a slave, now, that he is a person, no longer
property, pronounce him a citizen, possessed of an entire equality of
privileges, civil and political. And not only the black man, but the
black woman, and all women as well.

And it was not until after the abolition of slavery, by which the
negroes became free men, hence citizens, that the United States
Attorney, General Bates, rendered a contrary opinion. He said:

"The constitution uses the word 'citizen' only to express the
political quality, (not equality mark,) of the individual in his
relation to the nation; to declare that he is a member of the body
politic, and bound to it by the reciprocal obligations of
allegiance on the one side, and protection on the other. The
phrase, 'a citizen of the United States,' without addition or
qualification, means neither more nor less than a member of the
nation."

Then, to be a citizen of this republic, is no more than to be a subject
of an empire. You and I, and all true and patriotic citizens must
repudiate this base conclusion. We all know that American citizenship,
without addition or qualification, means the possession of equal rights,
civil and political. We all know that the crowning glory of every
citizen of the United States is, that he can either give or withhold his
vote from every law and every legislator under the government.

Did "I am a Roman citizen," mean nothing more than that I am a "member"
of the body politic of the republic of Rome, bound to it by the
reciprocal obligations of allegiance on the one side, and protection on
the other? Ridiculously absurd question, you say. When you, young man,
shall travel abroad, among the monarchies of the old world, and there
proudly boast yourself an "American citizen," will you thereby declare
yourself neither more nor less than a "member" of the American nation?

And this opinion of Attorney General Bates, that a black citizen was not
a voter, made merely to suit the political exigency of the republican
party, in that transition hour between emancipation and enfranchisement,
was no less infamous, in spirit or purpose, than was the decision of
Judge Taney, that a black man was not one of the people, rendered in
the interest and at the behest of the old democratic party, in its
darkest hour of subjection to the slave power. Nevertheless, all of the
adverse arguments, adverse congressional reports and judicial opinions,
thus far, ha