For the present it is enough to affirm the equal manhood of the Negro race. Is it not astonishing that, while we are plowing, planting, and reaping, using all kinds of mechanical tools, erecting houses...that we are engaged in all the enterprises common to other men -- Douglass returns to his earlier attempts to construct a collective. Rather than make a brief statement, he enumerates the tasks and professions performed by blacks. The more examples he provides, the greater chance that he will awaken empathy in an audience member who performs similar duties. The rational benefit of this approach is to clearly enumerate the reasoning and thinking skills endemic to his race. By painting them as proficient in a variety of areas, he emphasizes their intelligence and humanity.