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Political speech16 quotes
Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said "the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether." — Abraham Lincoln · 1865It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God's assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men's faces, but let us judge not, that we be not judged. The prayers of both could not be answered. That of neither has been answered fully. The Almighty has His own purposes. — Abraham Lincoln · 1865A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure, permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved—I do not expect the house to fall—but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing or all the other. — Abraham Lincoln · 1858If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong. — Abraham Lincoln · 1864Without slavery the rebellion could never have existed; without slavery it could not continue. — Abraham Lincoln · 1862If we shall suppose that American slavery is one of those offenses which, in the providence of God, must needs come, but which, having continued through His appointed time, He now wills to remove, and that He gives to both North and South this terrible war as the woe due to those by whom the offense came, shall we discern therein any departure from those divine attributes which the believers in a living God always ascribe to Him? — Abraham Lincoln · 1865All 16 quotes →Political literature4 quotes
Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just. — Thomas Jefferson · 1785I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated States, and parts of States, are, and henceforward shall be free; and that the Executive government of the United States, including the military and naval authorities thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of said persons. — Abraham Lincoln · 1862Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole number of free persons, including those bound to service for a term of years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other persons. — Constitution of the United States · 1787We first crush people to the earth, and then claim the right of trampling on them forever, because they are prostrate. — Lydia Maria Child · 1833Epic3 quotes
All men lose when they die and all men die. But a slave and a free man lose different things. — Spartacus · 1960The evil that men should turn their brothers into beasts of burden, to slave and suffer in dumb anguish, to be stripped of spirit, and hope, and faith—only because they are of another race, another creed. If there is a god, he did not mean this to be so. — Moses · 1956Death is the only freedom a slave knows. That's why he's not afraid of it. — Spartacus · 1960Epic (film)3 quotes
All men lose when they die and all men die. But a slave and a free man lose different things. — Spartacus · 1960The evil that men should turn their brothers into beasts of burden, to slave and suffer in dumb anguish, to be stripped of spirit, and hope, and faith—only because they are of another race, another creed. If there is a god, he did not mean this to be so. — Moses · 1956Death is the only freedom a slave knows. That's why he's not afraid of it. — Spartacus · 1960Historical drama3 quotes
My back is thick with scars for protesting my freedom. — Solomon Northup · 2013All men lose when they die and all men die. But a slave and a free man lose different things. — Spartacus · 1960Death is the only freedom a slave knows. That's why he's not afraid of it. — Spartacus · 1960Historical drama (film)3 quotes
My back is thick with scars for protesting my freedom. — Solomon Northup · 2013All men lose when they die and all men die. But a slave and a free man lose different things. — Spartacus · 1960Death is the only freedom a slave knows. That's why he's not afraid of it. — Spartacus · 1960Autobiography and memoir2 quotes
Every tone was a testimony against slavery, and a prayer to God for deliverance from chains. — Frederick Douglass · 1845I entered the world a slave-in the midst of a country whose most honoured writings declare that all men have a right to liberty. — Henry Box Brown · 1849Drama2 quotes
My back is thick with scars for protesting my freedom. — Solomon Northup · 2013The evil that men should turn their brothers into beasts of burden, to slave and suffer in dumb anguish, to be stripped of spirit, and hope, and faith—only because they are of another race, another creed. If there is a god, he did not mean this to be so. — Moses · 1956Drama (film)2 quotes
My back is thick with scars for protesting my freedom. — Solomon Northup · 2013The evil that men should turn their brothers into beasts of burden, to slave and suffer in dumb anguish, to be stripped of spirit, and hope, and faith—only because they are of another race, another creed. If there is a god, he did not mean this to be so. — Moses · 1956Epic poem1 quote
I should rather labor as another's serf, in the home of a man without fortune, one whose livelihood was meager, than rule over all the departed dead. — Homer · 700 BCLegal writing1 quote
The state of slavery is of such a nature, that it is incapable of being introduced on any reasons, moral or political, but only positive law, which preserves its force long after the reasons, occasion, and time itself from whence it was created, is erased from memory. It is so odious, that nothing can be suffered to support it, but positive law. — William Murray, Lord Mansfield · 1771Slave narrative1 quote
I entered the world a slave-in the midst of a country whose most honoured writings declare that all men have a right to liberty. — Henry Box Brown · 1849