The island of San Domingo, situated in tropical waters, and occupied by another race, of another color, never can become a permanent possession of the United States. You may seize it by force of arms or by diplomacy, where a naval squadron does more than the minister, but the enforced jurisdiction cannot endure. Already by a higher statute is that island set apart to the colored race... I protest against this legislation as another stage in a drama of blood. I protest against it in the name down, in the name of peace imperiled, and in the name of the African race, whose first effort at independence is rudely assailed.
Charles Sumner