Frederick Douglass was unquestionably the foremost black American of thenineteenth century. The extraordinary life of this former slave turnedabolitionist orato... » 

Frederick Douglass was unquestionably the foremost black American of thenineteenth century. The extraordinary life of this former slave turnedabolitionist orator newspaper editor social reformer race leader andRepublican party advocate has inspired many biographies over the years. Thishowever is the first fullscale study of the origins contours developmentand significance of Douglasss thought.Brilliant and to a large degree selftaught Douglass personified intellectualactivism he possessed a sincere concern for the uses and consequences ofideas. Both his peoples struggle for liberation and his individualexperiences which he envisioned as symbolizing that struggle provided thebasis and structure for his intellectual maturation. As a representativeAmerican he internalized and thus reflected major currents in thecontemporary American mind. As a representative AfroAmerican he revealed inhis thinking the deepseated influence of race on EuroAmerican AfroAmericanor broadly conceived American consciousness. He sought to resolve in histhinking the dynamic tension between his identities as a black and as anAmerican.Martin assesses not only how Douglass dealt with this enduring conflict butalso the extent of his success. An inveterate belief in a universal andegalitarian humanism unified Douglasss thought. This grand organizingprinciple reflected his intellectual roots in the three major traditions ofmidnineteenthcentury American thought Protestant Christianity theEnlightenment and romanticism. Together these influences buttressed hischaracteristic optimism.Although nineteenthcentury AfroAmerican intellectualhistory derived itscentral premises and outlook from concurrent American intellectual history itoffered a searching critique of the latter and its ramifications. How to squareAmericas rhetoric of freedom equality and justice with the reality ofslavery and racial prejudice was the difficulty that confronted such AfroAmerican thinkers as Douglass. «