The state and the citizen of the state, by Reverend Jeremiah Eames Rankin, 1883

Prominent Congregational minister Jeremiah E. Rankin made the U.S. Constitution and the law the topic of his 1883 Thanksgiving Day sermon. In his address, he criticized both Congress and the Supreme Court for failing to protect the civil rights of African Americans. Rankin, who was white, later served as president of Howard University.

Rare Book and Special Collections Division, Library of Congress