Slavery

Explore 35 quotes about Slavery

Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just.

Thomas Jefferson

Notes on the State of Virginia

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Topic

Slavery

Author

Thomas Jefferson

Source

Notes on the State of Virginia

Genre

Political literature

Language

English

Time

1785 1780s 18th century

Era

American Revolutionary Period

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Jefferson, Thomas [published anonymously]. Notes on the State of Virginia. Paris: Philippe Denis Pierres, 1785, query 18.

Current Citation

Jefferson, Thomas. Notes on the State of Virginia, edited by Frank Shuffelton. Penguin Classics, 1998, query 18.

It 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

Second Inaugural Address of Abraham Lincoln

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Topic

Slavery American Civil War American politics

Speaker

Abraham Lincoln

Source

Second Inaugural Address of Abraham Lincoln Presidential inaugural address

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1865 1860s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Lincoln, Abraham. "Second Inaugural Address." 4 Mar. 1865, East Portico, US Capitol Building, Washington, DC, USA.

Current Citation

Lincoln, Abraham. "Second Inaugral Address, March 4, 1865." Abraham Lincoln: Speeches and Writings 1859-1865, edited by Don E. Fehrenbacher. Library of America, 2018.

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

Second Inaugural Address of Abraham Lincoln

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Topic

American Civil War God's will Slavery American politics God and America

Speaker

Abraham Lincoln

Source

Second Inaugural Address of Abraham Lincoln Presidential inaugural address

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1865 1860s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Lincoln, Abraham. "Second Inaugural Address." 4 Mar. 1865, East Portico, US Capitol Building, Washington, DC, USA.

Current Citation

Lincoln, Abraham. "Second Inaugral Address, March 4, 1865." Abraham Lincoln: Speeches and Writings 1859-1865, edited by Don E. Fehrenbacher. Library of America, 2018.

A 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

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Topic

Political division Slavery American Civil War

Speaker

Abraham Lincoln

Source

A House Divided

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1858 1850s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Lincoln, Abraham. "A House Divided." 16 Jun. 1858, Springfield, IL, USA.

Current Citation

Lincoln, Abraham. "'House Divided' Speech at Springfield, Illinois, June 16, 1858." Abraham Lincoln: Speeches and Writings 1832-1858, edited by Don E. Fehrenbacher. Library of America, 1989.

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

The Odyssey

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Topic

Slavery Death

Author

Homer

Source

The Odyssey

Medium

Poem

Genre

Epic poem

Language

Greek

Time

700 BC 700s BC 8th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Homer. Ὀδύσσεια [Odyssey]. c. 710 BC, bk. 11, l. 489-491.

Current Citation

Homer. The Odyssey, edited by Bernard Knox, translated by Robert Fagles. Penguin Classics, 2006, bk. 11, l. 489-491.

If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong.

Abraham Lincoln

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Topic

Slavery

Author

Abraham Lincoln

Source

Letters of Abraham Lincoln

Medium

Letter

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1864 1860s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Lincoln, Abraham. Letter to Albert G. Hodges. 4 Apr. 1864.

Current Citation

Lincoln, Abraham. "To Albert G. Hodges, April 4, 1864." Abraham Lincoln: Speeches and Writings 1859-1865, edited by Don E. Fehrenbacher. Library of America, 1989.

If 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

Second Inaugural Address of Abraham Lincoln

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Topic

American Civil War Slavery American politics God and America

Speaker

Abraham Lincoln

Source

Second Inaugural Address of Abraham Lincoln Presidential inaugural address

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Statement Type

Question

Language

English

Time

1865 1860s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Lincoln, Abraham. "Second Inaugural Address." 4 Mar. 1865, East Portico, US Capitol Building, Washington, DC, USA.

Current Citation

Lincoln, Abraham. "Second Inaugral Address, March 4, 1865." Abraham Lincoln: Speeches and Writings 1859-1865, edited by Don E. Fehrenbacher. Library of America, 2018.

Without slavery the rebellion could never have existed; without slavery it could not continue.

Abraham Lincoln

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Topic

American Civil War Slavery

Author

Abraham Lincoln

Source

Second Annual Message to Congress

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1862 1860s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Lincoln, Abraham. "Second Annual Message to Congress." 1 Dec. 1862, US Congress, US Capitol Building, Washington, DC, USA.

Current Citation

Lincoln, Abraham. "Annual Message to Congress, December 1, 1862." Abraham Lincoln: Speeches and Writings 1859-1865, edited by Don E. Fehrenbacher. Library of America, 1989.

I 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

Emancipation Proclamation

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Topic

End of slavery Slavery

Speaker

Abraham Lincoln

Source

Emancipation Proclamation

Genre

Political literature

Language

English

Time

1862 1860s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Lincoln, Abraham. "Final Emancipation Proclamation," or "Proclamation 95." 22 Sept. 1862.

Current Citation

Lincoln, Abraham. "Final Emancipation Proclamation, January 1, 1863." Abraham Lincoln: Speeches and Writings 1859-1865, edited by Don E. Fehrenbacher. Library of America, 1989.

Every tone was a testimony against slavery, and a prayer to God for deliverance from chains.

Frederick Douglass

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

On slave songs.

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Topic

Slave songs Slavery Liberation Music

Author

Frederick Douglass

Source

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

Genre

Autobiography and memoir

Language

English

Time

1845 1840s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Douglass, Frederick. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. Boston: Anti-Slavery Office, 1845, ch. 2.

Current Citation

Douglass, Frederick. "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass." Frederick Douglass: Autobiographies, edited by Henry Louis Gates. Library of America, 1994, ch. 2.

Slavery is founded in the selfishness of man's nature—opposition to it, is [in?] his love of justice.

Abraham Lincoln

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Topic

Slavery Justice Nature of God Human nature

Speaker

Abraham Lincoln

Source

The Repeal of the Missouri Compromise and the Property of its Restoration: Speech in Reply to Senator Douglas

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1854 1850s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Lincoln, Abraham. "The Repeal of the Missouri Compromise and the Property of its Restoration: Speech in Reply to Senator Douglas." 16 Oct. 1854, Peoria, IL, USA.

Current Citation

Lincoln, Abraham. "Speech at Peoria, Illinois, October 16, 1854." Lincoln Speeches, edited by Allen C. Guelzo and Richard Beeman. Penguin, 2012.

We have the wolf by the ears; and we can neither hold him, nor safely let him go. Justice is in one scale, and self-preservation in the other.

Thomas Jefferson

Read this letter at the National Archives website

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Topic

Slavery

Author

Thomas Jefferson

Medium

Letter

Statement Type

Metaphor, analogy and simile

Language

English

Time

1820 1820s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Jefferson, Thomas. Letter to John Holmes. 22 Apr. 1820.

Current Citation

Jefferson, Thomas. "John Holmes, April 22, 1820." The Life and Selected Writings of Thomas Jefferson: Including the Autobiography, The Declaration of Independence & His Public and Private Letters, edited by Adrienne Koch and William Peden. Modern Library, 1998.

My back is thick with scars for protesting my freedom.

12 Years a Slave

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Topic

Slavery

Speaker

Solomon Northup

Actor

Chiwetel Ejiofor

Source

12 Years a Slave

Medium

Film

Genre

Historical drama (film) Drama (film) Historical drama Drama

Language

English

Time

2013 2010s 21st century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

12 Years a Slave. Directed by Steve McQueen, Plan B Entertainment/Regency Enterprises/ Film4 Productions/River Road Entertainment/Regency Enterprises, 2013.

Representatives 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

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Topic

Slavery

Source

Constitution of the United States

Genre

Political literature

Language

English

Time

1787 1780s 18th century

Era

American Revolutionary Period

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

The United States Constitution. Art. 1, sec. 2.

Current Citation

"The Constitution of the United States." The Constitution of the United States and The Declaration of Independence. Racehorse, 2016, art. 1, sec. 2.

We have the wolf by the ear, and we can neither hold him, nor safely let him go. Justice is in one scale, and self-preservation in the other.

Thomas Jefferson

On American slavery.

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Topic

Slavery

Author

Thomas Jefferson

Source

Letters of Thomas Jefferson

Medium

Letter

Language

English

Time

1820 1820s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Jefferson, Thomas. Letter to John Holmes. 22 Apr. 1820.

Current Citation

Jefferson, Thomas. "John Holmes, April 22, 1820." The Life and Selected Writings of Thomas Jefferson, edited by Adrienne Koch and William Peden. Modern Library, 1998.

In giving freedom to the slave, we assure freedom to the free—honorable alike in what we give and what we preserve. We shall nobly save, or meanly lose, the last, best hope of earth.

Abraham Lincoln

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Topic

Slavery Freedom

Speaker

Abraham Lincoln

Source

Second Annual Message to Congress

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1862 1860s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Lincoln, Abraham. Second Annual Message to Congress. 1 Dec. 1862, US Congress, US Capitol Building, Washington, DC, USA.

Current Citation

Lincoln, Abraham. "Annual Message to Congress, December 1, 1862." Abraham Lincoln: Speeches and Writings 1859-1865, edited by Don E. Fehrenbacher. Library of America, 1989.

I hate it because it deprives our republican example of its just influence in the world—enables the enemies of free institutions, with plausibility, to taunt us as hypocrites—causes the real friends of freedom to doubt our sincerity.

Abraham Lincoln

On slavery.

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Topic

Slavery

Speaker

Abraham Lincoln

Source

The Repeal of the Missouri Compromise and the Property of its Restoration

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1854 1850s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Lincoln, Abraham. "The Repeal of the Missouri Compromise and the Property of its Restoration: Speech in Reply to Senator Douglas." 16 Oct. 1854, Peoria, IL, USA.

Current Citation

Lincoln, Abraham. "Speech on the Kansas-Nebraska Act at Peoria, Illinois, October 16, 1854." Abraham Lincoln: Speeches and Writings 1832-1858, edited by Don E. Fehrenbacher. Library of America, 1989.

All men lose when they die and all men die. But a slave and a free man lose different things.

Spartacus

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Topic

Death Freedom Slavery

Speaker

Spartacus

Actor

Kirk Douglas

Source

Spartacus

Medium

Film

Genre

Epic (film) Historical drama (film) Epic Historical drama

Language

English

Time

1960 1960s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Spartacus. Directed by Stanley Kubrick, Bryna Productions, 1960.

As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy. Whatever differs from this, to the extent of the difference, is no democracy.

Abraham Lincoln

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Topic

Masters and slaves Slavery Democracy Equality

Author

Abraham Lincoln

Source

Journals of Abraham Lincoln

Medium

Personal journal

Language

English

Time

1858 1850s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Lincoln, Abraham. "Definition of Democracy." 1 Aug. 1858?

Current Citation

Lincoln, Abraham. "On Slavery and Democracy, 1858?" Abraham Lincoln: Speeches and Writings 1832-1858, edited by Don E. Fehrenbacher. Library of America, 1989.

The 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

The Ten Commandments

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Topic

Slavery

Speaker

Moses

Actor

Charlton Heston

Source

The Ten Commandments

Medium

Film

Genre

Epic (film) Drama (film) Epic Drama

Language

English

Time

1956 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

The Ten Commandments. Directed by Cecil B. DeMille. Cecil B. DeMille Productions, 1956.