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Reading Frederick Douglass & William Lloyd Garrison | A Primary Source Close Read w/ BRI

Grade
6–12
Duration
35 min
Topics
Slavery, African American History, Westward Expansion
Published
Feb 12, 2021
Image features text about a close reading of primary sources concerning abolitionists Garrison and Douglass, with their portraits.

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Founding Principles

Natural/Inalienable Rights, Equality, Liberty

About this video

BRI Senior Teaching Fellow Tony Williams is joined by Dan Monroe, associate professor of history and Department of History and Political Science chair at Millikin University, to explore Frederick Douglass and William Lloyd Garrison's drastically different views on the Constitution's relationship with slavery. Why did Garrison declare the Constitution a "covenant of death" while Douglass elevated it as a "glorious liberty document"? What stance did each abolitionist take on the Founding promise of liberty?

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