Charles Sumner vs. Abraham Lincoln
Side-by-side comparison of two thinkers
Charles Sumner
1811 – 1874
Charles Sumner was an American lawyer and statesman who represented Massachusetts in the United States Senate from 1851 until his death in 1874. Before and during the American Civil War, he was a leading American advocate for the abolition of slavery, and after the war he was a key figure in the Reconstruction era, during which he and other Radical Republicans successfully fought to end slavery and ensure basic rights for Black Americans. He continued advocating for racial equality until his death, lobbying in his final days for a civil rights bill that served as a model for the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
"I have fought a long battle with slavery; and I confess my solicitude when I see any thing that looks like concession to it. It is not enough to show me that a …"
Abraham Lincoln
1744 – 1786
Abraham Lincoln (1809) was the 16th President of the United States, who led the nation through the Civil War and abolished slavery.
"I can see how it might be possible for a man to look down upon the earth and be an atheist, but I cannot conceive how a man could look up into the heavens and s…"