Obama knows that Frederick Douglas, the Ancestor and Abolitionist of the 1800s was looked at as a Presidential figure. We owe Frederick Douglas this understanding and knowledge of the fact that it was he who was first as a Black man to receive this recognition and try at the Vice President position. With a woman, yes a woman running as president, Victoria Woodhull placed Douglas on the ticket with her to serve as Vice President. This was back in the 1800s!
Read the following information to learn more about The Honorable Fredrick Douglas and his many accomplishments:
After the Civil War, Douglass was appointed to several important political positions. He served as President of the Reconstruction-era Freedman's Savings Bank; as marshal of the District of Columbia; as minister-resident and consul-general to the Republic of Haiti (1889–1891); and as chargé d'affaires for the Dominican Republic. After two years, he resigned from his ambassadorship because of disagreements with U.S. government policy. In 1872, he moved to Washington, D.C., after his house on South Avenue in Rochester, New York burned down; arson was suspected. Also lost was a complete issue of The North Star.
In 1868, Douglass supported the presidential campaign of Ulysses S. Grant. President Grant signed into law the Klan Act and the second and third Enforcement Acts. Grant used their provisions vigorously, suspending habeas corpus in South Carolina and sending troops there and into other states; under his leadership, over 5,000 arrests were made and the Ku Klux Klan received a serious blow. Grant's vigor in disrupting the Klan made him unpopular among many whites, but Frederick Douglass praised him. An associate of Douglass wrote of Grant that African Americans "will ever cherish a grateful remembrance of his name, fame and great services."
In 1872, Douglass became the first African American nominated for Vice President of the United States, as Victoria Woodhull's running mate on the Equal Rights Party ticket. He was nominated without his knowledge. During the campaign, he neither campaigned for the ticket nor acknowledged that he had been nominated.
Douglass continued his speaking engagements. On the lecture circuit, he spoke at many colleges around the country during the Reconstruction era, including Bates College in Lewiston, Maine in 1873. He continued to emphasize the importance of voting rights and exercise of suffrage.
Christopher Donshale Sims
Deputy Field Organizer
Obama for America
universoulove@yahoo.com
Posted By: Christopher Donshale Sims
Sunday, October 12th 2008 at 6:31PM
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