On the recordJanuary 1, 1855
The oath of an(sic) two villains is sufficient, under this hell-black enactment, to send the most pious and exemplary black man into the remorseless jaws of slavery!
Said by
Frederick Douglass
Source
gutenberg.orgThe oath of an(sic) two villains is sufficient, under this hell-black enactment, to send the most pious and exemplary black man into the remorseless jaws of slavery!
From his autobiography, this passage highlights how the Fugitive Slave Act allows false testimony to condemn even the most virtuous black men to slavery.
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More from Frederick Douglass
The friendless and hungry boy, in his extremest need, found himself in the strong protecting arms of his mother.
I looked into this kitchen with peculiar interest, and remembered that it was there I last saw my mother.
Father he might be, and not be husband, and could sell his own child without incurring reproach, if in its veins coursed one drop of African blood.
True it is that this faith was many times shaken by passing events, but never destroyed.