Can you look forward to the future of our country and imagine

Hear, O children of justice, the solemn cry of Robert Dale Owen, reformer and son of conscience, who declared in the shadow of America’s greatest trial: “Can you look forward to the future of our country and imagine any state of things in which, with slavery still existing, we should be assured of permanent peace? I cannot.” These words, uttered in the mid-nineteenth century, were no idle speculation, but a prophetic warning that a nation divided by chains could never rest secure. For peace cannot dwell where oppression reigns, nor can harmony flourish where men are bought and sold as beasts.

What is slavery but the denial of humanity itself? It is the breaking of families, the silencing of voices, the branding of souls. Owen, a man of Scottish birth who became an American statesman, saw with clarity that such an evil was not only a moral blight but a political poison. A republic that declared liberty yet practiced bondage was a house built upon contradiction, destined for storm. His words reflect the wisdom of one who knew that injustice festers, that it cannot be sealed away—it leaks into the very foundation of society, and sooner or later, it shatters the peace of all.

History confirmed Owen’s warning. For though leaders sought compromise, though statesmen patched together fragile truces, the fire of slavery burned beneath the surface. Each year, the division deepened, each law passed became a battle-cry, until at last the fragile peace collapsed into the thunder of the Civil War. Brother fought against brother, and the land was soaked in blood. Yet the war itself bore witness to Owen’s truth: only with the death of slavery could there be hope for a lasting peace.

Consider too the words of Abraham Lincoln, spoken years later, who echoed the same thought in his own way: “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” Lincoln and Owen alike understood that peace without justice is but a mask, a false calm before the storm. True peace comes not from suppressing conflict, but from uprooting its cause. And slavery, the greatest contradiction in a land of freedom, was a cause that no compromise could forever conceal.

O children of tomorrow, take heed: whenever injustice is tolerated for the sake of comfort, there will be no permanent peace. For oppression always breeds resistance, and lies always demand truth. A society that ignores this truth will stagger from one crisis to another until it confronts the evil at its root. Thus Owen’s words are not only about slavery in America’s past, but about every age, every land where people are denied dignity, and leaders seek to cover injustice with false promises of calm.

The lesson is eternal: peace cannot be built upon chains. Whether in nations, in communities, or in households, if one group is crushed, there can be no harmony. Justice is the seed of peace, equality its water, and freedom its sunlight. Without them, the tree of society withers, no matter how fine its outward branches appear. Permanent peace is possible only when all walk upright, with dignity respected and rights preserved.

Practical action lies here: speak truth to injustice, even when the world prefers silence. Do not be lulled by temporary calm if beneath it lies oppression. Demand fairness in your time, for the cost of delay is greater conflict in the future. Build your peace upon justice, and though it may take sacrifice, it will endure.

So let Robert Dale Owen’s words echo in your heart: “With slavery still existing, we should be assured of permanent peace? I cannot.” Understand this as a command for your own life: whenever you see injustice, know that silence will not save peace. Only truth, only justice, only freedom can make peace everlasting. For without them, every calm is but the prelude to the storm.