Frederick Douglass's Views on the U.S. Constitution

Initially, Frederick Douglass agreed with abolitionists like William Lloyd Garrison who believed the U.S. Constitution was pro-slavery. However, Douglass later came to view the Constitution as "an anti-slavery instrument" that "demand[ed] the abolition of slavery as a condition of its own existence as the supreme law of the land". This shift in perspective stemmed from Douglass's own research and reflection on "the origin, design, nature, rights, powers, and duties of civil governments". He concluded that the Constitution, designed to "form a more perfect union, establish justice…and secure the blessings of liberty", could not logically support the perpetuation of slavery. This belief led him to start his own anti-slavery newspaper, "The North Star", and advocate for the preservation of the Union as crucial for the eventual abolition of slavery.

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