General Nathaniel Greene reported September 26, 1780:"Treason of the blackest dye was yesterday discovered! General Arnold who commanded at West Point, was about to ... give the American cause a deadly wound if not fatal stab. Happily the treason had been timely discovered to prevent the fatal misfortune."
Booker T. Washington stated: "The man is unwise who does not cultivate in every manly way the friendship and goodwill of his next-door neighbor, whether he be black or white."
"Politics" is derived from the Greek word "polis," which means "city." Politics is the business of the city. "Citizen" is a Greek word which means "co-ruler." Where kings and despots have "subjects" who are subjected to their will, democracies and republics have "citizens" who are "co-rulers." A "popular government" is where the "population" of citizensgovern themselves.
He earned the nicknamed in Congress "The Hell-Hound of Slavery" for relentlessly speaking out against slavery, fighting to lift the Gag Rule which prohibited discussion of slavery on the House floor. Democrats tried to censure him. In 1839, he introduced a constitutional amendment to ban slavery in all new states entering the Union.
On February 3, 1790, less than three months before he died, Ben Franklin petitioned Congress:"For promoting the Abolition of Slavery, the relief of free Negroes unlawfully held in bondage, and the Improvement of the Condition of the African Races ... That mankind are all formed by the same Almighty Being, alike objects of His care and equally designed for the enjoyment of happiness."
