I had already its spirit, and only needed to understand its principles and measures, and as I became acquainted with these my hope for the ultimate freedom of my race increased.
Douglass explains how understanding the principles and strategies of the anti-slavery movement deepened his hope for the eventual liberation of his people.
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We could not but believe that there existed at the South a latent and powerful Union sentiment which would assert itself at last.
It only abolished slavery where it did not exist, and left it intact where it did exist.
The sentiment that brings us here to-day is one of the noblest that can stir and thrill the human heart.
He was called upon not merely to administer the government, but to decide, in the face of terrible odds, the fate of the Republic.