Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African America, 1619-2019

Blain is the co-editor of Four Hundred Souls. She is a historian with an emphasis on 20th century US history. Her specific interests include the modern African diaspora and women’s and gender studies. Her book Set the World on Fire: Black Nationalist Women and the Global Struggle For Freedom won several prestigious awards and was nominated for many others.

Blain is the co-editor of Four Hundred Souls. She is a historian with an emphasis on 20th century US history. Her specific interests include the modern African diaspora and women’s and gender studies. Her book Set the World on Fire: Black Nationalist Women and the Global Struggle For Freedom won several prestigious awards and was nominated for many others.

Near the beginning of the book, Douglass asks, “What have I, or those I represent, to do with your national independence? Are the great principles of political freedom and of natural justice, embodied in that Declaration of Independence, extended to us?” (5). He delivers the speech on the 4th of July.

Douglass was a former slave who rose to prominence as an author, speaker, and statesman. He became a symbol of dignity, fearlessness, education, and power to Black people in America. He founded an abolitionist newspaper called the North Star and wrote three autobiographies, including Life and Times of Frederick Douglass.