On the record
The second consists in the doctrine of the divine right of majorities; a doctrine not less false, and slavish, and absurd, than the ancient doctrine of the divine right of kings.
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Lewis Tappan
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gutenberg.orgLewis Tappan: “The second consists in the doctrine of the divine right of majorities; a doctrine not less false, and slavish, and…”
Editor's note · Context
Tappan argues against the idea that majority rule is inherently just, comparing it to the outdated notion of the divine right of kings.
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More from Lewis Tappan
You are moreover aware that the great capitalists of the South have their wealth chiefly invested in plantations and slaves, and not as with us in commerce and manufactures.
Hence multitudes will be without regular and profitable employment, and be condemned to poverty and numberless privations.
Education elevates the inferior classes of society, teaches them their rights, and points out the means of enforcing them.
Hence with them slavery is the INSTITUTION of the SOUTH, while it is in fact the institution of only a portion of the people of the south.