Frederick Douglass: “I acknowledge the benefit rendered me by the one, and by the other…”

On the record

I acknowledge the benefit rendered me by the one, and by the other; believing, that but for my mistress, I might have grown up in ignorance.

Said by

Frederick Douglass

Source

Douglass reflects on the positive influence of his mistress in his early life, acknowledging the complexity of his experiences with slavery.

More from Frederick Douglass

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He was called upon not merely to administer the government, but to decide, in the face of terrible odds, the fate of the Republic.

Jan 1, 1881

If I have had kicks, I have also had kindness.

Jan 1, 1881

Human liberty excludes all idea of home and abroad.

Jan 1, 1881

The father might be a white man, glorying in the purity of his Anglo-Saxon blood, and his child ranked with the blackest slaves.

Frederick Douglass: “I acknowledge the benefit rendered me by the one, and by the other; believing, that but for my mistress, I might have…”