This was the greatest blow struck for freedom and against slavery in all our history, save only Lincoln's emancipation proclamation, for it determined that in the final struggle the mighty West should side with the right against the wrong.
Roosevelt compares the ordinance's impact on slavery to Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, highlighting its historical significance.
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Our country—this great Republic—means nothing unless it means the triumph of a real democracy, the triumph of popular government, and, in the long run, of an economic system under which each man shall be guaranteed the opportunity to show…
The man who does nothing cuts the same sordid figure in the pages of history, whether he be cynic, or fop, or voluptuary.
France is one of these nations. For her to sink would be a loss to all the world.
The American people by a great plurality have conferred upon you the highest honor in their gift.
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