On the recordJune 26, 1857
They meant simply to declare the right, so that the enforcement of it might follow as fast as circumstances should permit.
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gutenberg.orgAbraham Lincoln: “They meant simply to declare the right, so that the enforcement of it might follow as fast as circumstances should…”
Editor's note · Context
Speaking on the Dred Scott decision, Lincoln explains that the Declaration of Independence's assertion of equality was a declaration of principle, not an immediate grant of rights.
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