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Quote by Thaddeus Stevens

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Thaddeus Stevens
Thaddeus Stevens

Thaddeus Stevens was a prominent United States Representative from Pennsylvania. He was a leader in the Radical Republican wing of the U.S. House of Representatives during the American Civil War and Reconstruction era. A fierce advocate for the abolition of slavery, Stevens played a crucial role in the passage of the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. more

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“Strip the proud nobility of their bloated estates, reduce them to a level with plain republicans, send forth to labor, and teach their children to enter the workshops or handle the plow, and you will thus humble proud traitors.”

“There are some who lack confidence in the integrity and capacity of the people to govern themselves. To all who entertain such fears I will most respectfully say that I entertain none. If man is not capable, and is not to be trusted with the government of himself, is he to be trusted with the government of others? Who, then, will govern? The answer must be, Man - for we have no angels in the shape of men, as yet, who are willing to take charge of our political affairs.”