On the record
A man is not blemished by deeds and indulgencies, upon a plantation, among slaves, which in the North, would strike him through with infamy and house him in the penitentiary.
Said by
Henry Ward Beecher
Source
gutenberg.orgHenry Ward Beecher: “A man is not blemished by deeds and indulgencies, upon a plantation, among slaves, which in the North, would strike him…”
Editor's note · Context
Beecher contrasts the societal acceptance of certain behaviors on plantations in the South with the severe repercussions they would face in the North.
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More from Henry Ward Beecher
Having once given forth this spirit of liberty, now fading out of our Southern States, the North should again come forth and refill the poisoned veins that have been drinking the hemlock of Despotism with the new blood of Liberty!
If the North gives to the Nation her radical principles of human rights and democratic Governments, there will be the peace of an immeasurable prosperity.
And aroused by that spirit, there shall spring up the yet unaroused hosts of men that have not bowed the knee to Baal--and we will war it to the knife, and knife to the hilt.
And if by an insane blindness you shall contrive to put off the issue, and send this unsettled dispute down to your children, it will go down, gathering volume and strength at every step, to waste and desolate their heritage.