from THE REFUGEE (1856 : narratives of fugitive slaves)
page 745 paragraph in "American Anti-Slavery Writings" (volume in 2013 Library of America series)
ISBN: 978-1-59853-196
"I grew up like a neglected weed,
ignorant of liberty, having no experience of it.
Then I was not happy or contented: every time I saw a white man I
was afraid of being carried away. I had two sisters carried away in a
chain-gang, one of them left two children.
We were always uneasy.
Now I've been free, I know what a dreadful condition slavery is.
I have seen hundreds of escaped slaves, but I never saw one
who was willing to go back and be a slave. I have no opportunity
to see my friends in my native land.
We would rather stay in our native land, if we could be
as free there as we are here. I think slavery is the next thing
to hell. If a person would send another into bondage,
he would, it appears to me, be bad enough to send him
into hell, if he could."
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