Once You Read, You Will Be Free

I Have Observed This In My Experience Of Slavery, - That Whenever My Condition Was Improved, Instead Of Its Increasing My Contentment, It Only Increased My Desire To Be Free, And Set Me To Thinking Of Plans To Gain My Freedom. I Have Found That, To Make A Contented Slave, It Is Necessary To Make A Thoughtless One. It Is Necessary To Darken His Moral And Mental Vision, And, As Far As Possible, To Annihilate The Power Of Reason. He Must Be Able To Detect No Inconsistencies In Slavery; He Must Be Made To Feel That Slavery Is Right; And He Can Be Brought To That Only When He Ceased To Be A Man.

The Constitution Is A Glorious Liberty Document. Read Its Preamble, Consider It Purposes. Is Slavery Among Them? Is It At The Gateway? Or Is It In The Temple? It Is Neither.

My Great And Exceeding Joy Over These Stupendous Achievements, Especially Over The Abolition Of Slavery (which Had Been The Deepest Desire And The Great Labor Of My Life), Was Slightly Tinged With A Feeling Of Sadness.

If We Would Reach A Degree Of Civilization Higher And Grander Than Any Yet Attained, We Should Welcome To Our Ample Continent All The Nations, Kindreds, Tongues And Peoples, And As Fast As They Learn Our Language And Comprehend The Duties Of Citizenship, We Should Incorporate Them Into The American Body Politic. The Outspread Wings Of The American Eagle Are Broad Enough To Shelter All Who Are Likely To Come.

Slaves Sing Most When They Are Most Unhappy. The Songs Of The Slave Represent The Sorrows Of His Heart; And He Is Relieved By Them, Only As An Aching Heart Is Relieved By Its Tears.