With us the two great divisions of society are not the rich and the poor, but white and black, and all the former, the poor as well as the rich, belong to the upper class, and are respected and treated as equals, if honest and industrious, and hence have a position and pride of character of which neither poverty nor misfortune can deprive them.

Speech in the U.S. Senate (12 August 1849). - Speech in the U.S. Senate (August 1849)

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