Frederick Douglass — "I didn’t know I was a slave until I found out I couldn’t do the things I wanted."

"I am not included within the pale of this glorious anniversary! Your high independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us. The blessings in which you, this day, rejoice, are not enjoyed…"

"It is not the light that is needed, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder. We need the storm, the whirlwind, and the earthquake."

"The religion of the south—as I have observed it and proved it—is a mere covering for the most horrid crimes; the justifier of the most appalling barbarity; a sanctifier of the most hateful frauds; and…"

"The murderer is better protected than the man without crime. The robber is better protected than the robbed."

"The ruling parties of the country have now flung off all disguises, and have openly and shamelessly declared war upon the only saving principles known to nations."