"The present position of the colored man is a trying one; trying because the whole nation seems to have entered into a conspiracy to crush him. But few seem to comprehend our position in the free States. The masses seem to think that we are oppressed only in the South. This is a mistake; we are oppressed everywhere in this slavery-cursed land. . . . We desire to take part in this contest, and when our Government shall see the necessity of using the loyal blacks of the free States, I hope it will have the courage to recognize their manhood. It certainly will not be mean enough to force us to fight for your liberty, . . . and then leave us when we go home to our respective States to be told that we cannot ride in the [street]cars, that our children cannot go to the public schools, that we cannot vote, and if we don't like that state of things, there is an appropriation to colonize us. We ask for our rights."