He wears the badge of bondage while nominally free, and is often subjected to hardships to which the slave is a stranger; but here in New Bedford, it was my good fortune to see a pretty near approach to freedom on the part of the colored people.
Douglass reflects on the hardships faced by free Black individuals in slaveholding states, contrasting their experiences with those in New Bedford.
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More from Frederick Douglass
True it is that this faith was many times shaken by passing events, but never destroyed.
It was in the air, and men breathed it and were permeated by it, often when they were quite unconscious of its presence.
It only abolished slavery where it did not exist, and left it intact where it did exist.
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.