On the record
The Constitution was the bond of union; and it was the South that sought to change it by amendments, or to subvert it by force.
Source
gutenberg.orgEditor's note · Context
Blaine emphasizes the importance of the Constitution as a unifying force, criticizing the South for attempting to alter it.
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The two schools in short marked the dividing line between the radical and the conservative.
In my judgment our sole authority for the acts which we have done during the last four years was the authority communicated to Congress by the Constitution to suppress insurrection.
He had placed himself in a position from which he could not with grace retreat, and to go forward in which was still further to blight his hopes of promotion in his party.
Such an opportunity would have been a menace to the public credit, and would have proved a constant source of corruption.
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