Frederick Douglass: “I am,” thought I, “not only the slave of Thomas, but I am the slave of…”

On the recordJanuary 1, 1855

I am,” thought I, “not only the slave of Thomas, but I am the slave of society at large.

Said by

Frederick Douglass

Source

In his autobiography, Douglass reflects on his realization that his enslavement was supported not just by his master but by society as a whole.

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

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The father might be a white man, glorying in the purity of his Anglo-Saxon blood, and his child ranked with the blackest slaves.

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He was called upon not merely to administer the government, but to decide, in the face of terrible odds, the fate of the Republic.

Frederick Douglass: “I am,” thought I, “not only the slave of Thomas, but I am the slave of society at large.”