Charles Sumner: his complete works, volume 11 (of 20)

A collection of speeches, reports, and letters addressing wartime and Reconstruction-era public policy, centered on abolition, civil rights, and legislative reform. It argues for universal emancipation, repeal of slaveholding laws, and political enfranchisement for formerly enslaved people, and proposes institutional measures such as a bureau to assist the transition from slavery to freedom. It also treats legal questions about testimony and caste, and engages detailed discussion of foreign claims, consular matters, national banking and currency, coinage, tariffs, and civil-service reform, blending legal analysis with moral and practical argumentation to influence congressional policy.