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Quotes about slavery

52 quotes from 23 people

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The Confederacy stands for slavery and the Union for freedom.
Abraham Lincoln1809–1865Private conversation (January 1862)
- Freedom
The Autocrat of all the Russias will resign his crown, and proclaim his subjects free republicans sooner than will our American masters voluntarily give up their slaves.
Abraham Lincoln1809–1865Letter to George Robertson (15 August 1855)
Without slavery the rebellion could never have existed; without slavery it could not continue.
Abraham Lincoln1809–1865Lincoln’s Second Annual Message to Congress (1862)
- War & Peace
You think slavery is right and should be extended; while we think slavery is wrong and ought to be restricted. That I suppose is the rub. It certainly is the only substantial difference between us.
Abraham Lincoln1809–1865Letter to Alexander H. Stephens (1860)
As a nation, we began by declaring that “all men are created equal.” We now practically read it “all men are created equal, except negroes.” When the Know-Nothings get control, it will read “all men are created equal, except negroes, and foreigners, and catholics.”
Abraham Lincoln1809–1865Letter to Joshua F. Speed (24 August 1855)
- America
- Race
When I hear anyone arguing for slavery, I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally.
Abraham Lincoln1809–1865Statement to an Indiana Regiment passing through Washington (17 March 1865)
- Clever Jabs
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 Lincoln1809–1865Lincoln’s Second Annual Message to Congress (1862)
- America
- Freedom
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 Lincoln1809–1865The Emancipation Proclamation (1863)In context
- Freedom
And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice, warranted by the Constitution, upon military necessity, I invoke the considerate judgment of mankind, and the gracious favor of Almighty God.
Abraham Lincoln1809–1865The Emancipation Proclamation (1863)In context
- God
- Justice
Slavery is, as you justly complain, a sad blot on our free country.
James Madison1751–1836Letter to Lafayette (1821)
Where slavery exists, the republican theory becomes still more fallacious.
James Madison1751–1836Vices of the Political System of the United States (April 1787), Papers 9:350-51
Twenty years will produce all the mischief that can be apprehended from the liberty to import slaves. So long a term will be more dishonorable to the National character than to say nothing about it in the Constitution.
James Madison1751–1836Madison’s notes (25 August 1787)
Looking at the world as a whole, the drift for many decades has been not towards anarchy but towards the reimposition of slavery.
George Orwell1903–1950“You and the Atom Bomb”, Tribune (19 October 1945). Reprinted in George Orwell: The Collected Essays, Journalism & Letters, Volume 4: In Front of Your Nose 1946–1950 (2000) by Sonia Orwell, Ian Angus, p. 9.
- Freedom
The right of slavery is null and void, not only as being illegitimate, but also because it is absurd and meaningless. The words slave and right contradict each other, and are mutually exclusive.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau1712–1778The Social Contract (1762), Book I, Chapter IVIn context
Whipping and abuse are like laudanum; you have to double the dose as the sensibilities decline.
Harriet Beecher Stowe1811–1896Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852), Volume II, Chapter XXIn context