Political Quotes

Frederick Douglass: “These holidays were also sort of conductors or safety-valves, to carry off the explosive elements inseparable from the…”

On the recordJanuary 1, 1881
These holidays were also sort of conductors or safety-valves, to carry off the explosive elements inseparable from the human mind when reduced to the condition of slavery.
Said by
Frederick Douglass

Editor's note · Context

Douglass analyzes the role of slave holidays as a mechanism to prevent rebellion and manage the psychological toll of bondage.

Share

More from Frederick Douglass

Jan 1, 1881

In any fair condition of things the men who till the soil will become proprietors of the soil.

gutenberg.org
Jan 1, 1881

Still another ground of hope I find in the fact that colored men are strong in their gratitude to benefactors, and firm in their political convictions.

gutenberg.org
Jan 1, 1881

No power beneath the sky can make an ignorant, wasteful, and idle people prosperous, or a licentious people happy.

gutenberg.org
Jan 1, 1881

They cannot be coaxed or driven to vote with their enemies against their friends.

gutenberg.org