I distinctly saw his human nature asserting its conviction against the slave system, which made cases like mine possible; but, as I have said, humanity fell before the systematic tyranny of slavery.
In his autobiography, Douglass reflects on his master's initial reaction to his suffering, noting how the system of slavery ultimately suppressed human empathy.
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The nation or people which shall comply with them will rise, and those which violate them will fall, and perhaps will disappear altogether.
In any fair condition of things the men who till the soil will become proprietors of the soil.