Frederick Douglass: “Now, what is the special charge by which this ferocity is justified…”

On the record

Now, what is the special charge by which this ferocity is justified, and by which mob law is excused and defended even by good men North and South?

Said by

Frederick Douglass

Source

Douglass questions the justification used for mob violence, challenging the moral reasoning behind it.

More from Frederick Douglass

Jan 1, 1881

His iron sentences, cold and harsh, sunk like heavy weights deep into my heart, and stirred up within me a rebellion not soon to be allayed.

Jan 1, 1881

The laws which determine the destinies of individuals and nations are impartial and eternal.

Jan 1, 1881

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.

Jan 1, 1881

Guilty or not guilty, to be accused was to be sure of a flogging.

Frederick Douglass: “Now, what is the special charge by which this ferocity is justified, and by which mob law is excused and defended even…”