"the legislation of the republic is in the hands of this handful of slaveholders. the body which gives the supreme law of the land, has just acceded to their demands, and dared to declare that under the charter of the nation, men of african descent are not citizens of the united states and can not be — that the ordinance of 1787 was void — that the american congress has no power to prevent the enslavement of men in the national territories — that the inhabitants themselves of the territories have no power to exclude human bondage from their midst — and that men of color can not be suitors for justice in the courts of the united states! "--the albany (new york) evening journal, 1857the author in this editorial is reacting to the supreme court decision in