In entering upon my argument, I may be allowed to say again what should be taken for granted at the start, that I am not a defender of any man guilty of this atrocious crime, but a defender of the coloured people as a class.
Douglass clarifies that he defends the rights of Black people, not those guilty of crimes.
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Our very lack of preparation for the conflict disposed us to look for some other than the way of blood out of the difficulty.
But we are not here to applaud manly courage, save as it has been displayed in a noble cause.
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.