just last year "the washington post" published an article that it's a myth that frederick douglass was a christian. he was ordained minister. he would have his family read scriptures before they could eat dinner. so here samantha was dedicated to his faith. he talks about it quite extensively in his autobiography. it's something that is worth talking about. we shouldn't be taking our contemporary visions and projecting them in the past. we should allow history to think for itself. brian: at a time when states thought good thing. frederick douglass was not only a power player. he was power player to presidents. he was important voice to lincoln. >> absolutely. i mean lincoln refers to him as his friend. what's so interesting about their relationship is the nuances there. they had disagreements. frederick douglass was against lincoln on some ends. he felt he should do more to emancipate the slaves sooner in some respects. the amazing thing about it after lincoln was asan sin nateed.