Political Quotes

W.E.B. Du Bois: No sooner had Northern armies touched Southern soil than this old question, newly guised, sprang from the earth,—What…

On the recordJanuary 1, 1903
No sooner had Northern armies touched Southern soil than this old question, newly guised, sprang from the earth,—What shall be done with Negroes?
Said by
W.E.B. Du Bois

Editor's note · Context

Du Bois observes that the question of what to do with Black people immediately arose as Union armies advanced into the South during the Civil War.

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