“The morality of free society can have no application to slave society. . . .Make a man a slave, and you rob him of moral responsibility. Freedom of choice is the essence of all accountability.” - from My Bondage and My Freedom by Frederick Douglass (1855)
Frederick Douglass was a prominent African American abolitionist, orator, writer and statesman who lived from 1818 to 1895. Born into slavery in Maryland, he endured the brutality of the system before escaping to freedom at the age of 20. Douglass became a leading figure in the abolitionist movement, using his powerful oratory and eloquent writing to advocate for the end of slavery and the promotion of civil rights for all. His autobiographies, including "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave" became influential in shaping public opinion against slavery.
Douglass also played a crucial role in the women's suffrage movement, advocating for the rights of both African Americans and women. After the Civil War, he continued to fight for equality as a statesman, serving as a U.S. Marshal for the District of Columbia, a recorder of deeds for Washington, D.C. and minister-resident and consul-general to Haiti. Douglass' legacy as a tireless champion for justice and equality continues to inspire generations.
"The thought of being only a creature of the present and the past troubled me, and I longed to have a future—a future with hope in it. To be shut up entirely to the past and present is to the soul whose life and happiness is unceasing progress—what the prison is to the body—a blight and a mildew, a hell of horrors." - Frederick Douglass
The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
I have observed this in my experience of slavery,—that whenever my condition was improved, instead of its increasing my contentment, it only increased my desire to be free, and set me to thinking of plans to gain my freedom. I have found that, to make a contented slave, it is necessary to make a thoughtless one. It is necessary to darken his moral and mental vision, and, as far as possible, to annihilate the power of reason. He must be able to detect no inconsistencies in slavery; he must be made to feel that slavery is right; and he can be brought to that only when he ceases to be a man. - Frederick Douglass
Frederick Douglass: Selected Works
“Education means emancipation. It means light and liberty. It means the uplifting of the soul of man into the glorious light of truth, the light by which men can only be made free.” – Frederick Douglass, Blessings of Liberty and Education. Speech. 1894.
“Intelligence is a great leveler here as elsewhere” – Frederick Douglass, Life and Times of Frederick Douglass.
“Civil war was not a mere strife for territory and dominion, but a contest of civilization against barbarism." – Frederick Douglass, Life and Times of Frederick Douglass.
“The ballot is the only safety.” – Frederick Douglass, Life and Times of Frederick Douglass.
“Once you learn to read, you will be forever free.” – Frederick Douglass
Frederick Douglass 2 Complete Works
“For no man who lives at all lives unto himself. He either helps or hinders all who are in anywise connected to him.” –Frederick Douglass
“I have no accurate knowledge of my age, never having seen any authentic record containing it.” – Frederick Douglass
The Complete Autobiographical Works of Frederick Douglass
“I do not remember to have ever met a slave who could tell of his birthday.” – Frederick Douglass
What to the Slave is the 4th of July? - Unabridged
Fellow Citizens: Pardon me, and allow me to ask, why am I called upon to speak here today? What have I or those I
represent to do with your national independence? Are the great principles of political freedom and of natural justice,
embodied in that Declaration of Independence, extended to us? And am I, therefore, called upon to bring our humble
offering to the national altar, and to confess the benefits, and express devout gratitude for the blessings resulting
from your independence to us?. . .What to the American slave is your Fourth of July? I answer, a day that reveals to him more than all other days of
the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. To him your celebration is a sham; your
boasted liberty an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sounds of rejoicing are empty and
heartless; your denunciation of tyrants, brass-fronted impudence; your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow
mockery; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanksgivings, with all your religious parade and solemnity, are
to him mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy—a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages. There is not a nation of the earth guilty of practices more shocking and bloody than are the people of these United States at this very hour.Go where you may, search where you will, roam through all the monarchies and despotisms of the Old World,
travel through South America, search out every abuse and when you have found the last, lay your facts by the side
of the everyday practices of this nation, and you will say with me that, for revolting barbarity and shameless
hypocrisy, America reigns without a rival. . . .- Frederick Douglass on the Fourth of July, 1852 having been invited to give an Independence Day address.
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