Good jurists have declared that the Constitution, as it now stands, would forbid any such State action, and that all constitutions and laws disfranchising citizens because of their parentage, color, race, or descent, are null and void.… We are not aware of any attempt to refute this view with a shadow of success.
Sumner cites legal opinions asserting that current constitutional law prohibits racial discrimination in voting.
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More from Charles Sumner
But so long as War exists as an Institution this terrible inconsistency must appear.
At Baltimore the delegation of the most important State in the Union, known to be in favor of the Wilmot Proviso, was refused admission to the Convention.
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!
The first is a heavenly sentiment, from God: the other is a device of this world.
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