No thanks to the slaveholder, nor to slavery, that the vivacious captive may sometimes dance in his chains; his very mirth in such circumstances stands before God as an accusing angel against his enslaver.
Douglass argues that the occasional joy of enslaved people is not a credit to their masters but rather an indictment of the system before God.
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More from Frederick Douglass
Still another ground of hope I find in the fact that colored men are strong in their gratitude to benefactors, and firm in their political convictions.
None now denies the ability of the colored race to acquire knowledge of anything which can be communicated to the human understanding by letters.