I even concur with them in the statement that the Negro is physically, in certain localities, in a worse condition to-day than in the time of slavery, but I part with these gentlemen when they ascribe this condition to emancipation.
Douglass recognizes the physical hardships faced by some Negroes post-emancipation but disputes the notion that emancipation caused these issues.
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It had no interest in recognizing or preserving any of the ties that bind families together or to their homes.
We (the people of the North) are a charitable people, and in the excess of this feeling we were disposed to put the very best construction upon the strange behavior of our southern brethren.