“This very attempt to blot out forever the hopes of an enslaved people may be one necessary link in the chain of events preparatory to the downfall and complete overthrow of the whole slave system.”

—  Frederick Douglass

Speech on the Dred Scott Decision (1857) http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/index.asp?document=772
1850s
Context: In one point of view, we, the abolitionists and colored people, should meet [the Dred Scott] decision, unlooked for and monstrous as it appears, in a cheerful spirit. This very attempt to blot out forever the hopes of an enslaved people may be one necessary link in the chain of events preparatory to the downfall and complete overthrow of the whole slave system.

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Frederick Douglass photo
Frederick Douglass 274
American social reformer, orator, writer and statesman 1818–1895

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