Richard Henry Dana, Jr., delivers his “Grasp of War Speech,” at Fanuel Hall, in Boston, Massachusetts:

       We advance no extreme or refined theory as to what may be included within the term “republican form of government.”  In the exercise of the extraordinary prerogatives of the [g]eneral [g]overnment to determine whether a state constitution is “republican” there must be practical wisdom and no refined theories.  If the constitutions with which the rebel states now come are not “republican” in such a reasonable and practical sense as nations act upon—if they are so un-republican as to endanger public peace and the stability of our institutions, then we may treat them as not “republican” in the American sense of the term.

       NOTE: Dana was intentionally vague in this speech, trying to avoid the issue of suffrage for Citizens of African heritage as every State in the compulsory Union—except for Rhode Island and Providence Plantations—restricted that right to Citizens of European heritage only.

       [added 4/22/2022]