Frederick Douglass Slave Quotations

What to the Slave is the 4th of July.

It was unlawful, as well as unsafe, to teach a slave to read.

Every one of us should be ashamed to be free while his brother is a slave.

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.

Knowledge unfits a child to be a slave.

Slaves were expected to sing as well as to work. A silent slave was not liked, either by masters or overseers.

Fugitive slaves were rare then, and as a fugitive slave lecturer, I had the advantage of being the first one out.

A slave is someone who sits down, and waits for someone to free them.