The Political Thought of Frederick Douglass: In Pursuit of American Liberty

Description

2013 Finalist, 26th Annual Oregon Best Book Award Frederick Douglass, one of the most prominent figures in African-American and United States history, was born a slave, but escaped to the North and became a well-known anti-slavery activist, orator, and author. In The Political Thought of Frederick Douglass, Nicholas Buccola provides an important and original argument about the ideas that animated this reformer-statesman. Beyond his role as an abolitionist, Buccola argues for the importance of understanding Douglass as a political thinker who provides deep insights into the immense challenge of achieving and maintaining the liberal promise of freedom. Douglass, Buccola contends, shows us that the language of rights must be coupled with a robust understanding of social responsibility in order for liberal ideals to be realized. Truly an original American thinker, this book highlights Douglass’s rightful place among the great thinkers in the American liberal tradition. Podcast — Nicholas Buccola on Frederick Douglass and Liberty.   Cover Contents Acknowledgments 1 The Facts and the Philosophy: Frederick Douglass as Political Thinker 2 “Every Man Is Himself and Belongs to Himself ”: Slavery and Self-Ownership as the Foundations of Douglass’s Liberalism 3 From Slavery to Liberty and Equality: Douglass’s Liberal Democratic Politics 4 “Each for All and All for Each”: Douglass’s Case for Mutual Responsibility 5 “Friends of Freedom”: Reformers, Self-Made Men, and the Moral Ecology of Freedom 6 “Man Is Neither Wood Nor Stone”: Top-Down Moral Education in Douglass’s Liberalism 7 Conclusion: Frederick Douglass in the American Mind Notes Bibliography Index A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T W Y Z About the Author