Keen is the scent of the slaveholder; like the fangs of the rattlesnake, his malice retains its poison long; and, although it is now nearly seventeen years since I made my escape, it is well to be careful, in dealing with the circumstances relating to it.
Douglass warns of the dangers of revealing too much about his escape, highlighting the persistent threat from slaveholders even years later.
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Nothing but the shot-gun or the bull-dozer’s whip can keep them from voting their convictions.
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