Monday, May 29, 2006

Citizenship for non-citizens: a dangerous position in 1865

"It is also unsatisfactory to some that the elective franchise is not given to the colored man. I would myself prefer that it were now conferred on the very intelligent, and on those who serve our cause as soldiers."
- Abraham Lincoln, speaking to the public from the White House, April 11, 1865

“That means nigger citizenship. That is the last speech he will ever make. By God, I’ll put him through.”
- John Wilkes Booth, to his companions in the audience, April 11, 1865

Booth assassinated Lincoln three days later.

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