Publisher's Synopsis
Excerpt from Duplicate Copy of the Souvenir From the Afro-American League of Tennessee to Hon. James M. Ashley of Ohio
Honorable James M. Ashley early caught the living faith and prophetic spirit of Whittier. He felt and fully understood the ?agrant sin of slavery. This will appear vividly to all who shall read the addresses and orations which have been compiled by his negro friends and published in this volume. It was given to Mr. Ashley prior to and after the outbreak of the war of the rebellion, to point out the line of policy to be pursued in forum and field, for the salvation of the nation.
Conversant as I am with our anti-slavery literature for over half a century, and with the speeches and orations of our ablest anti-slavery leaders, I am warranted in saying that, among them all, there are few, if any, more worthy of preservation than are the prophetic speeches and orations contained in this book.
Remembering that truth is many-sided, and that few men, even with the best intentions, are able to see it except from its single or narrow side, the abundant charity to. Be found in Mr. Ashley's speeches becomes the more marked, and attests the nobility of the man.
To Mr. Ashley, as to few other great legislators, it was given to grasp with a firm understanding the problems in volved in our great battle with slavery and in the reconstrue tion of the government after the war. Like Sumner, Wilson, Wade, and Thaddeus Stevens, he saw the necessity of arm ing the negro with the panoply of the elective franchise.
He was foremost in the debate for this great measure, and did not hesitate to risk the success of his own election, by the prominent part he took in face of formidable opposition. Nor was this opposition confined to the members of the oppo site party. There were timid Republicans in those days, as there have been since, and this timidity was shared by his State and the people of his district, as well as by mem bers of Congress, and it is no marvel that his prominence in furtherance of this measure of enfranchisement. Caused his defeat.
With the aid of the Tribune Almanac, I am able to give the facts and figures in this case.
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