Certain books ought to be read by every American on each of these themes. And Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass is one book that ought to be read on the fight against slavery. After all these decades, it's still an incredibly moving read.
Monday, December 19, 2011
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
In my mind, there are three great themes worth studying in American history: (1) the founding: how and why we managed to successfully obtain our independence from Britain, and then create a constitutional government of laws and not of men, when every other country founded in revolution seems to have skipped right over the "rule of law" phase and jumped right into military dictatorship; (2) the quest for racial equality, especially as exhibited in the Civil War struggle to overcome slavery, and the Civil Rights struggles of the 1960s; and (3) the fight against totalitarianism: America's 20th Century victories over German National Socialism and Japanese Military Imperialism in WWII, and Soviet Communist Totalitarianism in the Cold War. (I probably need to read Zinn, so I won't have such a triumphalist view of American history, but I think I'd rather not).
Certain books ought to be read by every American on each of these themes. And Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass is one book that ought to be read on the fight against slavery. After all these decades, it's still an incredibly moving read.
Certain books ought to be read by every American on each of these themes. And Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass is one book that ought to be read on the fight against slavery. After all these decades, it's still an incredibly moving read.
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