Political Quotes

On the record
During the delivery of this exasperating bill of charges, specifications, and denunciation of that ‘sum of all villanies,’ Slavery, a profound and most ominous silence prevailed on the floor of the Senate and in the galleries.
Said by
Charles Sumner
Massachusetts

Editor's note · Context

This passage describes the tense atmosphere in the Senate during Sumner's speech against slavery, emphasizing the silence that fell over the chamber.

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