We knew that if, by extraordinary exertion, a large quantity of work was done in one day, the fact, becoming known to the master, might lead him to require the same amount every day.
Douglass explains that enslaved people understood that exceptional work output on one day could lead masters to demand that same high level of labor consistently.
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The nation or people which shall comply with them will rise, and those which violate them will fall, and perhaps will disappear altogether.