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In conjunction with a current exhibit, the Brooklyn Historical Society blog is featuring a series of blog posts called “The Emancipation Proclamation: Americans Respond.” Learn more here.
A month after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, famed abolitionist Frederick Douglass reflected on the moral impact of emancipation on all Americans.
Speaking to a packed house at New York's Cooper Institute (later Cooper Union), Douglass insisted, as many anti-slavery reformers had long done, that the Emancipation Proclamation was a first step towards healing a nation diseased by the evil institution of slavery.
Frederick Douglass was born a slave in Maryland in 1818. As he grew up, he rebelled against his enslavement in a number of ways: he taught himself how to read and covertly instructed other enslaved people, and he fought back when physically abused. After several unsuccessful attempts, he was able to escape to New York, where he was taken in by abolitionist David Ruggles. After overcoming an initial fear of public speaking, Douglass went on to become one of the anti-slavery movement's most eloquent speakers. A prolific writer, Douglass penned his own autobiography, started a number of abolitionist newspapers, and crafted innumerable other writings. Unlike many other abolitionists of the time, Douglass was also a great supporter of women's rights.
In the 1863 Cooper Institute speech, Douglass recounted to his audience of black and white New Yorkers the reactions of the men and women around him upon first hearing of the Emancipation Proclamation. "I never saw enthusiasm before," he recalled." I never saw joy before. Men, women, young and old, were up; hats and bonnets were in the air, and we have three cheers for Abraham Lincoln and three cheers for about everybody else.”
Source: Frederick Douglass, “The Proclamation and the Negro Army,” speech at Cooper Institute, New York, February 6, 1863.
To learn about Frederick Douglass' live and read more of his writings, see:
Blight, David W. Frederick Douglass’s Civil War: Keeping Faith in Jubilee. Baton Rouge, Louisiana: LSU Press, 1991.
Douglass, Frederick. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave. Reprint New York: Penguin, 1982.
Foner, Philip S., editor. The Life and Writings of Frederick Douglass, volumes 1 -5. New York: International Publishers, 1975. 326
A month after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, famed abolitionist Frederick Douglass reflected on the moral impact of emancipation on all Americans.
“We are all liberated by this proclamation. Everybody is liberated. The white man is liberated, the black man is liberated, the brave men now fighting the battles of their country against rebels and traitors are now liberated… I congratulate you upon this amazing change—the amazing approximation toward the sacred truth of human liberty."
Speaking to a packed house at New York's Cooper Institute (later Cooper Union), Douglass insisted, as many anti-slavery reformers had long done, that the Emancipation Proclamation was a first step towards healing a nation diseased by the evil institution of slavery.
Frederick Douglass was born a slave in Maryland in 1818. As he grew up, he rebelled against his enslavement in a number of ways: he taught himself how to read and covertly instructed other enslaved people, and he fought back when physically abused. After several unsuccessful attempts, he was able to escape to New York, where he was taken in by abolitionist David Ruggles. After overcoming an initial fear of public speaking, Douglass went on to become one of the anti-slavery movement's most eloquent speakers. A prolific writer, Douglass penned his own autobiography, started a number of abolitionist newspapers, and crafted innumerable other writings. Unlike many other abolitionists of the time, Douglass was also a great supporter of women's rights.
In the 1863 Cooper Institute speech, Douglass recounted to his audience of black and white New Yorkers the reactions of the men and women around him upon first hearing of the Emancipation Proclamation. "I never saw enthusiasm before," he recalled." I never saw joy before. Men, women, young and old, were up; hats and bonnets were in the air, and we have three cheers for Abraham Lincoln and three cheers for about everybody else.”
Source: Frederick Douglass, “The Proclamation and the Negro Army,” speech at Cooper Institute, New York, February 6, 1863.
To learn about Frederick Douglass' live and read more of his writings, see:
Blight, David W. Frederick Douglass’s Civil War: Keeping Faith in Jubilee. Baton Rouge, Louisiana: LSU Press, 1991.
Douglass, Frederick. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave. Reprint New York: Penguin, 1982.
Foner, Philip S., editor. The Life and Writings of Frederick Douglass, volumes 1 -5. New York: International Publishers, 1975. 326
This blog post reflects the opinions of the author and does not necessarily represent the views of Brooklyn Public Library.
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