Whether the oppressed and despairing bondman, no longer able to repress his deep yearnings for manhood, or the tyrant, in his pride and impatience, takes the initiative, and strikes the blow for a firmer hold and a longer lease of oppression, the result is the same,—society is instructed, or may be.
He reflects on the duality of oppression and the quest for freedom, highlighting the societal lessons learned from conflict.
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More from Frederick Douglass
We (the people of the North) are a charitable people, and in the excess of this feeling we were disposed to put the very best construction upon the strange behavior of our southern brethren.
But we are not here to applaud manly courage, save as it has been displayed in a noble cause.
Land is not worth much where there are no people to occupy it, and a mule is not worth much where there is no one to drive him.
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.