It was unmistakably held that ownership in slaves was as much entitled to protection under the Constitution in the Territories of the United States as any other species of property, and that Congress possessed no power over the subject except the power to legislate in aid of slavery.
Blaine states that the Court recognized slave ownership as a protected property right under the Constitution, limiting Congressional power.
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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.
In Congressional districts where the colored race constituted one-half of the total population (and in many instances the proportion was even larger), the vote of one white man offset the vote of two in a Northern district where suffrage…
That is his work and it cannot properly be taken out of his hands.
With whatever strength or prestige the President left Washington, he certainly returned to the Capital personally discredited and politically ruined.
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