Frases de Charles Sumner

Charles Sumner fue un político y estadista estadounidense de Massachusetts. Un profesor universitario y un orador de gran alcance, Sumner fue el líder de las fuerzas antiesclavistas en Massachusetts y un líder de los republicanos radicales en el Senado de los Estados Unidos durante la Guerra Civil y la Reconstrucción, y la contrapartida de Thaddeus Stevens en la cámara de Estados Unidos de Representantes. Saltó de partido en partido, ganando fama como un republicano. Uno de los estadistas más sabios de la época, se especializó en asuntos exteriores, trabajando en estrecha colaboración con Abraham Lincoln.

Dedicó sus energías a la enorme destrucción de lo que él consideraba la Potencia negrera, que era el plan de los propietarios de esclavos para tomar el control del gobierno federal y bloquear el progreso de la libertad. La violenta paliza sufrida en 1856 a manos del Representante por Carolina del Sur Preston Brooks en el suelo del Senado de Estados Unidos ayudó a escalar las tensiones que condujeron a la guerra. Después de años de terapia, Sumner volvió al Senado para ayudar a dirigir la Guerra de Secesión. Sumner fue uno de los principales defensores de la abolición de la esclavitud para debilitar a la Confederación. Aunque se mantuvo en buenas relaciones con Abraham Lincoln, fue un líder de la línea dura de los republicanos radicales.

Como líder Republicano Radical en el Senado durante la reconstrucción, 1865-1871, Sumner luchó para lograr la igualdad de derechos civiles y votar a favor de los libertos , y bloquear a los ex confederados para que no fueran a revertir la victoria en la Guerra de Secesión. Sumner, haciendo equipo con el líder de la Cámara Thaddeus Stevens, derrotó a Andrew Johnson, e impuso puntos de vista radicales sobre el Sur. En 1871, sin embargo, rompió con el presidente Ulysses Grant, a raíz de lo cual los partidarios de Grant en el Senado le quitaron la base del poder de Sumner, su presidencia del comité. Sumner, concluyendo que la corrupción de Grant ponía en peligro el éxito de las políticas de Reconstrucción, pidió un liderazgo nacional nuevo apoyando en las elecciones de 1872 al candidato liberal Horace Greeley y perdió su poder dentro del Partido Republicano.

Los estudiosos consideran a Sumner y Stevens como los defensores más importante de Estados Unidos de los derechos de los negros antes y después de la Guerra Civil. Un historiador dice que fue "quizá el hombre menos racista en Estados Unidos en su época." Un amigo de Sumner, el senador Carl Schurz, elogió la integridad de Sumner , su "coraje moral", la sinceridad "de sus convicciones", y el desinterés "de sus motivos." Sin embargo, el biógrafo de Sumner ganador del Premio Pulitzer, David Donald, le presenta como un moralista insoportablemente arrogante; un egoísta hinchado de orgullo; pontificias y olímpicos, e incapaz de distinguir entre las cuestiones grandes y pequeñas. Es más, concluye Donald, Sumner era un cobarde que evitó confrontaciones con sus muchos enemigos, a los que habitualmente insultaba en discursos preparados. Wikipedia  

✵ 6. enero 1811 – 11. marzo 1874
Charles Sumner Foto
Charles Sumner: 16   frases 0   Me gusta

Charles Sumner: Frases en inglés

“Slavery shall not exist anywhere within the United States or the jurisdiction thereof; and the Congress shall have power to make all laws necessary and proper to carry this prohibition into effect.”

Proposed amendment https://books.google.com/books?id=pmZEAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA24&dq=%22james+madison%22+%22property+in+man%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiwiczw5s_LAhVMOT4KHaM8CdMQ6AEINDAA#v=onepage&q=%22james%20madison%22%20%22property%20in%20man%22&f=false (8 April 1864)

“Senators undertake to disturb us… by reminding us of the possibility of large numbers swarming from China; but the answer to all this is very obvious and very simple. If the Chinese come here, they will come for citizenship or merely for labor. If they come for citizenship, then in this desire do they give a pledge of loyalty to our institutions; and where is the peril in such vows? They are peaceful and industrious; how can their citizenship be the occasion of solicitude?”

Speech https://books.google.com/books?id=HGM9AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA5172&lpg=PA5172&dq=%22Worse+than+any+heathen+or+pagan+abroad+are+those+in+our+midst+who+are+false+to+our+institutions.%22&source=bl&ots=n-wpUEfhND&sig=wHyJSOd8M1rswurZUUnUgAFrTn0&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjXtt2swKjLAhWFGD4KHWCjBDsQ6AEIHDAA#v=onepage&q=%22Worse%20than%20any%20heathen%20or%20pagan%20abroad%20are%20those%20in%20our%20midst%20who%20are%20false%20to%20our%20institutions.%22&f=false (4 July 1870)

“The Senator from South Carolina has read many books of chivalry, and believes himself a chivalrous knight, with sentiments of honor and courage. Of course he has chosen a mistress to whom he has made his vows, and who, though ugly to others, is always lovely to him; though polluted in the sight of the world, is chaste in his sight I mean the harlot, Slavery. For her, his tongue is always profuse in words.”

"The Crime against Kansas," speech in the Senate (May 18, 1856). The claims made against Senator Andrew Butler of South Carolina so angered Butler's cousin, Democrat Representative Preston Brooks, that Brooks assaulted Sumner with a cane in the Senate chamber a few weeks later

“Worse than any heathen or pagan abroad are those in our midst who are false to our institutions.”

Speech https://books.google.com/books?id=HGM9AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA5172 (1870)

“You must take care of the civil rights bill - my bill, the civil rights bill - don't let it fail.”

Last words https://web.archive.org/web/20010407205532/http://republicanbasics.com/Cover_Photos/cover_photos.html

“The time has passed for argument. Nothing more need be said. For a long time it has been clear that colored persons must be senators.”

As quoted in "First African American Senator" http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/First_African_American_Senator.htm, United States Senate

“The same national authority that destroyed slavery must see that this other pretension is not permitted to survive.”

As quoted in "The Ideology of the Republican Party" https://books.google.com/books?id=5Cl2cVkEV9wC&pg=PA65&dq=%22the+party+of+emancipation%22+GOP&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjW0tfNv5_LAhUJ8CYKHUxcBv4Q6AEILjAD#v=onepage&q=man's%20government&f=false, by Eric Foner, The Birth of the Grand Old Party: The Republicans' First Generation (2002), edited by Robert F. Engs and Randall M. Miller, Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania Press, p. 18

“With me, sir, there is no alternative. Painfully convinced of the unutterable wrongs and woes of slavery; profoundly believing that, according to the true spirit of the Constitution and the sentiments of the fathers, it can find no place under our National Government — that it is in every respect sectional, and in no respect national — that it is always and everywhere the creature and dependent of the States, and never anywhere the creature or dependent of the Nation, and that the Nation can never, by legislative or other act, impart to it any support, under the Constitution of the United States; with these convictions, I could not allow this session to reach its close, without making or seizing an- opportunity to declare myself openly against the usurpation, injustice, and cruelty, of the late enactment by Congress for the recovery of fugitive slaves. Full well I know, sir, the difficulties of this discussion, arising from prejudices of opinion and from adverse conclusions, strong and sincere as my own. Full well I know that I am in a small minority, with few here to whom I may look for sympathy or support. Full well I know that I must utter things unwelcome to many in this body, which I cannot do without pain. Full well I know that the institution of slavery in our country, which I now proceed to consider, is as sensitive as it is powerful — possessing a power to shake the whole land with a sensitiveness that shrinks and trembles at the touch. But, while these things may properly prompt me to caution and reserve, they cannot change my duty, or my determination to perform it. For this I willingly forget myself, and all personal consequences. The favor and good-will of my fellow-citizens, of my brethren of the Senate, sir, — grateful to me as it justly is — I am ready, if required, to sacrifice. All that I am or may be, I freely offer to this cause.”

"Freedom National, Slavery Sectional," speech in the Senate (July 27, 1852).

“Ideas are more important than battles.”

As quoted in Lies My Teacher Told Me https://books.google.com/books?id=5m23RrMeLt4C&printsec=frontcover&dq=%22lies+my+teacher+told+me%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CCYQ6AEwAGoVChMIgsHjgsrpxwIVBpANCh3kRgDA#v=snippet&q=even%20canada&f=false, by James W. Loewen

“If a man has done evil in his life, he must not be complimented in marble.”

As quoted in Simon, James F., Lincoln and Chief Justice Taney (2006), Simon and Schuster, p. 268.