Charles Sumner: “We abjure all privileges of birth; but here is a privilege which…”

On the record

We abjure all privileges of birth; but here is a privilege which depends solely on the accident whether an ancestor is black or white.

Said by

Massachusetts

Source

He criticizes privileges based on ancestry, asserting they are unjust and arbitrary.

More from Charles Sumner

Slavery and the: speech in New York, XI. 433.

Disunion no remedy for grievances of, VII. 33.

Women’s National League, petition of, for universal emancipation, X. 300.

Consent of the governed necessary in forming new governments of, XII. 298.

Other voices in this conversation

Charles Sumner: “We abjure all privileges of birth; but here is a privilege which depends solely on the accident whether an ancestor is…”