Universal Emancipation Without Compensation: Speech of Hon. Charles Sumner, on the proposed amendment of the Constitution abolishing slavery through the United States, in the Senate of the United States, April 8, 1864.

Senator Charles Sumner was prolific in his writings against slavery. He pushed for radical abolition, railing against those, including Lincoln at one point, who supported ending slavery with the stipulation of financially compensating enslavers for their lost “property.” Sumner explains in this speech, delivered on April 8, 1864, that enslavers do not deserve compensation for freeing human beings.