All we had to go upon—all the capital we had—was good wills to work, patient endurance, and fair opportunity for education, which every white in the country, thank God, could have then; and every black boy, thank God again, can have now.
Reid reflects on the foundational values of hard work and education that were available to both white and black individuals.
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The question about the slaves being self-supporting, is a question no longer.
Brushing aside, then, these bugbears, gentlemen, what are the obvious duties of the hour?
We are all washed under, and the most of us only live peaceable lives by the sufferance of our Rebel neighbors.
That would be “jumping from the frying-pan into the fire,” indeed.