The One Man Power vs. Congress: Charles Sumner's Address, Boston, 1866

What it is

This is a printed version of a speech by Charles Sumner, delivered at Music Hall in Boston on 2 October 1866. The title page reads 'The One Man Power vs. Congress!' and the pamphlet was printed by Weight and Potter, State Printers, Boston, in 1866. The archive copy is a scanned book from the Internet Archive, held as part of the Birney Anti-Slavery Collection. The file is a scan of the printed pamphlet, not the speech in Sumner's own handwriting, and the text is printed as it was published.

Why it matters

In 1866 Johnson and Congress disagreed about how the former Confederate states should return to the Union and how the formerly enslaved should be protected. Sumner, a Massachusetts senator and anti-slavery leader, argued that ex-rebels should be kept from political power and that the rights of the freed people and national creditors needed lasting guarantees. His speech shows how one political voice in the North judged Johnson's policies while the struggle over Reconstruction was turning into the later impeachment debate.

Look closer

• What does the title 'The One Man Power' suggest about how the speaker sees the President's authority?
• Who was the speaker writing for, and what would a listener in Boston in 1866 have expected from him?
• Which groups does the speech speak about directly, and which groups are mentioned less or not at all?