Podcasts · We the People

Charles Sumner: Conscience of a Nation

6 Jun 2025 · 59 min

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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Links in the notes 6

• https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250362551/charlessumner/
• https://css.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/06/01/charles-sumner-political-violence-slavery/
• https://visitor.r20.constantcontact.com/manage/optin?v=001isJLcA0NBDU2D_HGg2ohDtUUbfEfE-Gpl9t1---7rRBAsT4f5B7IV2UbsNZFPIVvYFY1ZtLK4zENNfTuda3Z_WJBoefPS8mnvM8KMyfAOq4%3D%0A%20
• https://constitutioncenter.org/news-debate/americas-town-hall-programs
• https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoAU4X6DUZSt5n6aI74Hw0A
• https://14948p.blackbaudhosting.com/14948p/General-Operating?_gl=1*1thklpf*_ga*MTc4MDkwODQzMi4xNjkyMTE0ODMz*_ga_0H9LQSTDVE*MTcxMjkyNzE4OS4yNDYuMS4xNzEyOTQyNjMyLjYwLjAuMA..