It is so odious that nothing can be suffered to support it but POSITIVE LAW,”--that is, express words of a written text; and this principle, which commends itself to the enlightened reason, is adopted by several courts in the Slave States.
Sumner argues that slavery is so morally repugnant that it can only be supported by explicit legal texts, reflecting a broader critique of its legitimacy.
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According to recent calculations, its annual cost is not less than a thousand millions of dollars.
Let us at all hazards prevent the extension of Slavery and the increase of the Slave Power.
Endeavor, for a moment, by comparison with other interests, to grapple with this sum.
Out of this pernicious prejudice have proceeded that persecution and neglect which are the too frequent lot of the world's pioneers.
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