To make a contented slave it is necessary to make a thoughtless one. It is necessary to darken the moral and mental vision and, as far as possible, to annihilate the power of reason.
The man who is right is a majority. He who has God and conscience on his side, has a majority against the universe.
Who would be free themselves must strike the blow. Better even to die free than to live slaves.
The sunlight that has brought life and healing to you has brought stripes and death to me. This Fourth of July is yours, not mine.
Opportunity is important but exertion is indispensable.
I glory in conflict that I may hereafter exult in victory.
The Constitution of the United States knows no distinction between citizens on account of color. Neither does it know any difference between a citizen of a state and a citizen of the United States.
Slaves are generally expected to sing as well as to work.
Shields Green was not one to shrink from hardships or dangers. He was a man of few words, and his speech was singularly broken; but his courage and self-respect made him quite a dignified character.
Truth is proper and beautiful in all times and in all places.
The relation between the white and colored people of this country is the great, paramount, imperative, and all-commanding question for this age and nation to solve.
Intelligence is a great leveler here as elsewhere.
In a composite nation like ours, as before the law, there should be no rich, no poor, no high, no low, no white, no black, but common country, common citizenship, equal rights and a common destiny.
No man can be truly free whose liberty is dependent upon the thought, feeling and action of others, and who has himself no means in his own hands for guarding, protecting, defending and maintaining that liberty.
Abolition of slavery had been the deepest desire and the great labor of my life.
A war undertaken and brazenly carried for the perpetual enslavement of the colored men, calls logically and loudly for the colored men to help suppress it.
Heaven’s blessing must attend all, and freedom must soon be given to the pining millions under a ruthless bondage.
Some know the value of education by having it. I know it’s value by not having it.
The silver trump of freedom had roused my soul to eternal wakefulness. Freedom now appeared, to disappear no more forever. It was heard in every sound, and seen in every thing.
Slaves were expected to sing as well as to work. A silent slave was not liked, either by masters or overseers.