The marriage institution cannot exist among slaves, and one sixth of the population of democratic America is denied it's privileges by the law of the land. What is to be thought of a nation boasting of its liberty, boasting of it's humanity, boasting of its Christianity, boasting of its love of justice and purity, and yet having within its own borders three millions of persons denied by law the right of marriage? . Frederick Douglass
About This Quote

Abraham Lincoln said that the institution of marriage cannot exist among slaves. If you are a slave your master may decide to marry you as well as another slave. This is something that doesn't happen in a free country. If you live in a free country and your boss forces you to marry someone you don't want to, or if he forces you to have sex with someone against your will, you can leave and work for another employer. In a free country, marriage should be something that is decided by two individuals who love each other, not chosen for them by their parents.

Source: My Bondage And My Freedom

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More Quotes By Frederick Douglass
  1. The thought of only being a creature of the present and the past was troubling. I longed for a future too, with hope in it. The desire to be free, awakened my determination to act, to think , and to speak.
  2. 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,...
  3. The more I read, the more I was led to abhor and detest my enslavers. I could regard them in no other light than a band of successful robbers, who had left their homes, and gone to Africa, and stolen us from our homes, and...
  4. If there is no struggle there is no progress.
  5. Slaves are generally expected to sing as well as to work.
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