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shame; until — the negro had justice, they were but defending liberty with one hand and crushing it with the other.
From this inconsistency we were free.
Whatever the Government did, we at least were working in the right direction.
If this was not recognized on our side of the lines, we knew that it was admitted on the other.
Fighting with ropes round our necks, denied the ordinary courtesies of war till we ourselves compelled their concession, we could at least turn this outlawry into a compliment.
We had touched the pivot of the war. Whether this vast and dusky mass should prove the weakness of the nation or its strength, must depend in great measure, we knew, upon our efforts.
Till the blacks were armed, there was no guaranty of their freedom.
It was their demeanor under arms that shamed the nation into recognizing them as men.
Boston: Fields, Osgood and Co. University Press: Welch, Bigelow, & Co., Cambridge. 1870.
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