Government Quotes by Frederick Douglass

11 Government quotes by Frederick Douglass

All Government quotes Frederick Douglass’s page

Frederick Douglass’s eleven compact reflections on government echo his relentless demand for justice. They remind readers that true governance must serve the oppressed, not merely the powerful.

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The District of Columbia is the one spot where there is no government for the people, of the people and by the…

Frederick Douglass

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I know no class of my fellowmen, however just, enlightened, and humane, which can be wisely and safely trusted absolutely with the…

Frederick Douglass

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A government, founded on impartial liberty, where all have a voice and a vote, irrespective of color or of sex--what is there…

Frederick Douglass

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The Federal Government was never, in its essence, anything but an anti-slavery government.

Frederick Douglass

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If the Negro knows enough to pay taxes to support the government, he knows enough to vote; taxation and representation should go…

Frederick Douglass

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In this denial of the right to participate in government, not merely the degradation of woman and the perpetuation of a great…

Frederick Douglass

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...there are at the present moment many colored men in the Confederate Army...as real soldiers, having muskets on their shoulders, and bullets…

Frederick Douglass

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[John Brown's] zeal in the cause of freedom was infinitely superior to mine. Mine was as the taper light, his was as…

Frederick Douglass

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John Brown's zeal in the cause of freedom was infinitely superior to mine. Mine was as the taper light; his was as…

Frederick Douglass

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In a composite Nation like ours, made up of almost every variety of the human family, there should be, as before the…

Frederick Douglass

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Abolish slavery tomorrow, and not a sentence or syllable of the Constitution need be altered. It was purposely so framed as to…

Frederick Douglass

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“A treacherous President stood in the way; and it can be easily seen how reluctant good men might be to admit an apostasy which…

Frederick Douglass

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I have observed this in my experience of slavery, - that whenever my condition was improved, instead of its increasing my contentment, it only…

Frederick Douglass

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“But I should be false in the earliest sentiments of my soul, if I suppressed the opinion. I prefer to be true to myself,…

Frederick Douglass

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A man who will enslave his own blood, may not be safely relied on for magnamity.

Frederick Douglass

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“I assert most unhesitatingly, that the religion of the south is a mere covering for the most horrid crimes, - a justifier of the…

Frederick Douglass

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I assert most unhesitatingly, that the religion of the South is a mere covering for the most horrid crimes—a justifier of the most appalling…

Frederick Douglass

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The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppose.

Frederick Douglass

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

Frederick Douglass

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“We have all met a class of men, very remarkable for their activity, and who yet make but little headway in life; men who,…

Frederick Douglass

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“The fatal poison of irresponsible power was already in her hands, and soon commenced its infernal work. That cheerful eye, under the influence of…

Frederick Douglass

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A battle lost or won is easily described, understood, and appreciated, but the moral growth of a great nation requires reflection, as well as…

Frederick Douglass

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Knowledge makes a man unfit to be a slave.

Frederick Douglass

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