“ For of all slaveholders with whom I have ever met, religious slaveholders are the worst. I have ever found them the meanest and basest, the most cruel and cowardly, of all others. ”
Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave (1845). copy citation
| Author | Frederick Douglass |
|---|---|
| Source | Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave |
| Topic | hypocrisy slavery religion cruelty slaveholders |
| Date | 1845 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | |
| Weblink | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/23/23-h/23-h.htm |
Context
“I assert most unhesitatingly, that the religion of the south is a mere covering for the most horrid crimes,—a justifier of the most appalling barbarity,—a sanctifier of the most hateful frauds,—and a dark shelter under, which the darkest, foulest, grossest, and most infernal deeds of slaveholders find the strongest protection. Were I to be again reduced to the chains of slavery, next to that enslavement, I should regard being the slave of a religious master the greatest calamity that could befall me. For of all slaveholders with whom I have ever met, religious slaveholders are the worst. I have ever found them the meanest and basest, the most cruel and cowardly, of all others. It was my unhappy lot not only to belong to a religious slaveholder, but to live in a community of such religionists. Very near Mr. Freeland lived the Rev. Daniel Weeden, and in the same neighborhood lived the Rev.”
source
Meaning and analysis
