DOUGLASS;; AMERICAN

"It is not without a feeling of pride, dear reader, that I present you with this book. The son of a self-emancipated bond-woman, I feel joy in introducing to you my brother, who has rent his own bonds, and who, in his every relation--as a public man, as a husband , and as a father--is such as does honor to the land which gave him birth. I shall place this book in the hands of the only child spared me, bidding him to strive and emulate its noble example. You may do likewise . It is an American book for Americans, in the fullest sense of the idea. It shows that the worst of our institutions, in its worst aspect, cannot keep down energy, truthfulness, and earnest struggle for the right. It proves the justice and practicability of Immediate Emancipation. It shows that ,'any man in our land, 'no matter in what battle his liberty has been cloven down,****no matter what complexion an Indian or an African sun has burned upon him ,' not only may 'stand forth disenthralled,' but also may stand up, a candidate for the highest suffrage of a great people.--the tribute of their greatest, hearty admiration. Reader , 'Vale!' James McCune Smith, New York, May 23, 1855." P. 137, "Introduction," MY BONDAGE AND MY FREEDOM by Frederick Douglass (1855)