Frederick Douglass: “These holidays serve as conductors, or safety-valves, to carry off the…”

On the recordJanuary 1, 1845

These holidays serve as conductors, or safety-valves, to carry off the rebellious spirit of enslaved humanity.

Said by

Frederick Douglass

Source

From his autobiography, Douglass describes slave holidays as a mechanism to prevent slave rebellion.

More from Frederick Douglass

Jan 1, 1881

The black man (unlike the Indian) loves civilization.

Jan 1, 1881

No word of retaliation when a black man is slain by a rebel in cold blood.

Jan 1, 1881

I looked into this kitchen with peculiar interest, and remembered that it was there I last saw my mother.

Jan 1, 1881

Our very lack of preparation for the conflict disposed us to look for some other than the way of blood out of the difficulty.

Frederick Douglass: “These holidays serve as conductors, or safety-valves, to carry off the rebellious spirit of enslaved humanity.”