This statute, which bears date 1788, anterior to the National Government, was applicable only to Africans or negroes not citizens of some one of the United States; and, according to contemporary evidence, it was intended to protect the Commonwealth against the vagabondage of fugitive slaves.
Here, Sumner explains the historical context of a statute aimed at controlling the movement of non-citizen Africans in Massachusetts.
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The first is a heavenly sentiment, from God: the other is a device of this world.
The most distant are not without a present influence on our daily lives.
I am opposed to a tariff for protection merely, and not for revenue."--Letter to John K.
Above all, welcome to the united regenerated Democracy of the North, which spurns the mockery of a Republic, with professions of Freedom on the lips, while the chains of Slavery clank in the Capitol!
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