Political Quotes

Frederick Douglass: “He who can say to his fellow-man, “You shall serve me or starve,” is a master, and his subject is a slave.”

On the recordJanuary 1, 1881
He who can say to his fellow-man, “You shall serve me or starve,” is a master, and his subject is a slave.
Said by
Frederick Douglass

Editor's note · Context

From his autobiography, Douglass offers a stark definition of mastery and slavery, asserting that economic coercion, the power to dictate survival, constitutes the essence of the relationship.

Share

More from Frederick Douglass

Jan 1, 1881

In any fair condition of things the men who till the soil will become proprietors of the soil.

gutenberg.org
Jan 1, 1881

Nothing but the shot-gun or the bull-dozer’s whip can keep them from voting their convictions.

gutenberg.org
Jan 1, 1881

They cannot be coaxed or driven to vote with their enemies against their friends.

gutenberg.org
Jan 1, 1881

Everywhere in the south the colored man is learning to read.

gutenberg.org