"The words of the Constitution ... are so unrestricted by their intrinsic meaning or by their history or by tradition …"

"As the British Constitution is the most subtile organism which has proceeded from the womb and the long gestation of …"

"When this nation was in trouble, in its early struggles, it looked upon the Negro as a citizen. In 1776 he was a citi…"

"The Constitution was born in compromise and survived a civil war when compromise broke down only by radically changin…"

"During the war of the Revolution, and in 1788, the date of the adoption of our national Constitution, there was but o…"

"The will of the nation, speaking with the voice of battle and through the amended Constitution, has fulfilled the gre…"

"I always defended the Constitution, because it was for liberty. It was ordained by the people of the United States. N…"

"I love the Constitution. It is enshrined in my heart. I love it better than any dozen Democrats in the land do tonight."

"[T]he Constitution of the United States knows no distinction between citizens on account of color."

"[U]nder the Constitution in its most liberal interpretation, and admitting our cherished American doctrine of equal h…"