Douglass as Constitutional Keystone

Contemporary scholarship and edited source volumes are recasting Frederick Douglass not only as an abolitionist moralist but as a touchstone interpreter of constitutional meaning, especially on citizenship and Reconstruction amendments. This reframing positions Douglass as a primary, usable historical authority in legal and civic argumentation about race, rights, and the republican project. — If Douglass becomes the accepted constitutional keystone, courts, educators, and political actors will increasingly cite his writings to justify positions on citizenship, equality, and constitutional interpretation, reshaping litigation, curricula, and public memorialization.