Historical Essay: WHAT SHALL BE DONE WITH THE SLAVES IF EMANCIPATED?

Frederick Douglass

Historical Essay: WHAT SHALL BE DONE WITH THE SLAVES IF EMANCIPATED?

1/1862

Historical Essay

The Frederick Douglass Project presents an 1862 historical essay, written by Frederick Douglass--a formerly enslaved African American, who became known for his prominent role in the abolitionist movement as well as for his speeches and writing against the institution of slavery, that provides an opinion of how enslaved individuals should be treated once emancipated. In reference to the enslaved individual, Douglass says, "to drive him away, and thus deprive the South of his labor, would be as absurd and monstrous as for a man to cut off his right arm, the better to enable himself to work."

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Frederick Douglass Project (Contributor: University of Rochester)

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