Describes how Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass set the groundwork in three historic meetings to abolish slavery in the United States, despite their differing perspectives on the war and the institution of slavery.

This is a book about two towering figures in our nation's history. It is a moving story about an improbable friendship, and an important story about an equally improbable alliance. [In the book, the author] has written a ... narrative history. He brings these two iconic figures to life and sheds new light on the central issues of slavery, race, and equality in Civil War America.-Dust jacket.

Forten was born in 1766 into a free black family. As a teenager he served in the Revolution and was captured by the British. Rejecting an attractive offer to change sides, he insisted he was a loyal American. By 1810 he was the leading sailmaker in Philadelphia, where he became well known as an innovative craftsman, a successful manager of black and white employees, and a shrewd businessman. He emerged as a leader in Philadelphia's black community...

"A new historical anthology from transatlantic slavery to the Reconstruction curated by the Schomburg Center, that makes the case for focusing on the histories of Black people as agents and architects of their own lives and ultimate liberation, with a foreword by Kevin Young. This is the first Penguin Classics anthology published in partnership with the Schomburg Center, a world-renowned cultural institution documenting black life in America and worldwide....