But the American slaves, it is maintained, are _not prepared for freedom_. This objection is without foundation. God _creates_ men free, and sends them forth into the world with such endowments as are needed in a state of freedom, and as are suited to _no other_ state. To say that a race, which God has _created_ free, is unprepared for freedom is to reproach the Maker. Freedom is the native element of man. And "The heavens, the earth, man's heart and sea, Forever cry, _let all be free_!" "Not prepared for freedom?" This has been the watchword of oppressors in all ages. The "people," the uninformed "masses," have, in the estimation of tyrants, always been prepared for slavery and injustice of every kind, but never for freedom. And it has ever been their policy to render them less fit for any station or any responsibility in life. They never put forth an effort to prepare their victims for any higher business than obsequious submission to usurped authority. True to this spirit, those who are most noisy about the unfitness of slaves for freedom, are most zealous for the maintenance of those odious laws and usages which shut them out from all chance of mental and moral culture. And if the slaves are unprepared for freedom, what is to prepare them for it? Their present degradation is owing to slavery, and it is not likely that the continuance of the _cause_ of their degradation will elevate them. Remove the cause, and the effect will cease. Emancipate the colored man, open to him our schools and colleges, place before him motives for action such as animate freemen, and swell the hearts of Christians, give him an _opportunity_ and he will prove himself every whit a MAN. How mean and hypocritical the objection, that slaves are not prepared for freedom, when we employ the whole weight of our laws and prejudices to crush out their manhood, and as far as possible unfit them for any condition except that of working animals. But thousands of slaves have fled from their oppressors, and, in the midst of the greatest difficulties and embarrassments, have not only proved themselves prepared for freedom, but also to take a position amongst the most cultivated and honored freemen. The half-free colored people of the United States _prove_ themselves worthy of all the rights of American citizens.