The Federal Government was never, in its essence, anything but an anti-slavery government.
Frederick DouglassI assert most unhesitatingly, that the religion of the South is a mere covering for the most horrid crimesโa justifier of the most appalling barbarityโฆa shelter underโฆwhich the darkest, foulest, grossest, and most infernal deeds of slaveholders find the strongest protection
Frederick DouglassAbolish 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 Douglass