We the People

Charles Sumner: Conscience of a Nation

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Charles Sumner was an abolitionist senator who helped to write the post-Civil War Constitution and give birth to modern civil rights law. Zaakir Tameez, author of the new biography Charles Sumner: Conscience of a Nation, joins Jeffrey Rosen to discuss Sumner as a moral thinker, political activist, and constitutional visionary. 


Resources

  • Zaakir Tameez, Charles Sumner: Conscience of a Nation 
  • Zaakir Tameez, “What we can learn from the senator who nearly died for democracy,” The Washington Post (June 1, 2025) 
  • Richard Kreitner “Charles Sumner Was More Than Just a Guy Who Got Caned on the Senate Floor,” The New York Times (June 2, 2025


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      We the PeopleBy National Constitution Center