On this episode of The American Idea, Jeff welcomes Dr. Lucas Morel, Professor of Politics at Washington and Lee University and a Visiting Graduate Faculty Member in Ashland University's Masters of American History and Government program, to talk about Frederick Douglass's most well-known and controversial speech, "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?" A long-time friend of Ashbrook, Lucas is a renowned scholar on political philosophy and black American politics, having published five books and many articles. Their conversation will examine the life and political thought of Douglass, his escape from slavery in the Antebellum South, and how - as Lucas puts it - Douglass came to love "a country that did not love him back."

Host: Jeff Sikkenga

Executive Producer: Greg McBrayer

Producer: Tyler MacQueen