Thus he is riveted to one place, and is, in some sense, a slave; for a man to whom it can be said, “You shall work for me for what I choose to pay you, and how I shall choose to pay you,” is, in fact, a slave, though he may be called a free man.
Douglass highlights the economic bondage faced by laborers who are forced to work under exploitative conditions.
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More from Frederick Douglass
It was perhaps better for the country and for mankind that the good man could not know the end from the beginning.
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.