It is unnecessary to say that a dialogue with such an origin and such an end, read by me when every nerve of my being was in revolt at my own condition as a slave, affected me most powerfully.
Douglass reflects on the profound impact a dialogue from "The Columbian Orator" had on him, especially given his own enslaved condition.
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More from Frederick Douglass
Land is not worth much where there are no people to occupy it, and a mule is not worth much where there is no one to drive him.
Treason had shot its poisonous roots deeper, and had spread its death-dealing branches further than any northern calculation had covered.
It had no interest in recognizing or preserving any of the ties that bind families together or to their homes.