John Brown and Frederick Douglass
On October 16th, 1859, a group of men led by abolitionist John Brown raided the US arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia. Their goal was to initiate a slave revolt in Southern states. Brown's plans failed miserably, but his actions kindled the fire of the American Civil War. To the actions of John Brown, Frederick Douglass had this to say: "His zeal in the cause of freedom was infinitely superior to mine. Mine was a taper light, his was as the burning sun. I could speak for the slave. John Brown could fight for the slave. I could live for the slave, John Brown could die for the slave."
Source: Blight, David W. Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2018.
Public Domain
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Full disclosure, I may occasionally borrow a sentence from Will Durant's Story of Civilization. I absolutely love that collection!