Political Quotes

Frederick Douglass: If he stole he but took his own; if he killed his master, he only imitated the heroes of the revolution.

On the recordJanuary 1, 1881
If he stole he but took his own; if he killed his master, he only imitated the heroes of the revolution.
Said by
Frederick Douglass

Editor's note · Context

Douglass provocatively asserts that a slave's acts of stealing or killing a master could be seen as reclaiming what was rightfully theirs or emulating revolutionary heroes.

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