On the record
Congress had the foresight, the philanthropy, the courage to choose the latter course, and to transform four millions of slaves into four millions of citizens.
Source
gutenberg.orgEditor's note · Context
Blaine highlights Congress's pivotal role in transforming millions of enslaved individuals into citizens after the Civil War.
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The haste with which the question was brought to a decision can hardly be justified, and is a striking illustration of the intense party-feeling which had been engendered by the war.
It is to the eminent credit of the Republican members of Congress that they stood in a crisis of this magnitude true to principle, firm against all the power and all the patronage of the Administration.
I refer myself not to the men of my time, but to the judgment of history.
I believe that if it should pass it will receive the sanction of nineteen-twentieths of the loyal people of the country.
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