A freeman cannot understand why the slave-master’s shadow is bigger, to the slave, than the might and majesty of a free state; but when he reflects that the slave knows more about the slavery of his master than he does of the might and majesty of the free state, he has the explanation.
Douglass explains why the immediate, known threat of a former master can overshadow the abstract promise of freedom in a new state for an escaped slave.
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Knowledge unfits a child to be a slave.” I instinctively assented to the proposition, and from that moment I understood the direct pathway from slavery to freedom.
Our very lack of preparation for the conflict disposed us to look for some other than the way of blood out of the difficulty.