On the record
As soon as this fact became well established, Congress proceeded to enact the first law since the organization of the Federal Government by which a slave could acquire his freedom.
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gutenberg.orgJames Blaine: “As soon as this fact became well established, Congress proceeded to enact the first law since the organization of the…”
Editor's note · Context
Blaine notes Congress's legislative action to allow slaves to gain their freedom, marking a significant change in policy.
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Without the exercise of those functions which belong exclusively to the civil service, the laws cannot be executed in any event, no matter what may be the physical strength which the Government has at its command.
You can use force only to repel an assault on the public property and aid the Courts in the performance of their duty.
The States are colleagues of one another, and if some of them shall conquer the rest, and hold them as subjugated provinces, it would totally destroy the whole theory upon which they are now connected.
If this view of the subject be correct, as I think it is, then the Union must utterly perish at the moment when Congress shall arm one part of the people against another for any purpose beyond that of merely protecting the General…
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