From the Ashbrook Center website:

"To reflect on the life of Frederick Douglass is to be reminded of the famous self-description attributed to his great contemporary, Mark Twain: 'I am not an American; I am the American.' A classic self-made man, Douglass, like his country, rose from a low beginning to a great height; he gained freedom by his own virtue and against great odds in a revolutionary struggle; and he matured into an internationally renowned apostle of universal liberty. In this course, we consider Douglass' telling of his own story, taking as primary texts his three autobiographies: Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (1845), My Bondage and My Freedom (1855), and Life and Times of Frederick Douglass (1881; 1892). We will find in these texts not only the annals of an unforgettable life but also Douglass' reflections on enduring issues in American political thought such as the nature and specific evil of slavery, the nature and grounds of human rights and freedom, and the meaning and mission of the American Republic."

From the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History website:

"The American Revolution did more than secure independence for thirteen American colonies—it gave antislavery organizing a moral legitimacy it had never had before. In Britain by the early nineteenth century, opposing the slave system could serve as a mark of virtue rather than evidence of eccentricity. The first emancipation schemes depended on efforts to strengthen the role of the imperial state in an era of weakening overseas authority, and the abolitionist movement as a whole derived its power from a profound yearning for moral worth in the aftermath of British defeat and American independence. This course will consider the disparate strands of the British Atlantic world and bring into focus shifting developments in the abolitionist movement."

This seminar will consider two different American Revolutions. One was the struggle for American self-determination. The second was the ongoing struggle for liberty and equality enunciated in the Declaration of Independence. Participants will consider the ideological, economic, social, and political causes of the War for Independence. They will also consider the war as a political, military, and social struggle. This course will discuss critical steps made during and after the war for liberty and equality: the abolition of slavery in the North, enhancement of women's roles, and enfranchisement of unpropertied white men. Since New York figured as a critical field of conflict in both American Revolutions, the seminar will take advantage of its location in New York to visit some of the most important Revolutionary sites.

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