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Downloaded from
YTS.MX
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Official YIFY movies site:
YTS.MX
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♪ ♪
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I have no love for America.
5
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As such, I have no patriotism.
I have no country.
6
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What country have I?
7
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The institutions of this country
do not know me,
8
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do not recognize me as a man.
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I am not thought of or spoken of
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except as a piece of property.
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Now,
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in such a country as this,
I cannot have...
13
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patriotism.
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Imagine that you had
to dispel doubts
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00:01:14,167 --> 00:01:16,250
about your full humanity
16
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every time you took to a stage.
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♪ ♪
18
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Imagine you had
to refute doubts
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about your own native ability
20
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every time you picked up a pen.
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Imagine having to fight to show
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that you were as complicated
a human being
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as any who walked
the face of the earth,
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having to fight that battle
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over and over every day.
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That was the life
of Frederick Douglass.
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He was the most
famous Black man
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00:01:51,250 --> 00:01:52,792
in the world in
the 19th century,
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and he achieved that position
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00:01:54,542 --> 00:01:57,584
through one means--
his voice.
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♪ ♪
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♪ ♪
33
00:03:06,834 --> 00:03:08,959
More than 20 years of my life
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were consumed
in a state of slavery.
35
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I grew up to manhood
eating the bread
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00:03:14,375 --> 00:03:17,751
and drinking the cup of slavery
with the most degraded
37
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of my brother bondmen,
and sharing with them
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all the painful conditions
of their wretched lot.
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00:03:24,459 --> 00:03:25,500
♪ ♪
40
00:03:25,584 --> 00:03:27,083
In consideration
of these facts,
41
00:03:27,167 --> 00:03:29,209
I feel that
I have a right to speak
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and to speak strongly.
43
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Yet, my friends...
44
00:03:34,709 --> 00:03:37,334
I feel bound to speak truly.
45
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The power of Douglass' words,
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00:03:41,876 --> 00:03:45,834
the way that he wielded
language, was undeniable,
47
00:03:45,918 --> 00:03:47,292
and is still undeniable.
48
00:03:47,375 --> 00:03:50,876
He could take you,
in a single sentence sometimes,
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inside of a crisis
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00:03:52,751 --> 00:03:55,584
and say, "Here's
what it's doing to us."
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"Here's what it's doing to you.
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00:03:57,167 --> 00:03:59,042
Here's what it's doing
to the nation."
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André Holland:
There can be no peace
to the wicked
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while slavery continues
in the land.
55
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It will be condemned,
56
00:04:05,667 --> 00:04:08,584
and there will be agitation.
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00:04:08,667 --> 00:04:11,292
Henry Louis Gates, Jr.:
He was able to realize
from his own experience
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that an arbitrary system
had been created,
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00:04:14,792 --> 00:04:17,125
designed to reinforce
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00:04:17,209 --> 00:04:19,167
the sense of inferiority
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00:04:19,250 --> 00:04:21,918
of every Black person.
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A system that was designed
to make them believe
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00:04:24,834 --> 00:04:28,584
that nature had made them
inferior to white people.
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And his job
was to blow up that system.
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♪ ♪
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(wind blowing, birds chirping)
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(water flowing)
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Holland:
The very first mental effort
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00:04:46,500 --> 00:04:49,292
that I now remember on my part
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was an attempt
to solve the mystery,
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00:04:52,459 --> 00:04:54,959
why am I a slave?
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♪ ♪
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Why are some people slaves
and others masters?
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00:05:01,459 --> 00:05:02,834
(birds chirping)
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00:05:02,918 --> 00:05:06,375
I could not have been more
than 7 or 8 years old
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00:05:06,459 --> 00:05:09,834
when I began to make
this subject my study.
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00:05:09,918 --> 00:05:14,125
It's a childhood where
he has to learn to survive.
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00:05:14,209 --> 00:05:17,667
He has to learn
to overcome his own fear.
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00:05:17,751 --> 00:05:21,417
He has to see brutality,
but live past it.
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00:05:21,500 --> 00:05:24,083
♪ ♪
81
00:05:24,167 --> 00:05:27,834
From my earliest recollection,
I entertained a deep conviction
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00:05:27,918 --> 00:05:31,709
that slavery would not always
be able to hold me
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within its foul embrace.
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00:05:33,626 --> 00:05:38,918
The desire for freedom
only needed a favorable breeze
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00:05:39,000 --> 00:05:41,918
to fan it into a blaze
at any moment.
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♪ ♪
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Kenneth B. Morris, Jr.:
There was one point in his life
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that he described
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as divine providence
in his favor,
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and that was he was chosen
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00:05:51,626 --> 00:05:53,792
from among all of the children
on the plantation
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00:05:53,876 --> 00:05:57,584
on the Eastern shore of Maryland
to go to Baltimore
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00:05:57,667 --> 00:06:01,042
to be the house servant
for his master's family.
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00:06:01,125 --> 00:06:05,459
I left that plantation
with inexpressible joy.
95
00:06:05,542 --> 00:06:08,209
Going to live at Baltimore
opened the gateway
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00:06:08,292 --> 00:06:11,626
to all my subsequent prosperity.
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David Blight:
Baltimore made it possible
for Douglass
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to dream and imagine.
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He sees the world come into
the harbor of Baltimore,
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00:06:20,709 --> 00:06:22,334
this maritime capital,
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00:06:22,417 --> 00:06:25,876
and he can begin to imagine
that there's a world outside.
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Morris, Jr.:
But what happened,
most importantly,
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when he got there,
his slave mistress
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00:06:30,292 --> 00:06:32,209
didn't know that it was
illegal to teach him.
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She was just a kind,
Christian lady with this heart,
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and there was Fred, you know,
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bright and eager
and ready to learn,
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and so, she naturally
began to teach him his ABCs.
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Blight:
He's in search of any kind of
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adult loving figure
he can find.
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00:06:46,167 --> 00:06:48,500
He finds one in Sophia Auld.
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00:06:48,584 --> 00:06:51,709
She taught him his alphabet,
read out loud with him,
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got him interested in language.
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But alas, this kind heart
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00:06:57,709 --> 00:07:01,334
had but such a short time
to remain such.
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00:07:01,417 --> 00:07:03,876
Mr. Auld found out
what was going on,
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00:07:03,959 --> 00:07:08,667
and at once forbade Mrs. Auld
to instruct me further,
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00:07:08,751 --> 00:07:10,834
telling her
that it was unlawful
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00:07:10,918 --> 00:07:13,876
as well as unsafe
to teach a slave to read.
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He would at once
become unmanageable
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and of no value to his master.
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These words sank deep
into my heart
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and called into existence
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an entirely
new train of thought.
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From that moment,
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00:07:28,709 --> 00:07:32,083
I understood the pathway
from slavery to freedom.
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00:07:32,167 --> 00:07:33,626
♪ ♪
128
00:07:33,709 --> 00:07:35,709
And he would teach himself
to read and write.
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00:07:35,792 --> 00:07:38,834
He was very clever in the way
that he went about doing that.
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00:07:38,918 --> 00:07:40,876
He would carry bread
in his pocket,
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00:07:40,959 --> 00:07:42,792
and he would trade the bread
for reading lessons
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00:07:42,876 --> 00:07:44,209
with the poor kids.
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00:07:44,292 --> 00:07:47,792
He picks up scraps of the
King James version of the Bible
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00:07:47,876 --> 00:07:49,834
from gutters.
He dries them out,
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00:07:49,918 --> 00:07:52,918
and he sets them out nicely
so he can learn from them.
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Gates:
He was reading all the time,
and the fact that
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00:07:55,792 --> 00:07:59,751
he never had
one day of formal education
138
00:07:59,834 --> 00:08:01,876
is just flabbergasting.
139
00:08:01,959 --> 00:08:04,042
Blight:
He tells us that he first sees
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00:08:04,125 --> 00:08:06,709
the word "abolition"
in a newspaper,
141
00:08:06,792 --> 00:08:09,125
and then, again in a magazine.
142
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We can only imagine our way into
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00:08:12,500 --> 00:08:14,876
a young boy's mind.
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He's trapped in this world
of enslavement,
145
00:08:17,918 --> 00:08:19,375
and now
he learns that up North,
146
00:08:19,459 --> 00:08:22,042
they're organizing
to end slavery.
147
00:08:22,125 --> 00:08:24,667
That's got to be
an amazing source of hope,
148
00:08:24,751 --> 00:08:28,876
and by the time he's 18,
he's scheming to escape.
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00:08:28,959 --> 00:08:32,042
♪ ♪
150
00:08:44,459 --> 00:08:45,834
On Monday,
151
00:08:45,918 --> 00:08:48,959
the third day of September 1838,
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00:08:49,042 --> 00:08:51,209
I bade farewell
to the city of Baltimore
153
00:08:51,292 --> 00:08:53,042
and to that slavery
154
00:08:53,125 --> 00:08:56,292
which had been
my abhorrence from childhood.
155
00:08:56,375 --> 00:08:59,542
This is one of the most
unusual escape stories
156
00:08:59,626 --> 00:09:03,125
in all of the literature
about slavery.
157
00:09:03,209 --> 00:09:06,209
There are no bloodhounds
158
00:09:06,292 --> 00:09:10,125
and no, uh, nights
hiding in the swamps.
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00:09:10,209 --> 00:09:13,876
Essentially, Douglass goes
to the Baltimore train station
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00:09:13,959 --> 00:09:16,042
and jumps on a train.
161
00:09:16,125 --> 00:09:18,125
Holland:
I was well on the way
to Havre de Grace
162
00:09:18,209 --> 00:09:20,542
before the conductor
came into the Negro car
163
00:09:20,626 --> 00:09:21,792
to collect tickets
164
00:09:21,876 --> 00:09:24,792
and examine the papers
of his Black passengers.
165
00:09:24,876 --> 00:09:27,626
This was a critical moment
in the drama.
166
00:09:27,709 --> 00:09:29,626
Had the conductor looked
closely at the paper,
167
00:09:29,709 --> 00:09:32,459
he could not have failed
to discover that it called
168
00:09:32,542 --> 00:09:35,792
for a very different
looking person from myself.
169
00:09:35,876 --> 00:09:38,584
The train was moving
at a very high rate of speed
170
00:09:38,667 --> 00:09:40,626
for that time of
railroad travel,
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00:09:40,709 --> 00:09:42,918
but to my anxious mind,
172
00:09:43,000 --> 00:09:45,250
it was moving far too slowly.
173
00:09:45,334 --> 00:09:47,500
Minutes were hours
174
00:09:47,584 --> 00:09:49,876
and hours were days.
175
00:09:49,959 --> 00:09:52,167
He takes that train,
176
00:09:52,250 --> 00:09:53,918
two other trains,
177
00:09:54,000 --> 00:09:56,584
and three steamboats later,
178
00:09:56,667 --> 00:09:58,918
in about 38 hours,
179
00:09:59,000 --> 00:10:02,667
he arrived into lower Manhattan
at the base of Chambers Street.
180
00:10:02,751 --> 00:10:04,000
♪ ♪
181
00:10:04,083 --> 00:10:07,500
Holland:
I found myself in the big city
of New York,
182
00:10:07,584 --> 00:10:09,709
a free man.
183
00:10:09,792 --> 00:10:13,751
The bonds that had held me
to old master were broken.
184
00:10:13,834 --> 00:10:16,584
No man now had a right
to call me his slave
185
00:10:16,667 --> 00:10:19,834
or assert mastery over me.
186
00:10:19,918 --> 00:10:23,792
Such is briefly the manner
of my escape from slavery
187
00:10:23,876 --> 00:10:26,626
and the end of my experience
as a slave.
188
00:10:26,709 --> 00:10:29,834
♪ ♪
189
00:10:33,709 --> 00:10:35,417
In the summer of 1841,
190
00:10:35,500 --> 00:10:37,626
a grand anti-slavery
convention
191
00:10:37,709 --> 00:10:40,375
was held in Nantucket
under the auspices
192
00:10:40,459 --> 00:10:43,042
of William Lloyd Garrison
and his friends.
193
00:10:43,125 --> 00:10:45,209
Blight:
William Lloyd Garrison was
194
00:10:45,292 --> 00:10:47,209
the most important
abolitionist in America
195
00:10:47,292 --> 00:10:49,542
at the time Douglass met him.
196
00:10:49,626 --> 00:10:54,000
He led a moral
suasionist campaign
197
00:10:54,083 --> 00:10:56,334
to destroy slavery.
198
00:10:56,417 --> 00:10:59,083
Holland:
I attended this convention
never supposing
199
00:10:59,167 --> 00:11:01,834
I would take part
in the proceedings.
200
00:11:01,918 --> 00:11:04,500
I was not aware that anyone
connected with the convention
201
00:11:04,584 --> 00:11:06,500
even so much as knew my name.
202
00:11:06,584 --> 00:11:09,751
I was, however, quite mistaken.
203
00:11:09,834 --> 00:11:13,083
He says he didn't intend on
speaking at the convention.
204
00:11:13,167 --> 00:11:14,584
He was just there to listen.
205
00:11:14,667 --> 00:11:18,083
But once asked to speak,
he got up and simply told
206
00:11:18,167 --> 00:11:21,375
his personal story
from his slave youth.
207
00:11:21,459 --> 00:11:24,542
♪ ♪
208
00:11:30,584 --> 00:11:32,584
♪ ♪
209
00:11:37,125 --> 00:11:39,250
I feel greatly embarrassed
210
00:11:40,667 --> 00:11:44,876
when I attempt to address
an audience of white people.
211
00:11:44,959 --> 00:11:48,083
I'm not used to
speaking to them.
212
00:11:48,167 --> 00:11:51,125
And it makes me tremble
when doing so
213
00:11:51,209 --> 00:11:54,792
because I have always
looked up to them with fear.
214
00:11:54,876 --> 00:11:57,918
My friends, I've come to tell
you something about slavery.
215
00:11:58,000 --> 00:12:00,375
♪ ♪
216
00:12:00,459 --> 00:12:02,292
What I know of it...
217
00:12:03,584 --> 00:12:05,417
as I felt it.
218
00:12:11,042 --> 00:12:12,876
When I came North,
219
00:12:14,626 --> 00:12:17,042
I was astonished to find
that the abolitionists,
220
00:12:17,125 --> 00:12:20,292
they knew so much about it.
221
00:12:20,375 --> 00:12:23,042
They were acquainted
with its deadly effects
222
00:12:23,125 --> 00:12:25,792
as well as if they had lived
within its midst.
223
00:12:28,417 --> 00:12:30,667
But although they can
tell you its history,
224
00:12:32,000 --> 00:12:34,209
though they
can depict its horrors,
225
00:12:35,918 --> 00:12:39,542
they cannot speak as I can,
from experience.
226
00:12:39,626 --> 00:12:44,167
They cannot refer you to a back
covered with scars as I can.
227
00:12:44,250 --> 00:12:46,125
For I have felt these wounds.
228
00:12:46,209 --> 00:12:47,584
I have suffered under the lash
229
00:12:47,667 --> 00:12:50,667
without the power of resisting.
Yes!
230
00:12:50,751 --> 00:12:52,626
My blood has sprung out
231
00:12:52,709 --> 00:12:55,709
as the lash embedded
itself within my flesh.
232
00:12:55,792 --> 00:12:58,959
♪ ♪
233
00:12:59,042 --> 00:13:01,459
Yet my master has the reputation
234
00:13:01,542 --> 00:13:04,083
of being a pious man
235
00:13:04,167 --> 00:13:06,584
and a good Christian.
236
00:13:06,667 --> 00:13:09,500
I'm not from any of the states
where slaves are said to be
237
00:13:09,584 --> 00:13:11,876
in their most
degraded condition,
238
00:13:11,959 --> 00:13:13,626
but from Maryland,
239
00:13:13,709 --> 00:13:17,209
where slavery is said to exist
within its mildest form.
240
00:13:17,292 --> 00:13:19,375
Yet, I can stand here
and relate atrocities
241
00:13:19,459 --> 00:13:22,375
that would make your blood boil
at the thought of them.
242
00:13:24,751 --> 00:13:26,709
I lived on the plantation
of Colonel Lloyd
243
00:13:26,792 --> 00:13:28,834
on the Eastern shore of Maryland
244
00:13:28,918 --> 00:13:31,375
and belonged to
the gentleman's clerk.
245
00:13:31,459 --> 00:13:36,334
He owned probably not less
than a thousand slaves.
246
00:13:36,417 --> 00:13:38,292
And I mention
the name of the man
247
00:13:38,375 --> 00:13:40,167
and also the persons
who perpetrated the deeds
248
00:13:40,250 --> 00:13:41,918
of which I am about to relate,
249
00:13:42,000 --> 00:13:45,042
running the risk of being hurled
back into interminable bondage,
250
00:13:45,125 --> 00:13:48,125
for yet, I am a slave.
251
00:13:48,209 --> 00:13:50,500
Yet for the sake of the cause
of the sake of humanity,
252
00:13:50,584 --> 00:13:54,626
I will mention the names and
glory in running the risk of it.
253
00:13:54,709 --> 00:13:58,042
For I have the gratification
to know that if I shall fall
254
00:13:58,125 --> 00:14:00,918
by the utterance of the truth
in this matter,
255
00:14:01,000 --> 00:14:03,500
that if I shall be
hurled back into bondage
256
00:14:03,584 --> 00:14:05,209
to gratify my slaveholder,
257
00:14:05,292 --> 00:14:07,918
to be killed by inches,
258
00:14:08,000 --> 00:14:10,918
that every drop of blood
I shall shed,
259
00:14:11,000 --> 00:14:13,000
every groan which I shall utter,
260
00:14:13,083 --> 00:14:15,500
every pain which
shall rack my frame,
261
00:14:15,584 --> 00:14:18,459
every sob which I shall indulge,
262
00:14:18,542 --> 00:14:20,375
shall be the instrument
under God
263
00:14:20,459 --> 00:14:22,500
of tearing down
the bloody pillar of slavery
264
00:14:22,584 --> 00:14:24,500
and of hastening the day
of deliverance
265
00:14:24,584 --> 00:14:27,709
for three millions
of my brethren in bondage.
266
00:14:27,792 --> 00:14:30,876
♪ ♪
267
00:14:37,417 --> 00:14:38,792
What's interesting
is I feel like
268
00:14:38,876 --> 00:14:40,417
there's been individuals
over time
269
00:14:40,500 --> 00:14:44,000
who have had to do great things
at a much younger age.
270
00:14:44,083 --> 00:14:46,709
In his early 20s,
having to deliver this,
271
00:14:46,792 --> 00:14:48,709
again, in front of a body
of white people,
272
00:14:48,792 --> 00:14:50,626
must have been like terrifying.
273
00:14:50,709 --> 00:14:53,083
But at the same time, too,
like, he's already suffered
274
00:14:53,167 --> 00:14:56,167
so much terror,
what more does he have to lose?
275
00:14:56,250 --> 00:14:57,250
You can feel his passion.
276
00:14:57,334 --> 00:14:58,417
You can feel it
within the words.
277
00:14:58,500 --> 00:15:00,375
You don't even have to see it.
278
00:15:00,459 --> 00:15:03,417
It was just like
his soul transcended.
279
00:15:03,500 --> 00:15:05,167
It was like something
entered his body,
280
00:15:05,250 --> 00:15:07,250
and then just like
he was channeling through.
281
00:15:07,334 --> 00:15:08,918
It was so compelling, however,
282
00:15:09,000 --> 00:15:12,792
this personal story,
this, this personal witness,
283
00:15:12,876 --> 00:15:14,834
that they invited him to
speak again the next morning.
284
00:15:14,918 --> 00:15:17,792
And with that,
a phenomenon was born.
285
00:15:17,876 --> 00:15:21,042
♪ ♪
286
00:15:25,834 --> 00:15:28,334
Roy:
Once William Lloyd Garrison
hears Douglass
287
00:15:28,417 --> 00:15:31,000
deliver his address
in Nantucket,
288
00:15:31,083 --> 00:15:33,626
he is enraptured with
Douglass' abilities
289
00:15:33,709 --> 00:15:35,584
and his skills and his gifts.
290
00:15:35,667 --> 00:15:37,959
The Massachusetts
Anti-Slavery Society
291
00:15:38,042 --> 00:15:39,417
hired him
292
00:15:39,500 --> 00:15:42,042
to go out
on the circuit that fall.
293
00:15:42,125 --> 00:15:43,751
Much interest was awakened.
294
00:15:43,834 --> 00:15:45,834
Many came,
no doubt, from curiosity
295
00:15:45,918 --> 00:15:49,459
to hear what a Negro
could say in his own cause.
296
00:15:50,542 --> 00:15:52,542
Fugitive slaves were rare then,
297
00:15:52,626 --> 00:15:55,417
and as
a fugitive slave lecturer...
298
00:15:55,500 --> 00:15:56,584
(chuckles)
299
00:15:56,667 --> 00:16:00,167
I had the advantage
of being a brand-new fact.
300
00:16:00,250 --> 00:16:01,792
The first one out.
301
00:16:01,876 --> 00:16:04,500
Blight:
Audiences loved this.
302
00:16:04,584 --> 00:16:07,209
He had a gift as a storyteller.
303
00:16:07,292 --> 00:16:10,125
He had an unforgettable voice.
304
00:16:10,209 --> 00:16:13,584
Roy:
What Douglass has that
no white abolitionist had
305
00:16:13,667 --> 00:16:17,000
was the ability
to tell his story
306
00:16:17,083 --> 00:16:19,459
from the perspective
of an enslaved person,
307
00:16:19,542 --> 00:16:21,709
and because of
that authenticity
308
00:16:21,792 --> 00:16:23,334
and because of the skills
that he developed
309
00:16:23,417 --> 00:16:25,250
to communicate
that authenticity,
310
00:16:25,334 --> 00:16:28,834
the sky was the limit for
Douglass' ambitions and aims.
311
00:16:28,918 --> 00:16:31,167
He wanted to defeat slavery,
312
00:16:31,250 --> 00:16:34,959
but I think he also has
that young man's ambition
313
00:16:35,042 --> 00:16:37,792
to defeat those around him
314
00:16:37,876 --> 00:16:39,834
who were doing
the same thing he was,
315
00:16:39,918 --> 00:16:42,834
and he just wanted to do it
better than they did.
316
00:16:42,918 --> 00:16:44,709
Holland:
"Tell your story, Frederick,"
317
00:16:44,792 --> 00:16:46,876
would whisper my revered
friend Mr. Garrison
318
00:16:46,959 --> 00:16:49,125
as I stepped
upon the platform.
319
00:16:49,209 --> 00:16:51,083
I could not always
follow the injunction
320
00:16:51,167 --> 00:16:54,000
for I was now
reading and thinking.
321
00:16:54,083 --> 00:16:57,584
New views of the subject were
being presented to my mind.
322
00:16:57,667 --> 00:17:00,792
It did not entirely satisfy me
323
00:17:00,876 --> 00:17:02,250
to narrate wrongs.
324
00:17:02,334 --> 00:17:04,542
I felt like denouncing them.
325
00:17:04,626 --> 00:17:07,792
He's beginning
to kind of burst out
326
00:17:07,876 --> 00:17:11,459
of the strategic straitjacket
327
00:17:11,542 --> 00:17:14,459
that the Garrisonians
had put him in.
328
00:17:14,542 --> 00:17:16,876
The Garrisonians
wanted to control
329
00:17:16,959 --> 00:17:19,500
the sound of
Frederick Douglass' voice.
330
00:17:19,584 --> 00:17:23,083
"Just stick to the facts, Fred,"
you know, um, you know,
331
00:17:23,167 --> 00:17:25,709
"You're speaking
kind of white, Fred.
332
00:17:25,792 --> 00:17:27,959
"Put a little plantation
in your voice, Fred.
333
00:17:28,042 --> 00:17:31,918
"Nobody's going to believe
that anyone who sounds
334
00:17:32,000 --> 00:17:35,626
"as white or as educated as you
335
00:17:35,709 --> 00:17:38,542
"was really an enslaved person,
336
00:17:38,626 --> 00:17:41,209
so remember your role, boy."
337
00:17:41,292 --> 00:17:45,375
And he goes, "Ah, remember
my role, huh? I'll show you."
338
00:17:45,459 --> 00:17:48,542
♪ ♪
339
00:17:57,751 --> 00:17:59,918
Without question,
Frederick Douglass
340
00:18:00,000 --> 00:18:03,250
wrote himself into history
with his autobiography.
341
00:18:03,334 --> 00:18:06,834
His book is not only a testimony
342
00:18:06,918 --> 00:18:10,167
about the experience of
a sensitive enslaved person.
343
00:18:10,250 --> 00:18:12,167
It is an act of language.
344
00:18:12,250 --> 00:18:13,834
Douglass creates a work of art.
345
00:18:13,918 --> 00:18:15,834
Holland:
The publishing of my narrative
346
00:18:15,918 --> 00:18:17,459
was regarded by my friends
347
00:18:17,542 --> 00:18:22,417
with mingled feelings of
satisfaction and apprehension.
348
00:18:22,500 --> 00:18:25,500
I became myself painfully
alive to the liability
349
00:18:25,584 --> 00:18:27,542
which surrounded me.
350
00:18:27,626 --> 00:18:31,375
It was thus I was led to seek
a refuge in England.
351
00:18:31,459 --> 00:18:34,292
Morris, Jr.:
When Frederick Douglass
had to escape to Europe,
352
00:18:34,375 --> 00:18:36,542
he was a fugitive slave
at the time,
353
00:18:36,626 --> 00:18:39,042
and the notoriety of having
a best-selling book
354
00:18:39,125 --> 00:18:41,667
threatened his freedom,
so he would flee to Europe
355
00:18:41,751 --> 00:18:43,626
for a couple of years
as a cooling-off period
356
00:18:43,709 --> 00:18:46,209
and speak about
the abolition of slavery.
357
00:18:46,292 --> 00:18:49,709
Blight:
He spoke in some
hundred and some venues
358
00:18:49,792 --> 00:18:51,918
all over the British Isles.
359
00:18:52,000 --> 00:18:54,751
The red carpet is essentially
rolled out for him,
360
00:18:54,834 --> 00:18:58,042
and he begins to realize,
"In England,
361
00:18:58,125 --> 00:19:00,375
"I'm treated with respect
and with dignity,
362
00:19:00,459 --> 00:19:02,542
but in America,
I'm treated as property."
363
00:19:02,626 --> 00:19:05,334
Gates:
And he could, for
the first time, as he says,
364
00:19:05,417 --> 00:19:07,918
feel like a man,
by which he meant a human being
365
00:19:08,000 --> 00:19:11,918
and not a Black man.
Not a Black human being.
366
00:19:12,000 --> 00:19:14,167
And that, everybody--
I experienced that.
367
00:19:14,250 --> 00:19:15,959
I experienced that
the first time I went to Europe,
368
00:19:16,042 --> 00:19:18,209
and certainly the first time
I went to Africa,
369
00:19:18,292 --> 00:19:20,334
and that is a,
370
00:19:20,417 --> 00:19:23,042
a deeply affecting experience.
371
00:19:23,125 --> 00:19:25,417
Blight:
When Douglass returned
from England
372
00:19:25,500 --> 00:19:28,667
in the spring of 1847,
373
00:19:28,751 --> 00:19:32,417
he returns both
an inspired young man,
374
00:19:32,500 --> 00:19:36,167
but he also returns
extremely angry.
375
00:19:36,250 --> 00:19:39,042
This is a much
more militant Douglass
376
00:19:39,125 --> 00:19:42,125
as an abolitionist,
and when he returns,
377
00:19:42,209 --> 00:19:44,250
he goes out
on the circuit immediately,
378
00:19:45,167 --> 00:19:46,250
speech-making,
379
00:19:46,334 --> 00:19:48,626
but in those speeches,
he starts with lines like,
380
00:19:48,709 --> 00:19:50,918
"My country hates me.
I hate it back."
381
00:19:51,000 --> 00:19:53,083
He was young,
382
00:19:53,167 --> 00:19:55,250
he was outraged,
383
00:19:55,334 --> 00:19:57,959
he was powerful,
384
00:19:58,042 --> 00:20:00,042
and he wasn't
gonna take it anymore.
385
00:20:00,125 --> 00:20:01,751
He was just all fire.
386
00:20:01,834 --> 00:20:04,042
♪ ♪
387
00:20:11,459 --> 00:20:13,042
♪ ♪
388
00:20:15,375 --> 00:20:20,000
I have no love for America.
389
00:20:21,083 --> 00:20:22,667
Such...
390
00:20:23,584 --> 00:20:26,751
I have no patriotism.
391
00:20:26,834 --> 00:20:28,375
♪ ♪
392
00:20:30,167 --> 00:20:33,250
The only thing that links me
to this land
393
00:20:33,334 --> 00:20:35,834
is my family
394
00:20:35,918 --> 00:20:38,584
and the painful consciousness
that here,
395
00:20:38,667 --> 00:20:41,167
there are three million
of my fellow creatures,
396
00:20:41,250 --> 00:20:44,584
groaning beneath the iron rod
of the worst despotism
397
00:20:44,667 --> 00:20:47,334
that could be devised
even in pandemonium.
398
00:20:47,417 --> 00:20:51,209
That here are men and brethren,
399
00:20:51,292 --> 00:20:54,834
identified with me
by their complexion.
400
00:20:54,918 --> 00:20:59,000
Identified with me
by their hatred of slavery.
401
00:20:59,083 --> 00:21:01,459
Identified with me by their love
402
00:21:01,542 --> 00:21:04,209
and aspirations for liberty.
403
00:21:04,292 --> 00:21:08,834
Identified with me
by the stripes upon their backs,
404
00:21:08,918 --> 00:21:12,417
their inhumane wrongs
and cruel sufferings.
405
00:21:13,959 --> 00:21:15,375
This...
406
00:21:17,250 --> 00:21:19,500
and this only...
407
00:21:20,626 --> 00:21:23,125
attaches me to this land,
408
00:21:23,209 --> 00:21:24,959
and brings me here
to plead with you
409
00:21:25,042 --> 00:21:26,459
and with the country at large
410
00:21:26,542 --> 00:21:29,959
for the disenthrallment
of my oppressed countrymen
411
00:21:30,042 --> 00:21:33,584
and to overthrow
this system of slavery,
412
00:21:33,667 --> 00:21:36,417
which is crushing them
to the earth!
413
00:21:36,500 --> 00:21:39,584
♪ ♪
414
00:21:40,918 --> 00:21:43,375
But it is asked...
415
00:21:43,459 --> 00:21:46,709
"What good will this do
or what good has it done?
416
00:21:47,918 --> 00:21:49,250
"Have you not irritated,
417
00:21:49,334 --> 00:21:51,292
"have you not annoyed
your American friends
418
00:21:51,375 --> 00:21:53,876
and the American people
rather than done them good?"
419
00:21:53,959 --> 00:21:56,626
I admit we have irritated them.
420
00:21:56,709 --> 00:21:59,250
They deserve to be irritated!
421
00:21:59,334 --> 00:22:00,667
I am anxious to irritate
422
00:22:00,751 --> 00:22:03,459
the American people
on this question!
423
00:22:05,125 --> 00:22:08,626
As it is in physics,
so in morals.
424
00:22:08,709 --> 00:22:11,667
There are cases
which demand irritation
425
00:22:11,751 --> 00:22:13,584
and counter-irritation.
426
00:22:15,167 --> 00:22:18,125
The conscience
of the American public
427
00:22:19,000 --> 00:22:21,751
needs this irritation.
428
00:22:23,626 --> 00:22:25,584
And I would blister it all over,
429
00:22:25,667 --> 00:22:27,417
from center to circumference,
430
00:22:27,500 --> 00:22:31,417
until it gives signs
of a pure and a better life
431
00:22:31,500 --> 00:22:34,626
than it is now
manifesting to the world!
432
00:22:35,667 --> 00:22:37,709
♪ ♪
433
00:22:39,459 --> 00:22:41,125
This was the speech in which
434
00:22:41,209 --> 00:22:44,834
we were closest in age.
435
00:22:44,918 --> 00:22:48,375
Frederick is 30 years old
in this moment,
436
00:22:48,459 --> 00:22:51,250
and I'm 31 years old
in this moment.
437
00:22:51,334 --> 00:22:52,834
When he says...
438
00:22:54,834 --> 00:22:57,834
that it's crushing
them to the earth,
439
00:22:59,876 --> 00:23:02,876
that, that's when I went,
okay, well that's...
440
00:23:04,334 --> 00:23:05,876
that's Brother Floyd.
441
00:23:05,959 --> 00:23:08,125
You know, that is that image.
442
00:23:09,125 --> 00:23:11,500
And it's not a new thing.
443
00:23:11,584 --> 00:23:14,918
Just made me want to
say those words
444
00:23:16,626 --> 00:23:19,792
to people, uh, for
the people who couldn't.
445
00:23:21,417 --> 00:23:22,918
Blight:
He was so angry,
446
00:23:23,000 --> 00:23:25,250
so you can begin
to see it right there.
447
00:23:25,334 --> 00:23:27,751
Now, he's going to plow
this new energy, of course,
448
00:23:27,834 --> 00:23:29,250
into a newspaper.
449
00:23:29,334 --> 00:23:30,626
He wants to create
450
00:23:30,709 --> 00:23:34,500
his own kind
of anti-slavery movement,
451
00:23:34,584 --> 00:23:36,751
apart from the Garrisonians.
452
00:23:36,834 --> 00:23:40,167
Nothing more dramatic
could have recalculated
453
00:23:40,250 --> 00:23:43,209
their relationship
than for Douglass
454
00:23:43,292 --> 00:23:45,250
to establish
455
00:23:45,334 --> 00:23:47,417
a parallel publication.
456
00:23:47,500 --> 00:23:50,417
Blight:
Garrisonians will be
extremely angry about this.
457
00:23:50,500 --> 00:23:52,751
Gates:
It's as if he thought about
it while he was in England.
458
00:23:52,834 --> 00:23:56,125
"How can I declare
my independence?
459
00:23:56,209 --> 00:23:58,000
How can I show I'm a man?"
460
00:23:58,083 --> 00:24:01,542
Blight:
And now, the fame grows
ever, ever, evermore.
461
00:24:02,292 --> 00:24:05,125
(rumbling)
462
00:24:05,209 --> 00:24:08,834
As the fame grows,
the invitations to speak grow.
463
00:24:08,918 --> 00:24:10,626
♪ ♪
464
00:24:10,709 --> 00:24:14,083
It became a kind of
an American phenomenon
465
00:24:14,167 --> 00:24:15,876
to see Douglass.
466
00:24:15,959 --> 00:24:17,959
"Did you see Douglass?
Let me tell you the time"
467
00:24:18,042 --> 00:24:21,375
"I first saw Douglass,
I first heard Douglass."
468
00:24:21,459 --> 00:24:22,876
"Well what did he sound like?"
469
00:24:22,959 --> 00:24:24,751
Newspapers are full of this.
470
00:24:24,834 --> 00:24:27,375
Sarah Lewis:
This was, as many
journalists had put it,
471
00:24:27,459 --> 00:24:31,000
a volcanic, magisterial orator.
472
00:24:31,083 --> 00:24:34,209
He could command
crowds of thousands.
473
00:24:35,876 --> 00:24:37,751
And from that point on,
474
00:24:37,834 --> 00:24:41,000
all the way to 1877,
475
00:24:41,083 --> 00:24:43,834
he will never make a living
any other way
476
00:24:43,918 --> 00:24:46,542
than with his voice and his pen.
477
00:24:46,626 --> 00:24:49,709
♪ ♪
478
00:24:55,083 --> 00:24:57,459
He wrote millions of words,
479
00:24:57,542 --> 00:24:59,542
but Douglass will
not tell us anything
480
00:24:59,626 --> 00:25:02,500
about his private life,
especially his marriage.
481
00:25:02,584 --> 00:25:06,417
He hid everything he could
about his marriages,
482
00:25:06,500 --> 00:25:08,584
relationships, his children.
483
00:25:08,667 --> 00:25:10,042
His relationship
with Anna Douglass
484
00:25:10,125 --> 00:25:13,334
is an enigma,
a, a, a puzzle,
485
00:25:13,417 --> 00:25:15,250
and I think
he wanted it that way.
486
00:25:15,334 --> 00:25:18,792
Frederick Douglass
had a wife? What?
487
00:25:18,876 --> 00:25:22,083
Why don't we know anything
about her? Who was she?
488
00:25:22,167 --> 00:25:23,918
Who would be married
to Frederick Douglass?
489
00:25:24,000 --> 00:25:25,292
♪ ♪
490
00:25:25,375 --> 00:25:27,334
Roy:
While he was traveling
around the world,
491
00:25:27,417 --> 00:25:29,834
speaking out against slavery,
492
00:25:29,918 --> 00:25:31,876
you know, she would
take care of the kids.
493
00:25:31,959 --> 00:25:34,209
She would take care
of the finances.
494
00:25:34,292 --> 00:25:35,626
She would press his clothes
495
00:25:35,709 --> 00:25:37,792
so that he
would be looking sharp.
496
00:25:37,876 --> 00:25:40,709
Nzadi Keita:
She met Harriet Tubman,
497
00:25:40,792 --> 00:25:43,834
Sojourner Truth, John Brown,
498
00:25:43,918 --> 00:25:46,042
anybody who was anybody
499
00:25:46,125 --> 00:25:47,918
in the anti-slavery movement
500
00:25:48,000 --> 00:25:49,125
came to her house.
501
00:25:49,209 --> 00:25:52,500
But she tended to stay
in the kitchen area
502
00:25:52,584 --> 00:25:55,250
or out in the garden,
or, you know, in spaces
503
00:25:55,334 --> 00:25:56,667
where she was comfortable.
504
00:25:56,751 --> 00:26:00,542
His marriage to Anna is
both the center of his life,
505
00:26:00,626 --> 00:26:02,334
the heart of his family,
506
00:26:02,417 --> 00:26:05,751
but it also became
increasingly, no doubt,
507
00:26:05,834 --> 00:26:08,000
what we moderns would call
a difficult marriage.
508
00:26:08,083 --> 00:26:11,042
There's one letter he writes
to a friend, a woman friend,
509
00:26:11,125 --> 00:26:13,417
he had lots of women
correspondents,
510
00:26:13,500 --> 00:26:15,417
and he just unloads about
511
00:26:15,500 --> 00:26:19,709
how Anna has just read
the riot act to him.
512
00:26:19,792 --> 00:26:22,292
If I should write down
all her complaints,
513
00:26:22,375 --> 00:26:25,792
there would be no room
to put my name at the bottom.
514
00:26:25,876 --> 00:26:29,334
And by the time I am home,
a week or two longer,
515
00:26:29,417 --> 00:26:31,500
I shall have pretty full
learned in how many points
516
00:26:31,584 --> 00:26:33,709
there are needs of improvement
in my temper
517
00:26:33,792 --> 00:26:36,959
and disposition as
a husband and a father.
518
00:26:37,042 --> 00:26:39,667
Keita:
They were married 44 years,
519
00:26:39,751 --> 00:26:43,667
and I was angry at him
after seeing the extent
520
00:26:43,751 --> 00:26:47,083
to which Frederick Douglass
ignored her
521
00:26:47,167 --> 00:26:51,292
and her contributions
to his life and his writing.
522
00:26:51,375 --> 00:26:54,125
But, you don't do
the kinds of things
523
00:26:54,209 --> 00:26:56,292
that Frederick Douglass did
524
00:26:56,375 --> 00:27:00,751
without some substantial
ego going on.
525
00:27:00,834 --> 00:27:02,959
As to the whole
question of fidelity,
526
00:27:03,042 --> 00:27:06,375
I, I can only, uh, say
527
00:27:06,459 --> 00:27:09,042
that it's much disputed.
528
00:27:09,125 --> 00:27:13,042
Too many times, scholars,
both Black and white,
529
00:27:13,125 --> 00:27:14,500
have felt it necessary
530
00:27:14,584 --> 00:27:18,209
to remove the warts
from prominent figures
531
00:27:18,292 --> 00:27:20,500
in African-American history.
532
00:27:20,584 --> 00:27:23,751
Douglass had his flaws.
He had his weaknesses.
533
00:27:23,834 --> 00:27:26,542
I think the more human
534
00:27:26,626 --> 00:27:30,000
we make our heroes,
the more noble they become.
535
00:27:30,083 --> 00:27:31,500
♪ ♪
536
00:27:31,584 --> 00:27:33,709
Blight:
There's always
a poignant contrast
537
00:27:33,792 --> 00:27:37,083
between Douglass' private
and public lives.
538
00:27:37,167 --> 00:27:40,334
That same virile Douglass
539
00:27:40,417 --> 00:27:43,667
that we have a visual image of
540
00:27:43,751 --> 00:27:46,167
also collapsed into depression.
541
00:27:46,250 --> 00:27:47,876
Collapsed into...
542
00:27:47,959 --> 00:27:52,500
almost incapacity,
at times, under the pressure.
543
00:27:52,584 --> 00:27:54,709
The demand upon my time
and attention
544
00:27:54,792 --> 00:27:58,083
by my books and papers
545
00:27:58,167 --> 00:28:00,542
and by visitors are incessant.
546
00:28:00,626 --> 00:28:02,417
I am beginning
to look upon a journey
547
00:28:02,500 --> 00:28:05,083
as a potential misfortune.
548
00:28:07,000 --> 00:28:09,250
Blight:
In the early 1850s,
it's clear to me
549
00:28:09,334 --> 00:28:12,876
he had what we would sometimes
call a nervous breakdown.
550
00:28:12,959 --> 00:28:15,375
He kind of fell to pieces.
551
00:28:15,459 --> 00:28:17,042
But even in this moment,
552
00:28:17,125 --> 00:28:21,375
'51, '52, '53, '54,
553
00:28:21,459 --> 00:28:23,375
he does some of
his greatest work.
554
00:28:23,459 --> 00:28:27,125
In the summer of 1852,
when he was 34 years old,
555
00:28:27,209 --> 00:28:30,334
Douglass wrote what's probably
his most famous speech.
556
00:28:30,417 --> 00:28:32,167
Morris, Jr.:
He was invited to speak
557
00:28:32,250 --> 00:28:34,500
at the Ladies'
Anti-Slavery Society
558
00:28:34,584 --> 00:28:35,792
about Independence Day.
559
00:28:35,876 --> 00:28:37,292
Big, big event.
560
00:28:37,375 --> 00:28:40,292
Corinthian Hall
in Rochester, New York.
561
00:28:40,375 --> 00:28:41,918
"Douglass says, "Okay.
562
00:28:42,000 --> 00:28:45,292
"I'll give
a Fourth of July speech.
563
00:28:45,375 --> 00:28:49,000
"But, I'm going to speak
beyond Corinthian Hall.
564
00:28:49,083 --> 00:28:51,000
"I'm going to speak
beyond Rochester.
565
00:28:51,083 --> 00:28:52,417
I'm going to speak
to the country."
566
00:28:52,500 --> 00:28:54,918
He worked on that speech
for at least three weeks.
567
00:28:55,000 --> 00:28:56,751
He tells us that in a letter,
568
00:28:56,834 --> 00:28:58,334
and, man, does it show it.
569
00:28:58,417 --> 00:29:01,083
It would go down in history
570
00:29:01,167 --> 00:29:03,375
as the oratorical masterpiece
571
00:29:03,459 --> 00:29:06,125
of the entire
abolitionist movement.
572
00:29:06,209 --> 00:29:09,292
♪ ♪
573
00:29:14,167 --> 00:29:15,751
♪ ♪
574
00:29:23,459 --> 00:29:25,667
Mr. President,
575
00:29:25,751 --> 00:29:29,083
friends, and fellow citizens.
576
00:29:31,167 --> 00:29:32,792
He who could address
this audience
577
00:29:32,876 --> 00:29:34,792
without a quailing sensation
578
00:29:34,876 --> 00:29:37,083
has stronger nerves than I have.
579
00:29:39,000 --> 00:29:41,792
I do not remember ever
to have appeared as a speaker
580
00:29:41,876 --> 00:29:43,500
before an assembly
more shrinkingly
581
00:29:43,584 --> 00:29:47,500
nor with greater distrust
of my ability
582
00:29:48,584 --> 00:29:50,334
than I do this day.
583
00:29:52,584 --> 00:29:55,667
The papers and placards say
that I am to deliver
584
00:29:55,751 --> 00:29:58,500
a Fourth of July oration.
585
00:29:59,459 --> 00:30:00,709
Fact is, ladies and gentlemen,
586
00:30:00,792 --> 00:30:03,125
the distance
between this platform
587
00:30:03,209 --> 00:30:05,834
and the slave plantation
from which I escaped
588
00:30:06,834 --> 00:30:09,250
is considerable.
589
00:30:09,334 --> 00:30:10,959
And the difficulties
to be overcome
590
00:30:11,042 --> 00:30:13,000
in getting from the latter
to the former
591
00:30:13,083 --> 00:30:15,459
are by no means slight.
592
00:30:15,542 --> 00:30:16,667
♪ ♪
593
00:30:16,751 --> 00:30:20,292
I liken the speech
to a symphony
594
00:30:20,375 --> 00:30:21,918
with three movements.
595
00:30:22,000 --> 00:30:23,751
The first movement,
fairly short,
596
00:30:23,834 --> 00:30:26,334
is Douglass putting
his audience at ease
597
00:30:26,417 --> 00:30:29,792
about the glories
of the Founding Fathers,
598
00:30:29,876 --> 00:30:32,334
the glories of the Declaration
of Independence,
599
00:30:32,417 --> 00:30:34,334
and it is beautiful,
600
00:30:34,417 --> 00:30:37,000
and the audience
must have felt like, "Wow.
601
00:30:37,083 --> 00:30:39,417
Frederick's going
to lift us up today."
602
00:30:40,834 --> 00:30:43,250
Fellow citizens,
I am not wanting in respect
603
00:30:43,334 --> 00:30:46,709
for the Fathers
of this Republic.
604
00:30:46,792 --> 00:30:50,876
The signers of the Declaration
of Independence were brave men.
605
00:30:50,959 --> 00:30:53,918
They were peace men.
606
00:30:54,000 --> 00:30:56,250
But they preferred revolution
607
00:30:56,334 --> 00:30:59,167
to peaceful submission
to bondage.
608
00:30:59,250 --> 00:31:01,709
And then, the whole
middle movement of the symphony
609
00:31:01,792 --> 00:31:03,709
is like a hail storm.
610
00:31:03,792 --> 00:31:06,167
It's the physical horror
of slavery.
611
00:31:06,250 --> 00:31:08,459
He wrecks upon his audience.
612
00:31:08,542 --> 00:31:11,042
"You invited me here
to sing for you,
613
00:31:11,125 --> 00:31:14,375
but I'm not going to sing.
I'm going to make you hurt."
614
00:31:14,459 --> 00:31:16,459
Mark.
615
00:31:16,542 --> 00:31:18,626
Mark the sad procession
616
00:31:18,709 --> 00:31:20,542
as it moves wearily along
617
00:31:20,626 --> 00:31:24,542
and the inhuman wretch
who drives them.
618
00:31:24,626 --> 00:31:27,167
Hear his savage yells
and his blood-chilling oaths
619
00:31:27,250 --> 00:31:29,292
as he hurries
on his affrighted captives.
620
00:31:29,375 --> 00:31:31,375
Attend the auction.
621
00:31:31,459 --> 00:31:32,792
See the men
examined like horses.
622
00:31:32,876 --> 00:31:36,125
See the forms of women rudely
and brutally exposed
623
00:31:36,209 --> 00:31:39,334
to the shocking gaze
of American slave buyers.
624
00:31:39,417 --> 00:31:41,209
♪ ♪
625
00:31:41,292 --> 00:31:43,000
Do you mean,
citizens, to mock me
626
00:31:43,083 --> 00:31:45,542
by asking me
to speak here today?
627
00:31:47,167 --> 00:31:49,209
What do I or those
I represent have to do
628
00:31:49,292 --> 00:31:52,209
with your national independence?
629
00:31:52,292 --> 00:31:56,125
Are the great principles
of political freedom
630
00:31:56,209 --> 00:31:59,292
and natural justice
embodied in that declaration
631
00:31:59,375 --> 00:32:02,209
extended to us?
632
00:32:04,959 --> 00:32:08,751
What to the American slave
is your Fourth of July?
633
00:32:09,918 --> 00:32:11,876
I answer a day
that reveals to him,
634
00:32:11,959 --> 00:32:14,000
more than any other
days of the year,
635
00:32:14,083 --> 00:32:15,751
the gross injustice and cruelty
636
00:32:15,834 --> 00:32:18,375
to which he is
the constant victim.
637
00:32:19,250 --> 00:32:20,792
To him,
638
00:32:20,876 --> 00:32:23,626
your celebration is a sham.
639
00:32:23,709 --> 00:32:27,542
Your national greatness,
swelling vanity.
640
00:32:27,626 --> 00:32:30,292
Your sounds of rejoicing
are empty and heartless.
641
00:32:30,375 --> 00:32:33,083
Your shouts of liberty
and equality?
642
00:32:33,167 --> 00:32:35,209
Hollow mock.
643
00:32:35,292 --> 00:32:37,125
The existence of slavery
in this country
644
00:32:37,209 --> 00:32:39,250
brands your humanity
as base pretense,
645
00:32:39,334 --> 00:32:42,083
and your Christianity as a lie.
646
00:32:42,167 --> 00:32:44,500
♪ ♪
647
00:32:45,417 --> 00:32:46,959
Hm...
648
00:32:47,042 --> 00:32:49,709
Had I the ability and could
I reach the nation's ear,
649
00:32:49,792 --> 00:32:53,626
I would today
pour out a fiery stream
650
00:32:53,709 --> 00:32:55,459
of biting ridicule,
651
00:32:55,542 --> 00:32:57,500
blasting reproach,
652
00:32:57,584 --> 00:33:01,584
withering sarcasm,
and stern rebuke.
653
00:33:01,667 --> 00:33:04,542
For it is not light
that is needed,
654
00:33:05,709 --> 00:33:07,125
but fire.
655
00:33:07,209 --> 00:33:10,417
It is not the gentle shower,
but thunder.
656
00:33:10,500 --> 00:33:13,375
We need the storm,
the whirlwind,
657
00:33:13,459 --> 00:33:14,542
and the earthquake.
658
00:33:14,626 --> 00:33:17,834
The feeling of
the nation must be roused.
659
00:33:17,918 --> 00:33:20,209
The propriety of the nation
must be startled,
660
00:33:20,292 --> 00:33:23,167
the hypocrisy of the nation
must be exposed,
661
00:33:23,250 --> 00:33:26,125
and the crimes
against God and man
662
00:33:26,209 --> 00:33:28,709
must be proclaimed
663
00:33:29,500 --> 00:33:31,792
and denounced.
664
00:33:33,042 --> 00:33:34,459
Blight:
And he stops.
665
00:33:34,542 --> 00:33:37,000
You can sense a pause
in the rhetoric.
666
00:33:37,083 --> 00:33:39,209
It's as though
the storm is over.
667
00:33:39,292 --> 00:33:41,375
The audience has felt in pain
668
00:33:41,459 --> 00:33:44,292
for 10 pages of this text,
669
00:33:45,459 --> 00:33:47,626
and then, he lets them back up.
670
00:33:47,709 --> 00:33:51,000
The last short movement
of the speech,
671
00:33:51,083 --> 00:33:54,834
he says,
"But your nation is still young.
672
00:33:54,918 --> 00:33:57,042
"It is still malleable,
673
00:33:57,125 --> 00:33:59,834
"but you're on the precipice
of self-destruction.
674
00:33:59,918 --> 00:34:02,417
"If you can't solve
this problem of slavery,
675
00:34:02,500 --> 00:34:03,876
there will be no America."
676
00:34:04,000 --> 00:34:05,459
♪ ♪
677
00:34:05,542 --> 00:34:08,542
I do not despair
of this country.
678
00:34:09,542 --> 00:34:10,792
There are forces in operation
679
00:34:10,876 --> 00:34:13,876
which must inevitably work
the downfall of slavery.
680
00:34:15,042 --> 00:34:17,250
I therefore leave off
where I began.
681
00:34:19,459 --> 00:34:20,667
With hope.
682
00:34:20,751 --> 00:34:23,709
♪ ♪
683
00:34:29,667 --> 00:34:32,042
We don't hear
a lot about people
684
00:34:32,125 --> 00:34:34,626
who, um, weren't allowed
to have an education,
685
00:34:34,709 --> 00:34:38,250
and who got this far,
had such, you know,
eloquent language
686
00:34:38,334 --> 00:34:39,626
and such an intention.
687
00:34:39,709 --> 00:34:43,250
You know, he's a Black man
in that period,
688
00:34:43,334 --> 00:34:46,375
or even in this period, um.
689
00:34:46,459 --> 00:34:48,292
He has to be extremely savvy
690
00:34:48,375 --> 00:34:52,167
about getting people's attention
and disarming people,
691
00:34:52,250 --> 00:34:55,209
and then figuring out
how to, how to get in there
692
00:34:55,292 --> 00:34:57,542
to really change
people's thinking.
693
00:34:57,626 --> 00:35:02,334
And he does it really
effectively and beautifully.
694
00:35:02,417 --> 00:35:04,834
Gates:
Douglass knew that an argument
695
00:35:04,918 --> 00:35:07,417
had to be eloquent
to be persuasive.
696
00:35:07,500 --> 00:35:10,125
That you had to appeal
to the mind,
697
00:35:10,209 --> 00:35:11,334
but through the emotions.
698
00:35:11,417 --> 00:35:14,626
And, he knocked it
out of the park.
699
00:35:14,709 --> 00:35:17,792
♪ ♪
700
00:35:23,542 --> 00:35:26,334
Roy:
The Civil War began
when Douglass was
701
00:35:26,417 --> 00:35:28,542
43 years old.
702
00:35:28,626 --> 00:35:31,542
So, he was too old to fight
but he wasn't too old
703
00:35:31,626 --> 00:35:34,459
to deliver his speeches,
his writings,
704
00:35:34,542 --> 00:35:37,542
to the American people
who he felt needed to hear it.
705
00:35:38,959 --> 00:35:41,167
Blight:
The war brings about
706
00:35:41,250 --> 00:35:43,876
a personal recreation
707
00:35:43,959 --> 00:35:46,167
and transformation.
708
00:35:46,250 --> 00:35:49,167
Douglass saw it as finally,
finally,
709
00:35:49,250 --> 00:35:53,375
the coming of what
he had most hoped for.
710
00:35:53,459 --> 00:35:57,250
During all the winter of 1860,
notes of preparation
711
00:35:57,334 --> 00:36:00,834
for a tremendous conflict
came to us on every wind.
712
00:36:00,918 --> 00:36:02,334
(wind blowing)
713
00:36:02,417 --> 00:36:05,459
The South was mad and would
listen to no concessions.
714
00:36:05,542 --> 00:36:07,000
They had come
to hate everything
715
00:36:07,083 --> 00:36:08,834
which had the prefix "free."
716
00:36:08,918 --> 00:36:10,626
Free states,
free schools,
717
00:36:10,709 --> 00:36:12,918
free speech,
and freedom generally,
718
00:36:13,000 --> 00:36:17,125
and they would have
no more such prefixes.
719
00:36:17,209 --> 00:36:19,417
This haughty
and unreasonable attitude
720
00:36:19,500 --> 00:36:21,542
of the imperious South
721
00:36:21,626 --> 00:36:24,918
saved the slave
and saved the nation.
722
00:36:25,000 --> 00:36:27,334
From the first, I, for one,
723
00:36:27,417 --> 00:36:30,500
saw this war
as the end of slavery.
724
00:36:30,584 --> 00:36:32,375
♪ ♪
725
00:36:32,459 --> 00:36:34,792
Blight:
In the first year
or two of the war,
726
00:36:34,876 --> 00:36:37,042
he's still
very much an outsider.
727
00:36:37,125 --> 00:36:39,542
He's on the circuit speaking,
728
00:36:39,626 --> 00:36:41,834
but he's just writing
in his newspaper,
729
00:36:41,918 --> 00:36:44,083
month after month after month,
730
00:36:44,167 --> 00:36:47,083
especially criticisms
of the Lincoln administration.
731
00:36:47,167 --> 00:36:49,542
He's trying to light fires
under Republicans,
732
00:36:49,626 --> 00:36:53,500
but he has no access to them.
He's not an insider at all.
733
00:36:53,584 --> 00:36:56,667
♪ ♪
734
00:37:02,626 --> 00:37:05,292
The first of January 1863,
735
00:37:05,375 --> 00:37:07,000
was a memorable day
736
00:37:07,083 --> 00:37:10,167
in the progress of American
liberty and civilization.
737
00:37:10,250 --> 00:37:13,667
This proclamation
changed everything.
738
00:37:13,751 --> 00:37:16,959
Abraham Lincoln issues
the Emancipation Proclamation
739
00:37:17,042 --> 00:37:20,000
in part to allow
740
00:37:20,083 --> 00:37:23,083
African Americans
to join the Union cause.
741
00:37:23,167 --> 00:37:25,209
They couldn't up until then.
742
00:37:25,292 --> 00:37:28,250
Gates:
Not only did it change
the nature of the war,
743
00:37:28,334 --> 00:37:32,042
but it gave Black men,
for the first time,
744
00:37:32,125 --> 00:37:35,542
the legal right
to kill white men.
745
00:37:35,626 --> 00:37:37,083
♪ ♪
746
00:37:37,167 --> 00:37:39,751
Blight:
And then, he did what
Douglass always did.
747
00:37:39,834 --> 00:37:43,209
He went to his desk,
he wrote a new speech.
748
00:37:43,292 --> 00:37:46,667
In that speech,
he famously says,
749
00:37:46,751 --> 00:37:49,500
this proclamation
has the opportunity now
750
00:37:49,584 --> 00:37:52,876
to free us all from the past.
751
00:37:59,834 --> 00:38:01,959
♪ ♪
752
00:38:05,292 --> 00:38:07,626
There are certain
great national acts,
753
00:38:07,709 --> 00:38:10,667
which, by their relation
to universal principles,
754
00:38:10,751 --> 00:38:13,667
properly belong to
the whole human family,
755
00:38:13,751 --> 00:38:16,250
and Abraham Lincoln's
proclamation
756
00:38:16,334 --> 00:38:19,500
of the 1st of January, 1863,
757
00:38:19,584 --> 00:38:21,167
is one of these acts.
758
00:38:21,250 --> 00:38:24,334
But I hold that
the proclamation,
759
00:38:24,417 --> 00:38:27,876
good as it is,
will be worthless,
760
00:38:27,959 --> 00:38:29,167
a miserable mockery,
761
00:38:29,250 --> 00:38:32,542
unless the nation shall so far
conquer its prejudice
762
00:38:32,626 --> 00:38:36,042
as to welcome into the army
full-grown Black men
763
00:38:36,125 --> 00:38:39,209
to help fight
the battles of the Republic.
764
00:38:39,292 --> 00:38:42,375
That paper proclamation
must now be made iron,
765
00:38:42,459 --> 00:38:44,167
lead, and fire
766
00:38:44,250 --> 00:38:47,542
by the prompt employment of
the Negro's arm in this contest.
767
00:38:49,209 --> 00:38:52,959
I know it is said
the Negroes won't fight,
768
00:38:53,042 --> 00:38:55,167
but I distrust the accuser.
769
00:38:55,250 --> 00:38:57,083
I know the colored men
of the North.
770
00:38:57,167 --> 00:38:59,083
I know the colored men
of the South.
771
00:38:59,167 --> 00:39:01,918
They are ready to rally
under the stars and stripes
772
00:39:02,000 --> 00:39:03,918
at the first tap of the drum.
773
00:39:04,000 --> 00:39:05,751
Give them a chance.
774
00:39:05,834 --> 00:39:09,167
Stop calling them niggers,
and call them soldiers.
775
00:39:09,250 --> 00:39:10,626
Stop telling them
they can't fight,
776
00:39:10,709 --> 00:39:13,042
and tell them they can fight
and shall fight,
777
00:39:13,125 --> 00:39:16,417
and they will fight
and fight with vengeance.
778
00:39:16,500 --> 00:39:18,500
Give them a chance.
779
00:39:18,584 --> 00:39:21,751
Away with prejudice.
Away with folly.
780
00:39:21,834 --> 00:39:24,167
And in this
death struggle for liberty,
781
00:39:24,250 --> 00:39:26,209
country, and permanent security,
782
00:39:26,292 --> 00:39:28,042
let the Black iron hand
of the colored man
783
00:39:28,125 --> 00:39:30,876
fall heavily on the head
of the slave-holding traders
784
00:39:30,959 --> 00:39:32,876
and rebels and lay them low.
785
00:39:32,959 --> 00:39:34,292
Give them a chance!
786
00:39:34,375 --> 00:39:36,375
Give them a chance.
787
00:39:36,459 --> 00:39:37,709
I don't say
they are great fighters.
788
00:39:37,792 --> 00:39:39,792
I don't say they will fight
better than other men.
789
00:39:39,876 --> 00:39:43,375
All I say is give them a chance.
790
00:39:44,667 --> 00:39:47,042
♪ ♪
791
00:39:47,125 --> 00:39:48,751
The moment you read
Frederick Douglass' words,
792
00:39:48,834 --> 00:39:50,250
you think that
they were written
793
00:39:50,334 --> 00:39:52,375
yesterday, literally,
794
00:39:52,459 --> 00:39:54,626
especially dealing with
all the upheaval
795
00:39:54,709 --> 00:39:56,083
that we have in our country.
796
00:39:56,167 --> 00:39:57,709
A lot of people don't know
a lot about him,
797
00:39:57,792 --> 00:40:00,167
but, I mean, that's just
American history, period.
798
00:40:00,250 --> 00:40:01,751
You know we don't know
a lot about ourselves.
799
00:40:01,834 --> 00:40:03,334
That's also the trick
of this country,
800
00:40:03,417 --> 00:40:05,918
to try to make us forget
and have amnesia.
801
00:40:06,000 --> 00:40:09,125
So, I think the more
that we, uh, put
802
00:40:09,209 --> 00:40:12,918
Frederick Douglass'
words on stage, now,
803
00:40:13,000 --> 00:40:15,542
as we interrogate
the soul of America,
804
00:40:15,626 --> 00:40:16,751
the better for all of us.
805
00:40:16,834 --> 00:40:18,459
I love the attack
that he has with it
806
00:40:18,542 --> 00:40:22,500
because he's, he's
so intelligent and strong,
807
00:40:22,584 --> 00:40:26,125
um, that you can't deny
whatever he's saying.
808
00:40:26,209 --> 00:40:28,834
It's very spirited,
and he's trying to really
809
00:40:28,918 --> 00:40:33,042
get people going
and move the crowd to think.
810
00:40:33,125 --> 00:40:35,542
Roy:
Frederick Douglass
sees Black soldiers
811
00:40:35,626 --> 00:40:38,959
wielding rifles
as one of the clearest
812
00:40:39,042 --> 00:40:42,709
and most profound expressions
of American citizenship.
813
00:40:42,792 --> 00:40:44,709
He begins to transition
814
00:40:44,792 --> 00:40:47,792
from America being
about you and yours
815
00:40:47,876 --> 00:40:50,125
to America being
about we and ours.
816
00:40:50,209 --> 00:40:53,125
Gates:
Douglass believed
that if Black men
817
00:40:53,209 --> 00:40:56,959
comported themselves
nobly and heroically,
818
00:40:57,042 --> 00:41:00,250
demonstrating bravery
on the battlefield,
819
00:41:00,334 --> 00:41:03,709
then, certainly,
Americans would say,
820
00:41:03,792 --> 00:41:07,542
"You deserve all the rights
821
00:41:07,626 --> 00:41:11,042
"inscribed in the
Declaration of Independence
822
00:41:11,125 --> 00:41:13,209
and the Constitution
of the United States."
823
00:41:13,292 --> 00:41:15,709
Unfortunately, he was wrong.
824
00:41:15,792 --> 00:41:17,709
♪ ♪
825
00:41:17,792 --> 00:41:21,250
Holland:
I had assured colored men
that once in the Union army,
826
00:41:21,334 --> 00:41:24,918
they would be put on an equal
footing with other soldiers,
827
00:41:25,000 --> 00:41:26,459
that they would be paid,
828
00:41:26,542 --> 00:41:28,751
promoted, and exchanged
as prisoners of war.
829
00:41:28,834 --> 00:41:32,000
But the government
had not kept its promise
830
00:41:32,083 --> 00:41:34,667
or the promise I made for it.
831
00:41:34,751 --> 00:41:36,626
I was induced to go
to Washington and lay
832
00:41:36,709 --> 00:41:40,584
the complaints of my people
before President Lincoln.
833
00:41:40,667 --> 00:41:44,417
I was an ex-slave identified
with the despised race,
834
00:41:44,500 --> 00:41:46,751
and yet, I was to meet
835
00:41:46,834 --> 00:41:49,834
the most exalted person
in this great Republic.
836
00:41:51,876 --> 00:41:54,959
Blight:
He goes to Washington
in August 1863
837
00:41:55,042 --> 00:41:56,667
with no appointment.
He just goes
838
00:41:56,751 --> 00:41:58,584
and gets in line
at the White House, says,
839
00:41:58,667 --> 00:42:01,417
"I wanna speak
to the President,"
and Lincoln lets him in.
840
00:42:01,500 --> 00:42:05,417
I shall never forget my first
interview with this great man.
841
00:42:05,500 --> 00:42:09,167
There was no vain pomp
or ceremony about him.
842
00:42:09,250 --> 00:42:12,876
I at once felt myself in
the presence of an honest man.
843
00:42:12,959 --> 00:42:16,167
Proceeding to tell him who
I was and what I was doing,
844
00:42:16,250 --> 00:42:20,167
he promptly, but kindly,
stopped me, saying,
845
00:42:20,250 --> 00:42:22,584
"I know who you are,
Mr. Douglass."
846
00:42:22,667 --> 00:42:24,375
Gates:
Without a doubt,
Abraham Lincoln
847
00:42:24,459 --> 00:42:28,125
matured in his ideas
about Black people,
848
00:42:28,209 --> 00:42:30,125
who and what a Black person was,
849
00:42:30,209 --> 00:42:33,125
and there's no doubt that
Douglass played a key role
850
00:42:33,209 --> 00:42:34,584
in that transition.
851
00:42:34,667 --> 00:42:37,500
When Douglass meets Lincoln in
the White House, it's a bridge.
852
00:42:37,584 --> 00:42:41,167
It's a first step for Douglass
to begin to enter into
853
00:42:41,250 --> 00:42:44,292
higher orders
and levels of power.
854
00:42:44,375 --> 00:42:47,334
Blight:
Now, he has a role.
855
00:42:47,417 --> 00:42:49,000
He has the role of
being recognized by
856
00:42:49,083 --> 00:42:50,167
the President of
the United States
857
00:42:50,250 --> 00:42:52,000
as the spokesman
of Black America.
858
00:42:52,083 --> 00:42:55,334
He is, as he loved
to say himself,
859
00:42:55,417 --> 00:42:58,751
the representative-colored man
in the United States.
860
00:42:58,834 --> 00:43:02,751
I think Douglass thought
that he single-handedly
861
00:43:02,834 --> 00:43:04,959
was charged with
the task of refuting
862
00:43:05,042 --> 00:43:07,834
every racist stereotype
863
00:43:07,918 --> 00:43:09,250
about Black people,
864
00:43:09,334 --> 00:43:12,167
but also,
his ego was healthy enough,
865
00:43:12,250 --> 00:43:15,000
and big enough, that he thought
he was up to the task.
866
00:43:15,083 --> 00:43:18,083
Blight:
And that's, of course, where
the photography comes in.
867
00:43:18,167 --> 00:43:20,542
♪ ♪
868
00:43:20,626 --> 00:43:22,792
Gates:
He is one of the most,
869
00:43:22,876 --> 00:43:27,459
if not the most, photographed
American in the 19th century.
870
00:43:27,542 --> 00:43:30,125
He was profoundly insightful
871
00:43:30,209 --> 00:43:32,918
about the potential uses
of photography
872
00:43:33,000 --> 00:43:34,918
to refute stereotypes,
873
00:43:35,000 --> 00:43:36,959
the caricatures
about Black people.
874
00:43:37,042 --> 00:43:40,042
Bisa Butler:
These photos were taken
so that people could see
875
00:43:40,125 --> 00:43:44,292
this intelligent,
learnèd Black man
876
00:43:44,375 --> 00:43:45,918
as an equal.
877
00:43:46,000 --> 00:43:48,500
He's not casting his eyes down
878
00:43:48,584 --> 00:43:50,292
as slaves were told to.
879
00:43:50,375 --> 00:43:52,209
He's looking you directly
in your eye,
880
00:43:52,292 --> 00:43:55,751
so that's a challenge
and a provocation in itself.
881
00:43:55,834 --> 00:43:57,417
♪ ♪
882
00:43:58,751 --> 00:44:00,083
Lewis:
It's important to understand
883
00:44:00,167 --> 00:44:01,542
when thinking
about Frederick Douglass
884
00:44:01,626 --> 00:44:04,876
that there is no model
for who he is
885
00:44:04,959 --> 00:44:08,375
at this period of time
in American life. None.
886
00:44:08,459 --> 00:44:12,000
He has to invent himself
effectively.
887
00:44:12,083 --> 00:44:16,000
He has to will himself
to be seen in a way
888
00:44:16,083 --> 00:44:18,000
that no one in society
889
00:44:18,083 --> 00:44:21,167
was ready to see a Black man.
890
00:44:21,250 --> 00:44:24,334
There's one image that
I love that shows Douglass
891
00:44:24,417 --> 00:44:27,667
as a homeowner
with his children
892
00:44:27,751 --> 00:44:30,834
across the two brownstones,
townhomes,
893
00:44:30,918 --> 00:44:32,918
that he owned
in Washington, DC.
894
00:44:33,000 --> 00:44:35,751
They're defying every
possible convention
895
00:44:35,834 --> 00:44:38,209
about what it means
to be a Black family
896
00:44:38,292 --> 00:44:41,375
and a Black man
in American life.
897
00:44:41,459 --> 00:44:43,584
He was really
an A-list celebrity,
898
00:44:43,667 --> 00:44:46,542
what we would call
an A-list celebrity today.
899
00:44:46,626 --> 00:44:48,751
Blight:
Especially after he appeared
on the cover
900
00:44:48,834 --> 00:44:50,417
of "Harper's" in the 1870s.
901
00:44:50,500 --> 00:44:52,083
Once you're on the cover of
"Harper's," that was like
902
00:44:52,167 --> 00:44:56,000
"Time" magazine and Google
put together back then.
903
00:44:56,083 --> 00:44:59,459
But being such a national
or world symbol,
904
00:44:59,542 --> 00:45:02,125
of course, is both
a pleasure and a peril.
905
00:45:02,209 --> 00:45:05,959
Douglass' extended family
become the Black First Family,
906
00:45:06,042 --> 00:45:08,083
and they're
constantly in the press.
907
00:45:08,167 --> 00:45:10,751
Roy:
Fame was such a double-edged
sword for Douglass
908
00:45:10,834 --> 00:45:12,042
because, on the one hand,
909
00:45:12,125 --> 00:45:15,334
it's personally fulfilling
and very lucrative,
910
00:45:15,417 --> 00:45:17,292
but, on the other hand,
it's exhausting,
911
00:45:17,375 --> 00:45:18,626
and it's alienating.
912
00:45:18,709 --> 00:45:21,959
He had some internal struggles
with relevancy
913
00:45:22,042 --> 00:45:25,500
and how he will
maintain his status
914
00:45:25,584 --> 00:45:28,125
as a man of consequence
915
00:45:28,209 --> 00:45:30,125
after the Civil War.
916
00:45:30,209 --> 00:45:31,584
♪ ♪
917
00:45:31,667 --> 00:45:34,167
Holland:
When the war for the Union
was substantially ended
918
00:45:34,250 --> 00:45:36,500
and peace
had dawned upon the land,
919
00:45:36,584 --> 00:45:39,125
when the gigantic system
of American slavery
920
00:45:39,209 --> 00:45:41,417
was finally abolished,
921
00:45:41,500 --> 00:45:42,542
a strange,
922
00:45:42,626 --> 00:45:46,250
perhaps perverse,
feeling came over me.
923
00:45:46,334 --> 00:45:49,918
My great and exceeding joy over
these stupendous achievements
924
00:45:50,000 --> 00:45:54,000
was slightly tinged
with a feeling of sadness.
925
00:45:54,083 --> 00:45:58,334
The anti-slavery platform
had performed its work,
926
00:45:58,417 --> 00:46:01,209
and my voice
was no longer needed.
927
00:46:01,292 --> 00:46:03,209
He thought, "Well, who'll wanna
hear from me anymore?
928
00:46:03,292 --> 00:46:04,250
Slavery's ended."
929
00:46:04,334 --> 00:46:06,500
What is his personal role now?
930
00:46:06,584 --> 00:46:07,959
But all he had to do,
931
00:46:08,042 --> 00:46:10,709
someone could go back in time
and say, "Fred, don't despair."
932
00:46:10,792 --> 00:46:13,292
"You know, hang around.
White supremacy's just asleep,
933
00:46:13,375 --> 00:46:16,375
and it's not going to be
asleep for very long."
934
00:46:16,459 --> 00:46:18,959
Holland:
The Emancipation Proclamation
had given slavery
935
00:46:19,042 --> 00:46:20,542
many deadly wounds,
936
00:46:20,626 --> 00:46:23,876
yet it was, in fact,
only wounded and crippled,
937
00:46:23,959 --> 00:46:26,125
not disabled and killed.
938
00:46:26,209 --> 00:46:27,626
♪ ♪
939
00:46:27,709 --> 00:46:29,876
Though slavery was abolished,
940
00:46:29,959 --> 00:46:32,292
the wrongs of my people
were not ended.
941
00:46:33,834 --> 00:46:37,542
Though they were not slaves,
they were not yet quite free.
942
00:46:38,959 --> 00:46:43,792
I therefore soon found that
the Negro had still a cause,
943
00:46:43,876 --> 00:46:46,876
and that he needed my voice
and my pen
944
00:46:46,959 --> 00:46:48,542
to plead for it.
945
00:46:48,626 --> 00:46:50,459
Blight:
It is Reconstruction
946
00:46:50,542 --> 00:46:53,918
and its decline and defeat
947
00:46:54,000 --> 00:46:55,876
that now causes Douglass
948
00:46:55,959 --> 00:46:59,125
to find a new voice,
a new role, if he can.
949
00:46:59,209 --> 00:47:02,292
♪ ♪
950
00:47:22,542 --> 00:47:26,417
Reconstruction is arguably
the most hopeful period
951
00:47:26,500 --> 00:47:27,834
of Douglass' life.
952
00:47:27,918 --> 00:47:31,626
It is a legal, constitutional,
political revolution,
953
00:47:31,709 --> 00:47:35,709
and a new United States
is being made out of that.
954
00:47:35,792 --> 00:47:37,876
There's a time there
when he holds
955
00:47:37,959 --> 00:47:40,792
these two appointive
positions in Washington,
956
00:47:40,876 --> 00:47:43,751
and he's part of
the federal bureaucracy.
957
00:47:43,834 --> 00:47:46,626
Gates:
He wanted to have enough money
to take care of his family.
958
00:47:46,709 --> 00:47:48,626
He wanted to be respected.
959
00:47:48,709 --> 00:47:51,876
He wanted to get
government jobs that affirmed
960
00:47:51,959 --> 00:47:54,667
his own idea of his importance.
961
00:47:54,751 --> 00:47:58,000
Blight:
Douglass is a classic
example of
962
00:47:58,083 --> 00:48:00,334
an old, radical outsider
963
00:48:00,417 --> 00:48:02,500
who becomes, with time,
964
00:48:02,584 --> 00:48:04,459
a political insider.
965
00:48:04,542 --> 00:48:09,167
There are many, now,
next generation Black leaders
966
00:48:09,250 --> 00:48:11,250
who are now his rivals.
967
00:48:11,334 --> 00:48:13,083
He's frequently
referred to as the old man,
968
00:48:13,167 --> 00:48:16,626
particularly by young Turks
out to slay him,
969
00:48:16,709 --> 00:48:18,000
out to take his position.
970
00:48:18,083 --> 00:48:19,834
Blight:
They're all 20 years
younger at least.
971
00:48:19,918 --> 00:48:22,918
They're all college-educated,
free-born,
972
00:48:23,000 --> 00:48:27,584
and he gets into very public
disputes with them in the press.
973
00:48:27,667 --> 00:48:29,292
Holland:
I need not tell you,
Mr. Editor,
974
00:48:29,375 --> 00:48:30,709
that no man is safe these days
975
00:48:30,792 --> 00:48:33,751
from the attacks of
anonymous falsifiers.
976
00:48:33,834 --> 00:48:35,959
If my record of more
than 40 years of service
977
00:48:36,042 --> 00:48:38,000
to the colored race
does not protect me
978
00:48:38,083 --> 00:48:40,292
from violent sinuations,
979
00:48:40,375 --> 00:48:43,876
nothing I can now say
will silence them.
980
00:48:43,959 --> 00:48:47,959
Blight:
He was a very
hyper-sensitive man
981
00:48:48,042 --> 00:48:49,459
as he got older.
982
00:48:49,542 --> 00:48:51,417
He liked being on a pedestal.
983
00:48:51,500 --> 00:48:54,125
He didn't like
being knocked off.
984
00:48:54,209 --> 00:48:57,626
When Anna died in '82,
985
00:48:57,709 --> 00:49:00,500
after a long illness,
Douglass came apart.
986
00:49:00,584 --> 00:49:03,459
I think he had another,
at least temporary, breakdown.
987
00:49:03,542 --> 00:49:06,626
♪ ♪
988
00:49:08,709 --> 00:49:12,876
But, within about 15 months,
he married Helen Pitts.
989
00:49:12,959 --> 00:49:16,709
She was a white woman,
and she's 20 years younger,
990
00:49:16,792 --> 00:49:17,959
and it became
991
00:49:18,042 --> 00:49:23,375
the most scandalous marriage
of the 19th century.
992
00:49:23,459 --> 00:49:25,417
Roy:
The uproar from
the Black community
993
00:49:25,500 --> 00:49:28,542
and the white community
is enormous.
994
00:49:28,626 --> 00:49:31,375
Blight:
For months,
it was in the press,
995
00:49:31,459 --> 00:49:36,042
but they basically
just consistently said,
996
00:49:36,125 --> 00:49:37,626
"We'll marry whom we wish."
997
00:49:37,709 --> 00:49:40,709
Holland:
I have had very little sympathy
with the curiosity of the world
998
00:49:40,792 --> 00:49:42,876
about my domestic relations.
999
00:49:42,959 --> 00:49:47,334
What business has the world
with the color of my wife?
1000
00:49:47,417 --> 00:49:50,500
So, imagine that
you're Frederick Douglass,
1001
00:49:50,584 --> 00:49:52,834
and what you really want to do
1002
00:49:52,918 --> 00:49:55,459
is read novels
and travel around the world.
1003
00:49:55,542 --> 00:49:58,500
Blight:
And yet, once in a while,
there's an issue
1004
00:49:58,584 --> 00:50:00,417
that just brings him
back to the fore.
1005
00:50:00,500 --> 00:50:03,792
♪ ♪
1006
00:50:07,125 --> 00:50:10,083
Black men in the former
Confederate states
1007
00:50:10,167 --> 00:50:13,542
get the right to vote two years
after the end of the Civil War,
1008
00:50:13,626 --> 00:50:16,876
and that right is greeted with
1009
00:50:16,959 --> 00:50:18,751
terrorism, threats,
1010
00:50:18,834 --> 00:50:20,334
repression, violence,
1011
00:50:20,417 --> 00:50:22,250
rape, uh, lynching.
1012
00:50:22,334 --> 00:50:26,042
Blight:
Reconstruction is full of
mob actions, mob violence,
1013
00:50:26,125 --> 00:50:28,709
massacres of people.
1014
00:50:28,792 --> 00:50:33,542
It's just the destruction
of life out of fear
1015
00:50:33,626 --> 00:50:36,626
and the feeling of the threat
1016
00:50:36,709 --> 00:50:39,000
to the social
and political order
1017
00:50:39,083 --> 00:50:40,834
as white people wished it.
1018
00:50:40,918 --> 00:50:43,083
Soon, Reconstruction is over,
1019
00:50:43,167 --> 00:50:47,209
and we see the formalization
of Jim Crow white supremacy.
1020
00:50:47,292 --> 00:50:48,876
♪ ♪
1021
00:50:50,542 --> 00:50:52,626
So, it's in the early 1890s
1022
00:50:52,709 --> 00:50:55,042
that he has to speak out more.
1023
00:50:55,125 --> 00:50:59,000
He writes his final speech
in 1893,
1024
00:50:59,083 --> 00:51:01,876
then he begins to
take it on the road.
1025
00:51:01,959 --> 00:51:04,000
He's also growing old.
1026
00:51:04,083 --> 00:51:05,459
He's not well.
1027
00:51:05,542 --> 00:51:08,459
He is constantly complaining
about his hands shaking.
1028
00:51:08,542 --> 00:51:10,042
He's complaining
about chest pains.
1029
00:51:10,125 --> 00:51:13,083
He's complaining
about incredible weariness.
1030
00:51:13,167 --> 00:51:15,876
Gates:
But, he's always
drawn back into combat.
1031
00:51:15,959 --> 00:51:17,918
The war is never over
1032
00:51:18,000 --> 00:51:19,542
because white supremacy
1033
00:51:19,626 --> 00:51:21,584
is the beast that
won't be defeated.
1034
00:51:21,667 --> 00:51:24,751
♪ ♪
1035
00:51:29,792 --> 00:51:31,375
♪ ♪
1036
00:51:34,083 --> 00:51:37,209
Friends and fellow citizens,
1037
00:51:37,292 --> 00:51:40,000
strange things have
happened of late
1038
00:51:40,083 --> 00:51:42,083
and are still happening.
1039
00:51:42,167 --> 00:51:45,834
Some of these tend to dim
the luster of the American name
1040
00:51:45,918 --> 00:51:47,709
and chill the hopes
we once entertained
1041
00:51:47,792 --> 00:51:49,709
for the cause
of American liberty.
1042
00:51:49,792 --> 00:51:53,834
Principles, which we all thought
to have been permanently settled
1043
00:51:53,918 --> 00:51:57,083
by the late war,
have been boldly assaulted
1044
00:51:57,167 --> 00:52:00,125
and overthrown
by the defeated party.
1045
00:52:00,209 --> 00:52:02,751
When the moral sense
of a nation begins to decline
1046
00:52:02,834 --> 00:52:04,876
and the wheel of progress
to roll backward,
1047
00:52:04,959 --> 00:52:07,500
there's no telling
how low one will fall
1048
00:52:07,584 --> 00:52:10,584
or where the other may stop.
1049
00:52:10,667 --> 00:52:13,792
I have waited patiently,
but anxiously,
1050
00:52:13,876 --> 00:52:17,375
to see the end of the epidemic
of mob law and persecution
1051
00:52:17,459 --> 00:52:19,125
now prevailing in the South.
1052
00:52:19,209 --> 00:52:21,667
Our newspapers
are daily disfigured
1053
00:52:21,751 --> 00:52:24,209
by its ghastly horrors.
1054
00:52:24,292 --> 00:52:26,918
It's commonly thought
that only the lowest
1055
00:52:27,000 --> 00:52:30,083
and most disgusting birds
and beasts such as buzzards,
1056
00:52:30,167 --> 00:52:32,125
vultures, and hyenas
1057
00:52:32,209 --> 00:52:35,167
will gloat over
and prey upon dead bodies.
1058
00:52:35,250 --> 00:52:37,667
But the Southern mob,
in its rage,
1059
00:52:37,751 --> 00:52:40,209
feeds its vengeance by shooting,
1060
00:52:40,292 --> 00:52:42,500
stabbing, and burning
1061
00:52:42,584 --> 00:52:44,751
when their victims are dead.
1062
00:52:46,375 --> 00:52:49,584
Their institutions have taught
them no respect for human life,
1063
00:52:49,667 --> 00:52:52,459
and especially
the life of a Negro.
1064
00:52:55,500 --> 00:52:59,083
But, my friends, I must stop.
1065
00:52:59,167 --> 00:53:02,876
Time and strength are not equal
to the task before me.
1066
00:53:04,542 --> 00:53:07,626
But could I be heard
by this great nation,
1067
00:53:07,709 --> 00:53:10,918
I would call to mind the sublime
and glorious truths
1068
00:53:11,000 --> 00:53:14,792
with which, at its birth,
it saluted a listening world.
1069
00:53:14,876 --> 00:53:17,209
It announced the advent
of a nation
1070
00:53:17,292 --> 00:53:19,792
based upon human brotherhood
1071
00:53:19,876 --> 00:53:24,167
and the self-evident truths
of liberty and equality.
1072
00:53:24,250 --> 00:53:27,500
Apply these sublime
and glorious truths
1073
00:53:27,584 --> 00:53:30,334
to the situation now before you.
1074
00:53:30,417 --> 00:53:31,792
Put away your prejudice.
1075
00:53:31,876 --> 00:53:35,292
Banish the idea that one class
must rule over another.
1076
00:53:35,375 --> 00:53:38,292
Recognize the fact that the
rights of the humblest citizen
1077
00:53:38,375 --> 00:53:42,125
are as worthy of protection
as are those of the highest,
1078
00:53:42,209 --> 00:53:45,209
and your problem will be solved.
1079
00:53:45,292 --> 00:53:47,959
And whatever may be in store
for it in the future,
1080
00:53:48,042 --> 00:53:49,792
whether prosperity or adversity,
1081
00:53:49,876 --> 00:53:53,042
whether it shall have foes
without or foes within,
1082
00:53:53,125 --> 00:53:57,042
whether there shall be
peace or war,
1083
00:53:57,125 --> 00:53:58,834
based on the eternal principles
1084
00:53:58,918 --> 00:54:02,083
of truth, justice, and humanity,
1085
00:54:02,876 --> 00:54:05,500
your Republic will stand
1086
00:54:05,584 --> 00:54:07,709
and flourish forever.
1087
00:54:12,000 --> 00:54:14,584
This "Lessons of the Hour"
is a speech that resonates now
1088
00:54:14,667 --> 00:54:18,083
because in some ways, we're
revisiting a similar cycle.
1089
00:54:18,167 --> 00:54:21,751
He represents what we miss
1090
00:54:21,834 --> 00:54:24,667
and how we are weakened
as a society
1091
00:54:24,751 --> 00:54:28,542
if we are making it
our institutional business
1092
00:54:28,626 --> 00:54:30,834
to suppress certain voices,
1093
00:54:30,918 --> 00:54:34,250
talents, certain minds,
certain, certain bodies.
1094
00:54:34,334 --> 00:54:35,876
How can we,
how can we as a people
1095
00:54:35,959 --> 00:54:38,459
not know of a man
like Frederick Douglass?
1096
00:54:38,542 --> 00:54:42,918
All of us, whether we be Black,
white, or otherwise or...
1097
00:54:43,000 --> 00:54:46,918
immigrant or, you know,
uh, 10 generations here,
1098
00:54:47,000 --> 00:54:50,292
he's a, you know,
he's an exemplar American.
1099
00:54:50,375 --> 00:54:53,292
Blight:
This is a man
who lives, essentially,
1100
00:54:53,375 --> 00:54:56,167
the whole trajectory
of 19th-century America.
1101
00:54:56,250 --> 00:54:58,125
Slavery to freedom
1102
00:54:58,209 --> 00:55:00,709
to the betrayal
of that freedom,
1103
00:55:00,792 --> 00:55:02,876
but still trying to hang on
1104
00:55:02,959 --> 00:55:06,918
to some kind of philosophical
and principled hope.
1105
00:55:07,000 --> 00:55:10,500
There's still hope,
but we still have to fight.
1106
00:55:10,584 --> 00:55:12,209
♪ ♪
1107
00:55:12,292 --> 00:55:14,500
We all tend
to romanticize the way
1108
00:55:14,584 --> 00:55:16,375
that Douglass bounced back
1109
00:55:16,459 --> 00:55:18,125
and the way
he refused to be daunted.
1110
00:55:18,209 --> 00:55:21,167
I find it enormously depressing
that he had to bounce back.
1111
00:55:21,250 --> 00:55:22,667
You see the Civil War won.
1112
00:55:22,751 --> 00:55:26,083
You see the 13th,
14th, and 15th Amendments.
1113
00:55:26,167 --> 00:55:28,626
And still,
on the eve of your death,
1114
00:55:28,709 --> 00:55:30,334
having to give a speech saying,
1115
00:55:30,417 --> 00:55:33,584
"If I have to leave
this world behind
1116
00:55:33,667 --> 00:55:36,292
"with three words
echoing in your ears,
1117
00:55:36,375 --> 00:55:38,542
those words are..."
1118
00:55:38,626 --> 00:55:41,042
Hope, faith, and charity? No.
1119
00:55:42,542 --> 00:55:44,792
We will overcome?
1120
00:55:44,876 --> 00:55:46,292
No.
1121
00:55:46,375 --> 00:55:50,000
Agitate. Agitate.
1122
00:55:50,083 --> 00:55:51,751
Agitate.
1123
00:55:51,834 --> 00:55:54,334
♪ ♪
1124
00:55:54,417 --> 00:55:58,250
I have now brought my readers
to the end of my story.
1125
00:55:59,918 --> 00:56:03,042
I have written out
my experiences here,
1126
00:56:03,125 --> 00:56:05,876
not in order to exhibit
my wounds and bruises
1127
00:56:05,959 --> 00:56:10,042
and to awaken and attract
sympathy to myself personally,
1128
00:56:10,125 --> 00:56:12,876
but as a part of the history
of a profoundly
1129
00:56:12,959 --> 00:56:17,584
interesting period in
American life and progress.
1130
00:56:17,667 --> 00:56:21,459
My part has been to tell
the story of the slave.
1131
00:56:21,542 --> 00:56:25,167
The story of the master
never wanted for narrators.
1132
00:56:25,250 --> 00:56:27,417
Forty years of my life
have been given
1133
00:56:27,500 --> 00:56:29,584
to the cause of my people,
1134
00:56:29,667 --> 00:56:32,000
and if I had 40 years more,
1135
00:56:32,083 --> 00:56:35,667
they should all be sacredly
given to the same great cause.
1136
00:56:37,459 --> 00:56:41,083
Taking all the circumstances
into consideration,
1137
00:56:41,167 --> 00:56:44,584
the colored people
have no reason to despair.
1138
00:56:44,667 --> 00:56:46,459
Notwithstanding the great
1139
00:56:46,542 --> 00:56:50,250
and all-abounding darkness
of our social past.
1140
00:56:50,334 --> 00:56:53,250
Notwithstanding the clouds
that still overhang us
1141
00:56:53,334 --> 00:56:55,918
in the moral and social sky.
1142
00:56:56,000 --> 00:56:58,542
It is my faith
1143
00:56:58,626 --> 00:57:01,125
that a better and brighter day
1144
00:57:01,209 --> 00:57:03,375
will yet come.
1145
00:57:11,334 --> 00:57:12,792
♪ ♪
1146
00:57:14,459 --> 00:57:17,542
♪ ♪