Garrison on the Constitution
William Lloyd Garrison, The United States Constitution (1852)
"We
charge . . . that [the Constitution] was formed at the expense of human
liberty, by a profligate surrender of principle, and to this hour is cemented
with human blood . . . .
"To
the argument, that the words slaves' and 'slavery' are not to be found in the
Constitution, and therefore that it was never intended to give any protection
or countenance to the slave system, it is sufficient to reply, that though no
such words are contained in the instrument, other words were used,
intelligently and specifically, to meet the necessities of slavery. . . .
"Three
millions of the American people are crushed under the American Union! They are
held as slaves, trafficked as merchandise, registered as goods and chattels!
The government gives them no protection-the government is their enemy, the
government keeps them in chains! The Union which grinds them to the dust rests
upon us, and with them we will struggle to overthrow it! The Constitution which
subjects them to hopeless bondage is one that we cannot swear to support. Our
motto is, 'No Union with Slave holders.' . . . We separate from them to clear our
skirts of innocent blood and to hasten the downfall of slavery in America, and
throughout the world!"