I believe the Declaration that 'all men are created equal' is the great fundamental principle upon which our free institutions rest.

As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy. Whatever differs from this, to the extent of the difference, is no democracy.

Jah come to break downpression, rule equality, wipe away transgression, set the captives free.

It is a struggle for maintaining in the world, that form and substance of government whose leading object is to elevate the condition of men.

I have some little notoriety for commiserating the oppressed condition of the negro; and I should be strangely inconsistent if I could favor any project for curtailing the existing rights of white men, even though born in different lands, and speaking different languages from myself.

Understanding the spirit of our institutions to aim at the elevation of men, I am opposed to whatever tends to degrade them.