Post #1675060
2026-02-21 18:00 UTC
Ten days later, Douglass arrived in Washington carrying the war with him: draft riots, Fort Wagner’s dead, his own sons wounded and sick. Stanton listened, delayed, offered commissions that never came. Then Douglass walked into the White House—alone, the only Black man waiting. He expected hours. Two minutes passed. “Mr. Douglass!”
3/10
Image: Lincoln the day before meeting Douglass,, Carte de Visite. August 9, 1863: By Alexander Gardner.
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@Deglassco@mastodon.social 2026-02-21 18:05
Lincoln defended delay, urged patience, promised equality later. Douglass left unsatisfied but sharpened. He resumed recruiting not because the system had changed, but because its limits were now visible. Douglass never mistook access for equality. He measured power by how much resistance it required to move—and kept pushing anyway. 4/10 Image: Detachment muster roll for Sylvester Ray, Company B, 2nd U.S. Colored Cavalry, first black soldier to refuse service until equal pay with white troops.