Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass: The Story Behind an American Friendship

by Russell Freedman

Overview

From the author of Lincoln: A Photobiography, comes a clear-sighted, carefully researched account of two surprisingly parallel lives and how they intersected at a critical moment in U.S. history. Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass were both self-taught, both great readers and believers in the importance of literacy, both men born poor who by their own efforts reached positions of power and prominence—Lincoln as president of the United States and Douglass as the most famous and influential African American of his time. Though their meetings were few and brief, their exchange of ideas helped to end the Civil War, reunite the nation, and abolish slavery. Includes bibliography, source notes, and index.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780544668270
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	03/08/2016
Pages:	128
Sales rank:	1,138,983
Product dimensions:	9.40(w) x 9.40(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	10 - 12 Years

About the Author

Russell Freedman (1929-2018) received the Newbery Medal for Lincoln: A Photobiography. He was the recipient of three Newbery Honors, a National Humanities Medal, the Sibert Medal, the Orbis Pictus Award, and the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award, and was selected to give the 2006 May Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecture. Mr. Freedman lived in New York City and traveled widely to research his books.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"Freedman writes with clarity, intelligence, and a fine sense of detail...a well-researched, wonderfully readable book."—Booklist, starred review

"A lucid and fascinating narrative that never sacrifices depth and intellectual rigor...A marvel of history writing that makes complicated history clear and interesting."—Kirkus, starred review

"True to form, Freedman relies heavily on period illustrations and primary and secondary sources, breathing life into both men through a generous assortment of their own words."—Horn Book

"This book would be an asset for any classroom because it shows how two men set lasting examples of equality, integrity, and selflessness."—VOYA, 5Q 4P M J

"A first-rate volume for classroom study and general reading."—School Library Journal, starred review

"Clear, accessible storytelling."—Publishers Weekly, starred review

"Freedman does not deviate an inch from his customary knack of selecting the precise details an adolescent reader will require to sort through complex issues and often conflicted personalities."—Bulletin

Editorial Reviews

Freedman revisits the subject of his Newbery-winning Lincoln: A Photobiography (1987), but this time the 16th president shares billing with his friend and ally, abolitionist Frederick Douglass. The story opens with Douglass anxiously waiting to meet Lincoln for the first time to air grievances about the treatment of African-American soldiers during the Civil War. “At forty-five... he was a commanding figure, taller than most men, with a powerful athlete’s build, graying hair, penetrating brown eyes and a carefully trimmed beard.” Subsequent chapters detail the leaders’ often parallel biographies. Both were self-made and shared a passion for reading, rising from poverty to prominence. In clear, accessible storytelling, Freedman brings the book back full circle to the pair’s first meeting. Reprints of b&w photographs, engravings, political cartoons, and posters appear throughout (the most graphic of which depicts the hanging of a captured African-American soldier). Appendices, source notes, and a bibliography conclude what is not only the story of two powerful men who shaped the course of the United States, but also a brief history of the war that raged while they forged a fast but deep friendship. Ages 9–12. (June) ¦

Publishers Weekly

* “Freedman writes with clarity, intelligence, and a fine sense of detail . . . a well-researched, wonderfully readable book.”  —Booklist, starred review * “A lucid and fascinating narrative that never sacrifices depth and intellectual rigor. . . . A marvel of history writing that makes complicated history clear and interesting.”  —Kirkus Reviews, starred review   “True to form, Freedman relies heavily on period illustrations and primary and secondary sources, breathing life into both men through a generous assortment of their own words.”  —Horn Book   “This book would be an asset for any classroom because it shows how two men set lasting examples of equality, integrity, and selflessness.”  —VOYA, 5Q 4P MJ   * “A first-rate volume for classroom study and general reading.”  —School Library Journal, starred review   * “Clear, accessible storytelling.”  —Publishers Weekly, starred review   “Freedman does not deviate an inch from his customary knack of selecting the precise details an adolescent reader will require to sort through complex issues and often conflicted personalities.”  —Bulletin   —

From the Publisher

Freedman—arguably the best biographer for young people—offers another look at one of his favorite subjects, Abraham Lincoln. Here Freedman chronicles Lincoln’s friendship with another great man of the Civil War era, Frederick Douglass. Although they only met three times, Lincoln considered Douglass enough of a friend that, after the assassination, Mary Todd Lincoln sent Douglass the gift of Lincoln’s favorite walking stick. Their first meeting, on August 10, 1863, frames the first half of Freedman’s story, describing the parallels between the growing-up years of the two great men: both rose to success after having been born in reduced circumstances, and both had an affinity for the Columbian Orator. The second half examines how the men’s friendship changed the course of history by paving the way for the Emancipation Proclamation. As has come to be expected with this prolific and always excellent historian, the bookmaking is exquisite, featuring rare period photographs and source material. Freedman has done it again.

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Library Journal

Gr 5–10—Freedman tells the story of a friendship between two men who shared many characteristics. Lincoln and Douglass were both self-educated, born into poverty, and, through relentless effort and hard work, reached great success. Both men fought for freedom and equality for all Americans, both black and white, as promised in the Declaration of Independence. Divided into 10 chapters, the book offers biographical details for each man, an overview of the Civil War, Lincoln's changing attitude toward African Americans, Douglass's endeavors to create black regiments within the Union army, and descriptions of the men's face-to-face meetings. Captioned black-and-white photographs and reproductions are found on almost every page. An appendix, a selected bibliography, notes, and a list of historic sites complete the volume. Douglass's quotes are largely taken from his three autobiographies, and the Lincoln quotes, while taken from secondary sources, are from definitive and modern standard sources. A first-rate volume for classroom study and general reading.—Patricia Ann Owens, Illinois Eastern Community Colleges

School Library Journal

Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass met only three times, but their friendship changed a nation. Lincoln was white and president of the United States; Douglass was black and a former slave. Yet they were kindred spirits: Both had risen from poverty to prominence, both were self-educated men and both had a book in common, Caleb Bingham's The Columbian Orator. In fact, 12-year-old Douglass was secretly reading the book of speeches and dialogues in Baltimore at the same time Lincoln was reading it in Illinois, and the appendix here presents an excerpt, "Dialogue between a Master and Slave." When they first met, in 1863, the nation was at war. Lincoln struggled to keep the nation together, while Douglass welcomed war as a first step toward ending slavery; Douglass was ever the voice of moral conscience, nudging Lincoln to do the right thing on behalf of the enslaved. In this slim volume, Freedman makes a narrative challenge look effortless. He tells the stories of two prominent Americans, traces the debate over slavery from the Missouri Compromise to the Kansas-Nebraska Act and the Dred Scott decision and explains how these events created a momentum that pushed the nation toward war. He does all of this in a lucid and fascinating narrative that never sacrifices depth and intellectual rigor. A marvel of history writing that makes complicated history clear and interesting. (selected bibliography, notes, picture credits) (Nonfiction. 9-14)

Kirkus Reviews