[135] We demand the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia. We demand the exercise by Congress, in all Territories, of the time-honored power to prohibit slavery. We demand of Congress to refuse to receive into the Union any new slave State. We demand the abolition of the domestic slave-trade so far as it can be constitutionally reached, but particularly on the high seas under the national flag. And, generally, we demand from the federal government the exercise of all its constitutional power to relieve itself from the responsibility for slavery. And yet one thing further must be done: the slave-power must be overturned, so that the federal government may be put openly, actively, and perpetually on the side of freedom.These demands he lived to see fairly and squarely met. Referring to his own future course, he indicates that line of action which he undeviatingly pursued until the close of life:-- “To vindicate freedom, and to oppose slavery, so far as I might constitutionally, with earnestness, and yet, I trust, without any personal unkindness on my part, has been the object near my heart. Would ”
This text is part of:
B. B. Russell, 1874.
Tufts University provided support for entering this text.
This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.
An XML version of this text is available for download, with the additional restriction that you offer Perseus any modifications you make. Perseus provides credit for all accepted changes, storing new additions in a versioning system.