Political Quotes

On the record
Once for the Wilmot Proviso, which asserted the power of Congress over the Territories, and then for a pretended Popular Sovereignty, which denied this power, he became the pendulum between Freedom and Slavery, and, thus swinging, imparted motion to a sham Democracy.
Said by
Charles Sumner
Massachusetts

Editor's note · Context

Sumner illustrates the inconsistency of a political figure who oscillates between supporting freedom and slavery.

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More from Charles Sumner

Nor should we be too impatient to witness the fulfilment of our aspirations.

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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.

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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.

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As the Brotherhood of Man is practically recognized, it becomes impossible to restrict the feeling within any exclusive circle of country, and to set up an unchristian distinction of honor between civil war and international war.

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