Should Black soldiers be paid and protected the same as white soldiers, now?
Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln
10 August 1863. Black regiments have fought at Fort Wagner, and are paid less than white soldiers.
Moderate this debate out loud in the Yuga app.
Frederick Douglass
Frederick DouglassEscaped enslaved man who became a prominent abolitionist1818–1895Has been recruiting Black soldiers, two of his own sons among them, and has stopped recruiting in protest at their treatment.
Their position, as they argued it
Yes, at once: equal pay, protection for captured Black soldiers whom the Confederacy threatens to enslave or kill, and promotion for merit.
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham LincolnThe US president who saved the Union and ended slavery1809–1865President, meeting Douglass for the first time, two weeks after ordering retaliation for the mistreatment of Black prisoners.
Their position, as they argued it
It will come, but the country first had to accept Black soldiers at all; for now their lower pay is a concession the public will bear, and he has ordered retaliation for any prisoner harmed.
Where this is documented
Douglass's account of the meeting in his Life and Times (1881); Lincoln's order of retaliation (30 July 1863)
In the app, each figure argues from their own writing and the historical record, and every turn shows whether it quotes them or reasons in their spirit. The figures are AI recreations, not the people themselves.