"Mister Garrison and his friends tell us that while in the Union we are responsible for slavery. He and they sing out 'No Union with slaveholders', and refuse to vote. I admit our responsibility for slavery while in the Union but I deny that going out of the Union would free us from that responsibility. There now clearly is no freedom from responsibility for slavery to any American citizen short to the abolition of slavery. The American people have gone quite too far in this slave-holding business now to sum up their whole business of slavery by singing out the cant phrase, 'No union with slaveholders'. To desert the family hearth may place the recreant husband out of the presence of his starving children, but this does not free him from responsibility. If a man were on board of a pirate ship, and in company with others had robbed and plundered, his whole duty would not be preformed simply by taking the longboat and singing out, 'No union with pirates'. His duty would be to restore the stolen property."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Non-fiction authors from the United StatesAbolitionistsUnitarians from the United StatesJournalists from MassachusettsPublishers from the United States
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Frederick Douglass, "The Constitution of the United States: Is It Pro-Slavery or Anti-Slavery?" (26 March 1860), Glasgow, United Kingdom
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_Lloyd_Garrison
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
William Lloyd Garrison
William Lloyd Garrison (12 December 1805 – 24 May 1879) was an American abolitionist, journalist, and social reformer.
48 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by William Lloyd Garrison →
Related Quotes
"I cherish as strong a love for the land of my nativity as any man living. I am proud of her civil, political and reli…"
"The right to enjoy liberty is inalienable. To invade it is to usurp the prerogative of Jehovah. Every man has a right…"
"But the moment he holds them [slaves] as property, however kindly he may treat them, he is a man-stealer, whom the ap…"
"Our country is the world, our countrymen are all mankind. We love the land of our nativity, only as we love all other…"
"The compact which exists between the North and the South is a covenant with death and an agreement with hell."
"Every slave is a stolen man; every slaveholder is a man-stealer. By no precedent, no example, no law, no compact, no …"
"We have a natural right, therefore, to seek the abolition of slavery throughout the globe. It is our special duty to …"
"What shall be said, then, of those who insist upon ignoring the question of slavery as not involved in this deadly fe…"
"I have not come here with reference to any flag but that of freedom. If your Union does not symbolize universal emanc…"
"I will say, finally, that I despair of the republic while slavery exists therein. If I look up to God for success, no…"