Frederick Douglass and the Anti-Slavery Constitution

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Frederick Douglass experienced a profound transformation in his constitutional interpretation, evolving from viewing the Constitution as a pro-slavery document to embracing it as what he famously called a “glorious liberty document.” Douglass’s sophisticated approach to constitutional interpretation is both a window on his times, and remains relevant today as we consider what the Constitution means.

Early Life and Constitutional Awakening

Born into slavery around 1818, Frederick Douglass escaped bondage in 1838 by impersonating a free black sailor. His extraordinary eloquence initially worked against him—many refused to believe someone so articulate could have been enslaved. This skepticism forced Douglass to write a detailed narrative of his bondage, which inadvertently provided evidence slave catchers could use, compelling his flight to England in the late 1840s.

The Garrisonian Anti-Slavery Movement

Frederick Douglass and the Constitution first intersected through his association with William Lloyd Garrison, whose newspaper The Liberator led the abolitionist movement. Garrison’s followers pursued “moral persuasion”—a religious approach seeking to convince slaveholders of slavery’s inherent sin.

When James Madison’s Constitutional Convention notes were published in 1840, Garrison concluded the Constitution was fundamentally pro-slavery. This interpretation led to calls for disunion—free states should separate rather than remain bound by what they viewed as a tainted founding document.

Constitutional Transformation in England

Frederick Douglass’s time in England proved transformative for his constitutional understanding. Three American scholars particularly influenced his evolving views. Lysander Spooner, author of “The Unconstitutionality of Slavery” published in 1845, provided groundbreaking arguments about proper constitutional interpretation. William Goodell contributed through his work “Views on the Unconstitutionality of American Slavery,” while Gerrit Smith became both a correspondent and financial backer who championed political abolitionism through constitutional means.

These writers argued that Frederick Douglass and the Constitution could be reconciled through careful legal analysis. They contended the document’s language, when understood correctly, was inherently anti-slavery. This interpretation required examining the Constitution’s underlying principles rather than surface text alone.

Scottish Enlightenment thinkers also shaped Douglass’s understanding of natural law and constitutional government. By his return to America, he had developed a new interpretive framework opposing his former Garrisonian allies.

Constitutional Abolitionism vs. Republican Anti-Slavery Politics

When Frederick Douglass returned to America in the 1850s, the Republican Party had adopted an “anti-slavery” constitutional position exemplified by Abraham Lincoln. This view held that slavery was “local” while freedom was “national”—federal authority could prevent slavery’s territorial expansion but couldn’t interfere with existing slave states.

Republicans believed this constitutional strategy would lead to slavery’s “ultimate extinction” by preventing new slave states and shifting congressional power. This threatened Southern dominance but stopped short of immediate abolition.

Douglass’s Constitutional Abolitionist Arguments

Frederick Douglass and the Constitution developed a more radical relationship through “constitutional abolitionism.” Douglass argued existing constitutional provisions already provided ample federal power to eradicate slavery everywhere. His constitutional reasoning centered on the Fifth Amendment’s due process clause, which he believed protected all persons’ life, liberty, and property in all states, not just federal territories. Additionally, Douglass contended that Congressional commerce power could effectively regulate interstate slave trade, cutting off one of slavery’s vital economic lifelines. Perhaps most boldly, he argued that federal military authority could support rather than suppress slave rebellions, using federal power to advance freedom rather than maintain bondage.

The crucial difference between Lincoln and Douglass lay in their constitutional interpretation methods. Both agreed natural rights philosophy provided the Constitution’s moral foundation, but they differed fundamentally on application. Lincoln’s approach began with federal power questions, carefully examining what authority the national government actually possessed under the Constitution’s structure. Douglass’s method started with natural rights themselves, asking what human equality and liberty required under constitutional principles, then working backward to find the necessary federal powers to achieve those ends.

Douglass as Constitutional Statesman

Initially critical of Lincoln’s insufficient commitment to constitutional abolition, Frederick Douglass gradually appreciated political leadership complexities. Civil War meetings with Lincoln proved influential. Douglass later recalled that Lincoln was among the first Americans who never made him conscious of his race—remarkable testimony to both men’s constitutional vision.

The Emancipation Proclamation marked a turning point in Frederick Douglass and the Constitution’s relationship. Though freeing slaves only in rebellious states, Douglass recognized it as evidence the war had become constitutional abolition warfare, not merely union preservation. He used the proclamation to advocate African American military service, arguing participation would demonstrate black Americans’ rightful constitutional place.

Constitutional Citizenship and Equal Rights

For Frederick Douglass, constitutional emancipation was only the beginning. True constitutional freedom required full citizenship with complete political equality. He viewed voting rights as the cornerstone of all constitutional rights, arguing that without the franchise, other legal protections remained mere revocable privileges.

Douglass believed the Thirteenth Amendment should automatically have conferred full constitutional citizenship rights through the privileges and immunities clause. However, political experience taught him the importance of explicit constitutional language. Though Frederick Douglass and the Constitution’s original text, properly interpreted, already protected full equality, he strongly supported the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments for their unambiguous constitutional guarantees.

Douglass’s Constitutional Legacy

Frederick Douglass and the Constitution’s relationship offers enduring contributions to American constitutional thought. His interpretive method provides a model for understanding written law that considers both historical context and fundamental justice principles. Douglass insisted constitutional interpretation must grapple with original understanding while recognizing law exists primarily to protect natural rights.

Frederick Douglass’s constitutional approach offers a framework for thinking about constitutional loyalty and legitimacy today. Rather than viewing the Constitution as fatally compromised by slavery accommodation, Douglass saw it as a document whose deepest commitments pointed toward universal freedom and equality. This perspective suggests Americans can acknowledge historical injustices while maintaining faith in their constitutional system’s capacity for moral progress.

Transformative Constitutional Understanding

Frederick Douglass and the Constitution exemplify how careful study, moral reflection, and political experience can transform understanding of fundamental legal and justice questions. His journey from viewing the Constitution as a slaveholder’s document to embracing it as a liberty charter reflects both personal intellectual growth and sophisticated constitutional reasoning.

Douglass’s constitutional legacy demonstrates that thoughtful engagement with America’s founding document—considering both historical context and underlying principles—can reveal pathways toward justice that might otherwise remain hidden. His constitutional vision continues informing debates about civil rights, federal power, and America’s ongoing constitutional experiment in self-government.

For students of constitutional law, civil rights history, and American political thought, Frederick Douglass and the Constitution represent a masterclass in transformative constitutional interpretation serving human freedom and equality.