Uploaded December 2021 | Updated September 2026, 18 hours ago

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Pulitzer-Prize winning scholar Dr. David W. Blight speaks to Dr. Jeffry Morrison about the life and thought of Frederick Douglass. Using newly-found personal letters, Dr. Blight authored his latest book on Douglass, Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom (2018), in which he discusses how Douglass interpreted the Constitution in light of slavery. During this interview, Dr. Blight speaks about what made him want to write about Douglass, how Douglass learned to be great orator he was, his friendships and feuds with several famous contemporaries (including Abraham Lincoln, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, and William Lloyd Garrison), and how the idea of natural rights was part of his political thought.

0:00 - David Blight on Choosing to Write about Frederick Douglass
5:44 - The Speeches and Writings of Frederick Douglass
11:42 - Frederick Douglass and William Lloyd Garrison
17:59 - Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln
25:09 - Frederick Douglass and Women's Suffrage
31:20 - Frederick Douglass and Natural Rights