On the record
How could we consent to secure peace, after we had broken down this barbarous rule in two archipelagos, by agreeing that one of them should be forced back under it?
Said by
Whitelaw Reid
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gutenberg.orgWhitelaw Reid: “How could we consent to secure peace, after we had broken down this barbarous rule in two archipelagos, by agreeing that…”
Editor's note · Context
Reid argues against the idea of restoring barbarous rule after defeating it, emphasizing moral consistency.
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And it is both natural and right that colored Americans, entitled to the rights of citizens, should claim their exercise.
They should persist in this claim respectfully, but firmly, taking care to bring no discredit upon it by their own action.
It is my firm conviction, that suffrage is not only the best security for freedom, but the most potent agent of amelioration and civilization.
In this way they will surely overcome unjust hostility, and convince even the most prejudiced that the denial to them of any right which citizens may properly exercise is equally unwise and wrong.