XVI. Frederick Douglass
“̶H̶e̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶a̶s̶ ̶m̶u̶c̶h̶ ̶q̶u̶o̶t̶e̶d̶ ̶a̶s̶ ̶a̶n̶y̶ ̶l̶i̶v̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶A̶m̶e̶r̶i̶c̶a̶n̶ ̶s̶t̶a̶t̶e̶s̶m̶a̶n̶.̶”̶
“There is no race problem before the country, but only a political one, the question whether a Republican has any right to exist south of Mason and Dixon’s line.” — Frederick Douglass (1890).
The same year Frederick Douglass uttered these words at Tremont Temple in Boston, Judge David Schenck — a Democrat and Klansman from Lincolnton, North Carolina — wrote in his diary (1890) that “nothing prevents the white people of the South from annihilating the negro race but the military power of the United States government” (Steward, 2012). Two years later, during the presidential campaign of 1892, local reports were circulated — and denied — that another man had been identified as participating in the 1870 Klan beating of Schenck’s third cousin — Andrew Ramsour. “His only offense, so far as is known,” wrote the Republican Lt. Governor of North Carolina at the time, “was that he is a Republican.”
Meanwhile, another third cousin of both Schenck and Ramsour and the former Controlling Quartermaster of North Carolina Confederate forces — Sydney Finger — was retiring from his second term as the Democratic Superintendent of Public Instruction for North Carolina. Two years later, Finger supervised the revisions to a Black history textbook originally published in 1890 by a formerly enslaved Black Republican lawyer and educator from Raleigh — Edward A. Johnson. This 1894 revision, approved for use in North Carolina public schools, removed only one sentence from the chapter on Frederick Douglass…
“He is as much quoted as any living American statesman.”
“Throughout his career Johnson was active in the Republican party. He figured prominently in the party’s local and state organizations and was a delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1892 and 1896. He was a member of Raleigh’s Board of Aldermen for a term, and he served from 1899 to 1907 as assistant to the federal attorney for the district of eastern North Carolina. Unwilling to accept Booker T. Washington’s advice that black people should eschew politics, Johnson deeply resented the disfranchisement of black citizens that resulted from the rise of white supremacy across the state in 1898. This led Johnson to leave North Carolina for New York City. Opening a law office in Harlem in 1907, Johnson quickly established a lucrative practice and became prominent in the economic, social, and political life of the black community.” — NCPedia (Revised, 2022)
Contents (Revised 1894):
Preface.
I. Introduction. — A shared commitment to debunking the “Curse of Ham” with a few bridges too far to cross.
II. General View of Slavery in the World. — a whole new chapter for the 1894 edition, and it’s a doozey!
III. Beginning of Slavery in the Colonies.
…
XVI. Frederick Douglass. (this post)
...
XX. Examples of Underground Work.
XXI. The Slave Population of 1860.
XXII. The Civil War T̶h̶e̶ ̶W̶a̶r̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶R̶e̶b̶e̶l̶l̶i̶o̶n̶ — what’s in a name?
…
X̶X̶X̶I̶V̶.̶ ̶T̶h̶e̶ ̶F̶r̶e̶e̶ ̶P̶e̶o̶p̶l̶e̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶C̶o̶l̶o̶r̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶N̶o̶r̶t̶h̶ ̶C̶a̶r̶o̶l̶i̶n̶a̶ ̶b̶y̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶R̶e̶v̶.̶ ̶J̶o̶h̶n̶ ̶S̶[̶i̶n̶c̶l̶a̶i̶r̶]̶ ̶L̶e̶a̶r̶y̶ — Hmmm, a deleted chapter — was it something John said? Or perhaps something his brother did?
XXXV. Conclusion
Tschüss!
— Wilhelm
