize the need for emancipation.??Margaret Heilbrun, Library Journal

?Paul Kendrick, assistant director of the Harlem Children's Zone, and his father, Stephen, a Boston minister give a thorough look at two unlikely allies. Lincoln began as a white supremacist who saw Douglass as an exception to the rule of black inferiority. What is more, his first priority was the preservation of the Union. The onetime slave Douglass, on the other hand, stood uncompromisingly for complete emancipation, to be followed by full and equal citizenship. He further held that the Civil War's massive carnage could only be redeemed by the annihilation of the ?peculiar institution.? Despite their mutual respect, the two men had only three face-to-face meetings, just two of these in private. Thus, this study of Douglass, Lincoln and their ?relationship? is chiefly a discussion of evolving rhetoric, primarily Lincoln's on such topics as emancipation, black service in the Union ranks and black suffrage, and how his views initially contrasted with, but were eventually influenced by, Douglass's fiery arguments in public speeches and newspaper editorials.??Publishers Weekly

ISBN-13: 9780802716859
ISBN-10: 0802716857
Publication Date: 12/23/2008
Pages: 320
Edition: Reprint
Rating:

0 stars, based on 0 rating

Publisher: Walker & Company
Book Type: Paperback
Members Wishing: 0
Reviews: Amazon | Write a Review

Genres:

Biographies & Memoirs >> Community & Culture >> Black & African American
Biographies & Memoirs >> Historical >> General
Biographies & Memoirs >> Historical >> United States >> General
Biographies & Memoirs >> Historical >> United States >> Civil War >> General
Biographies & Memoirs >> Leaders & Notable People >> Presidents & Heads of State
Biographies & Memoirs >> Leaders & Notable People >> Military >> American Civil War
History >> Americas >> United States >> Civil War >> General
History >> Americas >> United States >> General
Nonfiction >> Social Sciences >> Sociology >> General

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