On the recordJanuary 1, 1881
They have, however, come not at the command of reason and persuasion, but by the sharp and terrible edge of the sword.
Said by
Frederick Douglass
Source
gutenberg.orgThey have, however, come not at the command of reason and persuasion, but by the sharp and terrible edge of the sword.
Douglass observes that historically, concessions to liberty have typically been won through violence rather than reason.
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More from Frederick Douglass
Still another ground of hope I find in the fact that colored men are strong in their gratitude to benefactors, and firm in their political convictions.
To-day the negro, starting from nothing, pays taxes upon six millions in Georgia, and forty millions in Louisiana.
In any fair condition of things the men who till the soil will become proprietors of the soil.
They cannot be coaxed or driven to vote with their enemies against their friends.