Frederick Douglass: “The power of life and death held over labor which says you shall work…”

On the record

The power of life and death held over labor which says you shall work for me on my own terms or starve, is a source of crime, as well as poverty.

Said by

Frederick Douglass

Source

This quote reflects Douglass's belief that economic coercion leads to both crime and poverty.

More from Frederick Douglass

Jan 1, 1881

They cannot be coaxed or driven to vote with their enemies against their friends.

Jan 1, 1881

Nothing but the shot-gun or the bull-dozer’s whip can keep them from voting their convictions.

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In any fair condition of things the men who till the soil will become proprietors of the soil.

Jan 1, 1881

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

Frederick Douglass: “The power of life and death held over labor which says you shall work for me on my own terms or starve, is a source of…”