Destroy these,” was the burden of all my utterances during this part of the struggle, “and you cripple and destroy the rebellion.” It is surprising how long and bitterly the government resisted and rejected this view of the situation.
Douglass recounts his persistent argument that destroying the economic contributions of enslaved people was key to defeating the rebellion, a view the government long resisted.
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I wished it was possible I could remain small all my life, knowing that the sooner I grew large the shorter would be my time to remain with them.
A son of toil himself, he was linked in brotherly sympathy with the sons of toil in every loyal part of the republic.
The father might be a white man, glorying in the purity of his Anglo-Saxon blood, and his child ranked with the blackest slaves.