On the recordJanuary 1, 1855
We were compelled either to beg, or to steal, and we did both.
Said by
Frederick Douglass
Source
gutenberg.orgWe were compelled either to beg, or to steal, and we did both.
From his autobiography, Douglass describes the desperate measures enslaved people were forced to take to survive starvation.
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For the moment the northern lamb was transformed into a lion, and his roar was terrible.
The good to be sought and the evil to be shunned were flung in the balance and weighed against each other.
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.
True it is that this faith was many times shaken by passing events, but never destroyed.