A man's rights rest in three boxes: the ballot box, the jury box, and the cartridge box.

I knew that however bad the Republican party was, the Democratic party was much worse. The elements of which the Republican party was composed gave better ground for the ultimate hope of the success of the colored mans cause than those of the Democratic party.

This war, disguise it as they may, is virtually nothing more or less than perpetual slavery against universal freedoms.

What I ask for the Negro is not benevolence, not pity, not sympathy, but simply justice. ... All I ask is, give him a chance to stand on his own legs! Let him alone! ... Your interference is doing him positive injury.

A little learning, indeed, may be a dangerous thing, but the want of learning is a calamity to any people.

Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.

You have seen how a man was made a slave; you shall see how a slave was made a man.