On the record
As a slave he was “a tool without a soul.” If you have ceased to treat him according to this ancient definition, it is only because you treat him even as something less.
Source
gutenberg.orgEditor's note · Context
Sumner critiques the dehumanization of enslaved individuals, emphasizing their worth beyond mere tools.
Share
More from Charles Sumner
Their existence is a disgrace to civilization; for it implies the common consent of nations to the Arbitrament of War, as regulated by these laws.
I am in favor of a tariff for revenue, such a one as will yield a sufficient amount to the treasury to defray the expenses of the government, economically administered.
Nay, more,--if it would be criminal in these several clusters of States to reëstablish the Institution of War as Arbiter of Justice, then is it criminal in the Commonwealth of Nations to continue it.
Again I repeat, so long as the War System prevails under the sanction of International Law, these painful incongruities will be apparent.
Other voices in this conversation
