The clarion voice
Blassingame JW. 1976. The clarion voice. Division of Publications, National Park Service
An authentic hero of the spirit, Frederick Douglass remains a road mark figure, pointing the past to the present. One who awakens our country’s conscience to the extent that he did is not likely to be forgotten. To recapture the man, however, is not an easy exercise. He played many parts- among them orator, newspaper editor, author, Civil War recruiter, federal office-holder and Foreign Service minister. After 20 years as a slave, he came to manhood in the turbulent decades immediately preceding the Civil War. Soon entering the battle for human rights, he became an advocate whose interests were broad- he took arms against a sea of troubles, to use the language of one of his favorite authors. His protest techniques were likewise varied, headed by the gift of expression whether in the written or the spoken word. This book aims to capture Frederick Douglass by embracing something of the scope of his activities and the essence of his spirit.