A battle lost or won is easily described, understood, and appreciated, but the moral growth of a great nation requires reflection, as well as observation, to appreciate it.

Douglass contrasts the clarity of military outcomes—victory and defeat, which can be narrated and judged quickly—with the slower, less visible work of ethical and civic improvement. The “moral growth” of a nation involves changes in laws, institutions, and public conscience (for Douglass, especially around slavery, citizenship, and equal rights), and these developments are harder to measure in the moment. His point is that national greatness should not be assessed only by dramatic events like battles, but by whether a society becomes more just over time. Appreciating that kind of progress requires both observing facts and reflecting on their deeper meaning and consequences.