The man, unaccustomed to slaveholding, would be astonished to observe how many foggable offenses there are in the slaveholder’s catalogue of crimes; and how easy it is to commit any one of them, even when the slave least intends it.
Douglass describes the vast and arbitrary list of offenses for which enslaved people could be punished, often without intent.
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More from Frederick Douglass
He was called upon not merely to administer the government, but to decide, in the face of terrible odds, the fate of the Republic.
We could not but believe that there existed at the South a latent and powerful Union sentiment which would assert itself at last.
It was perhaps better for the country and for mankind that the good man could not know the end from the beginning.
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.