How we cite our quotes: (Sentence)
Quote #4
But, I submit, where all is plain there is nothing to be argued. What point in the anti-slavery creed would you have me argue? On what branch of the subject do the people of this country need light? Must I undertake to prove that the slave is a man? (38-41)
"Wow, are you guys just really dim?" asks Douglass. "Not the brightest stars in the sky? Isn't it obvious that slaves are people, and thus that slavery is wrong? Why is that so hard to understand?"
Well, it might have been hard to understand because it was actually codified into American law in the Three-Fifths Compromise. That doesn't excuse it, but remember that white people had been told over and over, by their own government and often their own churches—trusted institutions—that slaves weren't really people. To break free of those assumptions, they needed to hear a different argument—one Douglass was happy to provide.
Quote #5
Would you have me argue that man is entitled to liberty? That he is the rightful owner of his own body? You have already declared it. Must I argue the wrongfulness of slavery? Is that a question for republicans? Is it to be settled by the rules of logic and argumentation, as a matter beset with great difficulty, involving a doubtful application of the principle of justice, hard to understand? (54-59)
Rochester dudes, as people who say they love liberty and independence and freedom and all that kind of thing, you know slavery is wrong. Really, don't expect Douglass to try to convince you of this. That would be a waste of his breath since you already know it's wrong, and don't pretend like you don't. This is a clever strategy: if listeners agree with Douglass, they feel good about themselves, but if they don't, they're stuck having to agree that they're kind of dumb.
Quote #6
What, then, remains to be argued? Is it that slavery is not divine; that God did not establish it; that our doctors of divinity are mistaken? There is blasphemy in the thought. That which is inhuman cannot be divine. Who can reason on such a proposition? They that can, may—I cannot. The time for such argument is past. (68-74)
"Really?" says Douglass. "We all know you don't really think God likes slavery because that goes against the whole idea that God is better than humans. Obviously, God is better than humans because God is aware that slavery is bad, while some humans clearly aren't, and can we just stop these stupid arguments already?"
But seriously, because lots of American churches did support slavery on the basis of a few verses in the Bible, getting Americans to agree that God wasn't for slavery would have been a major step forward.