A MASTER AT public engagement, Sumner nonetheless lacked the skills to navigate the inner halls of Congress to help draft and pass what became the Thirteenth Amendment. But that didn’t stop him from having some other legislative successes. In spring 1864, he pushed for bills to repeal the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850; to hire Black federal postal workers; and to open federal courts to Black testimony. The passage of all three bills (which Sumner introduced) indicated Republican openness to some forms of racial egalitarianism. Still, most Republicans were willing to go only so far: the Senate
...more
