Giants
Synopsis
They were the preeminent self-made men of their time. Abraham Lincoln was born dirt poor, had less than one year of formal schooling, and became the nation's greatest President. Frederick Douglass spent the first 20 years of his life as a slave, had no formal schooling - his masters forbade him to read or write - and became one of the nation's greatest writers and activists. At a time when most whites would not let a black man cross their threshold, Lincoln met Douglass three times at the White House and invited him to tea at the Soldier's Home. Their friendship was based on usefulness: Lincoln recognized that he needed Douglass to help him destroy the Confederacy and preserve the Union; Douglass realized that Lincoln's shrewd sense of public opinion would serve his own goal of freeing the nation's blacks. They were ambitious men, and had great faith in the moral and technological progress of their nation. They also shared many common interests: They loved music and literature, and educated themselves by reading the same books. They were athletic, strong and tall: Douglass was 6 ft., Lincoln 6 ft. 4 inches, when the average height for men was 5 ft. 7 inches. Lincoln and Douglass moved beyond the traditional idea of character as fixed and based primarily on heredity and social status, and embraced a self in state of continual evolution. Award-winning historian John Stauffer describes the dramatic transformations in the lives of these giants during a a major shift in cultural history, when men rejected the status quo and embraced new ideals of personal liberty.
- कॉपीराइट:
- 2008 John Stauffer
Book Details
- Book Quality:
- ISBN-13:
- 9780446543002
- Publisher:
- Twelve / Hachette Book Group
- Date of Addition:
- 2021-06-19T03:16:19Z
- भाषा:
- English
- श्रेणी:
- Usage Restrictions:
- This is a copyrighted book.