Frederick Douglass is remembered as one of the most powerful orators in American history, a leading voice for abolition, and an extraordinary champion of equal rights. He was also one of the 19th century’s most important thinkers about freedom of speech. For Douglass, free speech was not simply a constitutional protection against government censorship. It was a fundamental human right, an indispensable weapon in the struggle against slavery, and an essential condition of equal citizenship and self-government. In this episode, scholar Jacob Mchangama examines Douglass’s remarkably expansive understanding of free speech, drawing on a new research project that examines hundreds of his speeches, writings, and letters. Julie Silverbrook, chief content and learning officer at the National Constitution Center, moderates.
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This episode was produced and mixed by Bill Pollock. With production support from Charles Sahm. Research was provided by Anna Salvatore and Tristan Worsham.
Participants
Jacob Mchangama is the founder and executive director of The Future of Free Speech. He is a research professor at Vanderbilt University and a senior fellow at The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE). In 2018, he was a visiting scholar at Columbia’s Global Freedom of Expression Center. He is the author of Free Speech: A History From Socrates to Social Media and co-author with Jeff Kosseff of The Future of Free Speech: Reversing the Global Decline of Democracy’s Most Essential Freedom. Mchangama has commented on free speech and human rights in leading newspapers and magazines, and in academic and peer-reviewed journals. He is the creator of the Frederick Douglass Free Speech Corpus, which offers new insight into the place of free expression in Douglass' political thought and its relevance to our constitutional democracy today.
Julie Silverbrook is chief content and learning officer at the National Constitution Center, where she leads the strategy, development, and delivery of the Center’s content, public programs, and educational initiatives, advancing its mission of nonpartisan constitutional education and civil dialogue. She oversees the creation of public-facing constitutional content and works to ensure the Center’s programs, scholarly engagement, and educational resources operate as a coordinated national strategy serving students, educators, families, and lifelong learners across the country.
Additional Resources
- The Future of Free Speech, Jacob Mchangama
- Frederick Douglass Free Speech Corpus, Jacob Mchangama
- “Free Speech in a Changing World,” We the People (July 30, 2026)
- Jacob Mchangama, Free Speech: A History From Socrates to Social Media (2022)
- Jacob Mchangama and Jeff Kosseff, The Future of Free Speech: Reversing the Global Decline of Democracy’s Most Essential Freedom (2026)
- Freedom of Religion, Speech, Press, Assembly, and Petition, National Constitution Center
- First Amendment: Speech and Press Clauses, National Constitution Center
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