Abolish slavery tomorrow, and not a sentence or syllable of the Constitution need be altered. It was purposely so framed as to give no claim, no sanction to the claim, of property in man. If in its origin slavery had any relation to the government, it was only as the scaffolding to the magnificent structure, to be removed as soon as the building was completed.
Frederick DouglassThe man who will get up will be helped up; and the man who will not get up will be allowed to stay down.
Frederick DouglassAmerica is false to the past, false to the present, and solemnly binds herself to be false to the future.
Frederick DouglassYou have seen how a man was made a slave; you shall see how a slave was made a man.
Frederick DouglassThe marriage institution cannot exist among slaves, and one sixth of the population of democratic America is denied it's privileges by the law of the land. What is to be thought of a nation boasting of its liberty, boasting of it's humanity, boasting of its Christianity, boasting of its love of justice and purity, and yet having within its own borders three millions of persons denied by law the right of marriage?
Frederick Douglass