It was with me in the woods and fields; along the shore of the river, and wherever my boyish wanderings led me; and though I was, at that time, quite ignorant of the existence of the free states, I distinctly remember being, even then, most strongly impressed with the idea of being a freeman some day.
In his autobiography, Douglass recounts his early, persistent, and innate desire for freedom, even before understanding the concept of free states.
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The sentiment that brings us here to-day is one of the noblest that can stir and thrill the human heart.
His iron sentences, cold and harsh, sunk like heavy weights deep into my heart, and stirred up within me a rebellion not soon to be allayed.
Our very lack of preparation for the conflict disposed us to look for some other than the way of blood out of the difficulty.