He was chosen Speaker because of his activity in the anti-slavery struggles of the House, and because of his aptitude for the duties of the chair.
On the record
Source
gutenberg.orgEditor's note · Context
Blaine explains the reasons behind the election of a Speaker who was active in anti-slavery efforts and suited for leadership.
Share
More from James Blaine
An attempt to guarantee and protect a revived State government constructed in whole or in preponderating part from the very element against whose hostility and violence it is to be protected is simply absurd.
The need of action and of energy so pressed upon him that he found no time to utter lamentation, none to indulge even in the most sacred personal grief.
Their convention did more to popularize the Fourteenth Amendment as a political issue than any other instrumentality of the year.
But in the treatment of the colored man, now proposed, there was absolute heartlessness and rank injustice.





