It has illustrated before all the people the horrible character of slavery toward the slave, in hunting him down in a free state, and tearing him away from wife and children, thus setting its claims higher than marriage or parental claims.
Douglass explains how the Fugitive Slave Act exposed the inherent cruelty of slavery by violating fundamental human bonds.
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We (the people of the North) are a charitable people, and in the excess of this feeling we were disposed to put the very best construction upon the strange behavior of our southern brethren.
Our very lack of preparation for the conflict disposed us to look for some other than the way of blood out of the difficulty.
True it is that this faith was many times shaken by passing events, but never destroyed.
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.