Quotes from David Hackett Fischer

Rarely was Richelieu accused of leniency. In his hubris, he was alleged to have said, "Give me six lines written by the hand of the most honest man, and I will find something there to hang him."14

The history of the early abolitionist movement," writes historian Arthur Zilversmit, "is essentially the record of Quaker antislavery activities.

The people of the southern highlands have been remarkably even-handed in their antipathies—which they have applied to all strangers without regard to race, religion or nationality.

Mumbett also had another family of her own. Her great-grandson was W. E. B. Du Bois. In his writings, he remembered her with pride, as an inspiration for his stellar career in American and world history.

One pro-slavery writer in New York spoke for many slave owners when he said that emancipation and civil rights for freed slaves would be "the total subversion of OUR liberties.

In every American generation, small minorities with strong material interests have often succeeded in stopping urgent reforms, against the will of the majority.