The Power of Reading in the Age of Social Media

By Sunny Sharma      

July 28, 2026

Link to blog with more articles: https://theenlightenmentdotblog.wordpress.com/2026/07/28/the-power-of-reading-in-the-age-of-social-media/

Three men born in the 19^th century profoundly changed the world not just through organized leadership of various people’s movement, but through the transformative power of the written word. Whether it was President Abraham Lincoln born in 1809 who came from abject poverty, America’s most infamous orator and abolitionist Frederick Douglas born into slavery around 1818 even though the circumstances of his birth are somewhat unknown, or Eugene Debs born in 1856 who despite being brought up in humble working class beginnings became the greatest labor leader in American history, these men like the previous American Founding Generation and numerous future women leaders embodied the importance of grasping the literary and historical nuances of past events in order to convey indispensable lessons for posterity. Even though the ideas of the 18^th century revolutions particularly the American Revolution were still in the air when Lincoln and Douglas were young men, Debs’ historical era was just one generation removed from the tremendous resonating effects of the American revolution which was not just impacting American society, it was a thunder clap heard throughout the world.

            Revolutionary sentiment was everywhere: monarchs were being overthrown in France, cooperative agriculture projects were being implemented in Russia, socialist theory and organized power was building in Germany, new methods of industry were being proliferated in Africa, class hierarchy was being questioned in Latin America, traditional norms were being challenged by reformers in Asia, and so much more. The philosophical ideas of the French Revolution and secondarily of Enlightenment American thinkers not only impacted the globe, but directly influenced Lincoln, Douglas, and Debs. It is clear today that the Enlightenment movement was not solely a European phenomenon, but was a global project. However, it is undoubtable that Western Civilization during the 18^th century was in the midst of an immense political and cultural upheaval which was unprecedented in world history that would reverberate for centuries to come and is still being felt. Out of these movements, specifically coming out of the political theories of the French philosophes including icons like Voltaire, Montesquieu, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and Denis Diderot, was not just an emphasis of reason against the centralized power of the church, but also a guide to restructuring society in line with higher principles. These very same ideas guided the forming of America’s constitutional system while also setting the foundation for the intellectual flourishing of numerous luminaries such as Lincoln, Douglas, and Debs.

            Whereas Lincoln and Douglas were deeply influenced by the Bible and political history of many of the founding fathers such as Benjamin Franklin and George Washington, Debs had the opportunity to read more broadly especially concerning French literature. Debs family not only immersed him in the still alluring, resounding, and historically relevant French literature from Rousseau to Victor Hugo to Dumas to Eugene Sue to Voltaire, he was also aware of the political philosophical disposition of the Terre Haute, Indiana (where he grew up) public school superintendent who explained in 1875 the community’s democratic ideology:

“If we shall limit the education of the masses, and trust to the extended education of the few for directive power and skill, we must expect to be ruled by monopolies, demagogues, and partisans” (Eugene V. Debs: Citizen and Socialist Citation, 10, 1982, Nick Salvatore)

The intellectual ethos of Deb’s childhood community understood the need to democratize education at a time when universal public education was not legalized which encouraged widescale child labor. Douglas is one of those cases. Douglas grew up without knowledge of his father along with little contact from his mother. At a young age, a white woman decided to teach Douglas the alphabet until she was chided/warned by Douglas’s owner that if you teach a slave how to read it won’t be long till they no longer stay in bondage. Douglas took this lesson to heart and bartered with fellow poor white children by giving them bread in exchange for reading lessons. Eventually he accumulated enough (50 cents) to buy a book of his own at the age of 12 called the Columbian Orator an anthology of speeches, debates, and dialogues that taught him the power of language and why slavery was wrong. When Douglas escaped to freedom at the age of 20 who made it his mission to enlighten whites concerning the brutality of slavery and cement the importance of education to the black masses.

            Lincoln, like Douglas, also had to barter to get reading material, but luckily he also had a tutor his stepmother Sara Bush Lincoln who provided him some books while also encouraging in Lincoln a love of learning. Lincoln and Douglas were required to do manual labor yet they hated it. They much rather would read and learn reinforcing a habit that would lead them to make some of the most powerful speeches the human language has ever known. Many people know that Douglas was appointed to one of the first federal positions for a black person in American history and that Douglas knew Lincoln personally when they were adults, but more Americans need to realize just how instrumental Douglas was in the eventual abolition of the formal institution of slavery in America. Douglas was foremost a master of the human language whose central theme was the emancipation of the human race whether that was in his criticisms of the Mexican American War as a means of expanding slavery, a rousing indictment of the Supreme Court for denying black citizenship rights through the 1857 Dred Scot Decision, and his emphasis of the hypocrisy of American Independence in his 1852 Speech “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July.” Douglas was not just the greatest American orator for freedom from 1838 till his death in 1895, he also was one of the most prolific and widespread American writers. He published numerous newspapers starting with The North Star (1847–1851) that was founded on December 3, 1847, in Rochester, New York with the motto:

 “Right is of no sex—Truth is of no color—God is the Fatherof us all, and we are brethren” (Frederick Douglas).

Four years later he formed the Frederick Douglass’ Paper (1851–1859), a merger of The North Star merged with Gerrit Smith’s Liberty Party Paper that focused on the anti-slavery mission along with other issues later down the road. Lastly he founded the Douglass’ Monthly (1859–1863) to address Civil War politics and abolition and created the New National Era (1870–1874) that was published in Washington, D.C. Although he evolved over time concerning the issue of liberty to also be connected to that of the establishment of universal franchise, Douglas always stood firm in his hatred of American hypocrisy. Like Dr. King, Douglas believed America was the greatest purveyor of violence in the world as seen by his declaration in his 1852 Speech “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July:”

“There is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices more shocking and bloody than are the people of the United States, at this very hour” (Frederick Douglas).

Douglas also stood firm to the historical reality that legislation alone can’t change humanity’s dire circumstances in any era of crisis. This consistent them throughout his speeches exalts the need for struggle:

“The line over which oppression may not go, may be marked with ink, but it must be marked with blood” (Frederick Douglas).

Lincoln, Douglas, and Debs were provocative minds and this was seated in the historical upbringing of the educational ethos’ of their local communities. Lincoln was a man of few words yet he decisively led America out of its most trying times during the Civil War through eloquence and the ability to learn while acting; Douglas was a persistent prophetic voice for change during a time when social bigotry and stigma was turned starkly against him both intellectually and physically; and Debs was an embodiment of the working class ethos who had a plan to change society which got implemented decades after legislatively.