He said, "I can hate this government without
becoming disloyal because it has stricken down my manhood, and
treated me as a salable commodity. I can join a foreign enemy
and fight against it, without being a traitor, because it treats
me as an ALIEN and a STRANGER, and I am free to avow that should
such a contingency arise I should not hesitate to take any
advantage in order to procure such indemnity for the future."
Robert Purvis, a Philadelphian, also agreed that revolution
might be the only tool left with which to secure redress for
grievances. He contended that to support the government and the
constitution on which it was based was to endorse a despotic
state, and he went on to express his abhorrence for the system
which destroyed him and his people. Purvis said that he could
welcome the overthrow of this government and he could hope that
it would be replaced by a better one.
The alienation of the Afro-American from his government was
dramatically underscored and justified in 1857 by the Dred Scott
Decision which was handed down by the Supreme Court. A slave who
had resided with his master in a territory where slavery was
forbidden by act of Congress had claimed his freedom.
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