"The principle of our Revolution, as defined by its leaders with sublime simplicity, was, that as Liberty is a natural right of man, every man has consequent equal rights in society, subject indeed to limitation, but not to annihilation. 'But', cries Mister Douglas, in his Memphis speech last November. I quote his words, our fathers were not talking of Negroes, nor thinking of them ... they were speaking of white men, men of European birth, and they said they were equal, that is, equal to their brethren across the water. Well, it would have been perfectly easy to say, We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all white men of the European race upon this continent are created equal — to their brethren across the water; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; but that yellow, blacky brown, and red men have no such rights. It would have been very easy to say this. Our fathers did not say it, because they did not mean it. They were men who meant what they said, and who said what they meant, and meaning all men, they said all men. They were patriots asserting a principle and ready to die for it, not politicians pettifogging for the presidency."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Comedians from the United StatesEssayists from the United StatesSatirists from the United StatesEditors from the United StatesJournalists from Rhode Island
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Imported from EN Wikiquote
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/George_William_Curtis
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
George William Curtis
George William Curtis (24 February 1824 – 31 August 1892) was an American writer, reformer, public speaker, and political activist. He was an abolitionist and supporter of civil rights for African Americans and Native Americans. He also advocated women's suffrage, civil service reform, and public education.
79 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by George William Curtis →
Related Quotes
"While we read history we make history ... Every great crisis of human history is a pass of Thermopylae, and there is …"
"With the sure sagacity of a leader of men, Washington at once selected, for the highest and most responsible stations…"
"There are certain great sentiments which simultaneously possess many minds and make what we call the spirit of the ag…"
"Mr. Douglas incessantly remembers to inform us in every speech he has made for a year past that, when the Constitutio…"
"That is to say, within less than twenty years after the Constitution was formed, and in obedience to that general opi…"
"I will not weary you with the proof of this. James Madison, who knew perhaps as well as any one what the makers of th…"
"Our fathers, therefore, were fully alive to the scope of their words and their work; and thus, as I believe, the Cons…"
"In like manner the Reverend Dr. William A. Smith, President of the Randolph-Macon College in Virginia, in his work up…"
"If there be any fact in our history beyond dispute it is that Roger Sherman expressed the universal sentiment of our …"
"I walked beside the evening sea And dreamed a dream that could not be; The waves that plunged along the shore Said on…"