I doubt if Senators are aware of the practical bearing of this proposition on the Atlantic seaboard, and even in California. I said on Saturday that I had letters from various parts of the country attesting that there are colored aliens shut out from equal rights by that word “white” in our Naturalization Laws. I did not then read the letters; but as this debate now promises to extend, I deem it my duty to lay some of them before the Senate. Mr. Sumner here read four letters,--two from Florida, one from California, and another from Virginia.[149] Such, Sir, is the personal testimony with regard to the importance, I would say the necessity, of this measure. Here are Africans in our country shut out from rights which justly belong to them, simply because Congress continues the word “white” in the Naturalization Laws. These men are humble, but they are none the less worthy of protection. Ay, Sir, it is your duty to protect them. Even if few, you cannot afford to let them suffer wrong; but they are numerous,--in Florida counted by the hundred, and even the thousand. Strong as this measure is, as an act of justice, whether to many or few, it has another title. Its highest importance is found in its conformity to the requirement of the Declaration of Independence. Sir, this is the Fourth of July, when our fathers together solemnly declared as follows:-- “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these rights governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.” The great, the mighty words of this clause are, that these self-evident, unalienable rights belong to “all men.” It is “all men,” and not a race or color, that are placed under protection of the Declaration; and such was the voice of our fathers on the fourth day of July, 1776. Sir, such was the baptismal vow of this nation. According to this vow, _all men_ are created equal and endowed with unalienable rights. But the statutes of the land assert the contrary,--they declaring that only all _white_ men are created equal. Now, Sir, what better thing can you do on this anniversary than to expunge from the statutes that unworthy limitation which dishonors and defiles the original Declaration? It is in your power to make the day more than ever sacred.