What famous African-American abolistionist became the personal friend of Abraham Lincoln?

Answer 1

It was Frederick Douglass and he and Abe Lincoln were coined "Giants in the Cause of Freedom." Abraham Lincoln was born to poverty in Kentucky with a Grade 1 education, but was an extremely intellectual man with a great deal of drive. He made himself one of Illinois' most sought-after lawyers and eventually became President of the U.S. Frederick Douglass was born into slavery. His autobiography remains the United States greatest document on slavery as a way of life, and it was a life he hated. He ran away to New York, and then, returning to America, Douglass became the leading African American champion of abolitionism. Lincoln was a moderate, like the new Republican Party he belonged to. He hated slavery, but WAS NOT an abolitionist. He wanted to end slavery, but not at the cost of the Union. Douglass was a radical. He advocated even violent tactics to end slavery. Lincoln remained moderate. His goal was the preservation of the Union and the Constitution, but he came to believe that emancipating the slaves would ensure both served. The two men's views frequently conflicted, and they were not natural allies even though each represented millions of Americans who despised slavery. There was a third faction in American that brought them together .. the proponents of slavery and when the war in 1861 they were thrown together. Douglass actively recruited black soldiers for the Union side. Lincoln twice invited Douglass to the White House to advise him on issues pertaining to black Americans. Douglass strongly encouraged Lincoln to issue the Emancipation Proclamation, which he did. After the war, and after Lincoln's death, Douglass became a part of the Republican establishment in Washington, holding appointed office in the Hayes and Garfield administration. It took another century for many black Americans to fully attain the rights of citizens, but the prominence of Frederick Douglass held through his until his death in 1895 and continued to convince succeeding generations that racial equality could be achieved. Douglass was critical of Lincoln's moderation, addressed the white people in his audience saying "While Abraham Lincoln saved for you a country, he delivered us from bondage ... one hour of which was worse than ages of the oppression your fathers rose in rebellion to oppose." At the same time he knew that without Lincoln, freedom would not have happened. Speaking for his race he said, "In view of the divinity which shapes our ends, rough hew them how we will, we came to the conclusion that the hour and the man of our redemption had somehow met in the person of Abraham Lincoln." Douglass and Lincoln were never really friends, but both respected each other. Douglass often referred to President Lincoln as "the first martyr President of the United States." Marcy