The offering we bring to-day is due alike to the patriot soldiers dead and their noble comrades who still live; for whether living or dead, whether in time or eternity, the loyal soldiers who imperiled all for country and freedom are one and inseparable.
In his 1871 Decoration Day speech at Arlington, Douglass emphasizes that the tribute offered is for all loyal soldiers, recognizing their unified sacrifice for country and freedom.
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More from Frederick Douglass
This was a new and special revelation, dispelling a painful mystery against which my youthful understanding had struggled, and struggled in vain, to wit, the white man’s power to perpetuate the enslavement of the black man.
Treason had shot its poisonous roots deeper, and had spread its death-dealing branches further than any northern calculation had covered.
It only abolished slavery where it did not exist, and left it intact where it did exist.
The laws which determine the destinies of individuals and nations are impartial and eternal.