SAMUEL RINGGOLD WARD TO FREDERICK DOUGLASS

Syracuse, [N.Y.] 10 April 1849.

To FREDERICK DOUGLASS, Esq., &c. &c.

MY DEAR SIR:—

The undersigned honestly differing from you, in regard to the attitude of the United States Constitution, in respect to American Slavery, takes the liberty to invite you to a public oral discussion, of the differences between us, at any country seat in the State of New York, at such time as you may name.¹One month later, on 11 May 1849, Douglass and Ward met in the Minerva Rooms in Rochester, New York, to debate the proposition that the Constitution was a proslavery document. During the six-hour meeting, Ward argued that the letter of the Constitution dictated an antislavery interpretation, while Douglass turned to historical examples to show that the document’s framers intended it to support slavery. This was the first formal debate of Douglass’s career, and he found the experience invigorating. Douglass Papers, ser. 1, 2:193–97.

It is a matter of small importance with the undersigned whether the question be so framed as to declare the opinion of either of the parties, in the debate, upon the letter, or spirit o[f] the Constitution, or the constitutionality of the pro-slavery practices which have been performed by the government, under professed Constitutional sanction.

Very respectfully, Your ob’t Ser’vt,

SAM’L R. WARD.

PLSr: NS, 4 May 1849.