They were more disposed to get angry; and the “no, noes” were sufficiently emphatic to satisfy the most devoted adherents of the old system, who used to be constantly declaring that “the slaves were the happiest people on the face of the earth.
Reid describes the strong emotional reactions of a group of formerly enslaved individuals to the idea of their past lives.
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Let those who invoke the Supreme Law of the land learn and bow to it.
Above all, if there is a trace of politics in their work, or of seeking for political effect at home, they will fail, and deserve to fail.
We are all washed under, and the most of us only live peaceable lives by the sufferance of our Rebel neighbors.
But why should a sensible man deal with such folly?