Frederick Douglass: “I set this down as partly constitutional with my race, and partly…”

On the record

I set this down as partly constitutional with my race, and partly conventional.

Said by

Frederick Douglass

Source

He suggests that the respect shown by enslaved people is both an inherent trait and a learned behavior.

More from Frederick Douglass

Jan 1, 1881

Everywhere in the south the colored man is learning to read.

Jan 1, 1881

The nation or people which shall comply with them will rise, and those which violate them will fall, and perhaps will disappear altogether.

Jan 1, 1881

Another ground of hope for our race is in the progress of education.

Jan 1, 1881

We are no longer four millions of slaves, but six millions of freemen.

Frederick Douglass: “I set this down as partly constitutional with my race, and partly conventional.”