It is precious, alike to the pauper and to the prince—to the slave, and to his master; and yet, I believe there was not one among us, who would not rather have been shot down, than pass away life in hopeless bondage.
Douglass asserts the universal preciousness of life but reveals the profound despair of enslaved people who would choose death over continued existence in hopeless bondage.
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It only abolished slavery where it did not exist, and left it intact where it did exist.
Treason had shot its poisonous roots deeper, and had spread its death-dealing branches further than any northern calculation had covered.
Our very lack of preparation for the conflict disposed us to look for some other than the way of blood out of the difficulty.