Part 17

But, saving the Republic, we elevate it. Overthrowing an oppressive injustice, we give full scope to the principles of the National Government, and fulfil the “idea of a perfect commonwealth” which has charmed the visions of philosophy and poetry. “I am all that has been, that is, and that shall be, and none among mortals has hitherto lifted my veil”: such was the enigma cut on the pavement of the Temple of the Egyptian Minerva.[193] For ages it remained unanswered; but the answer is at hand. The Republic is all that has been, that is, and that shall be; and it is your duty to lift the veil. To do less were failure; for such was the aspiration and promise of the Fathers, assuming their first vows in the family of nations. To do this will fix the example of American institutions. So long as Slavery endured, it was impossible; so long as the Black Code, wretched counterpart of Slavery, endures in any form, it is impossible. To attain this idea we must proclaim the rule of justice. Slavery thus far has been the very pivot round which the Republic revolved, while all its policy at home and abroad has radiated from this terrible centre. Hereafter the Equal Rights of All will take the place of Slavery, and the Republic will revolve on this glorious centre, whose countless, far-reaching radiations will be the happiness of the people. There is nothing the imagination can picture which will not be ours. Where justice is supreme, nothing can be wanting. There will be room for every business and for every charity. The fields will nod with increase, industry will be quickened to unimagined triumph, and life itself raised to higher service. There will be that repose which comes from harmony, and also that simplicity which comes from one prevailing law, both essential to the idea of Republic. Our country will cease to be a patchwork where different States vary in the rights they accord, and will become a Plural Unit, with one Constitution, one liberty, and one franchise. With all these things the Republic will be the synonym for justice and peace, since these things will be inseparable from its name. In our longings we need not repair to philosophy or poetry. Nor need we go back to the memorable sage who declared that the best government was where every citizen rushed to the defence of the humblest as if he were the state, for all this will be ours. Nor need we go back to the patriot king, in ancient tragedy, who, inspired by the republican idea, called for the vote of the people:--

“For them I made supreme, And on this city, _with an equal right_ _For all to vote_, its freedom have bestowed.”[194]

Here, at last, among us all this will be assured, and the Republic will be of such renown and virtue that all at home or abroad who bear the American name may exclaim with more than Roman pride, “I am an American citizen!”--and if danger approaches, they may repeat the same cry with more than Roman confidence, knowing well that this title will be a sufficient protection. Then will be renewed the story of the two sticks in the prophecy of Ezekiel: “Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand.”[195]

* * * * *

Sir, it is for you now to determine if all this shall be fulfilled. The whole case is before you in its grandeur and its humanity, infinite as human aspiration, beautiful as the vision of a republic. Turn not away from it. Vindicate the great cause, I entreat you, by the suppression of all oligarchical pretensions, and the establishment of those equal rights without which republican government is a name, and nothing more. Strike at the Black Code, as you have already struck at the Slave Code. There is little to choose between them. Strike at once; strike hard. You have already proclaimed Emancipation; proclaim Enfranchisement also. Nor longer stultify yourselves by setting at nought the practical principle of the Fathers, that all just government stands only on the consent of the governed, and its inseparable corollary, that _taxation without representation is tyranny_. What was once true is true forever, although we may for a time lose sight of it; and this is the case with those imperishable truths to which you have been, alas! so indifferent. Thus far the work is only _half done_. See that it is finished. Save the freedman from the outrage which is his daily life. As a slave he was “a tool without a soul.” If you have ceased to treat him according to this ancient definition, it is only because you treat him even as something less. In your cruel arithmetic he is only a “cipher,” without the protection which the slave sometimes found in the self-interest of the master; or rather let me say he is only a “cipher” where rights are concerned, but a numeral counted by millions where taxes are to be paid. Not only is the freedman compelled to pay, he must fight also, and he must obey the laws,--three things he cannot escape. But, according to the primal principle of republican government, he has an indefeasible right to a voice in determining how to be taxed, when to fight, and what laws to obey,--all of which can be secured only through the ballot. Thus again do I bring you to the same conclusion, confronting us at every point and at every stage, as a commandment not to be disobeyed.

Would you secure all the just fruits of this terrible war, and trample out the Rebellion in its pernicious assumptions, as in its arms? You cannot hesitate; and this is the last stage of the argument. The Rebellion began in two assumptions, both proceeding from South Carolina: first, the sovereignty of the States, with the pretended right of secession; and, secondly, the superiority of the white race, with the pretended right of caste, oligarchy, and monopoly, on account of color. The first was often announced in many ways. The second showed itself at the beginning, when South Carolina, conspicuous among the Thirteen States, allowed her Constitution to be degraded by an exclusion on account of color; but it did not receive authoritative statement until a later day, when that false evangelist, Mr. Calhoun, taking issue with the Declaration of Independence, audaciously announced in the Senate that to declare all born free and equal was “the most dangerous of all political errors”; that it had “done more to retard the cause of liberty and civilization, and is doing more at present, than all other causes combined”; and that “we now begin to experience the danger of admitting so great an error to have a place in the Declaration of our Independence.”[196] These two assumptions are kindred in effrontery. All agree that the dogma of State sovereignty must be repelled; but this is less offensive than the other, having the same origin, that the Declaration of Independence is “the most dangerous of all political errors.” To repel such effrontery is not enough; it must be scorned.

The Gospel according to Calhoun is only another statement of the imposture, that this august Republic, founded to sustain the rights of Human Nature, is nothing but “a white man’s government.” The whole assumption is ignoble, utterly unsupported by history, and insulting to the Fathers, while offensively illogical and irreligious. It is illogical, inasmuch as our fathers, when they declared that all men are created equal, gave expression to a truth of political science, which, from the nature of the case, admits no exception. As axiom it is without exception; for it is the essence of an axiom, whether in geometry or morals, to be universal. As abstract truth it is also without exception, according to the requirement of such truth. And, finally, as self-evident truth, so announced in the great Declaration, it is without exception; for only such truth can be self-evident. Thus, whether axiom, abstract truth, or self-evident truth, it is always universal. But the assumption is not only illogical, it is irreligious, inasmuch as it flies in the face of that living truth which appears twice at the Creation: first, when God said, “Let us make man in our image”; and, secondly, in the unity of the race, then divinely appointed, and which appears again in the Gospel, when it said, “God, that made the world, and all things therein, hath made of one blood all nations of men.” According to the best testimony, the present population of the earth--embracing Caucasians, Mongolians, Malays, Africans, and Americans--is about thirteen hundred millions, of whom only three hundred and seventy-five millions are “white,” or little more than one fourth; so that, in claiming exclusive rights for “white,” you degrade nearly three quarters of the human family, made in the “image of God” and declared to be of “one blood,” while you sanction a caste offensive to religion, an oligarchy inconsistent with republican government, and a monopoly which has the Human Family as the subject of its tyrannical usurpation.

Against this assumption I protest with mind, soul, and heart. It is false in religion, false in statesmanship, and false in economy. It is an extravagance, which, if enforced, is foolish tyranny. Show me a creature, with lifted countenance looking to heaven, made in the image of God, and I show you A MAN, who, of whatever country or race, whether browned by equatorial sun or blanched by northern cold, is with you a child of the Heavenly Father, and equal with you in all the rights of Human Nature. You cannot deny these rights without impiety. And so, as God linked the national welfare with national duty, you cannot deny these rights without peril to the Republic. It is not enough that you have given Liberty. By the same title that we claim Liberty do we claim Equality also. One cannot be denied without the other. What is Equality without Liberty? What is Liberty without Equality? One is the complement of the other. The two are necessary to begin and complete the circle of American citizenship. They are the inseparable organs through which the people have their national life. They are the two vital principles of republican government, without which, government, although republican in name, cannot be republican in fact. These two vital principles belong to those divine statutes graven on the soul of Universal Man, even of the slave who forgets them, and of the master who denies them, and, whether forgotten or denied, more enduring than marble or brass, for they share the perpetuity of the human family.

The Roman Cato, after declaring his belief in the immortality of the soul, added, that, if this were an error, it was an error he loved. And now, declaring my belief in Liberty and Equality as the God-given birthright of all men, let me say, in the same spirit, if this be an error, it is an error I love,--if this be a fault, it is a fault I shall be slow to renounce,--if this be an illusion, it is an illusion which I pray may wrap the world in its angelic forms.

APPENDIX.

The sequel of this speech, which occupied two days in the delivery, will appear, _first_, in the Debate and Votes that ensued, and, _secondly_, in its reception by the country, as illustrated by the Press and Correspondence.

DEBATE AND VOTES.

The speech of Mr. Sumner was followed by a succession of speeches extending over a month, with considerable variation by a concurrent resolution from the House of Representatives involving the same questions.

Mr. Fessenden, of Maine, on the day after Mr. Sumner, spoke at length. In the course of his remarks he said:--

“I take it no one contends, I think the honorable Senator from Massachusetts himself, who is the great champion of Universal Suffrage, would hardly contend, that now, at this time, the whole mass of the population of the recent Slave States is fit to be admitted to the exercise of the right of suffrage.”

Then again:--

“While the honorable Senator from Massachusetts argued, and argued with great force, that every man should have that right, and that he should only be subject to disabilities which he could overcome, his argument, connected with the other principle that he laid down, and the application of it that he made, that taxation and representation should go together, would just as well apply to women as to men; but I noticed that the honorable Senator dodged that part of the proposition very carefully.”

He criticized the substitute offered by Mr. Sumner, when the latter remarked:--

“Last Friday this Senate solemnly declared, that, under the Constitutional Amendment abolishing Slavery, it had power to decree the equal rights of all persons everywhere throughout the United States, without distinction of color. The moment that was declared, I said to friends about me that the duty of Congress was fixed with regard to political rights also. If Congress can decree equality in civil rights, by the same reason, if not _a fortiori_, it can decree equality in political rights; and as the preamble to my proposition recited two reasons or moving causes, one the guaranty clause, and the other the Constitutional Amendment, I felt it my duty, acting upon the vote of the Senate, to insist that the declaration of equality for all should be coextensive with the Republic, claiming as I do under the guaranty clause that it operates within all the States where there has been a lapse of government, and that under the Constitutional Amendment it operates everywhere within the limits of the Republic.”

In confining the guaranty clause to States that had “lapsed,” Mr. Sumner was cautious not to make his proposition too broad, although his judgment was that it was applicable to all the States, and authorized a prohibition by Congress of unrepublican provisions in any State.

Mr. Fessenden said: “The Senator says we may secure it in the States which have lapsed. That is a new phrase, but perhaps it is as good as any other.” But he was unwilling to accept this power.

Mr. Lane, of Indiana, said, in answer to Mr. Sumner:--

“If Congress had the undoubted and unquestionable authority to pass such a law, it gets at the result more readily than does the Constitutional Amendment; but it is doubtful to my mind whether Congress has this power. I believe, under the Constitution, the right to determine the qualifications of electors is left with the several States.”

Then of the counter proposition he said:--

“It is a noble declaration, but a simple declaration,--a paper bullet, that kills no one, and fixes and maintains the rights of no one.”

Mr. Johnson, of Maryland, Mr. Henderson, of Missouri, Mr. Clark, of New Hampshire, Mr. Williams, of Oregon, Mr. Hendricks, of Indiana, Mr. Yates, of Illinois, Mr. Buckalew, of Pennsylvania, Mr. Pomeroy, of Kansas, Mr. Saulsbury, of Delaware, Mr. Morrill, of Maine, and Mr. Wilson, of Massachusetts, all spoke at length. Of these, Mr. Henderson, Mr. Yates, and Mr. Pomeroy sustained Mr. Sumner, in opposition to the House expedient, although the first preferred to assure suffrage by a Constitutional Amendment ordaining it: while insisting upon the ballot for the colored citizen, he doubted the power of Congress. Mr. Johnson thought the claim of our fathers, in their cry against Taxation without Representation, was for communities, and not for individuals. Mr. Sumner afterwards replied at length to this opinion.[197] In the course of Mr. Henderson’s speech, occupying two days, the following colloquy occurred.

MR. SUMNER. Do I understand my friend as insisting that the denial of the franchise is consistent with a republican government? Take the State of South Carolina, which denies the franchise to more than half its population.

MR. HENDERSON. In theory it is not. Under the Constitution it was regarded as a republican State at the time of the adoption of the instrument.

MR. SUMNER. It did not deny the franchise to half its citizens and more. I say citizens. Most excluded were slaves.

MR. HENDERSON. It then had only one hundred and forty thousand whites, and had one hundred and seven thousand slaves. It also had eighteen hundred free negroes. I think it more nearly a republican State now than then. Practically, the question of suffrage was left to the States----

MR. SUMNER. But that is the question, whether they were left to deny suffrage to any freeman on account of color.

MR. HENDERSON. If that be the question, then the point is against my friend; for both South Carolina and Virginia did deny the suffrage to the free negroes on account of color only, at the time when the Constitution was made, and when it was adopted. Virginia had upward of twelve thousand free negroes thus denied.

MR. SUMNER. But the question is--I cannot anticipate my friend’s conclusion on that point----

MR. HENDERSON. My conclusion is, that a mistake was made in recognizing a Constitution as republican that permitted Slavery. I know of no way to get rid of it except by Constitutional Amendment. I think another mistake was committed in leaving each State to so far abridge the right of suffrage as to change, in theory, the republican form. But such is the Constitution, and you cannot change it by Act of Congress. That is my conclusion.

MR. SUMNER. You are wrong. It is a question of theory with regard to republican government, and I say that the Constitution must be interpreted according to this theory.

MR. HENDERSON. But our fathers did not deal with it in the Constitution as a question of theory, but as a question of fact. Whatever may have been their theories, I mean only to say that the text of the Constitution does not carry them out----

MR. SUMNER. The practical point is, Did our fathers concede to any State the power of disfranchising citizens on account of color? I utterly deny it, and I challenge my friend to show any authority for it.

MR. HENDERSON. Why, Mr. President, if I have already failed to show it, I must fail in the future. I have shown that the suffrage was left to the States, and that they did exclude their negroes,--that they held in slavery in Virginia almost half of their population,[198] and that Virginia was called a republican State. Indeed, she was most prominent in making the very provisions we are discussing. She excluded the slaves and----

MR. SUMNER. Ah! slaves. That is another thing. The question is, whether you are allowed to disfranchise freemen on account of color,--whether you are allowed to deny freemen rights as citizens. That I deny. The exception was slaves, who were not regarded as members of the “body politic.” They were treated as minors, or as women, represented by their masters. But every freeman, no matter what his color, was recognized as entitled to all the privileges of citizenship; he was one of the sovereigns. The proposition cannot be met, if my friend will consult the history of his country.

MR. HENDERSON. It was not slaves only that were disfranchised, but I have shown that free negroes were also disfranchised. But I have no controversy with the Senator in what we mutually aim at.

MR. SUMNER. I know that, and I concede to my excellent friend all that I claim for myself. We are in search of the best. I applaud his zeal, and thank him for his courtesy.

MR. HENDERSON. I am certainly very much obliged to the Senator from Massachusetts. I feel now ten times better than I did before. [_Laughter._]--I cannot longer detain the Senate in presenting objections to the exercise of legislative power under the guaranty clause. It is sufficient to control my own action, that I believe by the letter, and even spirit of the Constitution, the suffrage was placed exclusively under the control of State action. I think that the error of so placing it is as clear as the error made in tolerating Slavery. To rid ourselves of the evil, however, we must amend the Constitution.

MR. SUMNER. Do I understand my friend that a State might adopt a rule founded on the color of the hair, so that all men with light hair should be excluded from suffrage? I insist that a State is not authorized, under the Constitution, to make any exclusion on account of color.

MR. HENDERSON. It ought not to be, you mean.

MR. SUMNER. No,--it cannot be. Color cannot be a qualification. There may be a qualification founded on age, or residence, or knowledge, or crime.

MR. HENDERSON. You are now coming in conflict with the Committee of Fifteen, who declare by their resolution that the States now have the power, and may yet exclude everybody of a particular race or color.

MR. SUMNER. The Committee propose to place that in the Constitution, which is one reason why I object to their report. I say that they propose to do what our fathers never did.

MR. HENDERSON. The Senator from Massachusetts is in theory, perhaps, correct. He is speaking, however, of an ideal Constitution.

The following colloquy also occurred.

MR. HENDERSON. The Senator from Massachusetts proposes to do by an Act of Congress what I think can only be done by a Constitutional Amendment. That is the difference now between the Senator from Illinois [Mr. YATES] and myself. I think the Amendment can be adopted. Indeed, I feel confident of it.

MR. SUMNER. What Amendment?

MR. HENDERSON. An Amendment to the Constitution preventing any discrimination against the negro in the right of suffrage because of color.

MR. SUMNER. It cannot.

MR. HENDERSON. I thought in the bright lexicon of the Senator from Massachusetts there was no such word as “fail.”

MR. SUMNER. I thought the Senator meant that this proposition of the Reconstruction Committee could be adopted.

MR. HENDERSON. Oh, no! I never thought that.

MR. SUMNER. I believe that the Senator’s proposition can be adopted--gratefully adopted--by the country; but the other cannot be.

Mr. Williams, of Oregon, hesitated with regard to Mr. Sumner’s substitute, although he seemed to sympathize with the speech.

“Sir, I listened with profound admiration to the speech which the Senator delivered in favor of the proposed substitute. It was worthy of the subject, worthy of the occasion, worthy of the author; and when those who heard it shall be forgotten, the echoes of its lofty and majestic periods will linger and repeat themselves among the corridors of History. I cordially indorse the prevailing sentiment of that speech. I believe that the founders of this Republic intended that all freemen should participate in the political and civil rights of the country. I think the distinction which they made was not between white men and black men: that distinction is of modern origin: but the distinction which they made was between freemen and slaves.”