Introduction:
The parallels between Lincoln and Douglass' views on slavery can only be defined within a continuum of change as we explore the meaning of their words and the important events that surrounded the antebellum and Civil War era during the 1850's and 1860's. Starting from different perspectives, Lincoln and Douglass converged towards the same political end; the eventual abolition of slavery. They were opposite sides of the same coin. As David Blight argues, ideologically, they came to similar conclusions about what slavery meant to the United States and how it had affected society, politics, and the human condition. Their undeniable roles in helping to shape a pivotal historical time period in the United States and their individual influences will forever have a place in history.
Despite meeting only a handful of times in the 1860's, their similar and opposed views on the issue of slavery are the topic of interest on this site. Why compare them? Primarily, because it creates a better understanding of a time period in U.S. History when the solvency of the country was at stake. It was their initial opposing views that led to "a new birth of freedom" as Lincoln would state in his famous "Gettysburg Address". This site is intended to initiate a platform of comparative analysis and allow students to walk away with a snapshot of the conflicting political ideologies that shaped the Civil War era.
Both were considered literary writers whose use of figurative language shaped the style of their many speeches and writings. Lincoln, a lover of poetry in his youth, used strong symbolic phrases borrowed from the scriptures in his 1858 House Divided speech hd.housedivided.dickinson.edu/node/40361 when he campaigned for the senate race in Illinois against Democrat, Stephen Douglas. Both Lincoln and Douglass displayed a passion for imagery and symbolism in their oratory and used powerful phrasing to shape and affect policy.
Although their circumstances were very different; one born into the life of small farming and manual labor in 1809 and the other born into slavery and the harsh reality of bondage in 1818; they both broke from their past to build a foundation of hope and progress for equality in society. Lincoln as an anti-slavery politician and Douglass as an outspoken abolitionist, writer and publisher. Their prospect of a society where both blacks and whites could co-exist peacefully began with their powerful visions and they are living proof that visions can transform into reality.
Douglass, born into slavery in 1818, escaped Maryland at the age of 20 to New Bedford, Massachusetts in 1838 where slavery was illegal. Much like Lincoln, he was self-taught in education and used his writings "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave (1845) " and later the creation of a newspaper called "The North Star" (1847) to voice his opposition to slavery.
Lincoln, a self-made man, was born into a humble upbringing and left his family in 1831. He began studying law in 1834, and quickly became a respected lawyer/politician in Springfield, Illinois. He was eventually nominated for and won the United States Presidency in 1860 within the Republican Party which he helped organize and create to promote anti-slavery in the growing nation's new territories.
Douglass, a radical abolitionist, denounced the Constitution as "a cunningly devised and wicked compact" who felt the only way to abolish the institution of slavery was through forceful means; and Lincoln, a conservative Whig turned Republican by the growing anti-slavery movement of the North, felt abolishing slavery had to be accomplished through the avenues of democracy.
As you explore the sections Similar Views and Opposing Views with links to primary and secondary sources, use the essential questions to help form your own comparisons and opinions of these two important political figures in United States History.
This “Lincoln and Douglass” website was a multi-media project assignment within the graduate course “Understanding Lincoln” taught by the distinguished Professor, Matthew Pinsker, from Dickinson College in conjunction with Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.
AUTHOR of the site:
Beatriz Martos is a 5th grade elementary and previous Social Studies Middle School teacher at SJUSD |
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