The 19th century witnessed dramatic transformations in the social and political landscape. These were changes driven in part by the powerful advocacy and even action of the figures we study in this course. Mary Wollstonecraft’s Vindication of the Rights of Women harnessed the language of natural rights and rationality in critique of gender inequality. John Stuart Mill wrote in support of a range of social reforms on a utilitarian basis; his On Liberty remains a vital argument for liberty of thought, speech, and action. Black leaders including Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington, and W.E.B. Du Bois offered prophetic and personal testimony and their distinctive models for advancing liberty, equality, and opportunity for Black Americans. Lincoln’s speeches, meanwhile, depict an evolving struggle between moral and constitutional imperatives. This course examines these diverse approaches to social reform both in their context and in their continued impact on thinking about freedom and equality.