Frederick Douglass: “It is nature's grand police, vigilant and faithful, sentineled in the soul, guarding against violence to peace and life.”

He was called upon not merely to administer the government, but to decide, in the face of terrible odds, the fate of the Republic.

We (the people of the North) are a charitable people, and in the excess of this feeling we were disposed to put the very best construction upon the strange behavior of our southern brethren.

Our very lack of preparation for the conflict disposed us to look for some other than the way of blood out of the difficulty.

It had no interest in recognizing or preserving any of the ties that bind families together or to their homes.