Frederick Douglass: “This treatment is a part of the system, rather than a part of the man.”

On the recordJanuary 1, 1855

This treatment is a part of the system, rather than a part of the man.

Said by

Frederick Douglass

Source

From his autobiography, Douglass reflects on the cruelty of slaveholders, asserting that their actions are systemic rather than purely individual.

More from Frederick Douglass

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

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The good to be sought and the evil to be shunned were flung in the balance and weighed against each other.

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But we are not here to applaud manly courage, save as it has been displayed in a noble cause.

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To make a man a slave was to rob him of moral responsibility.