The Cambridge Companion to Frederick Douglass

The Cambridge Companion To Douglass

It is fitting that the "Cambridge Companion to Frederick Douglass" (2009) begins with an acknowledgment that in "the same month that this volume went to the printers, Barack Obama became President of the United States." Part of a prestigious series, the "Cambridge Companions to American Studies", which examines key figures in American culture, the "Companion to Frederick Douglass" includes a chronology of Douglass' life, a bibliography, and 12 new scholarly essays. The volume bears witness to Douglass' achievements and to his continued importance. Maurice Lee an Assistant Professor of English at Boston University edited the volume and contributed a valuable introduction which examines the changes in Douglass' reputation over the years.

By way of background, Frederick Douglass (1818- 1895) escaped from slavery in 1838 and became a famous abolitionist and probably the greatest African American leader of the 19th Century. He is best known for his short 1845 autobiography, the "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Written by Himself" and for his two subsequent and lengthier autobiographies. The autobiographies, and orations that Douglass appended to them, are included in a volume of the Library of America devoted to Douglass. Frederick Douglass : Autobiographies : Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave / My Bondage and My Freedom / Life and Times of Frederick Douglass (Library of America) Douglass was a powerful speaker, editor and essayist, and he also tried his hand at fiction in a short 1853 novel, "The Heroic Slave." He remains a complex and inspiring figure.

The twelve essays in this collection tend to move as editor Lee points out, in chronological order and from the general to the specific. The emphasis is on Douglass' activities before the Civil War rather than on his latter career. Beyond his escape from slavery, Douglass' personal life, including his marriages, his relationship to his children, and his complex relationships with women receive little attention. The essays are of varying quality and scope. Several of them should serve as a useful introduction to readers with little background in Douglass. Others are more complex and seem to presuppose a degree of basic familiarity with Douglass and his era. The essays are all on a high intellectual level; and, with the exception of too much academic jargon in a few of the essays, clearly written.

The opening three essays offer broadly- based introductions to Douglass. The first essay, by John Stauffer, "Douglass' Self-Making and the Culture of Abolitionism" discusses Douglass' escape from slavery and the reasons which led him to break with the Abolitionist position of William Garrisson in 1850 -1851. Robert Levine's "Identity in the Autobiographies" is one of the highlights of the volume as Levine describes the way Douglass' portrayal of himself changed in each of his three major works. Sarah Meer's, "Douglass as Orator and Editor" focuses on Douglass' most famous speech, delivered in 1852: "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?" This essay is the subject of a recent book-length study by James Collaico that will interest those wanting to learn about this speech and its history. Frederick Douglass and the Fourth of July

The next three essays should be read together for the varying perspectives they offer on Douglass' thought. They examine his attitude towards religion, pacifism and violence, and natural law (as distinguished by laws enacted simply by governments in different times and places.) John Ernst's "Crisis and Faith in Douglass' Work", Maurice Wallace's "Violence, Manhood, and War in Douglass", and Gregg Crane's "Human Law and Higher Law" offer challenging readings of Douglass' views on questions of moment and difficulty.

Arthur Riss' essay "Sentimental Douglass" focuses on the 1845 Narrative and describes the importance Douglass gave to feelings in his concept of freedom and personhood. A related essay, "Douglass among the Romantics" by Bill Lawson discusses Transcendentalism. This essay centers upon Douglass' little-known novel, "The Heroic Slave". I was unfamiliar with this short work, and read it with interest after reading Lawson's essay. The Heroic Slave: (An African American Heritage Book)

The essays by Paul Giles and Ifeoma Nwanko discuss Douglass' international stature. The first essay describes Douglass' activities in Britain, Europe and Egypt, focusing on the final years of his long career. Nwanko's essay discusses the paradoxical nature of Douglass' relationship to black people in the Caribbean, with a focus on Haiti. Douglass served as American consul to Haiti from 1889- 1891 and as a commissioner representing Haiti in 1893 at the Worlds Fair in Chicago.

Gene Jarrett's essay "Douglass, Ideological Slavery, and Postbellum Racial Politics" examines Douglass' commitment to broad-based freedom and equality for all persons, regardless of color, sex, or race and emphasizes Douglass' faith that "truth, justice, liberty and humanity will ultimately prevail." It is too easy to overlook Douglass' underlying optimism and his love for the United States, with all its flaws. The final essay, "Born into Slavery: Echoes and Legacies" by Valerie Smith includes a good close reading of the "Narrative" and a recognition of its importance to later African American writers. It moves rather too quickly over these writers, however, to leap to a discussion of the 2008 presidential campaign.

The Cambridge Douglass constitutes a worthy tribute to a great American figure. The book should encourage readers to engage further with Frederick Douglass by turning to or revisiting his writings.

Robin Friedman