On the record
To large numbers the Act was a decree of instant expulsion from the Republic, under penalty of Slavery to them and their posterity forever.
Source
gutenberg.orgEditor's note · Context
Sumner condemns the Fugitive Slave Act as a severe injustice that threatens the rights of individuals and their descendants.
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Far above any flickering light or battle-lantern of party is the everlasting sun of Truth, in whose beams are the duties of men.
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.
They belong to a system so essentially irrational, that all the admitted virtues of many of its agents cannot save it from judgment.
Controlled by such a code, employing such representatives, sustained by such agencies, animated by such Furies, and producing such fruits of tears and bitterness, it must be open to question.
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