--- title: "At one time Mr. Douglass was travelling in the state of Pennsylvania,… — Frederick Douglass Quote #36 | QuotesBy.net" description: "At one time Mr. Douglass was travelling in the state of Pennsylvania, and was forced, on account of his colour, to ride in the baggage-car, in spite … — a quote by Frederick Douglass." image: "https://quotesby.net/wp-content/themes/quotesby-editorial/assets/og-default.png" --- > # At one time Mr. Douglass was travelling in the state of Pennsylvania, and was forced, on account of his colour, to ride in the baggage-car, in spite of the fact that he had paid the same price for his passage that the other passengers had paid. When some of the white passengers went into the baggage-car to console Mr. Douglass, and one of them said to him: 'I am sorry, Mr. Douglass, that you have been degraded in this manner,' Mr. Douglass straightened himself up on the box upon which he was sitting, and replied: 'They cannot degrade Frederick Douglass. The soul that is within me no man can degrade. I am not the one that is being degraded on account of this treatment, but those who are inflicting it upon me...' [Frederick Douglass](https://quotesby.net/Frederick-Douglass)\#36[WhatsApp (opens in a new tab)](https://wa.me/?text=%E2%80%9CAt%20one%20time%20Mr.%20Douglass%20was%20travelling%20in%20the%20state%20of%20Pennsylvania%2C%20and%20was%20forced%2C%20on%20account%20of%20his%20colour%2C%20to%20ride%20in%20the%20baggage-car%2C%20in%20spite%20of%20the%20fact%20that%20he%20had%20paid%20the%20same%20price%20for%20his%20passage%20that%20the%20other%20passengers%20had%20paid.%20When%20some%20of%20the%20white%20passengers%20went%20into%20the%20baggage-car%20to%20console%20Mr.%20Douglass%2C%20and%20one%20of%20them%20said%20to%20him%3A%20%27I%20am%20sorry%2C%20Mr.%20Douglass%2C%20that%20you%20have%20been%20degraded%20in%20this%20manner%2C%27%20Mr.%20Douglass%20straightened%20himself%20up%20on%20the%20box%20upon%20which%20he%20was%20sitting%2C%20and%20replied%3A%20%27They%20cannot%20degrade%20Frederick%20Douglass.%20The%20soul%20that%20is%20within%20me%20no%20man%20can%20degrade.%20I%20am%20not%20the%20one%20that%20is%20being%20degraded%20on%20account%20of%20this%20treatment%2C%20but%20those%20who%20are%20inflicting%20it%20upon%20me...%27%E2%80%9D%20%E2%80%94%20Frederick%20Douglass%20https%3A%2F%2Fquotesby.net%2FFrederick-Douglass%2F36%2F)[X (opens in a new tab)](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=%E2%80%9CAt%20one%20time%20Mr.%20Douglass%20was%20travelling%20in%20the%20state%20of%20Pennsylvania%2C%20and%20was%20forced%2C%20on%20account%20of%20his%20colour%2C%20to%20ride%20in%20the%20baggage-car%2C%20in%20spite%20of%20the%20fact%20that%20he%20had%20paid%20the%20same%20price%20for%20his%20passage%20that%20the%20other%20passengers%20had%20paid.%20When%20some%20of%20the%20white%20passengers%20went%20into%20the%20baggage-car%20to%20console%20Mr.%20Douglass%2C%20and%20one%20of%20them%20said%20to%20him%3A%20%27I%20am%20sorry%2C%20Mr.%20Douglass%2C%20that%20you%20have%20been%20degraded%20in%20this%20manner%2C%27%20Mr.%20Douglass%20straightened%20himself%20up%20on%20the%20box%20upon%20which%20he%20was%20sitting%2C%20and%20replied%3A%20%27They%20cannot%20degrade%20Frederick%20Douglass.%20The%20soul%20that%20is%20within%20me%20no%20man%20can%20degrade.%20I%20am%20not%20the%20one%20that%20is%20being%20degraded%20on%20account%20of%20this%20treatment%2C%20but%20those%20who%20are%20inflicting%20it%20upon%20me...%27%E2%80%9D%20%E2%80%94%20Frederick%20Douglass&url=https%3A%2F%2Fquotesby.net%2FFrederick-Douglass%2F36%2F)[Facebook (opens in a new tab)](https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fquotesby.net%2FFrederick-Douglass%2F36%2F) ## More from Frederick Douglass 1. > There is a class of people who seem to think that if a man should fall overboard into the sea with a Bible in his pocket it would hardly be possible to drown. … [Permalink to quote \#35](https://quotesby.net/Frederick-Douglass/35/ "Permalink to quote 35") 2. > Once you learn to read you will be forever free. [Permalink to quote \#34](https://quotesby.net/Frederick-Douglass/34/ "Permalink to quote 34") 3. > I am a Republican, a black, dyed in the wool Republican, and I never intend to belong to any other party than the party of freedom and progress. [Permalink to quote \#33](https://quotesby.net/Frederick-Douglass/33/ "Permalink to quote 33") ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "Quotation", "text": "At one time Mr. Douglass was travelling in the state of Pennsylvania, and was forced, on account of his colour, to ride in the baggage-car, in spite of the fact that he had paid the same price for his passage that the other passengers had paid. When some of the white passengers went into the baggage-car to console Mr. Douglass, and one of them said to him: 'I am sorry, Mr. Douglass, that you have been degraded in this manner,' Mr. Douglass straightened himself up on the box upon which he was sitting, and replied: 'They cannot degrade Frederick Douglass. The soul that is within me no man can degrade. I am not the one that is being degraded on account of this treatment, but those who are inflicting it upon me...'", "url": "https://quotesby.net/Frederick-Douglass/36/", "spokenByCharacter": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Frederick Douglass" } } { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://quotesby.net/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Authors", "item": "https://quotesby.net/authors/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Frederick Douglass", "item": "https://quotesby.net/Frederick-Douglass" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Quote #36", "item": "https://quotesby.net/Frederick-Douglass/36/" } ] } ```