My Hopes Were Never Brighter

From The First I Saw No Chance Of Bettering The Condition Of The Freedman Until He Should Cease To Be Merely A Freedman And Should Become A Citizen.

I Was Broken In Body, Soul, And Spirit. My Natural Elasticity Was Crushed, My Intellect Languished, The Disposition To Read Departed, The Cheerful Spark That Lingered About My Eye Died; The Dark Night Of Slavery Closed In Upon Me; And Behold A Man Transformed Into A Brute!

Right Is Of No Sex-truth Is Of No Color-god Is The Father Of Us All, And We Are All Brethren.

My Hopes Were Never Brighter Than Now.

The Silver Trump Of Freedom Had Roused My Soul To Eternal Wakefulness. Freedom Now Appeared, To Disappear No More Forever. It Was Heard In Every Sound, And Seen In Every Thing.