A Glorious Liberty: Frederick Douglass and the Fight for an Antislavery Constitution

by Damon Root

2021 Choice Outstanding Academic Title

In this timely and provocative book, Damon Root reveals how Frederick Douglass’s fight for an antislavery Constitution helped to shape the course of American history in the nineteenth century and beyond. At a time when the principles of the Constitution and Declaration of Independence were under assault, Frederick Douglass picked up their banner, championing inalienable rights for all, regardless of race. When Americans were killing each other on the battlefield, Douglass fought for a cause greater than the mere preservation of the Union. “No war but an Abolition war,” he maintained. “No peace but an Abolition peace.” In the aftermath of the Civil War, when state and local governments were violating the rights of the recently emancipated, Douglass preached the importance of “the ballot-box, the jury-box, and the cartridge-box” in the struggle against Jim Crow.

Frederick Douglass, the former slave who had secretly taught himself how to read, would teach the American people a thing or two about the true meaning of the Constitution. This is the story of a fundamental debate that goes to the very heart of America’s founding ideals—a debate that is still very much with us today.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Politics, Biography, Law, Race, American

200 pages, Hardcover

Published October 1, 2020

About the author

Damon Root is an award-winning journalist and the author of two books: A Glorious Liberty: Frederick Douglass and the Fight for an Antislavery Constitution (Potomac Books, 2020) and Overruled: The Long War for Control of the U.S. Supreme Court (Palgrave Macmillan, 2014). His work has been cited by the Texas Supreme Court and in the writings of U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens.

He is a senior editor at Reason magazine, where he writes about law, politics, and history.

Reviews

[Samuel Small · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great look into Frederick Douglass' battle for the antislavery constitution! I love Douglass, and watching him struggle against many people he once considered friends and allies was very frustrating. The book itself is well written and very entertaining. Douglass' interpretation gave me a new found appreciation of our founding document.

[Kevin Monsour · Rating 4 out of 5]

Phenomenal look at a man who "people are talking about more and more".

[Shawn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Douglass was a great American -- in every way imaginable. His life and work should be even more the focus of attention than they are. Root's short book focuses on Douglass and his work to end slavery and persecution. Root tells the story of Douglass's development from a William Lloyd Garrison follower who thought the US Constitution supported slavery and thus had to be rejected to Douglass's break with Garrison. Douglass comes to see the Constitution as thoroughly antislavery and that if properly understood and enforced would mean the end of slavery. The book follows Douglass's efforts after the Civil War to work towards securing the civil rights of Blacks only to be thoroughly and disgracefully disappointed by the Supreme Court's gutting of the true meaning of the civil war amendments. As he later remarked, there would be no more 'race problem' if only the Courts had enforced the law.

Douglass's intelligence, power of persuasion, and moral courage should be a guiding light for all Americans. Root's concise book does a great job display all three of these.

[George H Hartman · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Lesson for the Country Today

The philosophy and principles espoused by Douglass in the 1800s are as valuable today as they were then. When our country seems lost and without a rudder, reaching back to the concepts contained and enshrined in the documents which formed our country, would provide a foundation from which to rebuild and reunite the nation.

[Złota Pochodnia · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's something of a biography, but more focused specifically on Frederick Douglass' insistence that the U.S. Constitution is explicitly anti-slavery. It's relatively light, and it's not too long, but the writing was definitely fairly dry most of the time, making it a slower read than I expected. I'm not sure it's worth reading above and beyond Douglass' autobiographies.

[Turquoise Brennan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Must read since he's my hero ... Lots of legal jargon and the first half stays interesting and lots of historical context on all the major players...once they get into the civil war it becomes dry ...

[Steve Fox · Rating 4 out of 5]

Listened to this on audio and thoroughly enjoyed the narration by Mirron Willis of this interesting and thought-provoking book by Damon Root. Excellent work all the way around shining the spotlight on a much-deserved historical figure for the U.S. and the world.

[Kitty Hunter · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one I read with my Quaker book club I didn’t live this one either it read like a history book and was mind mumbling boring most of my fellow Quakers had the same opinion I did learn a lot though It was just kind of hard to read