We have not only heard much lately of patriotism, and of its aid being invoked on the side of slavery and injustice, but the very prosperity of this people has been called in to deafen them to the voice of duty, and to lead them onward in the pathway of sin.
From his autobiography, Douglass argues that both patriotism and national prosperity are wrongly used to distract Americans from their moral obligations regarding slavery.
Share
More from Frederick Douglass
For the moment the northern lamb was transformed into a lion, and his roar was terrible.
I looked into this kitchen with peculiar interest, and remembered that it was there I last saw my mother.
It only abolished slavery where it did not exist, and left it intact where it did exist.