Then, again, if the declared purposes of an instrument are to govern the meaning of all its parts and details, as they clearly should, the constitution of our country is our warrant for the abolition of slavery in every state in the American Union.
From his autobiography, he argues that the Constitution, properly interpreted by its stated purposes, provides a basis for abolishing slavery nationwide.
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More from Frederick Douglass
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.
His iron sentences, cold and harsh, sunk like heavy weights deep into my heart, and stirred up within me a rebellion not soon to be allayed.
The anti-slavery platform had performed its work, and my voice was no longer needed.
Father he might be, and not be husband, and could sell his own child without incurring reproach, if in its veins coursed one drop of African blood.