In early 1852, James McCune Smith, the black intellectual, canvassed the relationship between wealth and race in several letters to Frederick Douglass. As intended, these wide-ranging essays were published in Frederick Douglass’ Paper. In the first piece, Smith contemplated what would occur if every free black man received $100,000 and owned a “brownstone front and a pair of greys in the avenues.” He concluded that little would change:
