Frederick Douglass: “His labor made him a slave, and his labor can, if he will, make him…”

On the recordJanuary 1, 1881

His labor made him a slave, and his labor can, if he will, make him free, comfortable, and independent.

Said by

Frederick Douglass

Source

From his autobiography, Douglass reflects on the transformative power of labor for Black people, from enslavement to independence.

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Another ground of hope for our race is in the progress of education.

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We are no longer four millions of slaves, but six millions of freemen.

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No power beneath the sky can make an ignorant, wasteful, and idle people prosperous, or a licentious people happy.

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

Frederick Douglass: “His labor made him a slave, and his labor can, if he will, make him free, comfortable, and independent.”