Political Quotes

On the record
Nor, if Government were so bereft of common sense as to forego this temptation to enlistment and efficient service, can it be guilty of the unutterable meanness of using the slave in the national defence and then returning him to bondage.
Said by
Charles Sumner
Massachusetts

Editor's note · Context

Sumner condemns the idea of using enslaved individuals for national defense while denying them freedom afterward.

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Men are erring and mortal; principles are steadfast and immortal.

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More precious far at that moment the consolation that he had labored for his fellow-men, and the joyous confidence that all his cares had helped the Progress of his race!

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Again I repeat, so long as the War System prevails under the sanction of International Law, these painful incongruities will be apparent.

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But so long as War exists as an Institution this terrible inconsistency must appear.

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