On the record
Here in Washington, since the beneficent Act of Emancipation, even in sight of the flag floating from the National Capitol, the Fugitive Slave Act has been made a scourge and a terror to innocent men and women.
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gutenberg.orgEditor's note · Context
Sumner highlights the contradiction of the Fugitive Slave Act existing in a nation that had enacted emancipation, emphasizing its negative impact on innocent lives.
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According to recent calculations, its annual cost is not less than a thousand millions of dollars.
It is a cause which, though long kept in check throughout our country, as also in Europe, now confronts the people and their rulers, demanding to be heard.
It is true, doubtless, that there are various races of men; but there is but one great Human Family, in which Caucasian, Ethiopian, Chinese, and Indian are all brothers, children of one Father, and heirs to one happiness.
Nor should we be too impatient to witness the fulfilment of our aspirations.
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