Jan 1, 1855
While I heard of numerous murders committed by slaveholders on the Eastern Shores of Maryland, I never knew a solitary instance in which a slaveholder was either hung or imprisoned for having murdered a slave.
Frederick Douglass
The Public Record
Frederick Douglass was an American social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. He was "the most important leader of the movement for African-American civil rights in the 19th century".
gutenberg.org
Jan 1, 1855
When a slave is drunk, the slaveholder has no fear that he will plan an insurrection; no fear that he will escape to the north.
Jan 1, 1855
It was about as well to be a slave to master, as to be a slave to rum and whisky.
Jan 1, 1855
He must make no reply, no explanation; the judgment of the master must be deemed infallible, for his power is absolute and irresponsible.
Jan 1, 1855
All the license allowed, appears to have no other object than to disgust the slaves with their temporary freedom, and to make them as glad to return to their work, as they were to leave it.
Jan 1, 1855
It is plain, that everything like rational enjoyment among the slaves, is frowned upon; and only those wild and low sports, peculiar to semi-civilized people, are encouraged.
Jan 1, 1855
What is pleasant today, is repulsive tomorrow; what is soft now, is hard at another time; what is sweet in the morning, is bitter in the evening.
Jan 1, 1855
It is not from a generous unconcern for the slave’s labor that this cessation from labor is allowed, but from a prudent regard to the safety of the slave system.
Jan 1, 1855
The slave’s happiness is not the end sought, but, rather, the master’s safety.
Jan 1, 1855
Ostensibly, they are institutions of benevolence, designed to mitigate the rigors of slave life, but, practically, they are a fraud, instituted by human selfishness, the better to secure the ends of injustice and oppression.