Abolitionists

Abolitionists were activists who wanted to completely eliminate, or abolish, slavery.

Babylon

In the Old Testament, Babylon was a powerful empire struck down by God because of its sins. Douglass is just sayin'.

The Bible

The Old Testament (or Hebrew Bible) and New Testament that make up the foundation of Judeo-Christian belief.

Capturing the Whale in the Pacific

Ever heard of a little book called Moby-Dick? And by "little," we mean huge and full of fun whale facts.

Whaling (killing whales for their blubber) was a big industry in the 19th century because of that sweet, sweet liquid gold known as whale oil.

The Constitution

A founding document of the United States, this one is the rules and regulations.

Declaration of Independence

You might know this founding document of the United States from its appearance in the classic musical 1776 or the HBO mini-series John Adams.

Or you probably know it because the text got hammered into your brainpan somewhere between first and seventh grades.

In the Declaration of Independence, the Second Continental Congress declared the independence (no great shocker there) of the American colonies from Mother England and listed a bunch of reasons why.

Digging Gold in California

The most famous of the 19th-century gold rushes happened in California in 1849, three years before this speech. It is forever immortalized in the name of a football team from San Francisco.

Fourth of July

This is the holiday traditionally celebrated as the birthday of the United States because it's traditionally accepted as the day the Declaration of Independence was signed, even though people signed it whenever they got around to it.

Hart

Nope, that's not a typo of the organ that beats in your chest. "Hart" is an old-school—like, medieval—word for a deer or stag. Apparently, they do a lot of leaping.

The Negro Race

In the 19th century, this term referred to people of African descent. FYI, it's a historical term that's not used much today except in its historical context.

Old World

It's not a phrase we use anymore because the "Old World" (Europe) is only older than the "New World" (the Americas) from the perspective of European colonists and their descendants…and that's more than a tad bit Eurocentric.

Republicans

Douglass isn't referring to the U.S. political party with a capital "R," but to a lowercase "r" people who want a government run by elected officials, rather than a government based on monarchy.

Within the Pale

Here's another old-school phrase. Douglass loves 'em. A "pale" is a stick, and a bunch of sticks put together make a border fence—or did, once upon a time. So to be either "within" or "beyond" the pale means to be within or beyond a border.

Over time, "the pale" became a phrase indicating the limits of acceptable behavior, rather than property. Douglass might also be making a little pun here. All those white people listening to him are "within the pale," but he, with his darker skin, is not.