Frederick Douglass: “Nature had made us friends; slavery made us enemies.”

On the recordJanuary 1, 1855

Nature had made us friends; slavery made us enemies.

Said by

Frederick Douglass

Source

From his autobiography, Douglass reflects on how the institution of slavery transformed the relationship between himself and his mistress.

More from Frederick Douglass

Jan 1, 1881

That the mother was a slave was enough for its deadly purpose.

Jan 1, 1881

Covey succeeded in breaking me--in body, soul, and spirit.

Jan 1, 1881

Guilty or not guilty, to be accused was to be sure of a flogging.

Jan 1, 1881

The father might be a white man, glorying in the purity of his Anglo-Saxon blood, and his child ranked with the blackest slaves.