Jan 1, 1855
How could we regard ourselves as in the right, when all about us denounced us as criminals, and had the power and the disposition to treat us as such.
Frederick Douglass
The Public Record
Frederick Douglass was an American social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. He was "the most important leader of the movement for African-American civil rights in the 19th century".
gutenberg.org
Jan 1, 1855
Such is the power of public opinion, that it is hard, even for the innocent, to feel the happy consolations of innocence, when they fall under the maledictions of this power.
Jan 1, 1855
Our confidence in each other was unshaken; and we were quite resolved to succeed or fail together—as much after the calamity which had befallen us, as before.
Jan 1, 1855
The cruel injustice, the victorious crime, and the helplessness of innocence, led me to ask, in my ignorance and weakness “Where now is the God of justice and mercy?
Jan 1, 1855
It seemed to me (and this shows the good understanding between the slaveholders and their allies) that every body we met knew the cause of our arrest, and were out, awaiting our passing by, to feast their vindictive eyes on our misery and…
Jan 1, 1855
Yet there was something almost providential in the resistance made by the gallant Henry.
Jan 1, 1855
The fact is, I never see much use in fighting, unless there is a reasonable probability of whipping somebody.
Jan 1, 1855
I felt as one may be supposed to feel before being led forth to be executed for some great offense.
Jan 1, 1855
Like most other men, we had done the talking part of our work, long and well; and the time had come to act as if we were in earnest, and meant to be as true in action as in words.