Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglas were born poor. Both were self-educated, and both rose to prominence - one as a president of the United States, the other as the foremost black abolitionist spokeman - by their own efforts.

Douglas himself had been a slaveand worked tirelessly for freedom and justice for his people. Though Lincoln considered slavery morally wrong, he had to place the health of the nation ahead of his personal convictions. And so, while Douglas hailed the onset of the war between North and South as the beginning of the end of slavery, Lincoln saw the war as a threat to the survival of the United States, to be managed decisively but with great care.

Despite their differences, and the fact that they met face-to-face only three times, Lincoln and Douglas forged a friendship based on mutual respect and understanding. Their exchange of ideas profoundly influenced the course of the Civil War and left its mark on race relations in America forever.