The general sense of decency that must pervade such a population, does much to check and prevent those outbreaks of atrocious cruelty, and those dark crimes without a name, almost openly perpetrated on the plantation.
From his autobiography, Douglass observes how public decency in urban areas somewhat mitigated the worst cruelties of slavery.
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I looked into this kitchen with peculiar interest, and remembered that it was there I last saw my mother.
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.
I wished it was possible I could remain small all my life, knowing that the sooner I grew large the shorter would be my time to remain with them.
The laws which determine the destinies of individuals and nations are impartial and eternal.