--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: But now what? Why, now comes my master…" description: "\"“But now what? Why, now comes my master, takes me right away from my work, and my friends, and all I like, and grinds me down into the very dirt! And w..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/416/harriet-beecher-stowe-1149_another-woman_but-now-what-why-now-comes-my-master-tak_2706040.jpg" --- # But now what? Why, now comes my master, takes me right… ![“But now what? Why, now comes my master, takes me right away from my work, and my friends, and all I like, and grinds me down into the very dirt! And why? Because, he says, I forgot who I was; he says, to teach me that I am only a nigger! After all, and last of all, he comes between me and my wife…” quote by Harriet Beecher Stowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/416/harriet-beecher-stowe-1149_another-woman_but-now-what-why-now-comes-my-master-tak_2706040.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/416/harriet-beecher-stowe-1149_another-woman_but-now-what-why-now-comes-my-master-tak_2706040.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/416/harriet-beecher-stowe-1149_another-woman_but-now-what-why-now-comes-my-master-tak_2706040.jpg) > ““But now what? Why, now comes my master, takes me right away from my work, and my friends, and all I like, and grinds me down into the very dirt! And why? Because, he says, I forgot who I was; he says, to teach me that I am only a nigger! After all, and last of all, he comes between me and my wife, and says I shall give her up, and live with another woman. And all this your laws give him power to do, in spite of God or man. Mr. Wilson, look at it! There isn't one of all these things, that have broken the hearts of my mother and my sister, and my wife and myself, but your laws allow, and give every man power to do, in Kentucky, and none can say to him nay! Do you call these the laws of my country? Sir, I haven't any country, anymore than I have any father. But I'm going to have one. I don't want anything of your country, except to be let alone,--to go peaceably out of it; and when I get to Canada, where the laws will own me and protect me, that shall be my country, and its laws I will obey. But if any man tries to stop me, let him take care, for I am desperate. I'll fight for my liberty to the last breath I breathe. You say your fathers did it; if it was right for them, it is right for me!”” [Harriet Beecher Stowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-beecher-stowe/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A slave declares his resolve to escape oppression, rejecting unjust laws and seeking freedom even at great personal risk. **In simple terms:** A slave vows to flee and fight for freedom against cruel laws. Key Takeaway Seek freedom, resist oppression. Themes freedom oppression justice identity resistance Mood defiant determined desperate Type political historical literary When to use this quote - escaping slavery - seeking asylum - confronting unjust laws - personal sacrifice - activism Key Concepts slavery human rights civil disobedience self‑determination Questions to Reflect On - What personal costs are you willing to bear for liberty? - How can collective action complement individual defiance? A Different Perspective The speaker’s extreme desperation may overlook non‑violent resistance options. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Civil disobedience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civil-disobedience/) [Human rights](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-rights/) [Last breath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/last-breath/) [Man Power](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/man-power/) [Marriage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/marriage/) [Racism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/racism/) [Slavery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slavery/) [Social justice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social-justice/) ## Related quotes > [For the Christ-child who comes is the Master of all; No palace too great, no cottage too small.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phillips-brooks/for-the-christ-child-who-comes-is-the-master-of-all-no-palace-too/) [Phillips Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phillips-brooks/) > [“I screamed. You told me not to.” He rubs at the soot on one hand with his thumb, then stares at it. “The dirt,”…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julianna-baggott/i-screamed-you-told-me-not-to-he-rubs-at-the-soot-on-one-hand-with/) [Julianna Baggott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julianna-baggott/) > [“The dirt,” he says, his voice strangely peaceful. “What about it?” she asks. “It’s dirty.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julianna-baggott/the-dirt-he-says-his-voice-strangely-peaceful-what-about-it-she-asks/) [Julianna Baggott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julianna-baggott/) > [Everywhere the flower of obedience is intelligence. Obey a man with cordial loyalty and you will understand him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phillips-brooks/everywhere-the-flower-of-obedience-is-intelligence-obey-a-man-with/) [Phillips Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phillips-brooks/) > [One must obey the man whom the city sets up in power in small things and in justice and in its opposite.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophocles/one-must-obey-the-man-whom-the-city-sets-up-in-power-in-small-things/) [Sophocles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophocles/) > [“Bethink yourselves whether it is righteous to obey man more than God,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/bethink-yourselves-whether-it-is-righteous-to-obey-man-more-than-god/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [“Obey,' like 'worship,' is a strong word. Her mother and father had told her so, and she believed them. They gave her life, they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monique-truong/obey-like-worship-is-a-strong-word-her-mother-and-father-had-told-her/) [Monique Truong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monique-truong/) > [“Shall we obey man's law yet reject God's law?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/shall-we-obey-man-s-law-yet-reject-god-s-law/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [“If you tell a guy in the street you're hungry you scare the shit out of him, he runs like hell. That's something I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-miller/if-you-tell-a-guy-in-the-street-you-re-hungry-you-scare-the-shit-out/) [Henry Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-miller/) > [There are spiritual and physical laws to obey if we are to be happy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boyd-k-packer/there-are-spiritual-and-physical-laws-to-obey-if-we-are-to-be-happy/) [Boyd K. Packer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boyd-k-packer/) > [“I try so hard, and it is still not working. I wear the same clothes as the others. I say the same words at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-moon/i-try-so-hard-and-it-is-still-not-working-i-wear-the-same-clothes-as/) [Elizabeth Moon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-moon/) > [The people have nothing to do with the laws but to obey them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/the-people-have-nothing-to-do-with-the-laws-but-to-obey-them/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [We have the means to change the laws we find unjust or onerous. We cannot, as citizens, pick and choose the laws we will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/we-have-the-means-to-change-the-laws-we-find-unjust-or-onerous-we/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [An orderly society cannot exist if every man may decide which laws he will obey.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-f-powell-jr/an-orderly-society-cannot-exist-if-every-man-may-decide-which-laws-he/) [Lewis F. Powell, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-f-powell-jr/) > [There is no rules on how to live life. There is only laws you must obey by. You live life, learn from your mistakes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-mccarty/there-is-no-rules-on-how-to-live-life-there-is-only-laws-you-must/) [Kevin McCarty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-mccarty/) ## More by Harriet Beecher Stowe > [It lies around us like a cloud- A world we do not see; Yet the sweet closing of an eye May bring us there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-beecher-stowe/it-lies-around-us-like-a-cloud-a-world-we-do-not-see-yet-the-sweet/) [Harriet Beecher Stowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-beecher-stowe/) > [I wrote what I did because as a woman, as a mother, I was oppressed and broken-hearted with the sorrows and injustice I saw,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-beecher-stowe/i-wrote-what-i-did-because-as-a-woman-as-a-mother-i-was-oppressed-and/) [Harriet Beecher Stowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-beecher-stowe/) > [People who hate trouble generally get a good deal of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-beecher-stowe/people-who-hate-trouble-generally-get-a-good-deal-of-it/) [Harriet Beecher Stowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-beecher-stowe/) > [Common sense is seeing things as they are; and doing things as they ought to be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-beecher-stowe/common-sense-is-seeing-things-as-they-are-and-doing-things-as-they/) [Harriet Beecher Stowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-beecher-stowe/) > [Love needs new leaves every summer of life, as much as your elm-tree, and new branches to grow broader and wider, and new flowers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-beecher-stowe/love-needs-new-leaves-every-summer-of-life-as-much-as-your-elm-tree/) [Harriet Beecher Stowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-beecher-stowe/) > [God has always been to me not so much like a father as like a dear and tender mother.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-beecher-stowe/god-has-always-been-to-me-not-so-much-like-a-father-as-like-a-dear/) [Harriet Beecher Stowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-beecher-stowe/) > [If I am to write, I must have a room to myself, which shall be my room.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-beecher-stowe/if-i-am-to-write-i-must-have-a-room-to-myself-which-shall-be-my-room/) [Harriet Beecher Stowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-beecher-stowe/) > [The longest way must have its close - the gloomiest night will wear on to a morning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-beecher-stowe/the-longest-way-must-have-its-close-the-gloomiest-night-will-wear-on/) [Harriet Beecher Stowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-beecher-stowe/) > [Home is a place not only of strong affections, but of entire unreserved; it is life's undress rehearsal, its backroom, its dressing room, from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-beecher-stowe/home-is-a-place-not-only-of-strong-affections-but-of-entire/) [Harriet Beecher Stowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-beecher-stowe/) > [I am speaking now of the highest duty we owe our friends, the noblest, the most sacred - that of keeping their own nobleness,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-beecher-stowe/i-am-speaking-now-of-the-highest-duty-we-owe-our-friends-the-noblest/) [Harriet Beecher Stowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-beecher-stowe/) > [No ornament of a house can compare with books; they are constant company in a room, even when you are not reading them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-beecher-stowe/no-ornament-of-a-house-can-compare-with-books-they-are-constant/) [Harriet Beecher Stowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-beecher-stowe/) > [The greater the interest involved in a truth the more careful, self-distrustful, and patient should be the inquiry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-beecher-stowe/the-greater-the-interest-involved-in-a-truth-the-more-careful-self/) [Harriet Beecher Stowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-beecher-stowe/) > [We can make ourselves say the kind things that rise in our hearts and tremble on our lips - do the gentle and helpful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-beecher-stowe/we-can-make-ourselves-say-the-kind-things-that-rise-in-our-hearts-and/) [Harriet Beecher Stowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-beecher-stowe/) > [It's a matter of taking the side of the weak against the strong, something the best people have always done.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-beecher-stowe/it-s-a-matter-of-taking-the-side-of-the-weak-against-the-strong/) [Harriet Beecher Stowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-beecher-stowe/) > [What's your hurry?" Because now is the only time there ever is to do a thing in," said Miss Ophelia.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-beecher-stowe/what-s-your-hurry-because-now-is-the-only-time-there-ever-is-to-do-a/) [Harriet Beecher Stowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-beecher-stowe/) [Explore all 280 Harriet Beecher Stowe quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-beecher-stowe/) ## More Another woman quotes > [“I look at you and see a life we’ve yet to build, a love that feels inevitable, waiting to unfold. I look at your face…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marion-bekoe/i-look-at-you-and-see-a-life-we-ve-yet-to-build-a-love-that-feels/) [Marion Bekoe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marion-bekoe/) > [“Her face turned to the window, and he saw her swallow. She was not as calm as she appeared, but for some reason, it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meredith-duran/her-face-turned-to-the-window-and-he-saw-her-swallow-she-was-not-as/) [Meredith Duran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meredith-duran/) > [I believe people ought to be treated fairly under the law. I see no reason why if the marriage contract conveys certain things that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rand-paul/i-believe-people-ought-to-be-treated-fairly-under-the-law-i-see-no/) [Rand Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rand-paul/) > [“At times I feel as if I had lived all this before and that I have already written these very words, but I know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-allende/at-times-i-feel-as-if-i-had-lived-all-this-before-and-that-i-have/) [Isabel Allende](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-allende/) > [“Aren't all marriages kind of gay? 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Then calmly ask…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melissa-wells/if-you-find-yourself-comparing-your-abilities-your-work-or-your-body/) [Melissa Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melissa-wells/) > [“...in response to whatever Alice was struggling with, whatever had caused her to withdraw from him, he had chosen the arms of another woman…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-ross/in-response-to-whatever-alice-was-struggling-with-whatever-had-caused/) [Adam Ross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-ross/) > [“Eve: “If you ended up naked and dead with another woman, I'd do the Rumba on your corpse.” Roarke: “You can't do the Rumba.”…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-robb/eve-if-you-ended-up-naked-and-dead-with-another-woman-i-d-do-the/) [J.D. Robb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-robb/) > [Shes the key to my happiness and the lock of my heart. My love source for her is endless,it would be my death,if we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donatt/shes-the-key-to-my-happiness-and-the-lock-of-my-heart-my-love-source/) Donatt Browse all 386 Another woman quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“But now what? Why, now comes my master, takes me right away from my work, and my friends, and all I like, and grinds me down into the very dirt! And why? Because, he says, I forgot who I was; he says, to teach me that I am only a nigger! After all, and last of all, he comes between me and my wife, and says I shall give her up, and live with another woman. And all this your laws give him power to do, in spite of God or man. Mr. Wilson, look at it! There isn't one of all these things, that have broken the hearts of my mother and my sister, and my wife and myself, but your laws allow, and give every man power to do, in Kentucky, and none can say to him nay! Do you call these the laws of my country? Sir, I haven't any country, anymore than I have any father. But I'm going to have one. I don't want anything of your country, except to be let alone,--to go peaceably out of it; and when I get to Canada, where the laws will own me and protect me, that shall be my country, and its laws I will obey. But if any man tries to stop me, let him take care, for I am desperate. I'll fight for my liberty to the last breath I breathe. 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