1840s: Douglass and other abolitionists campaign around the country to abolish slavery, speaking of its horrors and promoting the rights of African Americans to be granted legal and political representation.

Today: African Americans and other minority populations have legal protection and equal opportunities in all aspects of life, even though racial discrimination continues to occur.

1840s: Douglass is one of the first African-American public intellectuals to bring issues of race and inequality to the forefront of political life in the United States and works closely with presidents to achieve equal rights for African Americans.

Today: African Americans are represented in high political offices by newly elected Secretary of State Colin Powell and National Security Advisor Condoleeza Rice as well as in academiclife by intellectuals such as Cornel West, Patricia Williams, and Henry Louis Gates.

1840s: A growing and increasingly literate American population devours popular...