88 Douglass, Frederick
tended also to be anti-Catholic (in France, HUGUENOT
or deist, in England, Protestant).
St. Thomas AQUINASimplied a divine-right doctrine
in his discussion of kingship, but he emphasized that
even absolute monarchs are bound and limited by
God’s law.
Further Reading
Milton, John. Political Writings,Martin Dzelzainis, ed., Claire
Gruzelier, transl. Cambridge, Eng.: Cambridge University
Press, 1991.
Douglass, Frederick (1817–1895) U.S. slave
and antislavery activist
A leading black ABOLITIONIST, Douglass was born a
slave in eastern Maryland. At the age of 20, he escaped
to the northern United States and freedom. In New
York, Douglass started a newspaper (The North Star)
devoted to the abolitionist (antislavery) cause. A dra-
matic and colorful speaker and writer, he riveted audi-
ences with horrifying depictions of the cruelty and
injustice of southern slave life. He ridiculed U.S. soci-
ety and morals that would permit ownership of human
beings. He played on the guilt, shame, and national
humiliation caused by the institution of enslavement.
Douglass ridiculed northern, free states as much as
southern slave society for allowing the continuance of
black (African-American) slavery and often employed
CHRISTIANimagery and arguments against the hypoc-
risy and self-righteousness of U.S. slave owners and
their supporters. Well versed in the Bible, Douglass
appealed to the common humanity of blacks and
whites and the unchristian spirit of U.S. slavery. He
avowed a faith in Christ and the ultimate will of God
in the freedom of slaves.
His political theory claimed that the U.S. CONSTITU-
TION justified the forcible emancipation of southern
slaves, without compensation to their owners. He
denied that STATES RIGHTSprotected the rights of south-
erners against federal-government encroachment of
the tradition of black slavery. Douglass ridiculed the
moderate abolitionists who advocated respecting the
PROPERTYrights of southern slave owners and merely
worked for the restricting of the expansion of slavery
into new Western states.
After the American Civil War and liberation of
African-American slaves, Douglass supported the FEMI-
NISTmovement to apply legal and political EQUALITYto
female Americans. For these reasons, Frederick Dou-
glass is greatly admired by LIBERAL civil rights advo-
cates, African Americans, and American feminists,
who see him as a hero.Further Reading
Foner, P. S. The Life and Writings of Frederick Douglass.5 vols.
New York: International Publishers, 1950–1955.Duns Scotus, Johannes (1264–1308) English
Medieval philosopher
Educated at Oxford and the University of Paris, Duns
Scotus is chiefly known, as is St. Thomas AQUINAS, for
combining the ideas of ARISTOTLEwith CHRISTIANITY.
Unlike Aquinas, however, he places NATURAL LAWon
the “will” of God rather than on his mind, thereby
moderating the Aristotelian (and Thomist) emphasis
on human reason. Hence, the primary Christian act
(including that of Christian rulers) is an act of the love
of God rather than a purely intellectual knowledge of
church doctrine. His theology became the foundation
of the Franciscan Order of the Western Church. There
it served as a moderating influence of the rationalism
of the Thomist CATHOLICdoctrine. His teaching that theFrederick Douglass, ca. 1870.(LIBRARY OFCONGRESS)