We have not only heard much lately of patriotism, and of its aid being invoked on the side of slavery and injustice, but the very prosperity of this people has been called in to deafen them to the voice of duty, and to lead them onward in the pathway of sin.
From his autobiography, Douglass argues that both patriotism and national prosperity are wrongly used to distract Americans from their moral obligations regarding slavery.
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Land is not worth much where there are no people to occupy it, and a mule is not worth much where there is no one to drive him.
The sentiment that brings us here to-day is one of the noblest that can stir and thrill the human heart.