Douglass, Frederick -- Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, Appendix (1845)

Dave — Sun, 19 Oct 2025 17:51:28 +0000

I love the pure, peaceable, and impartial Christianity of Christ: I therefore hate the corrupt, slaveholding, women-whipping, cradle-plundering, partial and hypocritical Christianity of this land. Indeed, I can see no reason, but the most deceitful one, for calling the religion of this land Christianity. I look upon it as the climax of all misnomers, the boldest of all frauds, and the grossest of all libels.

Frederick Douglass (1817-1895) American abolitionist, orator, writer
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, Appendix (1845)
(Source)

Jefferson, Thomas -- Document (1776-06), “Declaration of Independence,” original draft

Dave — Tue, 26 Aug 2014 12:16:04 +0000

He has waged cruel war against human nature itself, violating it’s most sacred rights of life & liberty in the persons of a distant people who never offended him, captivating & carrying them into slavery in another hemisphere, or to incur miserable death in their transportation thither. this piratical warfare, the opprobrium of infidel powers, is the warfare of the christian king of Great Britain. determined to keep open a market where MEN should be bought & sold, he has prostituted his negative for suppressing every legislative attempt to prohibit or to restrain this execrable commerce and that this assemblage of horrors might want no fact of distinguished die, he is now exciting those very people to rise in arms among us, and to purchase that liberty of which he has deprived them, by murdering the people upon whom he also obtruded them; thus paying off former crimes committed against the liberties of one people, with crimes which he urges them to commit against the lives of another.

Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) American political philosopher, polymath, statesman, US President (1801-09)
Document (1776-06), “Declaration of Independence,” original draft
(Source)

This anti-slavery clause was included in the submission to the Continental Congress. It was removed from the Declaration at the behest of the delegation from South Carolina, as a requirement for their vote.

WIST Quotations

Douglass, Frederick -- Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, Appendix (1845)

Jefferson, Thomas -- Document (1776-06), “Declaration of Independence,” original draft