They would not realize that the contest they were rashly inviting was not alone with the anti-slavery men of the free States, not alone with the spirit of loyalty to the Republic, but that it carried with it a challenge to the progress of civilization, and was a fight against the nineteenth century.
Blaine warns that the Southern challenge was not just against anti-slavery advocates but against the broader progress of civilization.
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Of course the Rebellion will never be suppressed in Louisiana if the professed Union men there will neither help to do it nor permit the Government to do it without their help. . . .
The feeling in many portions of the country toward the emancipated slaves, especially among the ignorant and uneducated, is one of vindictive and malicious hatred.
The wisdom of maintaining that institution was abundantly vindicated by the results of the war.
But in the treatment of the colored man, now proposed, there was absolute heartlessness and rank injustice.
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