On the record
Not Congress alone, without the President, can declare war; nor can the President alone, without Congress.
Source
gutenberg.orgEditor's note · Context
Sumner clarifies that neither Congress nor the President can unilaterally declare war, emphasizing the need for cooperation.
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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.
It is clear that the only question of present practical interest arises from the usurpations of the Slave Power and the efforts to extend Slavery.
But so long as War exists as an Institution this terrible inconsistency must appear.
They belong to a system so essentially irrational, that all the admitted virtues of many of its agents cannot save it from judgment.
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