Frederick Douglass, Slavery, and the Constitution, 1845

By Mark Higbee and James Brewer Stewart

Frederick Douglass asks students to confront an explosive question: How, in a nation founded on ideas of equal rights and freedom, could the institution of slavery become so entrenched and long-lasting? How was slavery justified, and how was it criticized? At a literary forum, students consider the newly-published Narrative of Frederick Douglass and hold a hearing on John C. Calhoun's view of slavery as a "positive good." Finally, players address the US Constitution, its original protections of the slaveholders' power, and the central question: Are Americans more beholden to the Constitution, or to some "higher law"?

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0393680630
• ISBN13: 9780393680638
• Release Date: June 2019
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 6.9" x 9.0"