Like most other men, we had done the talking part of our work, long and well; and the time had come to act as if we were in earnest, and meant to be as true in action as in words.
From his autobiography, Douglass reflects on the moment he and fellow enslaved people decided to move from planning to action in their escape attempt.
Share
More from Frederick Douglass
Father he might be, and not be husband, and could sell his own child without incurring reproach, if in its veins coursed one drop of African blood.
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.
For the moment the northern lamb was transformed into a lion, and his roar was terrible.