Revolutions never go backward.

But assuming the same premises, to wit, that all men are equal by the law of nature and of nations, the right of property in slaves falls to the ground; for one who is equal to another cannot be the owner or property of that other.

But you answer, that the Constitution recognizes property in slaves. It would be sufficient, then, to reply, that this constitutional recognition must be void, because it is repugnant to the law of nature and of nations.

No man will ever be President of the United States who spells 'negro' with two gs.

I have learned, by some experience, that virtue and patriotism, vice and selfishness, are found in all parties, and that they differ less in their motives than in the policies they pursue.

But I deny that the Constitution recognizes property in man.

The two systems slave and free-labor are incompatible. They have never permanently existed together in one country, and they never can.