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TEACHINGS 
 
 OF 
 
 PATRIOTS AND STATESMEN ; 
 
 OR, THE 
 
 “FOUNDERS OF THE REPUBLIC” 
 
 ON 
 
 SLAVERY. 
 
 By EZRA B. CHASE, Esq. 
 
 “FIAT JUSTITIA ” 
 
 PHILADELPHIA: 
 
 J. W BRADLEY, 48 N. FOURTH STREET. 
 18 6 1 . 
 
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1860, by 
 EZRA B. CHASE, 
 
 la the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the United States, in and for tha 
 Eastern District of Pennsylvania. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA: 
 
 STEREOTYPED BY S. A. GEORGE, 
 607 8ANSOM STREET. 
 
 nurriD by Kina a baibb. 
 
u h 
 
 h 
 
 <A-e 
 
 3 2 Q > 97 3 
 
 CL 4.8 ? 
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 In compiling the following pages, I have not 
 been influenced by partisan purposes ; neither 
 have I compiled them for the notoriety of having 
 my name appended to a book. The country is 
 sufficiently flooded already with partisan litera- 
 ture — books written for political advantage, or 
 pecuniary gain, or both. To such authorship I 
 do not aspire. If I have cherished an ambition 
 in reference to this work, it has been an ambition 
 to place before the people information upon the 
 subject that is now agitating the country, upon 
 which they can rely, — -the views and opinions of 
 those distinguished patriots and statesmen who 
 formed the government, and whose intentions and 
 principles should be heeded and carried out, if 
 we would preserve it from disruption and decay. 
 This information, or most of it, has hitherto beer 
 
 ( 5 ) 
 
 184653 
 
6 
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 locked up in scores of huge Congressional vol- 
 umes, entirely inaccessible to the general mass of 
 readers ; or if, by chance or otherwise, accessible, 
 requiring so much time and research as to ren- 
 der it comparatively valueless. 
 
 I believe the most that the people — the 
 voters — of this country desire, in reference to the 
 question of slavery, is, to know, from an authentic 
 source, what the framers of the Constitution 
 meant to do with it ; what relation they meant 
 the government should hold to the institution, 
 if any ; and that, knowing this, regardless of 
 the selfishness and fanaticism of politicians, north 
 or south, east or west, they will steadily pursue 
 the path marked out by their fathers, and per- 
 petuate the principles of Constitutional liberty 
 with every energy and effort in their power. 
 
 That there need be no mistake in this matter, 
 I have commenced this compilation with the de- 
 bates in the congress of the confederation, the 
 first form of a national government adopted by 
 the colonies after the declaration of independence. 
 These “Notes” were kept by Thomas Jefferson. 
 They are meagre, it is true, as are all the debates 
 of those times, for stenography was then un- 
 
INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 I 
 
 7 
 
 known ; but they furnish all, as well as the best, 
 lights we can get, of the opinions of the states- 
 men at that time. It will be seen that the 
 “Notes ” relate almost exclusively to the slavery 
 question, and hence we may conclude that then, 
 as now, that subject w'as one of difficulty as well 
 as delicacy. I have given the “Notes” in full, 
 pro and con — I could do no more ; and the 
 reader must form his own opinions, — mine would 
 be superfluous. 
 
 Passing from the Articles of the Confederation, 
 I have next taken up the Convention to form the 
 present Constitution. The only debates preserved 
 in that body were taken by Mr. Madison and 
 Mr. Yates ; the latter, however, left the Conven- 
 tion before its adjournment, and hence did not 
 take them fully. I have carefully compiled, from 
 both these sources, everything that was said and 
 done relating to slavery, together with such other 
 matter as seemed likely to be of interest at the 
 present time. It will be seen that here, too, 
 difficulties w r ere presented, that for a while 
 seemed likely to preclude the possibility of a 
 union of the States on their present basis; but 
 they were happily arranged, in a spirit of mutual 
 
8 
 
 INTKOPUCTOKY. 
 
 concession and compromise, upon the principle 
 of granting such powers as seemed necessary for 
 the good of the whole, specifically, and “ reserv- 
 ing to the people or the States, respectively,” all 
 powers not granted. These debates, too, are 
 meagre, but they are sufficient to give the intelli- 
 gent reader a clear notion of the intentions of 
 the Convention, and what powers are really 
 granted to Congress by that instrument of gov- 
 ernment which has shed so much happiness upon 
 our beloved country. 
 
 Pursuing the same purpose, I have next taken 
 up the conventions of the several States to ratify 
 the Constitution, and given everything relating 
 to the subject of slavery that was said and done 
 in them. 
 
 In some of these States the debates are quite 
 full ; in others but mere fragments have been pre- 
 served ; and in a few', none at all. I have given 
 everything I could find, and my facilities have 
 not been very limited, upon this subject. The 
 construction given to the Constitution by the wis« 
 and good men who deliberated upon its ratifica- 
 tion, many of whom had taken part in its forma- 
 tion, has been carefully and fully noted. I have 
 
INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 9 
 
 omitted nothing on this subject within the scope 
 of an ample library, and long, patient, and thor- 
 ough investigation. 
 
 Leaving the Constitution at the period of its 
 ratification by the requisite number of States, I 
 have next taken up the Ordinance of 1787, im- 
 portant in the history of the country as contain- 
 ing the first restriction upon the spread of slavery 
 ever adopted by these States, although it was 
 adopted under the Articles of Confederation, be- 
 fore the present Constitution was framed ; still, 
 it is deemed of importance at the present day, as 
 furnishing a precedent for the prohibition of 
 slavery in the Territories by the general govern- 
 ment. This chapter was compiled by Hon. Peter 
 Porce, of Washington, from original documents, 
 who has spent a lifetime in compiling the 
 archives of the government, under the authority 
 of Congress. It is unquestionably the only au- 
 thentic history of that famous ordinance ever 
 given to the country ; and I desire here to ex- 
 press to the great American compiler, my sincere 
 thanks for his courtesy and kindness in this 
 behalf. 
 
 Passing from this, the first action of Congress 
 
10 
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 upon the subject of slavery is taken up. This 
 occurred in 1790, the first Congress that assem- 
 bled under the present Constitution, and was had 
 upon the memorial of the Pennsylvania Abolition 
 Society. The report of the committee, and the 
 final action of Congress upon that subject, will 
 he found in this chapter. 
 
 The Virginia and Kentucky resolutions, drawn 
 by Messrs. Madison and Jefferson, defining the 
 rights and powers of the general government 
 and the States, are next given. 
 
 From this period till the application of Mis- 
 souri for admission into the Union, in 1820, the 
 question of slavery was not agitated in Congress 
 to any considerable extent. This was the first 
 discussion ever had in that body on the power of 
 Congress to restrict slavery in the territories of 
 the United States. A succinct and careful his- 
 tory of the difficulty is given, together with ex- 
 tracts from the speeches of the most prominent 
 statesmen of that time who participated in it, 
 embracing nearly the entire speech of General 
 Pinckney, who was the only member of Congress, 
 at that time, who was a member of the Conven- 
 tion that framed the Constitution. In this con- 
 
INTRODl CTORY. 
 
 11 
 
 nection, also, the reader will find the opinions of 
 Mr. Madison, Mr, Jefferson, Mr. Monroe, Gen- 
 eral Harrison, and others, upon the power of 
 Congress to restrict slavery in the national ter- 
 ritories. 
 
 From this period, down to 1854, the various 
 phases of slavery agitation is traced, and the 
 Hews of Clay, Calhoun, Benton, Cass, Dickinson, 
 Seward, Marcy, John Quincy Adams, Silas 
 Wright, Daniel Webster, and other of the emi- 
 nent statesmen of the times, of both political 
 parties, are given. A history of the Kansas- 
 Nebraska bill; extracts from the opinion of the 
 court in the Dred Scott case, and other opinions 
 of the courts in reference to slavery ; the inau- 
 gural addresses of Washington, Adams, Jefferson, 
 and Madison ; and the farewell addresses of 
 Washington and Jackson; may also be found. 
 
 Since 1854, the Whig party, as a national or- 
 ganization, has ceased to exist, and the Republi- 
 can party, organized particularly with reference 
 to the slavery question, has taken its place. I 
 have compiled nothing save the resolutions of the 
 Presidential conventions, subsequent to that pe- 
 riod, for the reason that congressional discussions 
 
12 
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 since that time are so familiar to the people, that 
 a synopsis, within the scope of this book, must be 
 
 too meagre for general interest. I have en- 
 
 * 
 
 deavored to give a fair and faithful compilation 
 of the views and opinions of the eminent states- 
 men of the country, of both parties, from the 
 organization of the government to 1854, while 
 both of the great political parties were organized 
 upon a basis that embraced the South as well as 
 the North. The base of the structure is laid in 
 the organization of the government itself, and 
 the views of the men who framed it. Let the 
 reader first examine well the base, and then, step 
 by step, ascend to the summit, examining, as he 
 ascends, the best lights he can obtain, and then, 
 like a rational, thinking, independent man, form 
 his own conclusions with reference to this ques- 
 tion, and act accordingly. Keeping in view the 
 peace and welfare of the country, he will hardly 
 act amiss, for there can be no safer guides for the 
 present, than the lights and precedents of the 
 past. 
 
 I can hardly expect that this volume will es- 
 cape partisan censure and criticism. Extremists, 
 both North and South, I have no doubt, will con- 
 
INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 13 
 
 demn it. This I cannot help ; I only ask the 
 reader to remember, that it is a compilation of 
 the opinions of those who laid, broad and deep, 
 the foundations of civil and religious liberty, 
 and of those eminent statesmen who succeeded 
 them, and who have shed a halo of fadeless glory 
 around the character of the American nation. 
 If I be the subject of reproach for the compila- 
 tion, what would be meted out to those patriots 
 and sages,, were they now upon earth, and should 
 they again proclaim the doctrines of their day 
 and generation! It is not I who speak, but 
 rather the voice of the immortal dead, a voice 
 from the tombs of those great spirits, who, 
 through the perils of war and revolution, estab- 
 lished a government, the freest and the happiest 
 on earth, and bequeathed it to us. Let us heed 
 their admonitions, emulate their virtues, and 
 profit by their examples. 
 
 E. B. C. 
 
 Wilkesbarre, Penn., June 18, 1860. 
 
. 
 
 . 
 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Occurrences incident to the Act of Confederation — Jefferson’s 
 notes of the debates on the Confederation — Mr. Chase’s mo- 
 tion in reference to white inhabitants— White inhabitants” 
 -Slaves- — Negroes not considered members of the State — - 
 Mr. Adams on the same subject — -Free and slave labor con- 
 trasted — Mr. Harrison’s compromise, that two slaves should 
 be counted as one freeman, and remarks thereon — Mr. Wilson 
 against slavery- — Mr. Payne’s remarks — Dr Witherspoon 
 against tax on slaves — Mr. Chase on the subject of each 
 eolony having one vote in Congress — Dr. Franklin, Dr. With- 
 erspoon, Mr. Adams, Dr. Rush, Mr. Hopkins, Mr. Wilson, on 
 the same subject — Ratification, and the Articles of Confede- 
 ration Page 21-43. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 The causes which led to the formation of the Constitution and 
 wherein the Articles of Confederation were deficient for the 
 purpose of a government, by Mr. Madison — Appointment of 
 delegates to form a Constitution — Organization of the con- 
 vention — Resolutions of Mr. Randolph, which became the 
 basis of the Constitution — Mr. Madison, on the equality of 
 suffrage — Speech of Alexander Hamilton, advocating mo- 
 narchical government ; also plan of government submitted by 
 him — Discussion continued — Angry discussion between Mr. 
 Madison, Mr. Martin, and others — Dr. Franklin proposes 
 prayer at the opening of the session — His remarks thereon — 
 Mr. Randolph proposes a sermon on the 4th of July — Pro- 
 
 05 ) 
 
16 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 position to adjourn sine die — Discussion continued — Report 
 of committee on the construction of Congress — Three-fifths 
 slaves included in representation — Concession of the smal 1 ' 
 States that the House should originate all money bills, in 
 consideration that they should have an equal representation 
 in the Senate — Debate thereon — Mr. Madison’s compromise — 
 Further debate on slave representation, and vote — Debate 
 on equality of votes in the Senate — Report of the Committee 
 of the whole House on Mr. Randolph’s resolutions — The 
 resolutions as reported — Mr. Rutledge’s report from the com- 
 mittee of detail — Discussion thereon by Mr. Madison, Dr 
 Franklin, and others — Mr. Madison’s proposition to give 
 Congress power to institute temporary governments for the 
 territories — Lengthy debate on slavery and the slave trade— • 
 Mr. Madison’s proposition to give Congress power to in- 
 stitute territorial governments struck out — Mr. Livingston’s 
 report on the importation of slaves — Discussion and vote 
 thereon — Fugitive slaves — “Needful rules and regulations 
 respecting the territory,” etc. — Report of the Constitution by 
 the committee of revision — The Constitution as reported and 
 adopted— Official letter to Congress — Articles of amendment 
 — When adopted Page 44-114. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Debates in the convention of Massachusetts — Rev. Mr. Backus, 
 on the religious test, and the importation of slaves — Mr. 
 Dawes’ remarks on slaves, and importation of — Gen. Heath, 
 ditto ; his remarks on the adoption of the Federal Constitu- 
 tion — Mr. King’s remarks on representation and taxation — 
 Debate in the convention of the State of New York — Mr, 
 Hamilton’s remarks on navigation, commerce, and slave rep- 
 resentation — Debate in the convention of the State of Con- 
 necticut — Mr. Ellsworth’s remarks on the necessity of a Union, 
 and the consequences of disunion — Debate in the convention 
 of Virginia. — Objections to the Constitution answered by Mr. 
 Nicholas — Powers of the government — Mr. Mason in op- 
 position to the slave trade — Mr. Madison on the same ; and 
 in reference to fugitive slaves — He prefers union with slavery 
 to disunion without it — Mr. Tyler against the slave trade — 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 17 
 
 Patrick Henry on the powers of Congress — Fugitive slaves — 
 Mr. Nicholas on slavery — Mr. Henry replies— Three-fifths of 
 the negroes represented — Mr. Mason on negro taxes — Mr. 
 Madison’s reply — Mr. Henry against emancipation — Gov. 
 Randolph on the same subject — Debate in the convention 
 of North Carolina — Mr. Goudy against negro taxation — 
 Negroes property — Mr. Davie — Mr. Spaight explains the 
 views of the Federal Convention — Mr. Iredell on slavery and 
 the slave trade — Mr. Galloway, Mr. Iredell and others, con- 
 tinue the discussion — Debate in the convention of South 
 Carolina — Mr. Lowndes on slavery and the slave trade — 
 Judge Pendleton, Mr. Rutledge, and Mr. Pinckney, on the 
 same subject Page 115-154. 
 
 CHAPTER IY. 
 
 History of the Ordinance of 1787, by Peter Force, Esq., com- 
 piler of the American Archives, by authority of Con- 
 gress Page 155-178 
 
 CHAPTER Y. 
 
 Memorial of the Pennsylvania Abolition Society to Congress on 
 the slave trade, and proceedings thereon, 1790.. Pape 179-183 
 
 CHAPTER YI. 
 
 Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions of 1798, drawn by Messrs. 
 Madison and Jefferson Page 184-194. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 The Missouri question in Congress, 1820 — Slavery restriction 
 offered by Mr. Storrs, of New York — Mr. Meiggs opposed — 
 Mr. Holmes’ speech on — Mr. Smyth, Mr. Reid, Mr. Scott, 
 Mr. Tucker, and Mr. Stevens on — Col. Richard M. Johnson 
 in the Senate on — Mr. Pinckney, a member of the Federal 
 Convention that framed the Constitution, on the power of 
 Congress to restrict slavery — Mr. Whiteman, Mr. Shaw, Mr. 
 Holmes, and Mr. Barber, on the same subject — Ex- 
 tracts Page 195-282. 
 
18 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Extracts from a letter from Mr. Madison to President Monroe, 
 on the Missouri restriction — Same in reply to Mr. Monroe — 
 Mr. Madison on the Ordinance of 1787— Draft of a veto by 
 Mr. Monroe on the bill establishing the Missouri Compro- 
 mise line — Extracts from several letters of Mr. Jefferson on 
 the Missouri restriction — Extract from a letter of Gen. 
 Harrison (afterward President) to Mr. Monroe on the same 
 subject Page 283-292. 
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 Fugitive slaves — Ordinance of 1787 — The Constitution — Act 
 of 1793 — Letters of Messrs. Marcy and Seward in favor of 
 allowing owners to hold slaves nine months in the State of 
 New York Page 293-306. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Slavery in the District of Columbia in 1831, 1835, and 1836 — 
 Remarks of John Quincy Adams, Silas Wright, and James 
 Buchanan on — Mr. Benton’s views Page 307-320. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 ■Agitation of slavery in the House of Representatives, in 1839, 
 and retiring of Southern members from the hall — “ The Gag- 
 Rule,” and vote thereon — Extract from Mr. Clay’s speech in 
 the Senate Page 321-348. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Resolution of Mr. Calhoun in 1847, and remarks on, Extract — 
 Extract from. Mr. Calhoun’s speech in 1848 — Resolution of 
 Daniel S. Dickinson, and remarks thereon, Extract, 1848 — 
 Extracts from the speeches of Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, 
 John C. Calhoun, Gen. Cass, and Gen. Houston, of the 
 Senate, on the Compromise Resolutions of Mr. Clay, in 1859 
 — Also Extracts from the speeches of Mr. Tombs, of Georgia, 
 Mr. Butler and Mr. Ross, of Pennsylvania, of the House of 
 Representatives, on the same subject — Also Extract from 
 “Southern Address.” Page 349-387. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 19 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 The Dred Scott decision — Extracts from the opinions of the 
 Court— Extract from the opinion of the Pennsylvania Su- 
 preme Court in 1837, that a negro cannot be a citizen — Prigg 
 vs. the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, by Judge Story, 
 Extract Page 388-408. 
 
 CHAPTER XIY. 
 
 Inaugural Addresses of Washington, Adams, Jefferson, and 
 Madison, and the Farewell Addresses of Washington and 
 Jackson Page 409-480. 
 
 CHAPTER XY. 
 
 Repeal of the Missouri Compromise and organization of the 
 Territories of Kansas and Nebraska in 1854.. .Page 481-487. 
 
 CHAPTER XYI. 
 
 National Conventions — Platforms of the various parties on the 
 subject of slavery, from 1848 to 1860 Page 488-495. 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE ARTICLES OP CONFEDERATION. 
 
 Previous to the adoption of the Declaration of Inde- 
 pendence, steps for the formation of a confederated govern- 
 ment, by and between the colonies, were taken. A common 
 danger seems to have impressed them with the necessity of 
 a union for the common defense. On the 11th of June, 
 1776, some three weeks prior to the adoption of the Decla- 
 ration, a committee of one from each colony was raised for 
 the purpose of preparing a plan of government. The com- 
 mittee soon after made a report, but it was not finally 
 adopted by Congress till the 15th of November, 17 17. 
 
 It was at the same time resolved by Congress that the 
 Articles of Confederation, as they were called, should be 
 presented to the legislature of each colony ; and, if ratified, 
 then their Delegates in Congress should, in that body, ap- 
 prove the same. The colonies seem to have been singularly 
 tardy in ratifying the articles. They were not ratified by 
 Maryland till the 30th of January, 1781 ; New Jersey and 
 Delaware also withheld their consent till some time during 
 the year 1779 ; and it was not till after a circular-letter by 
 Congress had been sent to the legislatures of the several 
 colonies, appealing in the most patriotic terms to their 
 love of country and to their sense of common danger, that 
 the Articles of Confederation were adopted by the whole 
 of the thirteen colonies. From that time they took the 
 name of States, a name more sovereign and independent in 
 signification. They were no longer colonies — dependencies 
 of Great Britain. 
 
 ( 21 ) 
 
22 
 
 ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION. 
 
 JEFFERSON’S NOTES OF DEBATE ON CON- 
 FEDERATION. 
 
 On Friday, July 12, 1777, the committee appointed to 
 draw the Articles of Confederation reported them, and on 
 the 22d, the house resolved themselves into a committee to 
 take them into consideration. On the 30th and 31st of that 
 month, and 1st of the ensuing, those articles were debated 
 which determined the proportion or quota of money which 
 each State should furnish to the common treasury, and the 
 manner of voting in Congress. The first of these articles 
 was expressed, in the original draft, in these words : 
 
 “Art. XI. All charges of war, and all other expenses 
 that shall be incurred for the common defense or general 
 welfare, and allowed by the United States assembled, shall 
 be defrayed out of a common treasury, which shall be sup- 
 plied by the several colonies in proportion to the number 
 of inhabitants of every age, sex, and quality, except Indians 
 not pajing taxes, in each colony — a true account of which, 
 distinguishing the white inhabitants, shall be triennially 
 taken, and transmitted to the Assembly of the United States.” 
 
 , Mr. Chase moved that the quotas should be fixed, not 
 by the number of inhabitants of every condition, but by that 
 of the “ white inhabitants.” He admitted that taxation 
 should be always in proportion to property ; that this was, 
 in theory, the true rule ; but that, from a variety of difficul- 
 ties, it was a rule which could never be adopted in practice. 
 The value of the property in every State could never be 
 estimated justly and equally. Some other measures for the 
 wealth of the State must therefore be devised, some standard 
 referred to, which would be more simple. He considered 
 the number of inhabitants as a tolerably good criterion of 
 property, and that this might always be obtained. He 
 therefore thought it the best mode which we could adopt, 
 with one exception only ; he observed that negroes are 
 property, and as such, cauuot be distinguished from the lands 
 
ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION. 
 
 23 
 
 or personalties held in those States where there are few 
 slaves; that the surplus of profit which a Northern farmer 
 is able to lay by, he invests in cattle, horses, &c., whereas 
 a Southern farmer lays out the same surplus in slaves. There 
 is no more reason, therefore, for taxing the Southern States 
 on the farmer’s head, and on his slave’s head, than the North- 
 ern ones on their farmer’s heads and the heads of their cattle ; 
 that the method proposed would therefore tax the Southern 
 States according to their numbers and their wealth con- 
 junctly, while the Northern would be taxed on numbers 
 only ; that negroes, in fact, should not be considered as 
 members of the State more than cattle, and that they have 
 no more interest in it. 
 
 Mr. John Adams observed, that the numbers of people 
 are taken, by this Article, as an index of the wealth of the 
 State, and not as subjects of taxation ; that, as to this mat- 
 ter, it was of no consequence by what name you called your 
 people, whether by that of freemen or slaves ; that in some 
 countries, the laboring poor are called freemen , in others 
 they are called slaves, but that the difference as to the State 
 was imaginary only. What matters it whether a landlord, 
 employing ten laborers on his farm, give them annually as 
 much money as will buy them the necessaries of life, or give 
 them those necessaries at short hand ? The ten laborers 
 add as much wealth to the State, increase its exports as 
 much, in the one case as the other. Certainly five hundred 
 freemen produce no more profits, no greater surplus for the 
 payment of taxes, than five hundred slaves. Therefore, the 
 State in which are the laborers called freemen should be 
 taxed no more than that in which are those called slaves. 
 Suppose, by an extraordinary operation of nature or of law, 
 one-half the laborers of a State could, in the course of one 
 night, be transformed into slaves, would the State be made 
 the poorer, or the less able to pay taxes ? That the con- 
 dition of the laboring poor in most countries — that of the 
 
24 
 
 ARTICLES OF CUNFELE RATION. 
 
 fishermen, particularly of the Northern States — is as abject 
 as that of slaves. It is the number of laborers which pro- 
 duce the surplus for taxation ; and numbers, therefore, in- 
 discriminately, are the fair index to wealth ; that it is the 
 use of the word “ property” here, and its application to 
 some of the people of the State, which produce the fallacy. 
 How does the Southern farmer procure slaves ? Either by 
 importation, or by purchase from his neighbor. If he im- 
 ports a slave, he adds one to the number of laborers in his 
 country, and, proportionably, to its profits and ability to 
 pay taxes. If he buys from his neighbor, it is only a trans- 
 fer of a laborer from one farm to another, which does not 
 change the annual produce of the State, and therefore should 
 not change its tax; that if a Northern farmer works ten 
 laborers on his farm, he can, it is true, invest the surplus of 
 ten men’s labor in cattle ; but so may the Southern farmer, 
 working ten slaves ; that a State of one hundred thousand 
 freemen can maintain no more cattle than one of one hundred 
 thousand slaves. Therefore, they have no more of that kind 
 of property. That a slave may, indeed, from the custom of 
 speech, be more properly called the wealth of his master, 
 than the free laborer might be called the wealth of his em- 
 ployers ; but as to the State, both were equally its wealth, 
 and should therefore equally add to the quota of its tax. 
 
 Mr. Harrison proposed, as a compromise, that two 
 slaves should be counted as one freeman. He affirmed that 
 slaves did not do as much work as freemen, and doubted if 
 two effected more than one ; that this was proved by the 
 price of labor — the hire of a laborer in the Southern colo- 
 nies being from £8 to £12, while in the Northern it was 
 generally £24. 
 
 Mr. Wilson said that, if this amendment should take 
 place, the Southern colonies would have all the benefit of 
 slaves, whilst the Northern ones would bear the burden ; 
 that slaves increase the profits of a State, which the 
 
ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION. 
 
 25 
 
 Southern States mean to take to themselves ; that they also 
 increase the burden of defense, which would of course fall 
 so much the heavier on the Northern ; that slaves occupy 
 the places of freemen, and eat their food. Dismiss your 
 slaves, and freemen will take their places. It is our duty 
 to lay every discouragement on the importation of slaves ; 
 but this amendment would give the just rium liberorum to 
 him who would import slaves ; that other kinds of property 
 were pretty equally distributed through all the colonies ; — 
 there were as many cattle, horses, and sheep, in the North 
 as the South, and South as North ; but not so as to slaves ; 
 — that experience has shown that those colonies have been 
 always able to pay most which have the most inhabitants, 
 whether they be black or white ; and the practice cf the 
 Southern colonies has always been to make every farme.‘ pay 
 poll taxes upon all his laborers, whether they be black or 
 white. He acknowledges, indeed, that freemen worw the 
 most, but they consume the most also. They do not pro- 
 duce a greater surplus for taxation. The slave is neither 
 fed nor clothed so expensively as a freeman. Again, %hite 
 women are exempted from labor generally, but negro woolen 
 are not. In this, then, the Southern States have an advan- 
 tage, as the Article now stands. It has sometimes bten 
 said that slavery is necessary, because the commodities they 
 raise would be too dear for market, if cultivated by free- 
 men ; but now it is said that the labor of the slave is the 
 dearest. 
 
 Mr. Payne urged the original resolution of Congress, 
 to proportion the quotas of the States to the number of 
 souls. 
 
 Dr. Witherspoon was of opinion that the value of lands 
 and houses was the best estimate of the wealth of a nation, 
 and that it was practicable to obtain such a valuation. This 
 is the true barometer of wealth. The one now proposed is 
 imperfect in itself, and unequal between the States. It has 
 
26 
 
 ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION. 
 
 been objected that negroes eat the food of freemen, and 
 therefore should be taxed ; horses also eat the food of free- 
 men, therefore they also should be taxed. It has been said, 
 too, that in carrying slaves into the estimate of the taxes 
 the State is to pay, we do no more than those States them- 
 selves do, who always take slaves into the* estimate of the 
 taxes the individual is to pay. But the cases are not 
 parallel. In the Southern colonies slaves pervade the whole 
 colony, but they do not pervade the whole continent. That 
 as to the original resolution of Congress, to proportion the 
 quotas according to the souls, it was temporary only, and 
 related to the moneys heretofore remitted ; whereas we are 
 now entering into a new compact, and therefore stand on 
 original ground. 
 
 August 1. The question being put, the amendment 
 proposed was rejected by the votes of New Hampshire, 
 Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New 
 Jersey, and Pennsylvania, against those of Delaware, Mary- 
 land, Virginia, North and South Carolina. Georgia was 
 divided. 
 
 The other article was in these words : — “ Art. XVII. In 
 determining questions, each colony shall have one vote.” 
 
 July 30, 31, August 1. Present forty-one members. Mr. 
 Chase observed, that this Article was the most likely to 
 divide us of any one proposed in the draft then under con- 
 sideration. That the larger colonies had threatened they 
 would not confederate at all, if their weight in Congress 
 should not be equal to the numbers of people they added to 
 the confederacy, while the smaller ones declared against a 
 union, if they did not retain an equal vote for the protection 
 of their rights. That it was of the utmost consequence to 
 bring the parties together, as, should we sever from each 
 other, either no foreign power will ally with us at all, or the 
 different States will form different alliances, and thus in- 
 crease the h >rrors of those scenes of civil war and bloodshed 
 
ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION. 
 
 27 
 
 which, in such a state of separation and independence, would 
 render us a miserable people. That our importance, our 
 interests, our peace, required that we should confederate, 
 and that mutual sacrifices should be made to effect a com- 
 promise of this difficult question. He was of opinion 
 the smaller colonies would lose their rights, if they were 
 not in some instances allowed an equal vote ; and therefore 
 that a discrimination should take place among the ques- 
 tions which would come before Congress. That the smaller 
 States should be secured in all questions concerning life or 
 liberty, and the greater ones in all respecting property. He 
 therefore proposed that, in votes relating to money, the 
 voice of each colony should be proportioned to the number 
 of its inhabitants. 
 
 Dr. Franklin thought that the votes should be so pro- 
 portioned in all cases. He took notice that the Delaware 
 counties had bound up their delegates to disagree to this 
 article. He thought it very extraordinary language to be 
 held by any State, that they would not confederate with us 
 unless we would let them dispose of our money. Certainly, 
 if we vote equally we ought to pay equally ; but the smaller 
 States will hardly purchase the privilege at this price. 
 That, had he lived in a State where the representation, 
 originally equal, had become unequal by time and accident, 
 he might have submitted rather than disturb government; 
 but that we should be very wrong to set out in this practice, 
 when it is in our power to establish what is right. That, 
 at the time of the union between England and Scotland, 
 the latter had made the objection which the smaller States 
 now do ; but experience had proved that no unfairness had 
 ever been shown them ; that their advocates had prognos- 
 ticated that it would again happen, as in times of old, that 
 the whale would swallow Jonah, but he thought the predic- 
 tion reversed in event, and that Jonah had swallowed the 
 whale; for the Scotch had, in fact, got possession of the 
 
28 
 
 ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION. 
 
 government, and gave laws to the English. He reprobated 
 the original agreement of Congress to vote by colonies, 
 and therefore was for their voting, in all cases, according 
 to the number of taxables. 
 
 Dr. Witherspoon opposed every alteration of the article. 
 All men admit that a confederacy is necessary. Should the 
 idea get abroad that there is likely to be no union among us, 
 it will damp the minds of the people, diminish the glory of 
 our struggle, and lessen its importance ; because it will open 
 to our view future prospects of war and dissension among 
 ourselves. If an equal vote be refused, the smaller States 
 will become vassals to the larger ; and all experience has 
 shown that the vassals and subjects of Free States are the 
 most enslaved. He instanced the helots of Sparta and the 
 provinces of Rome. He observed that foreign powers, dis- 
 covering this blemish, would make it a handle for disengag- 
 ing the smaller States from so unequal a confederacy. That 
 the colonies should, in fact, be considered as individuals ; 
 and that, as such, in all disputes they should have an equal 
 vote ; that they are now collected as individuals making a 
 bargain with each other, and, of course, had a right to vote 
 as individuals. That in the East India Company they voted 
 by persons, and not by their proportion of stock. That 
 the Belgic confederacy voted by provinces. That in ques- 
 tions of war the smaller States were as much interested as 
 the larger, and therefore should vote equally ; and indeed, 
 that the larger States were more likely to bring war on the 
 confederacy, in proportion as their frontier was more exten- 
 sive. He admitted that equality of representation was an 
 excellent principle, but then it must be of things which are 
 co-ordinate ; that is, of things similar, and of the same na- 
 ture ; that nothing relating to individuals could ever come 
 before Congress ; nothing but what would respect Colonies. 
 He distinguished between an incorporating and a federal 
 union. The union of England was an incorporating one ; 
 
ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION. 
 
 29 
 
 yet Scotland had suffered by that union ; for that its inhab- 
 itants were drawn from it by the hopes of places and em- 
 ployments; nor was it an instance of equality of represen- 
 tation ; because while Scotland was allowed nearly a thir- 
 teenth of representation, they were to pay only one-fortieth 
 of the land-tax. He expressed his hopes that, in the present 
 enlightened state of men’s minds, we might expect a lasting 
 confederacy, if it was founded on fair principles. 
 
 John Adams advocated the voting in proportion to 
 numbers. He said, that we stand here as the representa- 
 tives of the people ; that in some States the people are 
 many, in others they are few ; that therefore their vote here 
 should be proportioned to the numbers from whom it comes. 
 Reason, justice, and equity, never had weight enough, on 
 the face of the earth, to govern the councils of men. It is 
 interest alone which does it, and it is interest alone which 
 can be trusted ; that therefore the interests within doors 
 should be the mathematical representatives of the interests 
 without doors ; that the individuality of the colonies is a 
 mere sound. Hoes the individuality of a colony increase 
 its wealth or numbers ? If it does, pay equally. If it does 
 not add weight in the scale of the confederacy, it cannot 
 add to their rights, nor weigh in argument. A has £50, B 
 £500, C £1000, in partnership. Is it just they should 
 equally dispose of the moneys of the partnership ? It has 
 been said we are independent individuals, making a bargain 
 together. The question is not what we are now, but what 
 we ought to be when our bargain shall be made. The con- 
 federacy is to make us one individual only ; it is to form us, 
 like separate parcels of metal, into one common mass. We 
 shall no longer retain our separate individuality, but become 
 a single individual, as to all questions submitted to the con- 
 federacy. Therefore all those reasons which prove the jus- 
 tice and expediency of equal representation in other assem- 
 blies hold good here. It has been objected that a propor- 
 
30 
 
 ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION. 
 
 tional vote will endanger the smaller States. We answer, 
 that an equal vote will endanger the larger. Virginia, 
 Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts, are the three greater colo- 
 nies. Consider their distance, their difference of produce, 
 of interests, and of manners, and it is apparent they can 
 never have an interest or inclination to combine for the op- 
 pression of the smaller ; that the smaller will naturally di- 
 vide on all questions with the larger. Rhode Island, from 
 its relation, similarity, and intercourse, will generally pur- 
 sue the same objects with Massachusetts ; Jersey, Delaware, 
 and Maryland, with Pennsylvania. 
 
 Dr. Rush took notice, that the decay of the liberties of 
 the Dutch republic proceeded from three causes — 1. The per- 
 fect unanimity requisite on all occasions ; 2. Their obligation 
 to consult their constituents ; 3. Their voting by provinces. 
 This last destroyed the equality of representation ; and the lib- 
 erties of Great Britain, also, are sinking from the same defect. 
 That a part of our rights is deposited, in the hands of our leg- 
 islatures. There, it was admitted, there should be an equality 
 of representation. Another part of our rights is deposited 
 in the hands of Congress. Why is it not equally necessary 
 there should be an equal representation there? Were it 
 possible to collect the whole body of the people together, 
 they would determine the question submitted to them by 
 their authority. Why should not the same majority decide, 
 when voting here by their representatives ? The larger 
 colonies are so providentially divided in situation, as to 
 render every fear of their combining visionary. Their in- 
 terests are different, and their circumstances dissimilar. It 
 is more probable they will become rivals, and leave it in 
 the power of the smaller States to give preponderance to 
 any scale they please. The voting by the number of free 
 inhabitants will have one excellent effect — that of inducing 
 the colonies to discourage slavery and to encourage the in- 
 crease of their free inhabitants. 
 
ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION. 
 
 31 
 
 Mr. Hopkins observed, there were four larger, four 
 smaller, and four middle-sized colonies. That the foqr 
 largest would contain more than half the inhabitants of 
 the confederating States, and therefore would govern the 
 ; filers as they should please. That history affords no in- 
 stance of such a thing as equal representation. The Ger- 
 manic body votes by States ; the Helvetic body does the 
 same ; and so does the Belgic confederacy. That too little 
 is known of the ancient confederations to say what was 
 their practice. 
 
 Mr. Wilson thought that taxation should be in propor- 
 tion to wealth, but that representation should accord with 
 the number of freemen. 
 
 That government is a collection or result of the wills of 
 all ; that if any government could speak the will of all, it 
 would be perfect ; and that, so far as it departs from this, 
 it becomes imperfect. It has been said that Congress is a 
 representation of States, not of individuals. 
 
 I say, that the objects of its care are all the individuals 
 of the States. It is strange that annexing the name of 
 “ State” to ten thousand men, should give them an equal 
 right with forty thousand. This must be the effect of 
 magic, not of reason. As to those matters which are 
 referred to Congress, we are not so many States ; we are 
 one large State. We lay aside our individuality whenever 
 we come here. 
 
 The Germanic body is a burlesque on government, and 
 their practice on any point is a sufficient authority and 
 proof that it is wrong. The greatest imperfection in the 
 constitution of the Belgic confederacy is their voting by 
 provinces. The interest of the whole is constantly sacri- 
 ficed to that of the small States. 
 
 The history of the war in the reign of Queen Anne 
 sufficiently proves this. It is asked, Shall nine colonies put 
 it into the power of four to govern them as they please ? 
 
82 
 
 ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION. 
 
 I invert the question, and ask, Shall two millions of people 
 put it into the power of one million to govern them as they 
 please ? It is pretended, too, that the smaller colonies will 
 be in danger from the greater. Speak in honest language, 
 and say, the minority will be in danger from the majority. 
 And is there an assembly on earth where this danger may 
 not be equally pretended? The truth is, that our proceed- 
 ings will then be consentaneous with the interests of the 
 majority, and so they ought to be. The probability is 
 much greater that the larger States will disagree, than that 
 they will combine. 
 
 I defy the wit of man to invent a possible case, or to 
 suggest any one thing on earth, which shall be for the 
 interests of Virginia, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts, and 
 which will not also be for the interests of the other States. 
 
 These Articles, reported July 12, ’16, were debated from 
 day to day, and time to time, for two years ; were ratified 
 July 9, ’18, by ten States; by New Jersey, on the 26th of 
 November of the same year; and by Delaware, on the 23d 
 of February following. Maryland, alone, held off two years 
 more, acceding to them, March 1, ’81, and thus closing the 
 obligation. Following are the Articles : — 
 
 ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION AND PERPETUAL 
 UNION BETWEEN THE STATES. 
 
 To all to whom these Presents shall come, We, the un- 
 dersigned Delegates of the States affixed to our names, 
 send greeting. — Whereas, the Delegates of the United 
 States of America, in Congress assembled, did, on the 15th 
 day of November, in the Year of our Lord 1717, and in 
 the Second Year of the Independence of America, agree 
 to certain Articles of Confederation and perpetual Union 
 between the States of New Hampshire, Massachusetts-bay, 
 Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Connecticut, 
 New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Mary- 
 
ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION. 
 
 33 
 
 land, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and 
 Georgia, in the words following, viz.: 
 
 “ Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union between 
 the States of New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, 
 Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Connecticut, 
 New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Ma- 
 ryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and 
 Georgia. 
 
 Article 1. The style of this Confederacy shall be “ The 
 United States of America.” 
 
 Article 2. Each State retains its sovereignty, freedom 
 and independence, and every power, jurisdiction and right, 
 which is not by this confederation expressly delegated to 
 the United States in Congress assembled. 
 
 Article 3. The said States hereby severally enter into 
 a firm league of friendship with each other, for their com- 
 mon defense, the security of their liberties, and their mutual 
 and general welfare, binding themselves to assist each other 
 against all force offered to, or attacks made upon them, or 
 any of them, on account of religion, sovereignty, trade, or 
 any other pretense whatever. 
 
 Article 4. The better to secure and perpetuate mutual 
 friendship and intercourse among the people of the different 
 States in this Union, the free inhabitants of each of these 
 States — paupers, vagabonds, and fugitives from justice ex- 
 cepted — shall be entitled to all privileges and immunities of 
 free citizens in the several States ; and the people of each 
 State shall have free ingress and regress to and from any 
 other State, and shall enjoy therein all the privileges of 
 trade and commerce, subject to the same duties, impositions 
 and restrictions, as the inhabitants thereof respectively, pro- 
 vided that such restriction shall not extend so far as to 
 prevent the removal of property, imported into any State, 
 to any other State of which the owner is an inhabitant ; 
 
 3 
 
34 
 
 ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION. 
 
 provided, also, that no imposition, duties or restriction shall 
 be laid by any State on the property of the United States, 
 or either of them. 
 
 If any person guilty of, or charged with treason, felony, 
 or other high misdemeanor in any State, shall flee from 
 justice, and be found in any of the United States, he shall 
 upon demand of the Governor, or executive power of the 
 State from which he fled, be delivered up and removed to 
 the State having jurisdiction of his offense. 
 
 Full faith and credit shall be given in each of these 
 States, to the records, acts and judicial proceedings of the 
 courts and magistrates of every other State. 
 
 Article 5. For the more convenient management of the 
 general interest of the United States, Delegates shall be 
 annually appointed, in such manner as the legislature of 
 each State shall direct, to meet in Congress on the first 
 Monday in November, in every year, with a power reserved 
 to each State, to recall its Delegates, or any of them, at any 
 time within the year, and to send others in their stead, for 
 the remainder of the year. 
 
 No State shall be represented in Congress by less than 
 two, nor by more than seven members ; and no person shall 
 be capable of being a Delegate for more than three years 
 in any term of six years ; nor shall any person, being a 
 Delegate, be capable of holding any office under the United 
 States, for which he, or another for his- benefit, receives any 
 salary, fees or emolument of any kind. 
 
 Each State shall maintain its own Delegates in any 
 meeting of the States, and while they act as members of 
 the Committee of the States. 
 
 In determining questions in the United States, in Con- 
 gress assembled, each State shall have one vote. 
 
 Freedom of speech and debate in Congress shall not be 
 impeached or questioned in any court or place, out of Con- 
 gress, and the members of Congress shall be protected in 
 
ARTICLES Of CONFEDERATION. 
 
 35 
 
 their persons from arrests and imprisonments, during the 
 time of their going to and from, and attendance on Con- 
 gress, except for treason, felony, or breach of the peace. 
 
 Article 6. No State without the consent of the United 
 States in Congress assembled, shall send any embassy to, or 
 receive any embassy from, or enter into any conference, 
 agreement, alliance or treaty with any King, Prince or 
 State ; nor shall any person holding any office of profit or 
 trust under the United States, or any of them, accept of any 
 present, emolument, office or title of any kind whatever from 
 any King, Prince or Foreign State ; nor shall the United 
 States in Congress assembled, or any of them, grant any 
 title of nobility. 
 
 No two or more States shall enter into any treaty, con- 
 federation or alliance whatever between them, without the 
 consent of the United States in Congress assembled, speci- 
 fying accurately the purposes for which the same is to be 
 entered into, and how long it shall continue. 
 
 No State shall lay any imposts or duties which may 
 interfere with any stipulations in treaties, entered into by 
 the United States in Congress assembled, with any King, 
 Prince or State, in pursuance of any treaties already pro- 
 posed by Congress, to the Courts of France and Spain. 
 
 No vessels of war shall be kept up in time of peace by any 
 State, except such number only, as shall be deemed necessary 
 by the United States in Congress assembled, for the defense 
 of such State, or its trade ; nor shall any body of forces be 
 kept up by any State, in time of peace, except such number 
 only, as in the judgment of the United States, in Congress 
 assembled, shall be deemed requisite to garrison the forts 
 necessary for the defense of such State ; but every State shall 
 always keep up a well regulated and disciplined militia, 
 sufficiently armed and accoutred, and shall provide and have 
 constantly ready for use, in public stores, a due number of 
 
36 
 
 ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION. 
 
 field pieces and tents, and a proper quantity of arras, ammu- 
 nition and camp equipage. 
 
 No State shall engage in any war without the consent of 
 the United States in Congress assembled, unless such Slate 
 e actually invaded by enemies, or shall have received 
 «rtain advice of a resolution being formed by some nation 
 if Indians to invade such State, and the danger is so immi- 
 nent as not to admit of a delay, till the United States in 
 Congress assembled can be consulted : nor shall any State 
 grant commissions to any ships or vessels of war, nor letters 
 of marque or reprisal, except it be after a declaration of war 
 by the United States in Congress assembled, and then only 
 against the kingdom or State, and the subjects thereof, 
 against which war has been so declared, and under such 
 regulations as shall be established by the United States in 
 Congress assembled, unless such State be infested by pirates, 
 in which case vessels of war may be fitted out for that occa- 
 sion, and kept so long as the danger shall continue, or until 
 the United States in Congress assembled shall determine 
 otherwise. 
 
 Article T. When land-forces are raised by any State 
 for the common defense, all officers of or under the rank of 
 colonel, shall be appointed by the legislature of each State 
 respectively by whom such forces shall be raised, or in such 
 manner as such State shall direct, and all vacancies shall be 
 filled up by the State which first made the appointment. 
 
 Article 8. All charges of war, and all other expenses 
 that shall be incurred for the common defense or general 
 welfare, and allowed by the United States in Congress 
 assembled, shall be defrayed out of a common treasury, 
 which shall be supplied by the several States, in proportion 
 to the value of all land within each State, granted to or sur- 
 veyed for any person, as such land and the buildings and 
 improvements thereon shall be estimated according to such 
 mode as the United States in Congress assembled, shall from 
 
ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION. 
 
 37 
 
 time to time, direct and appoint. The taxes for paying 
 that proportion shall be laid aud levied by the authority 
 and direction of the Legislatures of the several States within 
 the time agreed upon by the United States in Congress 
 assembled. 
 
 Article 9. The United States in Congress assembled 
 shall have the sole and exclusive right and power of deter- 
 mining on peace and war, except in the cases mentioned in 
 the 6th article — of sending aud receiving ambassadors — 
 entering into treaties and alliances, provided that no treaty 
 of commerce shall be made whereby the legislative power 
 of the respective States shall be restrained from imposing 
 such imposts and duties on foreigners, as their own people 
 are subjected to, or from prohibiting the exportation or 
 importation of any species of goods or commodities whatso- 
 ever — of establishing rules for deciding in all cases what 
 captures on land or water shall be legal, and in what manner 
 prizes taken by laud or naval forces in the service of the 
 United States shall be divided or appropriated — of granting 
 letters of marque and reprisal in times of peace — appointing 
 courts for the trial of piracies and felonies committed on the 
 high seas and establishing courts for receiving and deter- 
 mining finally appeals in all cases of captures, provided that 
 no member of Congress shall be appointed a judge of any 
 of the said courts. 
 
 The United States in Congress assembled shall also be 
 the last resort on appeal in all disputes and differences now 
 subsisting or that hereafter may arise between two or more 
 States concerning boundary, jurisdiction, or any other cause 
 whatever ; which authority shall always be exercised in the 
 manner following : — Whenever the legislative or executive 
 authority or lawful agent of any State in controversy with 
 another shall present a petition to Congress, stating the 
 matter in question and praying for a hearing, notice thereof 
 shall be given by order of Congress, to the legislative or 
 
38 
 
 ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION. 
 
 executive authority of the other State in controversy, and a 
 day assigned for the appearance of the parties by their lawful 
 agents, who shall then be directed to appoint by joint con- 
 sent, commissioners or judges to constitute a court for hear- 
 ing and determining the matter in question : but if they 
 cannot agree, Congress shall name three persons out of each 
 of the United States, and from the list of such persons each 
 party shall alternately strike out one, the petitioners begin- 
 ning, until the number shall be reduced to thirteen ; and 
 from that number not less than seven, nor more than nine 
 names as Congress shall direct, shall in the presence of 
 Congress be drawn out by lot, and the persons whose names 
 shall be so drawn or any five of them, shall be commissioners 
 or judges, to hear and finally determine the controversy, so 
 always as a major part of the judges who shall hear the 
 cause shall agree in the determination : and if either party 
 shall neglect to attend at the day appointed, without showing 
 reasons which Congress shall judge sufficient, or being 
 present shall refuse to strike, the Congress shall proceed to 
 nominate three persons out of each State, and the Secretary 
 of Congress shall strike in behalf of such party absent or 
 refusing ; and the judgment and sentence of the court to be 
 appointed, in the manner before prescribed, shall be final 
 and conclusive ; and if any of the parties shall refuse to 
 submit to the authority of such court, or to appear or defend 
 their claim or cause, the court shall nevertheless proceed to 
 pronounce sentence, or judgment, which shall in like manner 
 be final and decisive, the judgment or sentence and other 
 proceedings being in either case transmitted to Congress, 
 and lodged among the acts of Congress for the security of 
 the parties concerned : provided that every commissioner, 
 before he sits in judgment, shall take an oath to be admin- 
 istered by one of the judges of the Supreme or Superior 
 Court of the State where the cause shall be tried, “well 
 and truly to hear and determine the matter in question, 
 
ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION. 
 
 39 
 
 according to the best of his judgment, without favor, affec- 
 tion, or hope of reward provided also that no State shall 
 be deprived of territory for the benefit of the United States. 
 
 All controversies concerning the private right of soil 
 claimed under different grants of two or more States, whose 
 jurisdictions as they may respect such lands, and the States 
 which passed such grants, are adjusted; the said grants or 
 either of them being at the same time claimed to have 
 originated antecedent to such settlement of jurisdiction, 
 shall, on the petition of either party to the Congress of the 
 United States, be finally determined as near as may be in 
 the same manner as is before prescribed for deciding dis- 
 putes respecting territorial jurisdiction between different 
 States. 
 
 The United States in Congress assembled shall also have 
 the sole and exclusive right and power of regulating the 
 alloy and value of coin struck by their own authority, or 
 by that of the respective States — fixing the standard of 
 weights and measures throughout the United States — regu- 
 lating the trade and managing all affairs with the Indians, 
 not members of any of the States ; provided that the legis- 
 lative right of any State within its own limits be not in- 
 fringed or violated — establishing or regulating post-offices 
 from one State to another, throughout all the United States, 
 and exacting such postage on the papers passing through 
 the same as may be requisite to defray the expenses of the 
 said office — appointing all officers of the land forces, in the 
 service of the United States, excepting regimental officers — 
 appointing all the officers of the naval forces, and com- 
 missioning all officers whatever in the service of the United 
 States — making rules for the government and regulation of 
 the said land and naval forces, and directing their operations. 
 
 The United States in Congress assembled shall have 
 authority to appoint a committee, to sit in the recess of 
 Congress, to be denominated “A Committee of the States,’' 
 
40 
 
 ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION. 
 
 and to consist of one delegate from each State; anil to 
 appoint such other committees and civil officers as may be 
 necessary for managing the general affairs of the United 
 States under their direction — to appoint one of their number 
 to preside ; provided that no person be allowed to serve in 
 the office of president more than one year in any term of 
 three years — to ascertain the necessary sums of money to 
 be raised for the service of the United States, and to ap- 
 propriate and apply the same for defraying the public 
 expenses — to borrow money, or emit bills on the credit of 
 the United States, transmitting every half year to the 
 respective States an account of the sums of money so bor- 
 rowed or emitted ^-to build and equip a navy — to agree 
 upon the number of laud forces, and to make requisitions 
 from each State for its quota, in proportion to the number 
 of white inhabitants in such State ; which requisition shall 
 be binding, and thereupon the legislature of each State 
 ‘■hall appoint the regimental officers, raise the men and 
 clothe, arm and equip them in a soldier-like manner, at the 
 expense of the United States ; and the officers and men so 
 clothed, armed and equipped, shall march to the place 
 appointed, and within the time agreed on by the United 
 States in Congress assembled: But if the United States 
 in Congress assembled shall, on consideration of circum- 
 stances, judge proper that any State should not raise men, 
 or should raise a smaller number than its quota, and that 
 any other State should raise a greater number of men than 
 the quota thereof, such extra number shall be raised, 
 officered, clothed, armed and equipped in the same manner 
 as the quota of such State, unless the legislature of such 
 State shall judge that such extra number cannot be safely 
 spared out of the same, in which case they shall raise, officer, 
 clothe, arm and equip as many of such extra number as 
 they judge can be safely spared. And the officers and men 
 bo clothed, armed and equipped, shall march to the place 
 
ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION. 
 
 41 
 
 appointed, and within the time agreed on by the United 
 States in Congress assembled. 
 
 The United States in Congress assembled shall never 
 engage in a war, nor grant letters of marque and reprisal 
 in time of peace, nor enter into any treaties or alliances, nor 
 coin money, nor regnlate the value thereof, nor ascertain 
 the sums and expenses necessary for the defense and welfare 
 of the United States, or any of them, nor emit bills, nor 
 borrow money on the credit of the United States, nor 
 appropriate money, nor agree upon the number of vessels 
 of war to be built or purchased, or the number of land or 
 sea forces to be raised, nor appoint a commander-iu-chief 
 of the army or navy, unless nine States assent to the same : 
 nor shall a question on auy other point, except for adjourn- 
 ing from day to day, be determined, unless by the votes of 
 a majority of the United States in Congress assembled. 
 
 The Congress of the United States shall have power to 
 adjourn to any time within the year, and to any place within 
 the United States, so that no period of adjournment be for 
 a longer duration than the space of six months, and shall 
 publish the journal of their proceedings monthly, except 
 such parts thereof relating to treaties, alliances, or military 
 operations, as in their judgment require secrecy ; and the 
 yeas and nays of the delegates of each State on any question 
 shall be entered on the journal, when it is desired by any 
 delegate ; aud the delegates of a State, or auy of them, at 
 his or their request, shall be furnished with a transcript of 
 the said journal, except such parts as are above excepted, 
 to lay before the legislatures cf the several States. 
 
 Article 10. The committee of the States, or any nine 
 of them, shall be authorized to execute, in the recess of 
 Congress, such of the powers of Congress as the United 
 States in Congress assembled, by the consent of nine States, 
 shall, from time to time think expedient to vest them with ; 
 provided that no power be delegated to the said committee. 
 
42 
 
 ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION. 
 
 for the exercise of which, by the Articles of Confederation, 
 the voice of nine States in the Congress of the United States 
 assembled is requisite. 
 
 Article 11. Canada, acceding to this confederation 
 and joining in the measures of the United States, shall be 
 admitted into, and entitled to all the advantages of this 
 union ; but no other colony shall be admitted into the 
 same, unless such admission be agreed to by nine States. 
 
 Article 12. All bills of credit emitted, moneys bor- 
 rowed and debts contracted by, or under the authority of 
 Congress, before the assembling of the United States, in 
 pursuance of the present confederation, shall be deemed 
 and considered as a charge against the United States, for 
 payment and satisfaction whereof the said United States 
 and the public faith are hereby solemnly pledged. 
 
 Article 13. Every State shall abide by the deter- 
 minations of the United States in Congress assembled, on 
 all questions which by this confederation is submitted to 
 them. And the articles of this confederation shall be in- 
 violably observed by every State, and the union shall be 
 perpetual ; nor shall any alteration at any time hereafter be 
 made in any of them ; unless such alteration be agreed to in 
 a Congress of the United States, and be afterward con- 
 firmed by the legislatures of every State. 
 
 And Whereas it hath pleased the Great Governor of the 
 World to incline the hearts of the legislatures we respec- 
 tively represent in Congress, to approve of, and to authorize 
 us to ratify the said Articles of Confederation and perpetual 
 union. Know Ye that we, the undersigned delegates, by 
 virtue of the power and authority to us given for that pur- 
 pose, do by these presents, in the name and in behalf of 
 our respective constituents, fully and entirely ratify and 
 confirm each and every of the said Articles of Confederation 
 and perpetual union, and all and singular the matters and 
 things therein contained : And we do further solemnly 
 
ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION. 
 
 43 
 
 plight and engage the faith of our respective constituents, 
 that they shall abide by the determinations of the United 
 States in Congress assembled, on all questions, which by 
 the said confederation are submitted to them. And that 
 the articles thereof shall be inviolably observed by the 
 States we respectively represent, and that the union shall be 
 perpetual. In witness whereof we have hereunto set our 
 hands in Congress. Done at Philadelphia, in the State of 
 Pennsylvania, the 9th day of July, in the Tear of our Lord, 
 1778, and in the 3d year of the Independence of America. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE FEDERAL CONVENTION. 
 
 The following, from the papers of Mr. Madison, is the 
 concluding portion of an article by him, detailing the causes 
 which led to the formation of the Constitution : 
 
 A resort to a general convention to re-model the con- 
 federacy, was not a new idea. It had entered at an early 
 date into the conversations and speculations of the most 
 reflecting and foreseeing observers of the inadequacy of the 
 powers allowed to Congress. In a pamphlet published in 
 May, 1181, at the seat of Congress, Peletiah Webster, an 
 able though not conspicuous citizen, after discussing the 
 fiscal system of the United States, and suggesting, among 
 other remedial provisions, one including a national bank, 
 remarks, that “the authority of Congress at present is very 
 inadequate to the performance of their duties ; and this 
 indicates the necessity of their calling a Continental Con- 
 vention for the express purpose of ascertaining, defining, 
 enlarging, and limiting the duties and powers of their Con- 
 stitution.” 
 
 On the 1st of April, 1183, Col. Hamilton, in a debate in 
 in Congress, observed, “ That he wished, instead of them, 
 (partial conventions), to see a general convention take 
 place ; and that he should soon, in pursuance of his instruc- 
 tions from his constituents, propose to Congress a plan for 
 that purpose, the object of which would be to strengthen 
 the Federal Constitution.” He alluded, probably, to the 
 resolutions introduced by General Schuyler, in the Senate, 
 and passed unanimously by the Legislature of New York, 
 ( 44 ) 
 
THE FEDERAL CONVENTION". 
 
 45 
 
 in the summer of 1782, declaring “that the confederation 
 was defective, in not giving Congress power to provide a 
 revenue for itself, or in not investing them with funds from 
 established and productive sources ; and that it would be 
 advisable for Congress to recommend to the States to call 
 a general convention, to revise and amend the confedera- 
 tion.” It does not appear, however, that his expectation 
 had been fulfilled. 
 
 In a letter to James Madison from U. H. Lee, then 
 president of Congress, dated the 26th of November, 1184, 
 he says : “it is by many here suggested, as a very necessary 
 step for Congress to take, the calling on the States to form 
 a convention, for the sole purpose of revising the confedera- 
 tion, so far as to enable Congress to execute, with more 
 energy, effect, and vigor, the powers assigned to it, than it 
 appears by experience that they can do under the present 
 state of things.” The answer of Mr. Madison remarks : 
 “ I hold it for a maxim, that the Union of the States is 
 essential to their safety against foreign danger and internal 
 contention ; and that the perpetuity and efficacy of the 
 present system cannot be confided in. The question, there • 
 fore, is in what mode and at what moment, the experiment 
 for supplying the defects ought to be made.” 
 
 In the winter of 1784-5, Noah Webster, whose political 
 and other valuable writings had made him known to the 
 public, proposed, in one of his publications, “A new system 
 of government, which should act, not on the States, but 
 directly on individuals, and vest in Congress full power to 
 carry its laws into effect.” 
 
 The proposed and expected Convention at Annapolis, 
 the first of a general character that appears to have been 
 realized, and the state of the public mind awakened by it, 
 had attracted the particular attention of Congress, and fa- 
 vored the idea there of a Convention with fuller powers for 
 amending the confederacy 
 
46 
 
 THE FEDERAL CONVENTION. 
 
 It does not appear that in any of these cases the re- 
 formed system was to be otherwise sanctioned than by the 
 legislative authority of the States ; nor whether, nor how 
 far, a change was to be made in the structure of the de- 
 pository of federal powers. 
 
 The Act of Virginia, providing for the Convention at 
 Philadelphia, was succeeded by appointments from the 
 other States, as their legislatures were assembled, the ap- 
 pointments being selections from the most experienced and 
 high-standing citizens. Rhode Island was the only excep- 
 tion to a compliance with the recommendation from An- 
 napolis, well known to have been swayed by an obdurate 
 adherence to an advantage, which her position gave her, of 
 taxing her neighbors through their consumption of im- 
 ported supplies — an advantage which it was foreseen would 
 be taken from her by a revisal of the Articles of Con- 
 federation. 
 
 As the public mind had been ripened for a salutary re- 
 form of the political system, in the interval between the 
 proposal and the meeting of the Commissioners at Anna- 
 polis, the interval between this last event and the meeting of 
 Deputies at Philadelphia, had continued to develop more 
 and more the necessity and the extent of a systematic pro- 
 vision for the preservation and government of the Union. 
 Among the ripening incidents, was the insurrection of 
 Shays, in Massachusetts, against her government, which 
 was with difficulty suppressed, notwithstanding the influ- 
 ence on the insurgents of an apprehended interposition of 
 the federal troops. 
 
 At the date of the Convention, the aspect and retrospect 
 of the political condition of the United States could not 
 but fill the public mind with a gloom, which was relieved 
 only by a hope that so select a body would devise an ade- 
 quate remedy for the existing and prospective evils so im- 
 pressively demanding it. 
 
THE FEDERAL CONVENTION'. 
 
 47 
 
 It was seen that the public debt, reudered so sacred by 
 the cause in which it had been incurred, remained without 
 any provision for its payment. The reiterated and elabo- 
 rate efforts of Congress, to procure from the States a more 
 adequate power to raise the means of payment, had failed. 
 The effect of the ordinary requisitions of Congress had only 
 displayed the inefficiency of the authority making them ; 
 none of the States having duly complied with them, some 
 having failed altogether, or nearly so, while in one instance, 
 that of New Jersey, a compliance was expressly refused ; 
 nor was more yielded to the expostulations of members of 
 Congress, deputed to her legislature, than a mere repeal 
 of the law, without a compliance. The want of authority 
 in Congress to regulate commerce had produced in foreign 
 nations, particularly Great Britain, a monopolizing policy’ - , 
 injurious to the trade of the United States, and destructive 
 to their navigation ; the imbecility, and anticipated disso- 
 lution of the Confederacy, extinguishing all apprehensions 
 of a countervailing policy on the part of the United States. 
 The same want of a general power over commerce, led to 
 an exercise of the power, separately, by the States, which 
 not only proved abortive, but engendered rival, conflicting, 
 and angry regulations. Beside the vain attempts to supply 
 their respective treasuries -by imposts, which turned their 
 commerce into the neighboring ports, and to coerce a re- 
 laxation of the British monopoly of the West India navi- 
 gation, which was attempted by Virginia, the States having 
 ports for foreign commerce, taxed and irritated the adjoin- 
 ing States trading through them — as New York, Pennsyl- 
 vania, Virginia, and South Carolina. Some of the States, 
 as Connecticut, taxed imports from others, as from Massa- 
 chusetts, which complained in a letter to the Executive of 
 Virginia, and doubtless to those of other States. In sun- 
 dry instances, as of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, 
 and Maryland, the navigation laws treated the citizens of 
 
48 
 
 THE FEDERAL CONVENTION. 
 
 other States as aliens. In certain cases, the authority of 
 the confederacy was disregarded — as in violation, not only 
 of the treaty of peace, but of treaties with France and 
 Holland ; which were complained of to Congress. In 
 other cases, the Federal authority was violated by treaties 
 and wars with Indians, as by Georgia ; by troops raised 
 and kept up without the consent of Congress, as by Massa- 
 chusetts ; by compacts without the consent of Congress, as 
 between Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and between Vir- 
 ginia and Maryland. From the legislative journals of 
 Virginia, it appears, that a vote, refusing to apply for a 
 sanction of Congress, was followed by a vote against the 
 communication of the compact to Congress. In the inter- 
 nal administration of the States, a violation of contracts 
 had become familiar, in the form of depreciated paper, 
 made a legal tender, of property substituted for money, of 
 instalment laws, and of the occlusions of the courts of jus- 
 tice, although evident that all such interferences affected 
 the rights of other States, relatively creditors, as well as 
 citizen creditors within the State. Among the defects 
 .which had been severely felt, was want of a uniformity in 
 cases requiring it, as laws of naturalization and bank- 
 ruptcy ; a coercive authority operating on individuals ; and 
 a guarantee of the internal tranquillity of the States. 
 
 As a natural consequence of this distracted and disheart- 
 ening condition of the Union, the federal authority had 
 ceased to be respected abroad, and dispositions were shown, 
 particularly in Great Britain, to take advantage of imbecility, 
 and to speculate on its approaching downfall. At home, 
 it had lost all confidence and credit ; the unstable and unjust 
 career of the States had also forfeited the respect and confi- 
 dence essentia! to order and good government, involving a 
 general decay of confidence and credit between man and 
 man. It was found, moreover, that those least partial to 
 popular government, or most distrustful of its efficacy, were 
 
THE FEDERAL CONVENTION. 
 
 49 
 
 yielding to anticipations, that, from an increase of the con- 
 fusion, a government might result more congenial with their 
 taste or their opinions ; whilst those most devoted to the 
 principles and forms of republics were alarmed for the cause 
 of liberty itself, at stake in the American experiment, and 
 anxious for a system that would avoid the inefficacy of a 
 mere loose confederacy, without passing into the opposite 
 extreme of a consolidated government. It was known that 
 there were individuals who had betrayed a bias toward 
 monarchy, and there had always been some not unfavorable 
 to a partition of the Union into several confederacies, either 
 from a better chance of figuring on a sectional theatre, or 
 that the sections would require stronger governments, or, 
 by their hostile conflicts, lead to a monarchical consolida- 
 tion. The idea of dismemberment had recently made its 
 appearance in the newspapers. 
 
 Such were the defects, the deformities, the diseases, and 
 the ominous prospects, for which the Convention was to pro- 
 vide a remedy, and which ought never to be overlooked in 
 expounding and appreciating the constitutional charter, the 
 remedy that was provided. 
 
 As a sketch on paper, the earliest, perhaps, of a consti- 
 tutional government for the Union, (organized into regular 
 departments, with physical means operating on individuals,) 
 to be sanctioned by the people of the States, acting in their 
 original and sovereign character, was contained in the letters 
 of James Madison to Thomas Jefferson, of the 19th of 
 March : to Governor Randolph, of the 8th of April ; and 
 to General Washington, of the 16th of April, 1781. 
 
 The feature in these letters which vested in the general 
 authority a negative on the laws of the States, was suggested 
 by the negative in the head of the British Empire, which 
 prevented collisions between the parts and the whole, and 
 between the parts themselves. It was supposed that the 
 substitution of an elective and responsible authority for an 
 4 
 
50 
 
 THE FEDERAL CONVENTION. 
 
 hereditary and irresponsible one would avoid the appearance 
 even of a departure from republicanism. But, although the 
 subject was so viewed in the Convention, and the votes on 
 it were more than once equally divided, it was finally and 
 justly abandoned, as, apart from other objections, it was 
 not practicable among so many States, increasing in number, 
 and enacting, each of them, so many laws. Instead of the 
 proposed negative, the objects of it were left as finally pro- 
 vided for in the Constitution. 
 
 On the arrival of the Virginia deputies at Philadelphia, 
 it occurred to them, that from the early and prominent part 
 taken by that State in bringing about the Convention, some 
 initiative step might be expected from them. The resolu- 
 tions introduced by Governor Randolph were the result of 
 a consultation on the subject, with an understanding that 
 they left all the deputies entirely open to the lights of dis- 
 cussion, and free to concur in any alterations or modifications 
 which their reflections and judgments might approve. The 
 resolutions, as the journals show, became the basis on which 
 the proceedings of the Convention commenced, and to the 
 developments, variations, and modifications of which, the 
 plan of government proposed by the Convention may be 
 traced. 
 
 APPOINTMENT OP DELEGATES BY STATES. 
 
 New Hampshire. — By Act of June 27, 1781, John 
 Langdon, John Pickering, Nicholas Gilman, and Benjamin 
 West, or any two of them, were “ appointed and author- 
 ized to act as deputies from this State to meet at Philadel- 
 phia, delegates from the other States of this Confederacy, 
 to devise ways to avert the dangers which threaten our ex- 
 istence as a free people.” 
 
 Massachusetts. — Francis Dana, Elbridge Gerry, Na- 
 thaniel Gorham, Rufus King, and Caleb Strong were chosen 
 
THE FEDERAL CONVENTION. 
 
 51 
 
 by the General Court, April 9, 1787, and any three of them 
 authorized to act. 
 
 Connecticut. — William S. Johnson, Roger Sherman, 
 and Oliver Ellsworth, appointed by Act of the General As- 
 sembly of the second Thursday of May, 1187. 
 
 New York. — Robert Yates, John Lansing, Jr., and 
 Alexander Hamilton, appointed by Act of Assembly, March 
 6, 1787. 
 
 New Jersey. — David Brearly, Wm. C. Houston, Wil- 
 liam Patterson, and John Neilson, appointed by the Coun- 
 cil and Assembly, November 23, 1786. On the 18th May, 
 1787, William Livingston and Abraham Clark, — and on 
 the 5th June following, Jonathan Dayton, were added to 
 those first appointed, and any three of them empowered to 
 act. 
 
 Pennsylvania. — December 30, 1786, Thomas Mifflin, 
 Robert Morris, George Clymer, Jared Ingersoll, Thomas 
 Fitzsimmons, James Wilson, and Gouverneur Morris were 
 appointed by an Act of the General Assembly ; and by 
 Act of 28th March, 1787, Benjamin Franklin was added L> 
 the list. 
 
 Delaware. — George Read, Gunning Bedford, Joh<i 
 Dickinson, Richard Basset, and Jacob Broom, or any three 
 of them, were appointed by Act of Assembly of February S, 
 1787. 
 
 Maryland. — James McHenry, Daniel of St. ThomM 
 Jenifer, Daniel Carroll, John Francis Mercer, and Luther 
 Martin were appointed by the House of Delegates and 
 Senate, May 26, 1187. 
 
 Virginia. — On the 4th December, 1786, by the Housi of 
 Delegates, with the concurrence of the Senate, George 
 Washington, Patrick Henry, Edmund Randolph, John 
 Blair, James Madison, George Mason, and George Wythe, 
 were appointed. Mr. Henry declined, and James McClurg 
 
52 
 
 THE FEDERAL CONVENTION. 
 
 was appointed by Governor Randolph, in his place on the 
 2d May, 1787. 
 
 North Carolina. — By Act of the Senate and House of 
 Commons, in January, 1787, Richard Caswell, Alexander 
 Martin, William Richardson Davie, Richard Dobbs Spaight, 
 and Willie Jones were appointed. Mr. Caswell resigned, 
 and on the twenty- third of April William Blount was ap- 
 pointed in his stead; Willie Jones declining the appoint- 
 ment, Hugh Williamson was appointed by the Governor in 
 his place. 
 
 South Carolina.. — By Act of March 8, 1787, Charles 
 Pinckney, John Rutledge, Charles C. Pinckney, and Pierce 
 Butler were commissioned. 
 
 Georgia. — By an ordinance of 10th February, 1787, Wil- 
 liam Few, Abraham Baldwin, William Pierce, George Wal- 
 ton, William Houston, and Nathaniel Pendleton appointed 
 deputies from this State. 
 
 ABSTRACT OP THE JOURNAL AND DEBATES IN 
 THE FEDERAL CONVENTION. 
 
 . On Monday the 14th of May, A. D., 1787, and in the 
 eleventh year of the Independence of the United States of 
 America, at the State House in the city of Philadelphia, in 
 virtue of appointments from their respective States, sundry 
 deputies to the Federal Convention appeared ; but a ma- 
 jority of States not being represented, the members pres- 
 ent adjourned from day to day until Friday the 25th of the 
 said month, when, in virtue of the said appointments, ap- 
 peared from the State of 
 
 Massachusetts. — The Hon. Rufus King, Esq. 
 
 New York. — The Hon. Robert Yates, and Alexander 
 Hamilton, Esqs. 
 
 New Jersey. — The Hon. David Brearly, William Church- 
 hill Houston, and William Patterson, Esqs. 
 
THE FEDERAL CONVENTION. 
 
 63 
 
 Pennsylvania. — The Hon. Robert Morris. Thomas Fitz- 
 simmons, James Wilson, and Gouverneur Morris, Esqs. 
 
 Delaware. — The Hon. George Read, Richard Bassett, 
 and Jacob Broom, Esqs. 
 
 Virginia. — His Excellency George Washington, Esq., 
 His Excellency E. Randolph, Esq., The Hon. John Blair, 
 James Madison, George Mason, George Wythe, and James 
 McClurg, Esqs. 
 
 North Carolina. — The Hon. Alexander Martin, Wil- 
 liam Richardson Davie, Richard Dobbs Spaight, and 
 Hugh Williamson, Esqs. 
 
 South Carolina. — The Hon. John Rutledge, Charles 
 Cotesworth Pinckney, Pierce Butler, and Charles Pinckney, 
 Esqs. 
 
 Georgia. — The Hon. William Few, Esq. 
 
 Hon. Robert Morris of Pennsylvania moved that a Pre- 
 sident be elected by ballot, and nominated George Wash- 
 ington. A ballot was taken and he was declared unani-^ 
 mously elected, and was conducted to the Chair by Mr. 
 Morris and Mr. Rutledge. William Jackson was elected 
 Secretary, Nicholas Weaver, Messenger, and Joseph Frye, 
 Door-Keeper. 
 
 Mr. Wythe, Mr. Hamilton, and Mr. C. Pinckney were 
 appointed a Committee on Rules, and the Convention ad- 
 journed till Monday at 10 o’clock. 
 
 Monday, May 28, 1181. — The Convention met; Natha- 
 niel Gorham and Caleb Strong, deputies from Massachu- 
 setts, Oliver Ellsworth from the State of Connecticut, Gun- 
 ning Bedford from Delaware, James McHenry from Mary- 
 land ; Benjamin Franklin, George Clymer, Thomas Mifflin, 
 and Jared Ingersoll, of Pennsylvania, took their seats. 
 Rules for the government of the Convention were reported 
 and adopted. 
 
 Mr. Randolph the;' opened the business of the Conven- 
 tion by offering the following resolutions : 
 
54 
 
 THE FEDERAL CONVENTION. 
 
 Resolutions offered by Edward Randolph to the Con- 
 vention, May 29, 1187. 
 
 “ 1. Resolved, That the Articles of the Confederation 
 ought to be so corrected and enlarged as to accomplish 
 the objects proposed by their institution ; namely, corn- 
 mon defense, security of liberty, and general welfare. 
 
 “ 2. Resolved, Therefore, that the right of suffrage, in 
 the national legislature ought to be proportioned to the 
 quotas of contribution, or to the number of free inhabit- 
 ants, as the one or the other may seem best, in different 
 cases. 
 
 “ 3. Resolved, That the national legislature ought to con- 
 sist of two branches. 
 
 “4. Resolved, That the members of the first branch of 
 the national legislature ought to be elected by the people 
 of the several States every for the term of 
 
 to be of the age of years, at least ; 
 
 to receive liberal stipends, by which they may be compen- 
 sated for the devotion of their time to the public service; 
 to be ineligible to any office established by a particular 
 State ; or under the authority of the United States, (except 
 those peculiarly belonging to the functions of the first 
 branch,) during the term of service and for the space of 
 after its expiration; to be incapable of re- 
 election for the space of after the expiration 
 
 of their term of service ; and to be subject to recall. 
 
 “5. Resolved, that the members of the second branch 
 of the national legislature ought to be elected by those of 
 the first, out of a proper number of persons nominated by 
 the individual legislatures ; to be of the age of 
 years, at least ; to hold their offices for a term sufficient to 
 insure their independency ; to receive liberal stipends, by 
 which they may be compensated for the devotion of their 
 time to the public service ; and to be ineligible to any 
 office established by a particular State, or under the autho- 
 
THE FEDERAL CONVENTION. 
 
 55 
 
 rity of the United States, (except those particularly be- 
 longing to the functions of the second branch,) during the 
 term of service ; and for the space of after the ex- 
 
 piration thereof. 
 
 “ 6. Resolved, That each branch ought to possess the 
 right of originating acts; that the national legislature ought 
 to be empowered to enjoy the legislative right vested in 
 Congress by the Confederation ; and moreover, to legis- 
 late in all cases to which the separate States are incompe- 
 tent, or in which the harmony of the United States may be 
 interrupted by the exercise of individual legislation ; to 
 negative all laws passed by the several States, contravening, 
 in the opinion of the national legislature, the articles of 
 union, or any treaty subsisting under the authority of the 
 Union; and to call forth the force of the Union against 
 any member of the Union failing to fulfill its duty under 
 the articles thereof. 
 
 “ 7. Resolved, That a national executive be instituted, 
 to be chosen by the national legislature for the term of 
 years, to receive punctually, at stated times, a fixed com- 
 pensation for the services rendered, in which no increase or 
 diminution shall be made, so as to affect the magistracy 
 existing at the time of the increase or diminution ; to be 
 ineligible a second time ; and that, beside a general autho- 
 rity to execute the national laws, it ought to enjoy the 
 executive rights vested in Congress by the Confederation. 
 
 “8. Resolved, That the executive and a convenient num 
 ber of the national judiciary ought to compose a council of 
 revision, with authority to examine every act of the national 
 legislature before it shall operate, and every act of a parti- 
 cular legislature, before a negative thereon shall be final ; 
 and that the dissent of the said council shall amount to a 
 rejection, unless the act of the national legislature be again 
 passed, or that of a particular legislature be again negatived 
 by of the member* of each branch. 
 
56 
 
 THE FEDERAL CONVENTION. 
 
 “9. Resolved, That a national judiciary be established, 
 to hold their offices during good behavior, and to re- 
 ceive punctually, at stated times, a fixed compensation for 
 their services, in which no increase or diminution shall be 
 made, so as to affect the persons actually in office at the 
 time of such increase or diminution. That the jurisdiction 
 of the inferior tribunals, shall be to hear and determine in 
 the first instance, and of the supreme tribunal to hear and 
 determine in the dernier ressort, all piracies and felonies 
 on the seas ; captures from an enemy ; cases in which 
 foreigners, or citizens of other States, applying to such 
 jurisdictions, may be interested or which respect the collec- 
 tion of the national revenue ; impeachments of any national 
 officer ; and questions which involve the national peace or 
 harmony. 
 
 “ 10. Resolved, That provision ought to be made for the 
 admission of States lawfully arising within the limits of the 
 United States, whether from a voluntary junction of govern- 
 ment or territory, or otherwise, with the consent of a num- 
 ber of voices in the national legislature less than the whole. 
 
 “ 11. Resolved, That a republican government, and the 
 territory of each State, (except in the instance of a volun- 
 tary junction of government, and territory,) ought to be 
 guaranteed by the United States to each State. 
 
 “ 12. Resolved, That provision ought to be made for the 
 continuance of Congress, and their authorities and privi- 
 leges, until a given day, after the reform of the articles of 
 union shall be adopted, and for the completion of all their 
 engagemeuts. 
 
 “ 13. Resolved, That provision ought to be made for the 
 amendment of the articles of union, whensoever it shall 
 seem necessary ; and that the assent of the national legis- 
 lature ought not to be required thereto. 
 
 “ 14. Resolved, That the legislative, executive, and judi- 
 
THE FEDERAL CONVENTION. 
 
 57 
 
 ciary powers within the several States ought to be bound 
 by oath to support the articles of union. 
 
 “ 15. Resolved, That the amendments which shall be 
 offered to the Confederation by the Convention, ought, at a 
 proper time or times, after the approbation of Congress, to 
 be submitted to an assembly or assemblies of representa- 
 tives, recommended by the several legislatures, to be 
 expressly chosen by the people to consider and decide 
 thereon. 
 
 “ 16. Resolved, That the House will to-morrow resolve 
 itself into a committee of the whole House, to consider of 
 the state of the American Union.” 
 
 Wednesday, May 30. The Hon. Roger Sherman, a 
 deputy from the State of Connecticut, appeared and took 
 his seat. 
 
 The House went into Committee of the Whole, Mr. 
 Gorham in the Chair, on the resolutions of Mr. Randolph. 
 
 Mr. Madison moved “ that the equality of suffrage 
 established by the Articles of Confederation, ought not to 
 prevail in the national legislature ; and that an equitable 
 ratio of representation ought to be substituted.” This 
 was opposed, on the ground that the deputies from Dela- 
 ware were instructed not to assent to such a change, and 
 they would therefore retire should it be adopted. After 
 some discussion the Committee rose and the House ad- 
 journed. 
 
 Thursday, May 1. The Hon. William Pierce, of Georgia, 
 took his seat. 
 
 Mr. Randolph’s third resolution, “that the national 
 legislature ought to consist of two branches,” was agreed 
 to without dissent, except from Dr. Franklin of Pennsyl- 
 vania. 
 
 The first clause of the fourth resolution, “that the mem- 
 bers of the first branch of the national legislature ought 
 
58 
 
 THE FEDERAL CONVENTION. 
 
 to be elected by the people of the several States,” was 
 taken up. 
 
 Mr. Sherman opposed election by the people, and said 
 it ought to be by the State legislatures ; that the people 
 were constantly liable to be misled. 
 
 Mr. Gerry also opposed election by the people, saying 
 that we had been having an excess of democracy heretofore. 
 Pretended patriots would dupe and deceive the people — 
 that they had done it heretofore in Massachusetts. 
 
 Mr. Madison considered the election of one branch by 
 the people as essential to every plan of a free government. 
 He thought that the great fabric to be raised would be 
 more stable and durable, if it should rest on the solid 
 foundation of the people themselves, than if it should stand 
 merely on the pillars of the legislatures. 
 
 On the question for election by the people, Ayes 6, 
 Noes 2, Connecticut and Delaware divided. 
 
 [The reader will here observe that the votes of the Con- 
 vention in all cases were taken by States.] 
 
 It was then moved to elect the members of the second 
 branch by the members of the first. This, after considera- 
 ble discussion, was voted down. 
 
 Friday , June 1. The Hon. William Houstoun, from 
 Georgia, took his seat. 
 
 The Committee of the Whole proceeded to the seventh 
 resolution, “ that a national executive be instituted, to be 
 chosen by the national legislature for the term of years, 
 to be ineligible thereafter, &c.” 
 
 Mr. Pinckney was for a vigorous executive, but was 
 afraid it might run into a monarchy. 
 
 Mr. Wilson was for a single executive. 
 
 Dr. Franklin wanted the question discussed, as it was 
 very important. 
 
 Mr. Sherman thought the executive should be elected by 
 Congress. 
 
THE FEDERAL CONVENTION. 
 
 59 
 
 Mr. 'Madison opposed fixing the executive till his powers 
 were first agreed upon. Pending the discussion the House 
 adjourned. 
 
 Saturday, June 2. William S. Johnson, from Connecti- 
 cut, Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer, from Maryland, and 
 John Lansing, Jr., from New York, took their seats. 
 
 The motion to elect the executive by the national legis- 
 lature for the term of seveu years was agreed to. 
 
 Monday, June 4. It was agreed that the executive 
 should consist of but one person, New York, Delaware and 
 Maryland voting No. It was also agreed that the execu- 
 tive should have the right of veto. It was also agreed that 
 a national judiciary, to consist of one supreme tribunal, and 
 one or more inferior, should be constituted. 
 
 Tuesday, June 5. On the question of choosing the 
 judiciary by the national legislature, 
 
 Dr. Franklin suggested the Scotch mode of letting the 
 lawyers choose the judges, as they would always choose the 
 ablest of the profession in order to get his practice them- 
 selves. 
 
 Mr. Madison was opposed to electing judges by the legis- 
 lature, or by any numerous body, and was inclined to give 
 it to the Senate. 
 
 William Livingston, from New Jersey, took his seat. 
 
 Wednesday, June 6. Mr. Pinckney moved “that the 
 first branch of the national legislature be elected by the 
 State legislatures, and not by the people.’’ 
 
 Mr. Mason spoke against this motion. He said that 
 under the confederacy Congress represented the States, not 
 the people ; under the present plan of government Con- 
 gress should represent the people, therefore should be chosen 
 by the people. 
 
 Mr. Dickinson proposed that the two systems should be 
 blended. Let one branch come directly from the people, 
 and thr other be chosen by the State legislatures. One 
 
60 
 
 THE FEDERAL CONVENTION. 
 
 would thus represent the people, and the other the interests 
 of the States, and being independent they would operate as 
 checks upon each other. 
 
 Mr. Read thought too much attachment was betrayed 
 for the State governments. The national government must 
 of necessity swallow them up. If we do not establish a 
 good and strong government we should soon have to do the 
 work over again. 
 
 Mr. Pinckney and Mr. Wilson were for preserving the 
 State governments. The motion of Mr. Pinckney to elect 
 the first branch by the State legislatures was then nega- 
 tived.* 
 
 From June T th till the 14th, the Convention was engaged 
 in the discussion of the remainder of Mr. Randolph’s reso- 
 lutions, when they were reported to the House with amend- 
 ments. 
 
 June 15. Mr. Patterson submitted a series of resolu- 
 tions, which were afterward designated as “the Jersey 
 plan.” They were postponed, however, and on the 19th 
 voted down, receiving but three votes. 
 
 June 18. Mr. Hamilton addressed the Convention, and 
 at the close of his remarks, offered his plan of government. 
 We give both the speech and the plan, from Mr. Yates’ 
 notes, who observes that Mr. Hamilton saw and corrected 
 
 * The reader cannot fail to observe, from this discussion, the 
 design of the framers of the Constitution in giving each State 
 an equal representation in the Senate, and of electing that 
 branch (the second branch) by the State legislatures, viz.: that 
 the Senate should be the conservator of State sovereignty, as 
 suggested by Mr. Dickinson, while the House (the first branch) 
 should represent the people. A happy blending of the two sys- 
 tems proposed, and a full answer to the objection so frequently 
 raised in large States, that they have no more power in the 
 Senate than the smallest. It is here that the strongest barrier 
 against the despotism of a central government is erected. May 
 it never be pulled down I 
 
THE FEDERAL CONVENTION. 
 
 61 
 
 the speech at the time. It is worthy of note that, from this 
 speech and plan of government sprang the political ani- 
 mosity between Mr. Jefferson and Mr. Hamilton, that fin- 
 ally resulted in the organization of two great political parties. 
 Federal and Republican, under the lead of those truly great 
 men. Mr. Hamilton, it will be seen, was cautious as to 
 trusting power in the hands of the people, and advocated a 
 kind of elective monarchy. Mr. Jefferson took the oppo- 
 site view, and, in some form or other, those distinctive 
 ideas, modified, it is true, have pervaded the politics of the 
 country ever since. 
 
 Mr. Hamilton said : To deliver my sentiments on so impor- 
 tant a subject, when the first characters of the Union have 
 gone before me, inspires me with the greatest diffidence, 
 especially when my own ideas are so materially dissimilar 
 to the plans now before the committee. My situation is 
 disagreeable ; but it would be criminal not to come forward 
 on a question of so much magnitude. I have well consid- 
 ered the subject, and am convinced that no amendment of 
 the Confederation can answer the purpose of a good gov- 
 ernment, so long as the State sovereignties do, in any 
 shape exist; and I have great doubts whether a national 
 government on the Yirginia plan, can be made effectual. 
 What is federal ? An association of several independent 
 States into one. How or in what manner this association 
 is formed, is not so clearly distinguishable. We find that 
 the diet of Germany has, in some instances, the power of 
 legislation on individuals. We find the United States of 
 America have it in an exteusive degree in the case of 
 piracies. 
 
 Let us now review the powers with which we are in- 
 vested. We are appointed with the sole and express pur- 
 pose of revising the Confederation, and to alter or amend it, 
 so as to render it effectual for the purpose of a good gov- 
 ernment. Those who suppose it to be federal, lay great 
 
62 
 
 THE FEDEEAL CONVENTION'. 
 
 stress on the terms sole and express, as if these words in- 
 tended a confinement to a federal government, when the 
 manifest import is no more than that the institution of a 
 good government must be the sole and express object of 
 your deliberations. Nor can we suppose an annihilation 
 of our powers by forming a national government, as many 
 of the States have made in their constitutions no proper 
 provisions for any alterations, and thus much I can say for 
 the State I have the honor to represent, that when our 
 credentials were under consideration in the Senate, some 
 members were for inserting a restriction in the powers, to 
 prevent an encroachment on the constitution : it was an- 
 swered by others, and thereupon the resolve carried on the 
 credentials, that it might abridge the constitutional powers 
 of the State, and that possibly in the formation of a new 
 Union, it would be found necessary. This seems reason- 
 able, and leaves us at liberty to form such a national gov- 
 ernment as we think best adapted to the whole. I have 
 therefore no difficulty as to the extent of our powers, nor 
 do I feel myself restrained in the exercise of my judgment 
 under them. We can only propose and recommend; — the 
 power of ratifying or rejecting is still in the States. But 
 on this great question I am still embarrassed. I have be- 
 fore observed my apprehension of the inefficacy of either 
 plan, and I have doubts whether a more energetic govern- 
 ment can pervade this wide and extensive country. I shall 
 now show that both plans are materially defective. 
 
 1. A good government ought to be constant, and ought 
 to contain an active principle. 2. Utility and necessity. 
 3. An habitual sense of obligation. 4. Force. 5. Influ- 
 ence. I hold it that different societies have all different 
 views and interests to pursue, and always prefer local to 
 general concerns. For example, the New York Legisla- 
 ture made an external compliance lately to a requisition of 
 Congress ; but do they not, at the same time, counteract 
 
THE FEDERAL CONVENTION. 
 
 63 
 
 their compliance by gratifying the local objects of the 
 State, so as to defeat their concession ? And this will ever 
 be the case. Men always love power, and States will prefer 
 their particular concerns to the general welfare ; and as 
 the States become large and important, will they not be 
 less attentive to the general government ? What, in pro- 
 cess of time, will Virginia be ? She contains now half a 
 million inhabitants ; in twenty-five years she will double 
 that number. Feeling her own weight and importance, 
 must she not become indifferent to the concerns of the 
 Union ? And where in such a situation will be fouud 
 national attachment to the general government ? 
 
 By force I mean the coercion of law and the coercion of 
 arms. Will this remark apply to the power invested to be 
 instituted by their plan ? A delinquent must be compelled 
 to obedience by force of arms. How is this to be done ? 
 If you are unsuccessful, a dissolution of your government 
 must be the consequence ; and in that case the individual 
 legislatures will resume their powers ; nay, will not the 
 interests of the States be thrown into the State govern- 
 ments ? 
 
 By influence I mean the regular weight and support it 
 will receive from those who find it their interest to support 
 a government intended to preserve the peace and happiness 
 of the community on the whole. The State governments, 
 by either plan, will exert the means to counteract it. They 
 have their State judges and militia, all combined to support 
 their State interests; and these will be influenced to oppose 
 a national government. Either plan therefore is precarious. 
 The national government cannot long exist, opposed by so 
 weighty a rival. The experience of ancient and modern 
 confederacies evinces this point, and throws considerable 
 light on the subject. The Amphictyonic council of Greece 
 had a right to require of its members troops, money, and 
 the force of the country. Were they obeyed in the exer- 
 
G4 THE FEDERAL CONVENTION. 
 
 cise of those powers ? Could they preserve the peace of 
 the greater States and republics ? Or, where were they 
 obeyed ? History shows that their decrees were disre- 
 garded, and that the stronger States, regardless of their 
 power, gave law to the lesser. 
 
 Let us examine the Federal Institutions of Germany. It 
 was instituted upon the laudable principle of securing the 
 independency of the several States of which it was composed, 
 and to protect them against foreign invasion. Has it 
 answered these good intentions ? Do we not see that their 
 councils are weak and distracted, and that it cannot prevent 
 the wars and confusions which the respective electors carry 
 on against each other ? The Swiss Cantons, or the Helvetic 
 Union, are equally insufficient. 
 
 Such are the lessons which the experience of others affords 
 us, and from whence results the evident conclusion that all 
 Federal Governments are weak and distracted. To avoid 
 the evils deducible from these observations, we must establish 
 a general and national government, completely sovereign, 
 and annihilate the State distinctions and State operations; 
 and unless we do this, no good purpose can be answered. 
 What does the Jersey plan propose? It surely has not 
 this for its object. By this we grant the regulations of 
 trade and a more effectual collection of the revenue, and 
 some partial duties. These, at five or ten per cent., would 
 only perhaps amount to a fund to discharge the debt of the 
 corporation. 
 
 Let us take a review of the variety of important objects 
 which must necessarily engage the attention of a national 
 government. You have to protect your rights against 
 Canada on the North, Spain on the South, and your western 
 frontier against the savages, you have to adopt necessary 
 plans for the settlement of your frontiers, and to institute 
 the mode in which settlements aud good governments are 
 to be made. 
 
THE FEDERAL CONVENTION. 
 
 65 
 
 How is the expense of supporting and regulating these 
 Important matters to be defrayed ? By requisition on the 
 Slates according to the Jersey plan ? Will this do it. We 
 have already found it ineffectual. Let one state prove de- 
 linquent, and it will encourage others to follow the example ; 
 and thus the whole will fail. And what is the standard by 
 which to quota among the States their respective propor- 
 tions ? Can lands be the standard ? How would that 
 apply between Russia and Holland ? Compare Pennsyl- 
 vania with North Carolina, or Connecticut with New York. 
 Hoes not commerce or industry in the one or the other 
 make a great disparity, between these different countries, 
 and may not the comparative value of the States, from these 
 circumstances, make an unequal disproportion when the data 
 are numbers ? I therefore conclude that either system 
 would ultimately destroy the Confederation, or any other 
 government which is established on such fallacious prin- 
 ciples. Perhaps imposts — taxes on specific articles — would 
 produce a more equal system of drawing a revenue. 
 
 Another objection against the Jersey plan is, the unequal 
 representation. Can the great States consent to this ? If 
 they did, it would eventually work its own destruction. 
 How are forces to be raised by the Jersey plan ? By 
 quotas ? Will the States comply with the requisition ? As 
 much as they will with the taxes. 
 
 Examine the present Confederation, and it is evident 
 they can raise no troops, and equip no vessels, before war 
 is actually declared. They cannot, therefore, take any pre- 
 paratory measure before an enemy is at your door. How 
 unwise and inadequate their powers ! And this must ever 
 be the case when you attempt to define powers ; something 
 will always be wanting. Congress, by being annually 
 sleeted, and subject to recall, will ever come with the pre- 
 judices of their States, rather than the good of the Union. 
 Add therefore, additional powers to a body organized, and 
 
 o 
 
66 
 
 THE FEDERAL CONVENTION. 
 
 you establish a sovereignty of the worst kind consisting of a 
 single body. Where are the checks ? None. They must 
 either prevail over the State governments, or the prevalence 
 of the State governments must end in their dissolution. 
 This is a conclusive objection to the Jersey plan. 
 
 Such are the insuperable objections to both plans, and 
 what is to be done on this occasion ? I confess I am at a 
 loss. I foresee the difficulty, on a consolidated plan, of 
 drawing a representation from so extensive a continent to 
 one place. What can be the inducements for gentlemen to 
 come six hundred miles to a legislature ? The expense 
 would at least amount to a hundred thousand pounds. This, 
 however, can be no conclusive objection, if it eventuates in 
 an extinction of State governments : reduced to corpora- 
 tions, and with very limited powers, they might be necessary, 
 and the expense of the national government less burdensome. 
 
 Yet, I confess, I see great difficulty of drawing forth a 
 good representation. What, for example, will be the in- 
 ducements for gentlemen of fortune and abilities to leave 
 their houses and business to attend annually and long ? It 
 .cannot be the wages ; for these, I presume, must be small. 
 Will not the power, therefore, be thrown into the hands of 
 the demagogue or middling politician — who, for the sake 
 of a small stipend and the hopes of advancement, will offer 
 himself as a candidate, and the real men of weight and in- 
 fluence, by remaining at home, add strength to the State 
 governments ? I am at a loss to know what must be done. 
 I despair that a republican form of government can remove 
 the difficulties. Whatever may be my opinion, I would hold 
 it, however, unwise to change that form of government. I be- 
 lieve the British Government forms the best model the 
 world ever produced ; and such has been its progress in the 
 minds of many, that the truth gradually gains ground. 
 This government has for its object public strength and indi- 
 vidual security. It is said with us to be unattainable. If 
 
THE FEDERAL CONVENTION. 
 
 67 
 
 it was once formed, it would maintain itself. All commu- 
 nities divide themselves into the few and the many. The 
 first are the rich and well born, the others the mass of the 
 people. The voice of the people is said to be the voice of 
 God ; and, however generally this maxim has been quoted 
 and believed, it is not true in fact. The people are turbu- 
 lent and changing ; they seldom judge or determine rightly. 
 Give, therefore, the first class a distinct and permanent 
 share in the government. They will check the unsteadiness 
 of the second, and as they cannot receive any advantage by 
 change, they therefore will ever maintain good government. 
 Can a democratic assembly, who annually revolve in the 
 mass of people, be supposed steadily to pursue the pub- 
 lic good ? Nothing but a permanent body can check the 
 imprudence of democracy ; their turbulent and incontrolla- 
 ble disposition requires checks. The Senate of New York, 
 although chosen for four years, w r e have found to be ineffi- 
 cient. Will, on the Virginia plan, a continuance of seven 
 years do it ? It is admitted that you cannot have a good 
 executive upon a democratic plan. See the excellency of 
 the British executive. He is above temptation — he can 
 have no distinct interest from the public welfare. Nothing 
 short of such an executive can be efficient. The weak side 
 of a republican government is the danger of foreign influence. 
 This is unavoidable, unless it is so constructed as to bring 
 forward its first characters in its support. I am, therefore, 
 for a general government, yet would wish to go the full length 
 of the republican principle. 
 
 Let one body of the legislature be constituted during 
 good behavior, or life. 
 
 Let one executive be appointed, who dares execute his 
 powers. It may be asked, Is this a republican system ? 
 It is strictly so, as long as they remain elective. 
 
 And let me observe, that an executive is less dangerous 
 
08 
 
 THE FEDERAL CONVENTION. 
 
 to the liberties of the people, when in office during life, 
 than for seven years. 
 
 It may be said this constitutes an elective monarchy. 
 Pray what is a monarch ? May not the governors of the 
 respective States be considered in that light? But by 
 making the executive subject to impeachment, the term 
 monarch cannot apply. These elective monarchs have 
 produced tumults in Rome, and are equally dangerous to 
 peace in Poland ; but this cannot apply to the mode in 
 which I propose the election. Let electors be appointed 
 in each of the States, to elect the legislature, to consist of 
 two branches ; and I would give them the power of passing 
 all laws, without exception. The assembly to be elected 
 for three years, by the people, in districts ; the senate to 
 be elected by electors, to be chosen for that purpose by the 
 people, and to remain in office during life. The executive 
 to have the power of negativing all law's ; to make war or 
 peace, with the advice of the senate ; to make treaties, 
 with their advice ; but to have the sole directions in all 
 military operations, and to send ambassadors, and appoint 
 all military officers, and to pardon all offenders, treason ex- 
 cepted, unless by the advice of the senate. On his death, 
 or removal, the president of the senate to officiate, with 
 the same pow'ers, until another is elected. Supreme ju- 
 dicial officers to be appointed by the executive and the 
 senate. The legislature to appoint courts in each state, 
 so as to make the State government unnecessary to it. 
 
 All State laws to be absolutely void, which contravene 
 the general laws. An officer appointed in each State to 
 have a negative on all law's. All the militia, and the ap- 
 pointment of officers, to be under the national govern- 
 ment. 
 
 I confess that this plan, and that from Virginia, are 
 very remote from the idea of the people ; perhaps the Jer- 
 sey plan is nearest their expectation. But the people are 
 
THE FEDERAL CONVENTION. 
 
 69 
 
 gradually ripening in their opinions of government — they 
 begin to be tired of an excess of democracy — and what 
 even is the Virginia plan, but pork still, with a little 
 change of the sauce ? 
 
 The following is Mr. Hamilton’s plan : 
 
 “ 1. The supreme legislative power of the United States 
 of America to be vested in two different bodies of men ; 
 the one to be called the assembly, the other the senate ; 
 who, together, shall form the legislature of the United 
 States, with power to pass all laws whatsoever, subject to 
 the negative hereafter mentioned. 
 
 “2. The assembly to consist of persons elected by the 
 people, to serve for three years. 
 
 “3. The senate to consist of persons elected to serve 
 during good behavior ; their election to be made by elect- 
 ors chosen for that purpose by the people. In order to 
 this, the states to- be divided into election districts. On 
 the death, removal, or resignation of any senator, h-.s place 
 to be filled out of the district from which he came. 
 
 “4. The supreme executive authority of the United 
 States to be vested in a governor, to be elected .o serve 
 during good behavior ; the election to be made by electors 
 chosen by the people in the election districts aforesaid. 
 The authorities and functions of the executive to be as fol- 
 lows : To have a negative on all laws about to be passed, 
 and the execution of all laws passed ; to have the direction 
 of war when authorized or begun ; to have, with the ad- 
 vice and approbation of the senate, the power ot making 
 all treaties ; to have the sole appointment of the heads or 
 chief officers of the departments of finance, war, and foreign 
 affairs ; to have the nomination of all other officers, (am- 
 bassadors to foreign nations included,) subject to the ap- 
 probation or rejection of the senate ; to have the power of 
 pardoning all offenses except treason, which he shall not 
 pardon without the approbation of the senate. 
 
70 
 
 THE FEDERAL CONTENTION. 
 
 “ 5. On the death, resignation, or removal of the gov- 
 ernor, his authorities to be exercised by the president of 
 the senate till a successor be appointed. 
 
 “ 6. The senate to have the sole power of declaring war ; 
 the power of advising and approving all treaties ; the 
 power of approving or rejecting all appointments of officers, 
 except the heads or chiefs of the departments of finance, 
 war, and foreign affairs. 
 
 “ 7. The supreme judicial authority to be vested in 
 judges, to hold their offices during good behavior, with ad- 
 equate and permanent salaries. This court to have original 
 jurisdiction in all causes of capture, and an appellative 
 jurisdiction in all causes in which the revenues of the gen- 
 eral government, or the citizens of foreign nations, are 
 concerned. 
 
 “ 8. The legislature of the United States to have power 
 to institute courts in each state for the determination of all 
 matters of general concern. 
 
 “ 9. The governor, senators, and all officers of the United 
 States, to be liable to impeachment for mal and corrupt 
 conduct ; and, upon conviction, to be removed from office, 
 and disqualified for holding any place of trust or profit ; 
 all impeachments to be tried by a court to consist of the 
 
 chief , or judge of the superior court of law of each 
 
 State, provided such judge shall hold bis place during good 
 behavior, and have a permanent salary. 
 
 “ 10. All laws of the particular States contrary to the 
 Constitution or laws of the United States, to be utterly 
 void ; and, the better to prevent such laws being passed, 
 the governor or president of each State shall be appointed 
 by the general government, and shall have a negative upon 
 the laws about to be passed in the State of which he is the 
 governor or president. 
 
 “ 11. No State to have any forces, land or naval ; and 
 the militia of all the States to be under the sole and exclu- 
 
THE FEDERAL CONTENTION - . 
 
 71 
 
 sive direction of the United States, the officers of which to 
 be appointed and commissioned by them.” 
 
 June 20. Hon. William Blount, from North Carolina, 
 took his seat. 
 
 Mr. Lansing- moved “that the power of legislation be 
 vested in the United States in Congress.” This proposi- 
 tion was discussed all day. It was adopted, 
 
 June 21. Hon. Jonathan Dayton, of New Jersey, took 
 his seat. 
 
 The second resolution — “ that the legislature shall con- 
 sist of two branches,” was taken up and discussed by 
 Dr. Johnson, Mr. Wilson and Mr. Madison, and was 
 adopted. 
 
 Gen. Pinckney moved that the first branch should be 
 elected in such manner as the State legislatures should 
 direct. This was opposed by Mr. Mason, Mr. Sherman 
 and others, who advocated election by the people. The 
 motion was lost. 
 
 On the original question of election of the first branch by 
 the people, it was carried, — -New Jersey alone voting No, 
 and Maryland divided. 
 
 On the question that the members should be elected for 
 three years, Mr. Randolph moved to amend by substituting 
 “ two year’s.” 
 
 Mr. Wilson preferred annual elections, as likely to make 
 the representative feel his dependence upon his constituents. 
 
 Mr. Madison thought annual elections, or even biennial, 
 would be too great a burden upon the people, and attended 
 with much inconvenience. 
 
 Col. Hamilton was for three years, and on the question, 
 the amendment for tw r o years was agreed to. 
 
 June 22. The question of compensation of members, 
 their age, and eligibility, was discussed this and the day 
 following. 
 
 June 25. The fourth resolution, “ that the members of 
 
72 
 
 THE FEDERAL CONVENTION 
 
 the second branch (Senate) ought to be chosen by the 
 State Legislatures and hold their office seven years,” was 
 taken up. 
 
 Mr. Pinckney advocated the resolution. He thought 
 there should be one branch removed from the influences to 
 be apprehended from the fluctuations of the popular pas- 
 sions. The States, too, should be guaranteed some protec- 
 tion for their sovereignty, otherwise the State governments 
 would be overborne by the national government. 
 
 Mr. Wilson opposed election by the legislatures as likely 
 to foster local pride and prejudices. 
 
 On the question to elect by the State legislatures, it was 
 agreed to, Pennsylvania and Virginia only voting No. 
 
 It was then agreed that no person should be eligible for 
 senator till he had arrived at the age of thirty years. 
 
 June 26. The term of office for senators being under 
 consideration, 
 
 Mr. Gorham moved six years. Mr. Pinckney was in 
 favor of four years. Mr. Read favored nine years. 
 
 Mr. Madison said that we are now digesting a plan 
 .which in its operations will decide forever the fate of 
 republican government. We ought therefore to provide 
 every possible guard and check to liberty. Those charged 
 with the public happiness may betray their trust. Prudence 
 would dictate that we should so organize that one body 
 might watch and check the other. We should select a 
 limited number of enlightened citizens, whose firmness 
 might be interposed against impetuous counsels. 
 
 Mr. Hamilton concurred with Mr. Madison. On the 
 question for nine years it was lost ; and on the question for 
 six years it was agreed to. 
 
 On the question of compensation, Mr. Pinckney proposed 
 that the senators should receive no pay, as that branch was 
 designed to represent the wealth of the country, and it 
 should be so ordered that none but the wealthy could take 
 
THE FEDERAL CONVENTION. 
 
 73 
 
 that office. Dr. Franklin seconded the motion. The mo- 
 tion was lost. Ayes 5, Noes 6. 
 
 It was then moved that the senators be paid by their 
 respective States. Lost. And on the question that they 
 be paid out of the national treasury, it was lost. 
 
 June 27. On the seventh resolution, that the right of 
 suffrage in the first branch should be according to an 
 equitable ratio. 
 
 Mr. Martin contended with great zeal that the general 
 government was meant to preserve the State governments 
 merely, and not to govern individuals ; and that its powers 
 ought, therefore, to be kept in very narrow limits. That 
 to give representation according to population would place 
 it in the power of the large States to crush out the small 
 ones. The vote should be by States and then all would 
 stand upon the same platform of equality. 
 
 June, 28. Mr. Madison replied to Mr. Martin’s speech 
 on representation, and in a lengthy argument advocated repre- 
 sentation in the first branch (House) according to the popula- 
 tion. The debate .lasted two days during which much angry 
 feeling was manifested. The small States were determined 
 that no provision should pass that did not give them an 
 equal vote with the large States. Some idea of the difficul- 
 ties encountered at this time may be gathered from a speech 
 of Dr. Franklin near the close of the second day’s proceed- 
 ings. We copy it entire : 
 
 Dr. Franklin. — Mr. President : The small progress we 
 have made after four or five weeks’ close attendance and 
 continued reasonings with each other — our different senti- 
 ments on almost every question, several of the last produc- 
 ing as many noes as ayes — is, methinks, a melancholy proof 
 of the imperfection of the human understanding. We, in- 
 deed, seem to feel our own want of political wisdom, since 
 we have been running about in search of it. We have gone 
 
74 
 
 THE FEDERAL CONVENTION. 
 
 back to ancient history for models of government, and ex- 
 amined the different forms of those republics which, having 
 been formed with the seeds of their own dissolution, now 
 no longer exist. And we have viewed modern States all 
 round Europe, but find none of their constitutions suitable 
 to our circumstances. 
 
 In this situation of this assembly, groping as it were in the 
 dark to find political truth, and scarce able to perceive it 
 when presented to us, how has it happened, sir, that we have 
 not hitherto once thought of humbly applying to the Father 
 of lights to illuminate our understandings ? In the be- 
 ginning of the contest with Great Britain, when we were 
 sensible of danger, we had daily prayer in this room for the 
 Divine protection. Our prayers, sir, were heard, and they 
 were graciously answered. All of us who were engaged in 
 the struggle must have observed frequent instances of a su- 
 perintending Providence in our favor. 
 
 To that kind Providence we owe this happy opportunity of 
 consulting in peace on the means of establishing our future na- 
 tional felicity. And have we now forgotten that powerful 
 friend ? Or do we imagine that we no longer need his assist- 
 ance ? I have lived, sir, a long time, and the longer I live the 
 more convincing proofs I see of this truth — that God governs 
 in the affairs of man. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the 
 ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire 
 can rise without his aid ? We have been answered, sir, in 
 the sacred writings, that “except the Lord build the house, 
 they labor in vain that build it.” I firmly believe this ; 
 and I also firmly believe this, that without his concurring 
 aid we shall succeed, in this political building, no better 
 than the builders of Babel. We shall be divided by our 
 little partial local interests ; our projects will be confounded ; 
 and we shall ourselves become a reproach and by-word down 
 to future ages. And, what is worse, mankind may hereafter, 
 from this unfortunate instance, despair of establishing 
 
THE FEDERAL CONVENTION - . 
 
 75 
 
 governments by human wisdom, and leave it to chance, war, 
 and conquest. 
 
 I therefore beg leave to move that henceforth prayers, 
 imploring the assistance of Heaven and its blessings on onr 
 deliberations, be held in this assembly every morning before 
 we proceed to business, and that one or more of the clergy 
 of this city be requested to officiate in that service. 
 
 Mr. Sherman seconded the motion. 
 
 Mr. Hamilton was fearful that if the motion should be 
 adopted it would alarm the people, who would think that 
 some extraordinary emergency had arisen in the Conven- 
 tion. It would have been well to have adopted such a mo- 
 tion at the beginning of the session. 
 
 Mr. Randolph proposed that a sermon be preached 
 on the fourth of July, and after that prayers. An ad- 
 journment was finally carried without a vote by ayes and 
 nays. 
 
 June 29. — Dr. Johnson said this controversy seemed 
 endless. On the one side the States were considered as 
 districts of people, and hence entitled to representation ac- 
 cording to their numbers ; on the other side it was con- 
 tended that they were political societies, and hence each 
 should be represented equally. He suggested that each 
 side was partially right, and that therefore the true ground 
 was a compromise; let one branch represent exclusively 
 the people and the other (the Senate) represent the 
 States. 
 
 Mr. Madison agreed with Dr. Johnson, that the mixed 
 nature of the government ought to be kept in view. He 
 made a lengthy speech in favor of this proposition. The 
 debate was continued through the day, and it was finally 
 agreed that the representation should be according to the 
 ratio of inhabitants. 
 
 June 30. — Mr. Brearly moved that the President write 
 to the Executive of New Hampshire requesting the iinme- 
 
76 
 
 THE FEDEKAL CONVENTION. 
 
 diate attendance of the delegates from that S'.ate, as the 
 difficulties of the Convention are such, that they wanted all 
 the aid possible. Not agreed to. 
 
 Mr. Ellsworth moved that each State be allowed an 
 equal vote in the second branch, and supported his motion 
 by a lengthy argument. 
 
 Mr. Wilson opposed the motion. He said we were 
 forming a government for men , not for imaginary States. 
 
 Mr. Madison thought the difficulty was not between the 
 large and small States, but really between the States having 
 slaves and those not having, or expecting soon not to have 
 slaves. He thought a fair compromise would be to have 
 one branch l'epresented according to the number of free 
 inhabitants only, and the other represented by the whole, 
 counting the slaves as freemen, instead of counting them 
 as five to three. By this arrangement the southern scale 
 would have the advantage in one House and the northern 
 in the other. 
 
 Dr. Franklin thought “both sides must part with some of 
 their demands.” 
 
 The discussion was continued through the day without 
 arriving at any conclusion. 
 
 July 2. — On the question allowing each State one vote 
 in the second branch it was lost. Ayes 5. Noes 5. 
 
 General Pinckney proposed that a committee of one from 
 each State should be appointed to devise and report a com- 
 promise. 
 
 Mr. Morris favored a committee. He said the object of 
 the second branch was to check the excesses of the first 
 branch. He thought it must be a branch of property 
 interest, and must also be permanent in order to give sta- 
 bility to the government. Without it the country would 
 have no confidence in the plan. Loaves and fishes 
 would bribe demagogues. Give us a senate for life, with- 
 
THE FEDERAL CONVENTION. 
 
 77 
 
 oat pay, and we will have an honest and conservative 
 branch. 
 
 Mr. Madison opposed the committee. It was discussed 
 at length, and on the question, nine States voted Aye. New 
 Jersey and Delaware voted No. 
 
 The committee was elected by ballot, and was composed 
 of Messrs. Gerry, Ellsworth, Tates, Patterson, Dr. Eranklin, 
 Bedford, Martin, Mason, Davie, Rutledge and Baldwin. To 
 give the committee time to deliberate, the Convention ad- 
 journed till Thursday the 5th. 
 
 July 5. Mr. Gerry, from the committee appointed on 
 Monday last, made the following report : 
 
 1. That in the first branch each State shall be allowed 
 one member for every forty thousand inhabitants, counting 
 all free persons and three-fifths of the slaves, and that all 
 money bills, or bills fixing salaries of public officers, shall 
 originate in the first branch, and shall not be altered or 
 amended by the second branch. 
 
 2. That in the second branch each State shall have an 
 equal vote. 
 
 [A T ofe. — This report was considered as a compromise be- 
 tween the large and small States. The large States were 
 apprehensive that by allowing the small ones an equal 
 representation in the Senate, they might, by combination, 
 vote undue burdens upon them in the way of appropria- 
 tions of the public money. Hence, the arrangement that 
 money bills shall originate in the House where the repre- 
 sentation is in accordance with the ratio of inhabitants, thus 
 protecting the large States in that branch, while the small 
 States find their protection in the Senate, where they have 
 an equal representation. How admirable the arrangement! 
 How beautifully ordered by our fathers for the protection of 
 the rights of the whole Hnion, is this model constitution — 
 the perfection of governmental excellence — the sum total 
 of the wisdom of ages in the science of self-governmeut ! 
 
78 
 
 THE FEDERAL CONVENTION. 
 
 This report was founded on a motion made, in the com- 
 mittee, by Dr. Franklin.] 
 
 Mr. Madison did not consider the concession of the small 
 States that the House should originate all money bills aa 
 of much moment. He said the senators could get ths 
 members of the House to adopt their notions by handing 
 them amendments, and thus avoid the check that this clause 
 was designed to afford. He thought we should form a 
 government on just principles, and the small States would 
 find it to their interest to adopt it. 
 
 A long debate ensued, participated in by Messrs. Morris, 
 Bedford, Ellsworth, Mason, Rutledge and others, and with- 
 out the question the Convention adjourned. 
 
 July 6. Mr. Morris moved to commit so much of the 
 report as relates to one member to every forty thousand in- 
 habitants to a committee of five, which was agreed to. 
 
 The clause relating to an equality of votes in the Senate 
 being under consideration, it was postponed, and the clause 
 relating to money bills taken up. After some discussion 
 it was agreed to. 
 
 July 7. The clause allowing each State one vote in the 
 Senate being up, after a long and zealous discussion, it was 
 postponed until the committee of five, on the number of 
 members in the first branch, should report. 
 
 July 9. Daniel Carroll, of Maryland, took his seat. 
 
 Mr. Morris, from the committee of five, reported that 
 the House should at first consist of forty-six members. 
 New Hampshire, two ; Massachusetts, seven ; Rhode Is- 
 land, one ; Connecticut, four; New York, five ; New Jersey, 
 three ; Pennsylvania, eight; Delaware, one ; Maryland, four; 
 Virginia, nine; North Carolina, five; South Carolina, five; 
 Georgia, two ; and that Congress should alter the number 
 from time to time, as it should think proper. 
 
 Mr. Patterson thought the proposed estimate for the 
 future too vague. He could regard negro slaves in no 
 
THE FEDERAL CONVENTION. 
 
 79 
 
 light but property. They were not represented in the 
 State governments, and hence should not be in the rational 
 government. 
 
 Mr. Madison suggested as a compromise, that in the 
 House the representation should be according to the num- 
 ber of free inhabitants ; that the Senate was designed, in 
 one respect, to be the guardian of property, and that branch 
 should represent slaves and all. After some further dis- 
 cussion, the first clause of the report was referred to a com- 
 mittee of one from each State. 
 
 July 10. Mr. King, from the committee appointed 
 yesterday, reported that the House should consist of sixty - 
 five members. After a long and animated discussion the 
 report was adopted. South Carolina and Georgia alone 
 voting No. 
 
 July 11. Mr. Randolph’s motion, requiring a census to 
 be taken in order to correct inequalities in representation * 
 was taken up. 
 
 Mr. Butler and Gen. Pinckney insisted that blacks should 
 have an equal representation with the whites, and therefore 
 moved that “ three-fifths” be struck out. 
 
 Mr. Gerry, and Mr. Gorham, favored three-fifths. 
 
 Mr. Butler, said the labor of a slave in South Carolina, 
 was as valuable as that of a freeman in Massachussets. 
 Free negroes in the North, have an equal representa- 
 tion with the whites. So should the slaves of the South 
 have. 
 
 Mr. Williamson, said that the Eastern States contended 
 for the equality of blacks where taxation was in view, they 
 ought then to be willing to allow an equal representation. 
 
 On the question, Mr. Butler’s motion was lost, only Dela- 
 ware, South Carolina, and Georgia, voting Aye. 
 
 Mr. Morris, said that if slaves were to be considered as 
 inhabitants, not as wealth, then there would be no use for 
 
80 
 
 THE FEDERAL CONVENTION. 
 
 a census, so far as they were concerned ; if simply as wealth, 
 then why not other wealth be included ? 
 
 Mr. Sherman, was in favor of leaving the whole matter 
 to the discretion of the legislature. 
 
 Mr. Morris, said that the people of Pennsylvania would 
 revolt at the idea of being placed on a level with slaves 
 in representation. They would reject any plan in which 
 slaves were included in the census. 
 
 On the question of taking a census of free inhabitants, it 
 passed in the affirmative. 
 
 The next clause, as to three-fifths of the negroes, being 
 considered, Mr. King opposed the clause. He thought the 
 admission of blacks in the representation would excite great 
 discontents among the people. 
 
 Mr. Gorham, of Massachusetts, favored the three-fifths 
 rule. 
 
 Mr. Wilson, of Pennsylvania, said if negroes were pro- 
 perty, why not represent other property ? — if they were 
 citizens, why not let them be represented as such ? 
 
 Mr. Morris, thought that representation for blacks would 
 .encourage the slave trade. 
 
 On the question for including “three-fifths” of the blacks, 
 it was lost. All the Northern States, except Connecticut, 
 voted No. 
 
 July 12. Mr. Morris, moved “that taxation be in pro- 
 portion to representation.” 
 
 Dr. Johnson thought population the best measure of 
 wealth, and therefore, would include the blacks equally 
 with the whites. 
 
 Mr. Morris, thought the people of Pennsylvania could 
 never agree to a representation of negroes. 
 
 Gen. Pinckney, desired that property in slaves should be 
 protected and not left exposed to danger. 
 
 Mr. Ellsworth, moved that the rule of taxation shall be 
 
THE FEDERAL CONTENTION. 
 
 81 
 
 according to the whole number of white inhabitants and 
 three-fifths of every other description, until some other rale, 
 by which the wealth of the States can be ascertained, shall 
 be adopted by the legislature. 
 
 Mr. Randolph opposed this amendment. He urged 
 that express security ought to be provided for including 
 slaves in representation. He lamented that such property 
 existed ; but as it did exist, the holders of it should require 
 this security in the Constitution and not leave it to the 
 caprice of the legislative body. 
 
 Mr. Wilson thought there would be less umbrage taken 
 by the people by adopting the rule of representation accord- 
 ing to taxation. The slaves would be taxed and thus indi- 
 rectly represented. 
 
 Mr. Pinckney moved to amend so as to make blacks 
 equal to whites in representation. He said the blacks 
 would be all numbered in the representation of the North, 
 and they were as productive in material resources to the 
 country in the South as in the North. He thought this no 
 more than justice. 
 
 On Mr. Pinckney’s motion, only South Carolina and 
 Georgia voted Aye. 
 
 On the question apportioning representation to direct 
 taxation, to the whole of the white and three-fifths of the 
 black population, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Maryland, 
 Virginia, North Carolina, and Georgia voted Aye; New 
 Jersey and Delaware voted No ; Massachusetts and South 
 Carolina divided. 
 
 July 14. From this date till the lTth, the Convention 
 was engaged in an animated discussion on the equality of 
 vote* in the Senate from each State. On the 16th a mo- 
 tion was made to adjourn sine die, on the ground that the 
 Convention could never agree to the exactions of the 
 smaller States. An equality vote was, however, agreed to. 
 North Carolina and Massachusetts divided ; 5 Ayes, 4 Noes. 
 
 6 
 
82 
 
 THE FEDERAL CONVENTION. 
 
 July 17. The Convention proceeded to the considera- 
 tion of a resolution concerning the two branches of the 
 legislature, and from this date till the 26th was engaged in 
 discussing the executive, legislative, and judicial branches 
 of the government. Nothing, however, was elicited that 
 would properly come within the scope of this work, or that 
 would be particularly interesting to the general reader. 
 
 On the 26th, the resolutions of Mr. Randolph having 
 been a second time gone through with, they, together with 
 those of Messrs. Patterson and Pinckney, were referred to 
 the Committee of Detail, and the Convention adjourned till 
 August 6th, to give the Committee time to prepare and 
 report a Constitution. 
 
 The resolutions as committed, expressing the sense of the 
 Convention upon the principles of a Constitution, were as 
 follows : 
 
 1. Resolved, That the government of the United States 
 ought to consist of a supreme legislative, judiciary, and 
 executive. 
 
 2. Resolved, That the legislature consist of two branches. 
 
 3. Resolved, That the members of the first branch of the 
 legislature ought to be elected by the people of the several 
 States for the term of two years ; to be paid out of the 
 public treasury ; to receive an adequate compensation for 
 their services ; to be of the age of twenty-five years at 
 least; to be ineligible to, and incapable of holding, any 
 office under the authority of the United States (except 
 those peculiarly belonging to the functions of the first 
 branch) during the term of service of the first branch. 
 
 4. Resolved, That the members of the second branch of 
 the legislature of the United States ought to be chosen by 
 the individual legislatures ; to be of the age of thirty years 
 at least ; to hold their offices for six years, one third to go 
 out biennially ; to receive a compensation for the devotion 
 of their time to the public service ; to be ineligible to, and 
 
THE FEDERAL CONVENTION. 
 
 83 
 
 incapable of holding, any office under the authority of the 
 United States (except those peculiarly belonging to the 
 functions of the second branch) during the term for which 
 they are elected, and for one year thereafter. 
 
 5. Resolved, That each branch ought to possess the 
 right of originating acts. 
 
 6. Resolved, That the national legislature ought to 
 possess the legislative rights vested in Congress by the 
 Confederation; and, moreover, to legislate in all cases for 
 the general interests of the Union, and also in those to 
 which the States are separately incompetent, or in which 
 the harmony of the United States may be interrupted by 
 the exercise of individual legislation. 
 
 7. Resolved, That the legislative acts of the United 
 States, made by virtue and in pursuance of the articles of 
 union, and all treaties made and ratified under the authority 
 of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the 
 respective States, as far as those acts or treaties shall relate 
 to the said States, or their citizens and inhabitants ; and 
 that the judiciaries of the several States shall be bound 
 thereby in their decisions, any thing in the respective laws 
 of the individual States to the contrary notwithstanding. 
 
 8. Resolved, That in the general formation of the legis- 
 lature of the United States, the first branch thereof shall 
 consist of sixty-five members; of which number, New 
 Hampshire shall send 3 ; Massachusetts, 8 ; Rhode Island, 
 1; Connecticut, 5; New York, 6; New Jersey, 4; Penn- 
 sylvania, 8 ; Delaware, 1 ; Maryland, 6 ; Virginia, 10; North 
 Carolina, 5 ; South Carolina, 5 ; Georgia, 3. 
 
 But, as the present situation of the States may probably 
 alter in the number of their inhabitants, the legislature of 
 the United States shall be authorized, from time to time, to 
 apportion the number of representatives ; and in case any 
 of the States shall hereafter be divided, or enlarged by 
 addition of territory, or any two or more States united, or 
 
£4 
 
 THE FEDERAL CONVENTION. 
 
 acy new States created within the limits of the United 
 States, the legislature of the United States shall possess 
 authority to regulate the number of representatives, in any 
 of the foregoing cases, upon the principle of their number 
 cJ inhabitants, according to the provisions hereafter men- 
 tioned, namely — Provided always, that representation ought 
 to be proportioned to direct taxation. And, in order to 
 fscertain the alteration in the direct taxation which may be 
 required from time to time, by the changes in the relative 
 t Ircumstances of the States, — 
 
 9. Resolved, That a census be taken within six years 
 from the first meeting of the legislature of the United 
 i tates, and once within the term of every ten years after- 
 wards, of all the inhabitants of the United States, in the 
 Ejanner and according to the ratio recommended by Con- 
 gress in their resolution of the 18th of April, 1183; and 
 that the legislature of the United States shall proportion 
 the direct taxation accordingly. 
 
 10. Resolved, That all bills for raising or appropriating 
 money, and for fixing the salaries of the officers of the 
 government of the United States, shall originate in the 
 first branch of the legislature of the United States, and 
 shall not be altered or amended by the second branch ; and 
 that no money shall be drawn from the public treasury, 
 but in pursuance of appropriations to be originated by the 
 first branch. 
 
 11. Resolved, That, in the second branch of the legisla- 
 ture of the United States, each State shall have an equal 
 vote. 
 
 12. Resolved, That a national executive be instituted, to 
 consist of a single person ; to be chosen by the national 
 legislature for the term of seven years ; to be ineligible a 
 second time ; with power to carry into execution the 
 national laws ; tc appoint to offices in cases not otherwise 
 provided for; to be removable on impeachment, and con- 
 
THE FEDERAL CONVENTION'. 
 
 8 £ 
 
 viction of malpractice or neglect of duty ; to receive a 
 fixed compensation for the devotion of his time to the pub- 
 lic service, to be paid out of the public treasury. 
 
 13. Resolved, That the national executive shall have a 
 right to negative any legislative act ; which shall not be 
 afterwards passed, unless by two-thirds of each branch of 
 the national legislature. 
 
 14. Resolved, That a national judiciary be established, 
 to consist of one supreme tribunal, the judges of which 
 shall be appointed by the second branch of the national 
 legislature; to hold their offices during good behavior; to 
 receive punctually, at stated times, a fixed compensation for 
 their services, in which no diminution, shall be made so as 
 to affect the persons actually in office at the time of such 
 diminution. 
 
 15. Resolved, That the national legislature be empowered 
 to appoint inferior tribunals. 
 
 16. Resolved, That the jurisdiction of the national judi- 
 ciary shall extend to cases arising under laws passed by the 
 general legislature, and to such other questions as involve 
 the national peace and harmony. 
 
 17. Resolved, That provision ought to be made for the 
 admission of States lawfully arising within the limits of the 
 United States, whether from a voluntary junction of gov- 
 ernment and territory, or otherwise, with the consent of a 
 number of voices in the national legislature less than the 
 whole. 
 
 18. Resolved, That a republican form of government 
 shall be guaranteed to each State ; and that each State shall 
 be protected against foreign and domestic violence. 
 
 19. Resolved, That provision ought to be made for the 
 amendment of the articles of union, whensoever it shall 
 seem necessary. 
 
 20. Resolved, That the legislative, executive, and judi- 
 ciary powers, within the several States, and of the national 
 
86 
 
 THE FEDERAL CONVENTION. 
 
 government, ought to be bound, by oath, to support the 
 articles of union. 
 
 21. Resolved, That the amendments which shall be 
 offered to the Confederation by the Convention ought, at a 
 proper time or times, after the approbation of Congress, to 
 be submitted to an assembly, or assemblies, of representa- 
 tives, recommended by the several legislatures, to be ex- 
 pressly chosen by the people to consider and decide 
 thereon. 
 
 22. Resolved, That the representation in the second 
 branch of the legislature of the United States shall consist 
 of two members from each State, who shall vote per capita. 
 
 23. Resolved, That it be an instruction to the committee 
 to whom were referred the proceedings of the Convention 
 for the establishment of a national government, to receive 
 a clause, or clauses, requiring certain qualifications of 
 property and citizenship in the United States, for the 
 executive, the judiciary, and the members of both branches 
 of the legislature of the United States. 
 
 August 6. Mr. Rutledge delivered the report of the com- 
 mittee of detail, reporting a constitution at large. [This 
 report was so nearly like the constitution as finally adopted, 
 and as we shall give that at the close of this chapter, it is 
 not thought necessary to occupy space by copying it here ] 
 
 August 7. The report of the committee of detail being- 
 taken up, Mr. Morris moved that that the right of suffrage 
 be restrained to freeholders. A long debate ensued. Col. 
 Mason opposed it as leading to an aristocracy. 
 
 Mr. Madison was for leaving this matter to the States. 
 Some States required it, and others did not. His own 
 opinion was that freeholders would be the safest depositaries 
 of liberty. Those without property might become the tools 
 of the rich and ambitious, hence there would be just the 
 same danger as from the property qualification. 
 
 Dr. Franklin opposed the views of Mr. Madison. He 
 
THE FEDERAL CONVENTION. 
 
 87 
 
 thought the restriction wrong in principle, and had no doubt 
 it would create dissatisfaction with the people. 
 
 On the question of Mr. Morris, only Delaware voted Aye. 
 Maryland divided. 
 
 August 8. Article 4th, section 2d, being under conside- 
 ration, declaring that a member of the House shall have 
 been a citizen of the United States at least three years be- 
 fore his election. 
 
 Mr. Mason was for opening a wide door to emigrants, 
 but thought three years too short. Foreign nations might 
 impose upon us their tools, and get them into the legisla- 
 ture for insidious purposes. He moved seven years, which 
 was agreed to, only Connecticut voting No. 
 
 Section 4th, allowing the legislatures to apportion the 
 representatives according to the number of inhabitants, was 
 taken up. 
 
 Mr. Morris moved to insert “free inhabitants.” He said 
 he would not agree to a constitution that upheld slavery. 
 It was the curse of Heaven. He proceeded at length to 
 demonstrate the evils of the institution. 
 
 Mr. Sherman said he did not regard the admission of 
 negroes in the ratio of representation as a great objection. 
 In fact, it was only the freemen of the South who would be 
 represented, because it was only them who paid the taxes. 
 
 On the question to insert “free inhabitants,” it was lost, 
 only New Jersey voting Aye. 
 
 August 9. From this date to the 18th, the Convention 
 was occupied in discussing questions of naturalization, re- 
 venue, &c. 
 
 August 18. Mr. Madison submitted to be referred to the 
 committee of detail the following propositions, to be incor- 
 porated in the powers of Congress : 
 
 “ To dispose of the unappropriated lands of the United 
 States. 
 
88 
 
 THE FEDERAL CONVENTION. 
 
 “To institute temporary governments for new States 
 arising therein. 
 
 “To regulate affairs with the Indians, &c ” 
 
 Mr. Pinckney also submitted several propositions, relating 
 to the seat of government, public debt, post-offices, &c. 
 From this till the 22d, nothing important by way of discus- 
 sion transpired. 
 
 August 22. Article I, section 4, was resumed. 
 
 Mr. Sherman was for leaving the clause as it stands. He 
 disappi’oved of the slave trade ; yet, as the States were now 
 possessed of the right to import slaves, as the public good 
 did not require it to be taken from them, and as it was ex- 
 pedient to have as few objections as possible to the proposed 
 scheme of government, he thought it best to leave the mat- 
 ter as we find it. He observed that the abolition of slavery 
 seemed to be going on in the United States, and that the 
 good sense of the several States would probably, by degrees, 
 complete it. He urged on the Convention the necessity of 
 dispatching its business. 
 
 Col. Mason. This infernal traffic originated in the ava- 
 , rice of British merchants. The British government con- 
 stantly checked the attempts of Virginia to put a stop to it. 
 The present question concerns not the importing States 
 alone, but the whole Union. The evil of having slaves was 
 experienced during the late war. Had slaves been treated 
 as they might have been by the enemy, they would have 
 proved dangerous instruments in their hands. But their 
 folly dealt by the slaves as it did by the tories. He men- 
 tioned the dangerous insurrections of slaves in Greece and 
 Sicily ; and the instructions given by Cromwell, to the com- 
 missioners sent to Virginia, to arm the servants and slaves 
 in case other means of obtaining its submission might fail. 
 Maryland and Virginia, he said, had already prohibited the 
 importation of slaves expressly; North Carolina had done 
 the same in substance. All this would be vain, if South 
 
THE FEHEEAL CONTENTION. 
 
 89 
 
 Carolina and Georgia be at liberty to import. The western 
 people are already calling out for slaves for their new lands, 
 and will fill that country with slaves, if they can be got 
 through South Carolina and Georgia. Slavery discourages 
 arts and manufactures. The poor despise labor when per- 
 formed by slaves. They prevent the emigration of whites, 
 who really enrich and strengthen a country. They produce 
 the most pernicious effect on manners. Every master of 
 slaves is born a petty tyrant. They bring the judgment 
 of Heaven on a country. As nations cannot be rewarded 
 or punished in the next world, they must be in this. By 
 an inevitable chain of causes and effects, Providence pun- 
 ishes national sins by national calamities. He lamented 
 that some of our Eastern brethren had, from a lust of gain, 
 embarked in this nefarious traffic. As to the States being 
 in possession of the right to import, this was the case with 
 many other rights, now to be properly given up. He held 
 it essential, in every point of view, that the general govern- 
 ment should have power to prevent the increase of slavery. 
 
 Mr. Ellsworth, as he had never owned a slave, could not 
 judge of the effects of slavery on character. He said, how- 
 ever, that if it was to be considered in a moral light, we 
 ought to go further, and free those already in the country. 
 As slaves also multiply so fast in Virginia and Maryland, 
 that it is cheaper to raise than import them, whilst in the 
 sickly rice-swamps foreign supplies are necessary, if we go 
 no further than is urged, we shall be unjust toward South 
 Carolina and Georgia. Let us not intermeddle. As popu- 
 lation increases, poor laborers will be so plenty as to render 
 slaves useless. Slavery, in time, will not be a speck in our 
 country. Provision is already made in Connecticut for 
 abolishing it. And the abolition has already taken place in 
 Massachusetts. As to the danger of insurrections from 
 foreign influence, that will become a motive to kind treat- 
 ment of the slaves. 
 
90 
 
 THE FEDERAL CONVENTION. 
 
 Mr. Pinckney. If slavery be wrong, it is justified by the 
 example of all the world. He cited the case of Greece, 
 Rome, and other ancient states ; the sanction given by 
 France, England, Holland, and other modern states. In 
 all ages, one-half of mankind have been slaves. If the 
 Southern States were let alone, they will probably of them- 
 selves stop importations. He would himself, as a citizen 
 of South Carolina, vote for it. An attempt to take away 
 the right, as proposed, will produce serious objections to 
 the constitution which he wished to see adopted. 
 
 Gen. Pinckney declared it to be his firm opinion, that if 
 himself and all his colleagues were to sign the constitution, 
 and use their personal influence, it would be of no avail 
 towards obtaining the assent of their constituents. South 
 Carolina and Georgia cannot do without slaves. As to 
 Virginia, she will gain by stopping the importations. Her 
 slaves will rise in value, and she has more than she wants. 
 It would be unequal to require South Carolina and Georgia 
 to confederate on such unequal terms. He said the royal 
 assent, before the Revolution, had never been refused to 
 ■South Carolina and Virginia. He contended that the 
 importation of slaves would be for the interest of the whole 
 Union. The more slaves, the more produce to employ the 
 carrying trade ; the more consumption also ; and the 
 more of this, the more revenue for the common treasury. 
 He admitted it to be reasonable that slaves should be 
 treated like other imports, but should consider a rejection 
 of the clause as an exclusion of South Carolina from the 
 Union. 
 
 Mr. Baldwin had conceived national objects alone to be 
 before the Convention, not such as, like the present, were of 
 a local nature. Georgia was decided on this point. That 
 State has always hitherto supposed a general government 
 to be the pursuit of the central States, who wished to have 
 a vortex for every thing ; that her distance would preclude 
 
THE FEDERAL CONVENTION. 
 
 91 
 
 her from equal advantage ; and that she could not pru- 
 dently purchase it by yielding national powers. From this 
 it might be understood in what light she would view an 
 attempt to abridge one of her favorite prerogatives. If 
 left to herself she may probably put a stop to the evil. As 
 one ground for this conjecture, he took notice of the sect 
 of , which was, he said, a respectable class of peo- 
 
 ple, who carried ethics beyond the mere equality of men, 
 extending their humanity to the claims of the whole animal 
 creation. 
 
 Mr. Wilson observed that, if South Carolina and Georgia 
 were themselves disposed to get rid of the importation of 
 slaves in a short time, as had been suggested, they would 
 never refuse to unite because the importation might be 
 prohibited. As the section now stands, all articles im- 
 ported are to be taxed. Slaves alone are exempt. This is, 
 in fact, a bounty on that article. 
 
 Mr. Gerry thought we had nothing to do with the con- 
 duct of the States as to slaves, but ought to be careful not 
 to give any sanction to it. 
 
 Mr. Dickinsou considered it as indispensable, on every 
 principle of honor and safety, that the importation of 
 slaves should be authorized to the States by the Constitu- 
 tion. The true question was, whether the national happi- 
 ness would be promoted or impaired by the importation — 
 and this question ought to be left to the national govern- 
 ment — not to the States particularly interested. If Eng- 
 land and France permit slavery, slaves are, at the same time, 
 excluded from both those kingdoms. Greece and Rome 
 were made unhappy by their slaves. He could not believe 
 that the Southern States would refuse to confederate on the 
 account apprehended ; especially as the power was not 
 likely to be immediately exercised by the general govern- 
 ment. 
 
 General Pinckney thought himself bound to say, that he 
 
92 
 
 THE FEDERAL CONVENTION. 
 
 did Dot think South Carolina would stop her importations 
 of slaves in any short time ; but only stop them occasion- 
 ally, as she now does. He moved to commit the clause, 
 that slaves might be made liable to an equal tax with other 
 imports ; which he thought right, and which would remove 
 one difficulty that had been stated. 
 
 Mr. Rutledge. If the Convention thinks that North 
 Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, will ever agree to 
 the plan, unless their right to import slaves be untouched, 
 the expectation is vain. The people of those States will 
 never be such fools as to give up so important an interest. 
 He was against striking out the section, and seconded the 
 motion of General Pinckney for a commitment. 
 
 Mr. Gouverneur Morris wished the whole subject to be 
 committed, including the clauses relating to taxes on ex- 
 ports and to a navigation act. These things may form a 
 bargain among the Northern and Southern States. 
 
 Mr. Butler declared, that he never would agree to the 
 power of taxing exports. 
 
 Mr. Sherman said it was better to let the Southern States 
 import slaves than to part with them, if they made that a 
 sine qua non. He was opposed to a tax on slaves im- 
 ported as making the matter worse, because it implied they 
 were property. He acknowledged that, if the power of 
 prohibiting the importation should be given to the general 
 government, it would be exercised. He thought it would 
 be its duty to exercise the power. 
 
 Mr. Read was for the commitment, provided the clause 
 concerning taxes on exports could also be committed. 
 
 Mr. Sherman observed, that that clause had been agreed 
 to, and therefore could not be committed. 
 
 Mr. Randolph was for committing, in order that some 
 middle ground might, if possible, be found. He could 
 never agree to the clause as it stands. He would sooner 
 risk the constitution. He dwelt on the dilemma to which 
 
THE FEDERAL CONVENTION, 
 
 93 
 
 the Convention was exposed. By agreeing to the clause, 
 it would revolt the Quakers, the Methodists, and many 
 others in the States having uo slaves. On the other hand, 
 two States might be lost to the union. Let us then, he 
 said, try the chances of a commitment. 
 
 On the question for committing the remaining part of 
 sections 4 and 5 of article 7, — Connecticut, New Jersey, 
 Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, 
 Georgia, Aye, 7 ; New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Delaware, 
 No, 3 ; Massachusetts absent. 
 
 Mr. Williamson stated the law of North Carolina on the 
 subject, to wit, that it did not directly prohibit the impor- 
 tation of slaves. It imposed a duty of five pounds on each 
 slave imported from Africa ; ten pounds on each from else- 
 where, and fifty pounds on each from a State licensing 
 manumission. He thought the Southern States could not 
 be members of the union, if the clause should be rejected, 
 and that it was wrong to force any thing down not abso- 
 lutely necessary, and which any State must disagree to. 
 
 Mr. King thought the subject should be considered in a 
 political light only. If two States will not agree to the 
 constitution, as stated on one side, he could affirm with 
 equal belief, on the other, that great and equal opposition 
 would be experienced from the other States. He remarked 
 that the exemption of slaves from duty, whilst every other 
 import was subject to it, was an inequality that could not 
 fail to strike the commercial sagacity of the Northern and 
 Middle States. 
 
 Mr. Langdon was strenuous for giving the power to the 
 general government. He could not, with a good conscience, 
 leave it with the States, who could then go on with the 
 traffic without being restrained by the opinions here given, 
 that they will themselves cease to import slaves. 
 
 Mr. Rutledge, from the committee to whom was referred 
 the propositions of Mr Madison and Mr. Pinckney on the 
 
94 
 
 THE FEDERAL CONVENTION. 
 
 18th and 20th, made a report embodying the general views 
 of the propositions as committed, but striking out the fol- 
 lowing propositions of Mr. Madison, 
 
 “ To dispose of the unappropriated lands of the United 
 States.” 
 
 “ To institute temporary governments for new States 
 arising therein.” 
 
 [Note. — If, as is claimed, the framers of the constitution 
 intended to invest Congress with the power of government 
 over territories, why was this proposition of Mr. Madison 
 struck out which conferred that power in express terms ? 
 It is difficult to explain this action upon any other hypo- 
 thesis than that they intended no such power to be lodged in 
 the federal government ; for it cannot be supposed that the 
 sages of that Convention were so fond of implications , as 
 to strike from the frame of government, which they were 
 preparing, express words , for the sake of having powers 
 inferred.] 
 
 August 23. The convention was engaged in the dis- 
 cussion of the subject of the militia, treaty-making power, 
 etc. 
 
 August 24. Gov. Livingston, from the committee of 
 eleven to whom was referred the clause of the fourth section 
 of the seventh article, relating to the importation of slaves, 
 made the following report. 
 
 “Strikeout so much of the fourth section as was referred 
 to the committee and insert : — ‘ The migration or importa- 
 tion of such persons as the several States now existing 
 shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the 
 legislatures prior to the year 1800, but a tax or duty may 
 be imposed on such immigration or importation, not exceed- 
 ing the average duties laid on imports.’ ” 
 
 August 25. The above report was taken up. Gen. Pinck- 
 ney moved to strike out the year 1800 as the year limiting 
 the importing of slaves, and insert 1808. Mr. Madison op- 
 
THE FEDERAL CONVENTION. 
 
 95 
 
 posed it on the gronud that so long a period would be more 
 dishonorable than though nothing was said about it in the 
 constitution. 
 
 On the motion of Gen. Pinckney to extend the importation 
 of slaves till 1808. 
 
 New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maryland, 
 North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia voted Aye; 
 New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Virginia voted 
 No. So it was agreed to. 
 
 Some further amendments were proposed and rejected. 
 The report as amended was then agreed to by the same 
 vote as on Gen. Pinckney’s amendment. 
 
 August 27. The 27th and 28th were occupied in dis- 
 cussing the judicial branch of the government, and the 
 subject of commerce. 
 
 August 29. Mr. Butler moved to insert after Article 15, — 
 
 “ If any person bound to service or labor in any of the 
 United States shall escape into another State, he or she 
 shall not be discharged from such service or labor in con- 
 sequence of any regulations subsisting in the State to which 
 they escape, but shall be delivered up to the person justly 
 claiming their service or labor;” which was agreed to unan- 
 imously without debate. 
 
 Mr. Morris, of Pennsylvania, moved the following : 
 
 “ The legislature shall have power to dispose of, and make 
 all needful rules and regulations respecting the territory or 
 other property belonging to the United States ; and no- 
 thing in this constitution contained shall be so construed as 
 to prejudice any claims, either of the United States, or of 
 any particular States.” This section was agreed to, Mary- 
 land alone dissenting. 
 
 [Note — If, as is claimed, the above section was intended 
 to give Congress the right of government over the people 
 of the territories, how could it have passed so nearly unani- 
 mous, and without debate, when the proposition of Mr. 
 
96 
 
 THE FEDERAL CONVENTION 
 
 Madison, only seven days before, giving that power in ex- 
 press language, was rejected ? The subject-matter before 
 the Convention at the time was the property of the United 
 States, and only with reference to that subject was this sec- 
 tion adopted.] 
 
 August 31. From this date till the 12th of September the 
 Convention was occupied in settlingthe details of the constitu- 
 tion, in the way of amendments and modifications to the various 
 articles. Y ery little debate occurred, — none that would come 
 within the purpose of this book. On the latter day the commit- 
 tee on revision reported the following draft of a constitution, 
 which with some slight amendments, on the 16th was agreed 
 to by the unanimous vote of all the States. On the 17th the 
 instrument, having been engrossed, was signed by the mem- 
 bers, with two or three exceptions, and the Convention ad- 
 journed sine die. 
 
 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES OF 
 AMERICA. 
 
 We, the People of the United States, in order to form a 
 more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic 
 tranquillity, provide for the common defense, promote 
 the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty 
 to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish 
 this Constitution for the United States of America. 
 Article 1. Section 1. All legislative powers herein 
 granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, 
 which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representa- 
 tives. 
 
 Section 2. The House of Representatives shall be com- 
 posed of members chosen every second year by the people 
 of the several States, and the electors in each State shall 
 have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most 
 numerous branch of the State legislature. 
 
 No person shall be a representative who shall not have 
 
THE FEDERAL CONVENTION - . 
 
 97 
 
 attained to the age of twenty-five years, and been seven 
 years a citizen of the United States, and who shall not, 
 when elected, be an inhabitant of that State in which he 
 shall be chosen. 
 
 Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned 
 among the several States which may be included within 
 this Union, according to their respective numbers, which 
 shall be determined by adding to the whole number of free 
 persons, including those bound to service for a term of 
 years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three-fifths of all 
 other persons. The actual enumeration shall be made 
 within three years after the first meeting of the Congress of 
 the United States, and within every subsequent term of ten 
 years, in such manner as they shall by law direct. The 
 number of representatives shall not exceed one for every 
 thirty thousand, but each State shall have at least one rep- 
 resentative ; and until such enumeration shall be made, the 
 State of New Hampshire shall be entitled to choose three, 
 Massachusetts eight, Rhode Island and Providence planta- 
 tions one, Connecticut five, New York six, New Jersey 
 four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland six, 
 Yirginia ten, North Carolina five, South Carolina five, and 
 Georgia three. 
 
 "When vacancies happen in the representation from any 
 State, the executive authority thereof shall issue writs of 
 election to fill such vacancies. 
 
 The House of Representatives shall choose their speaker 
 and other officers ; and shall have the sole power of 
 impeachment. 
 
 Section 8. The Senate of the United States shall be 
 composed of two senators from each State, chosen by the 
 legislature thereof, for six years ; and each senator shall 
 have one vote. 
 
 Immediately after they shall be assembled in consequence 
 of the first election, they shall be divided as equallv as may 
 
 1 
 
98 
 
 THE FEDERAL CONVENTION. 
 
 be into three classes. The seats of the senators of the first 
 class shall be vacated at the expiration of the second year, 
 of the second class at the expiration of the fourth year, 
 and of the third class at the expiration of the sixth year, 
 so that one-third may be chosen every second year ; and if 
 vacancies happen by resignation, or otherwise, during the 
 recess of the legislature of any State, the executive thereof 
 may make temporary appointments until the next meeting 
 of the legislature, which shall then fill such vacancies. 
 
 No person shall be a senator who shall not have attained 
 to the age of thirty years, and been nine years a citizen of 
 the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an 
 inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen. 
 
 The Vice-President of the United States shall be Presi- 
 dent of the Senate, but shall have no vote, unless they be 
 equally divided. 
 
 The Senate shall choose their other officers, and also a 
 president pro tempore, in the absence of the Vice-President, 
 or when he shall exercise the office of President of the 
 United States. 
 
 The Senate shall have the sole power to try all impeach- 
 ments. When sitting for that purpose, they shall be on 
 oath or affirmation. When the President of the United 
 States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside : and no per- 
 son shall be convicted without the concurrence of two- 
 thirds of the members present. 
 
 Judgment in cases of impeachment shall not extend fur- 
 ther than to removal from office, and disqualification to 
 hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust, or profit under the 
 United States : but the party convicted shall nevertheless 
 be liable and subject to indictment, trial, judgment and 
 punishment, according to law. 
 
 Section 4. The times, places, and manner of holding 
 elections for senators and representatives, shall be pre- 
 scribed in each State by the legislature thereof, but thw 
 
THE FEDERAL CONVENTION. 
 
 99 
 
 Congress may at any time, by law, make or alter such regu- 
 lations, except as to the places of choosing senators. 
 
 Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and 
 such meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, 
 unless they shall, by law, appoint a different day. 
 
 Section 5. Each House shall be the judge of the election 
 returns and qualifications of its own members, and a ma- 
 jority of each shall constitute a quorum to do business, 
 but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day, and 
 may be authorized to compel the attendance of tV. absent 
 members, in such manner, and under such penalties, as each 
 House may provide. 
 
 Each House may determine the rules of its proceedings, 
 punish its members for disorderly behavior, and, with the 
 concurrence of two-thirds, expel a member. 
 
 Each House shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and 
 from time to time publish the same, excepting such paas 
 as may in their judgment require secrecy ; and the yeas and 
 nays of the members of either House on any question, shall, 
 at the desire of one-fifth of those present, be entered on the 
 journal. 
 
 Neither House, during the session of Congress, shall, 
 without the consent of the other, adjourn for more than 
 three days, nor to any other place than that iu which the 
 two Houses shall be sitting. 
 
 Section 6. The senators and representatives shall receive 
 a compensation for their services, to be ascertained by law, 
 and paid out of the treasury of the United States. They 
 shall in all cases, except treason, felony, and breach of the 
 peace, be privileged from arrest during their attendance at 
 the session of their respective Houses, and m going to, and 
 returning from the same ; and for any speech or aebate in 
 either Hmise, they shall not be questioned in any other 
 place. 
 
 No bt^uator or representative shall, during the time for 
 
100 
 
 THE FEDERAL CONVENTION. 
 
 which he was elected, be appointed to any civil office under 
 the authority of the United States, which shall have been 
 created, or the emoluments whereof shall have been in- 
 creased, during such time ; and no person holding any 
 office under the United States, shall be a member of either 
 House, during his continuance in office. 
 
 Section I. All bills for raising revenue shall originate 
 in the House of Representatives ; but the Senate may pro- 
 pose or concur with amendments as on other bills. 
 
 Every bill which shall have passed the House of Repre- 
 sentatives and the Senate shall, before it become a law, be 
 presented to the President of the United States; if he ap- 
 prove, he shall sign it, but if not, he shall return it, with his 
 objections, to that House in which it shall have originated, 
 who shall enter the objections at large on their journal, and 
 proceed to reconsider it. If, after such reconsideration, two- 
 thirds of that House shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be 
 sent, together with the objections, to the other House, by 
 which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by 
 two-thirds of that House, it shall become a law. But in all 
 such cases the votes of both Houses shall be determined by 
 yeas and nays, and the names of the persons voting for and 
 against the bill shall be entered on the journal of each House 
 respectively. If any bill shall not be returned by the Pre- 
 sident within ten days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have 
 been presented to him, the same shall be a law, in like man- 
 ner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress by their ad- 
 journment prevent its return, in which case it shall not be a 
 hw. 
 
 Every order, resolution, or vote, to which the concurrence 
 of the Senate and House of Representatives may be neces- 
 sary, (except on a question of adjournment,) shall be pre- 
 sented to the President of the United States; and before 
 the same shall take effect, shall be approved by him, or being 
 disapproved by him, shall be repassed by two-thirds of the 
 
THE FEDERAL CONVENTION. 
 
 101 
 
 Senate and House of Representatives, according to the rules 
 and limitations prescribed in the case of a bill. 
 
 Section 8. The Congress shall have power — 
 
 To lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises, to 
 pay the debts and provide for the common defense and 
 general welfare of the United States; but all duties, imposts, 
 and excises shall be uniform throughout the United States; 
 
 To borrow money on the credit of the United States ; 
 
 To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among 
 the several States, and with the Indian tribes ; 
 
 To establish a uniform rule of naturalization, and uni- 
 form laws on the subject of bankruptcies throughout the 
 United States ; 
 
 To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign 
 coin, and fix the standard of weights and measures ; 
 
 To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the se- 
 curities and current coin of the United States ; 
 
 To establish post-offices and post roads ; 
 
 To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by 
 securing for limited times to authors and inventors the ex- 
 clusive right to their respective writings and discoveries ; 
 
 To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court ; 
 
 To define and punish piracies and felonies committed 
 on the high seas, and offences against the law of nations ; 
 
 To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, 
 and make rules concerning captures on laud and water ; 
 
 To raise and support armies, but no appropriation of 
 money to that use shall be for a longer term than two 
 years ; 
 
 To provide and maintain a navy ; 
 
 To make rules for the government and regulation of the 
 land and naval forces ; 
 
 To provide for calling forth the militia to execute 
 the law T s of the Union, suppress insurrections and repel in- 
 vasions ; 
 
4 
 
 102 THE FEDERAL CONVENTION. 
 
 To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, 
 the militia, and for governing such part of them as may be 
 employed in the service of the United States, reserving to 
 the States respectively, the appointment of the officers, and 
 the authority of training the militia according to the discip- 
 line*prescribed by Congress; 
 
 To exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever, 
 over such district (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, 
 by cession of particular States and the acceptance of Con- 
 gress, become the seat of the government of the United 
 States, and to exercise like authority over all places pur- 
 chased by the consent of the legislature of the State in which 
 the same shall be, for the erection of forts, magazines, 
 arsenals, dock-yards, and other needful buildings ; — and 
 
 To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for 
 carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all other 
 powers vested by this Constitution in the government of 
 the United States, or in any department or officer thereof. 
 
 Section 9. The migration or importation of such per- 
 sons as any of the States now existing shall think proper 
 •to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to 
 the year one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a tax 
 or duty may be imposed on such importation, not exceed- 
 ing ten dollars for each person. 
 
 The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be 
 suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the 
 public safety may require it. 
 
 No bill of attainder or ex post facto law shall be passed. 
 
 No capitation, or other direct, tax shall be laid, un- 
 less in proportion to the census or enumeration herein be- 
 fore directed to be taken. 
 
 No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from 
 any State. 
 
 No preference shall be given by any regulation of com- 
 merce or revenue to the ports of one State over those of 
 
THE FEDERAL CONVENTION. 103 
 
 another : nor shall vessels bound to, or from, one State, be 
 obliged to enter, clear, or pay duties in another. 
 
 No money shall be drawn from the treasury, but in 'con- 
 sequence of appropriations made by law ; aud a regular 
 statement and account of the receipts and expenditures of 
 all public money shall be published from time to time. 
 
 No title of nobility shall be granted by the United 
 States: and no person holding any office of profit or trust 
 under them, shall, without the consent of the Congress, 
 accept of any present, emolument, office, or title, of any 
 kind whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign State. 
 
 Section 10. No State shall enter into any treaty, alli- 
 ance, or confederation ; grant letters of marque and re- 
 prisal ; coin money ; emit bills of credit ; make any thing 
 but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debts ; 
 pass any bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law im- 
 pairing the obligation of contracts, or grant any title of 
 nobility. 
 
 No State shall, without the consent of the Congress, lay 
 any imposts or duties on imports or exports, except what 
 may be absolutely necessary for executing its inspection 
 laws : and the net produce of all duties and imposts, laid 
 by any State on imports or exports, shall be for the use 
 of the treasury of the United States ; and all such laws 
 shall be subject to the revision and control of the Congress. 
 
 No State shall, without the consent of Congress, lay any 
 duty of tonnage, keep troops, or ships of war in time of 
 peace, enter into any agreement or compact with another 
 State, or with a foreign power, or engage in war, unless 
 actually invaded, or in such imminent danger as will not 
 admit of delay. 
 
 Article 2. Section 1. The executive power shall be 
 vested in a President of the United States of America. 
 He shall hold his office during the term of four years, and, 
 
104 
 
 THE FEDERAL CONVENTION, 
 
 together with the Vice-President, chosen for the same terra, 
 be elected as follows : 
 
 Each State shall appoint, in such manner as the legisla- 
 ture thereof may direct, a number of Electors, equal to the 
 whole number of senators and representatives to which the 
 State may be entitled in the Congress; but no senator 
 or representative, or person holding an office of trust or 
 profit under the United States, shall be appointed an 
 Elector. 
 
 The Congress may determine the time of choosing the 
 Electors, and the day on which they shall give their votes ; 
 which day shall be the same throughout the United States. 
 
 No person except a natural-born citizen, or a citizen of 
 the United States, at the time of the adoption of this Con- 
 stitution, shall be eligible to the office of President; neither 
 shall any person be eligible to that office who shall not 
 have attained to the age of thirty-five years, and been four- 
 teen years a resident withiu the United States. 
 
 In case of the removal of the President from office, or of 
 his death, resignation, or inability to discharge the powers 
 and duties of the said office, the same shall devolve on the 
 Vice-President, and Congress may by law provide for the 
 case of removal, death, resignation, or inability, both of t he 
 President and Vice-President, declaring what officer shall 
 then act as President, and such officer shall act accordingly, 
 until the disability be removed, or a President shall be 
 elected. 
 
 The President shall, at stated times, receive for his ser- 
 vices a compensation, which shall neither be increased nor 
 diminished during the period for which he shall have been 
 elected, and he shall not receive within that period any other 
 emolument from the United States or any of them. 
 
 Before he enter on the execution of his office, he shall 
 take the following oath or affirmation : 
 
 “ I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully 
 
THE FEDERAL CONVENTION. 
 
 105 
 
 execute the office of President of the United States, and 
 will, to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend 
 the Constitution of the United States.” 
 
 Section 2. The President shall be commander-in-chief 
 of the army and navy of the United States, and of the militia 
 of the several States, when called into the actual service of 
 the United States ; he may require the opinion, in writing, 
 of the principal officer in each of the executive departments, 
 upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective 
 offices, and he shall have power to grant reprieves and 
 pardons for offenses against the United States, except in 
 cases of impeachment. 
 
 He shall have power, by and with the advice and con- 
 sent of the Senate, to make treaties, provided two-thirds of 
 the senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by 
 and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint 
 ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, judges of 
 the Supreme Court, and all other officers of the United 
 States, whose appointments are not herein otherwise pro- 
 vided for, and which shall be established by law : but the 
 Congress may by law vest the appointment of such inferior 
 officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the 
 courts of law, or in the heads of departments. 
 
 The President shall have power to fill up all vacancies 
 that may happen during the recess of the Senate, by grant- 
 ing commissions which shall expire at the end of their next 
 session. 
 
 Section 3. He shall, from time to time, give to the 
 Congress information of the state of the Union, and recom- 
 mend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge 
 necessary and expedient ; he may, on extraordinary occa 
 sions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in case 
 of disagreement between them, with respect to the time of 
 adjournment, he may adjourn them to such time as he shall 
 think proper ; he shall receive ambassadors and other public 
 
106 
 
 THE FEDERAL CONVENTION. 
 
 mini&Ura ; he shall take care that the laws be faithfully 
 executed, and shall commission all the officers of the Uuited 
 States. 
 
 Section 4. The President, Yice President, and all civil 
 officers of the United States, shall be removed from office 
 on impeachment for and conviction of treason, bribery, or 
 other high crimes and misdemeanors. 
 
 Article 3. Section 1. The judicial power of the 
 United States shall be vested in one Supreme Court, and 
 in such infetior courts as the Congress may from time to 
 time ordain «nd establish. The judges both of the supreme 
 and inferior courts, shall hold their offices during good be- 
 havior, and shall, at stated times, receive for their services 
 a compensation, which shall not be diminished during their 
 continuance in office. 
 
 Section 2. The judicial power shall extend to all cases, 
 in law and equity, arising under this Constitution, the laws 
 of the United States, and treaties made, or which shall be 
 made under their authority ; — to all cases affecting ambas- 
 sadors, othei public ministers and consuls ; — to all cases of 
 admiralty and maritime jurisdiction ; — to controversies to 
 which the United States shall be a party ; — to controversies 
 between two or more States ; — between a State and citizens 
 of another State; — between citizens of different States; — 
 between citizens of the same State claiming lands under 
 grants of different States, and between a State or the citi- 
 zens thereof, and foreign states, citizens or subjects. 
 
 In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers 
 and consuls, and those in which a State shall be party, the 
 Supreme Court shall have original jurisdiction. In all the 
 other cases before mentioned, the Supreme Court shall have 
 appellate jurisdiction, both as to law and fact, with such 
 exceptions and under such regulations as the Congress 
 shall make. 
 
 The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeachment, 
 
THE FEDERAL CONVENTION. 
 
 107 
 
 shall be by jury; and such trial shall be held in the State 
 where the said crimes shall have been committed ; but when 
 not committed within any State, the trial shall be at such 
 place or places as the Congress may by law have directed. 
 
 Section 3. Treason against the United States shall con- 
 sist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to 
 their enemies, giving them aid and comfort. No person 
 shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony of two 
 witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in open 
 court. 
 
 The Congress shall have power to declare the punishment 
 of treason, but no attainder of treason shall work corruption 
 of blood or forfeiture, except during the life of the person 
 attainted. 
 
 Article 4. Section 1. Full faith and credit shall be 
 given in each State to the public acts, records, and judicial 
 proceedings of every other State. And the Congress may, 
 by general laws, prescribe the manner in which such acts, 
 records, and proceedings shall be proved, and the effect 
 thereof. 
 
 Section 2. The citizens of each State shall be entitled 
 to all the privileges and immunities of citizens in the several 
 States. 
 
 A person charged in any State with treason, felony, or 
 other crime, who shall flee from justice, and be found in 
 another State, shall, on demand of the executive authority 
 of the State from which he fled, be delivered up, to be re- 
 moved to the State having jurisdiction of the crime. 
 
 No person held to service or labor in one State, under 
 the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in consequence 
 of any law or regulation therein, be discharged from such 
 service or labor, but shall be delivered up on claim of the 
 party to whom such service or labor may be due. 
 
 Section 3. New States may be admitted by the Con- 
 gress into this Union ; but no new State shall be formed or 
 
108 
 
 THE FEDERAL CONVENTION. 
 
 erected within the jurisdiction of any other State ; nor any 
 State be formed by the junction of two or more States, or 
 parts of States, without the consent of the legislatures of 
 the States concerned as well as of the Congress. 
 
 The Congress shall have power to dispose of and make 
 all needful rules and regulations respecting the territory or 
 other property belonging to the United States ; and nothing 
 in this Constitution shall be so construed as to prejudice 
 any claims of the United States, or of any particular State. 
 
 Section 4. The Uuited States shall guarantee to every 
 State in this Union a republican form of government, and 
 shall protect each of them against invasion, and on applica- 
 tion of the legislature, or of the executive (when the legis- 
 lature cannot be convened) against domestic violence. 
 
 Article 5. The Congress, whenever two-thirds of both 
 Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose amendments 
 to this Constitution, or, on the application of the legisla- 
 tures of two-thirds of the several States, shall call a con- 
 vention for proposing amendments, which, in either case, 
 shall be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of this 
 Constitution, when ratified by the legislatures of three- 
 fourths of the several States, or by conventions in three- 
 fourths thereof, as the one or the other mode of ratification 
 may be proposed by the Congress ; Provided that no 
 amendment which may be made prior to the year one 
 thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any manner 
 affect the first and fourth clauses in the ninth section of 
 the first article ; and that no State, without its consent, 
 shall be deprived of its equal suffrage in the Senate. 
 
 Article 6. All debts contracted and engagements 
 entered into, before the adoption of this Constitution, shall 
 be as valid against the United States under this Constitu- 
 tion, as under the Confederation. 
 
 This Constitution, and the laws of the United States 
 which shall be made in pursuance thereof ; and all treaties 
 
THE FEDERAL CONVENTION. 109 
 
 made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the 
 United States, shall be the supreme law of the land ; and 
 the judges in every State shall be bound thereby, anything 
 in the Constitution or laws of any State to the contrary 
 notwithstanding. 
 
 The senators and representatives before mentioned, and 
 the members of the several State legislatures, and all 
 executive and judicial officers, both of the United States 
 and of the several States, shall be be bound by oath or 
 affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious 
 Test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office 
 or public trust under the United States. 
 
 Article 7. The ratification of the Conventions of nine 
 States, shall be sufficient for the establishment of this Con- 
 stitution between the States so ratifying the same. 
 
 Done in Convention by the unanimous consent of the 
 States present the seventeenth day of September in the 
 year of our Lord, one thousand seven hundred and eighty 
 seven and of the Independence of the United States of 
 America the twelfth. In witness whereof, We have here- 
 unto subscribed our names. 
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON, 
 President, and Deputy f rom Virginia. 
 
 The Constitution was ratified by the Conventions of the 
 several States, as follows, viz. : Delaware, 7th December, 
 1781 ; Pennsylvania, 12th December, 1787 ; New Jersey, 
 18th December, 1787; Georgia, 2d January, 1788 ; Con- 
 necticut, 9th January, 1788; Massachusetts, 6th February, 
 1788; Maryland, 28th April, 1788; South Carolina, 23d 
 May, 1788; New Hampshire, 21st June, 1788; Virginia, 
 26th June, 1788; New York, 26th July, 1788; North 
 Carolina, 21st November, 1789 ; Rhode Island, 29th May, 
 1790. 
 
110 
 
 THE FEDERAL CONVENTION. 
 
 OFFICIAL LETTER 
 
 Adopted by the Convention, and addressed to Congress, 
 with a copy of the Constitution. 
 
 “ We have now the honor to submit to the consideration 
 of the United States in Congress assembled, that Constitu- 
 tion which has appeared to us the most advisable. 
 
 “ The friends of our country have long seen and desired, 
 that the power of making war, peace, and treaties ; that of 
 levying money and regulating commerce ; and the corres- 
 pondent executive and judicial authorities, should be fully 
 and effectually vested in the general government of the 
 Union. But the impropriety of delegating such extensive 
 trust to one body of men is evident. Thence results the 
 necessity of a different organzation. It is obviously im- 
 practicable in the federal government of these States, to 
 secure all rights of independent sovereignty to each, and 
 yet provide for the interest and safety of all. Individuals 
 entering into society must give up a share of liberty to 
 preserve the rest. 
 
 The magnitude of the sacrifice must depend as well on 
 situation and circumstances, as on the object to be ob- 
 tained. It is at all times difficult to draw with precision 
 the line between those rights which must be surrendered 
 and those which may be reserved. And on the present 
 occasion this difficulty was increased by a difference among 
 the several States as to their situation, extent, habits, and 
 particular interests. 
 
 In all our deliberations on this subject, we kept steadily 
 in our view that which appeared to us the greatest interest 
 of every true American, — the consolidation of our Union, 
 in which is involved our prosperity, felicity, safety, perhaps 
 our national existence. This important consideration, se- 
 riously and deeply impressed on our minds, led each State 
 in the Convention to be less rigid in points of inferior mag- 
 
THE FEDERAL CONVENTION. 
 
 Ill 
 
 nitude than might have been otherwise expected. And 
 thus the Constitution which we now present is the result of 
 a spirit of amity, and of that mutual deference and con- 
 cession, which the peculiarity of our political situation ren- 
 dered indispensable. 
 
 “ That it will meet the full and entire approbation of 
 every State is not, perhaps, to be expected. But each will 
 doubtless consider that, had her interest alone been con- 
 sulted, the consequence might have been particularly disa- 
 greeable and injurious to others. That it is liable to as 
 few exceptions as could reasonably have been expected, we 
 hope and believe ; that it will promote the lasting welfare 
 of that country so dear to us all, and secure our freedom 
 and happiness, is our most ardent wish.” 
 
 ARTICLES 
 
 In addition to, and amendment of, the Constitution of the 
 United States of America, proposed by Congress, and 
 ratified by the Legislatures of the several States, pursu- 
 ant to the fifth at'ticle of the original Constitution. 
 
 Article 1. Congress shall make no law respecting an 
 establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise 
 thereof ; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the 
 press ; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, 
 and to petition the government for a redress of grievances. 
 
 Article 2. A well regulated militia being necessary to 
 the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep 
 and bear arms, shall not be infringed. 
 
 Article 3. No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quar- 
 tered in any house, without the consent of the owner, nor 
 in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law. 
 
 Article 4. The right of the people to be secure in 
 their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreason- 
 able searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no 
 
112 
 
 THE FEDERAL CONVENTION'. 
 
 warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported 
 by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the 
 place to be searched, and the persons or things to be 
 seized. 
 
 Article 5. No person shall be held to answer for a 
 capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a present- 
 ment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising 
 m the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual 
 service in time of war or public clanger ; nor shall any per- 
 son be subject for the same offense to be twice put in 
 jeopardy of life or limb ; nor shall be compelled in any 
 criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be de- 
 prived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of 
 law ; nor shall private property be taken for public use, 
 without just compensation. 
 
 Article 6. In all criminal prosecutions, the accused 
 shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an im- 
 partial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall 
 have been been committed, which district shall have been 
 previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the 
 nature and cause of the accusation ; to be confronted with 
 the witnesses against him ; to have compulsory process for 
 obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance 
 of counsel for his defense. 
 
 Article 1 . In suits at common law, where the value in 
 controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial 
 by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury shall 
 be otherwise re-examined in any court of the United States, 
 than according to the rules of the common law. 
 
 Article 8. Excessive bail shall not be required, nor 
 excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments 
 inflicted. 
 
 Article 9. The enumeration in the Constitution, of 
 certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage 
 others retained by the people. 
 
THE FEDERAL CONVENTION. 
 
 113 
 
 Article 10. The powers not delegated to the United 
 States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the 
 States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the 
 people. 
 
 Article 11. The judicial power of the United States 
 shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law or 
 equity, commenced or prosecuted against one of the United 
 States by citizens of another State, or by citizens or sub- 
 jects of any foreign State. 
 
 Article 12. The Electors shall meet in their respective 
 States, and vote by ballot for President and Vice-President, 
 one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the 
 same State with themselves ; they shall name in their bal- 
 lots the person voted for as President, and in distinct bal- 
 lots the person voted for as Vice-President, and they shall 
 make distinct lists of all persons voted for as President, and 
 of all persons voted for as Vice-President, and of the num- 
 ber of votes for each, which lists they shall sign and certify, 
 and transmit sealed to the seat of the government of the 
 United States, directed to the President of the Senate ; — 
 the President of the Senate shall, in presence of the Senate 
 and House of Representatives, open all the certificates and 
 the votes shall then be counted ; — The person having the 
 greatest number of votes for President, shall be the Presi- 
 dent, if such number be a majority of the whole number of 
 Electors appointed ; and if no person have such majority, 
 then from the persons having the highest numbers not ex- 
 ceeding three on the list of those voted for as President, 
 the House of Representatives shall choose immediately, by 
 ballot, the President. But in choosing the President, the 
 votes shall be taken by States, the representation from each 
 State having one vote ; a quorum for this purpose shall 
 consist of a member or members from two-thirds of the 
 States, and a majority of all the States shall be necessary to 
 a choice. And if the House of Representatives shall not 
 8 
 
114 
 
 THE FEDERAL CONVENTION. 
 
 choose a President whenever the right of choice shall de- 
 volve upon them, before the fourth day of March next fol- 
 lowing, then the Vice-President shall act as President, as 
 in the case of the death or other constitutional disability of 
 the President. The person having the greatest number of 
 votes as Vice-President, shall be the Vice-President, if 
 such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors 
 appointed, and if no person have a majority, then from the 
 two highest numbers on the list, the Senate shall choose 
 the Vice-President; a quorum for the purpose shall consist 
 of two-thirds of the whole number of senators, and a 
 majority of the whole number shall be necessary to a 
 choice. But no person constitutionally ineligible to the 
 office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President 
 of the United States. 
 
 The first ten of the preceding amendments were proposed 
 at the first session of the first Congress of the United 
 States, 25th September, 1789, and were finally ratified by 
 the constitutional number of States, on the 15th day of 
 December, 1791. 
 
 The eleventh amendment was proposed at the first session 
 of the third Congress, 5th March, 1794, and was declared 
 in a message from the President of the United States to 
 both houses of Congress, dated 8th January, 1798, to have 
 been adopted by the constitutional number of States. 
 
 The twelfth amendment was proposed at the first session 
 of the eighth Congress, 12th December, 1803, and was 
 adopted by the Constitutional number of States in 1804, 
 according to a public notice thereof by the Secretary of 
 State, dated 25th September, of the same year. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE STATE CONVENTIONS. 
 
 The following chapter contains all the debates on the 
 subject of slavery, in the Conventions of the several States 
 to ratify the Constitution, that have been preserved. Of 
 the Conventions of Vermont, Delaware, Maryland, and 
 Georgia, none were reported, or, if reported, have never been 
 published. In Pennsylvania, the only speeches preserved 
 are those of Janies Wilson, a member of the Federal Con- 
 vention, and Thomas McKean. The only allusion in these 
 speeches to the question of slavery was by Mr. Wilson, 
 expressing his gratification that, after twenty years, Con- 
 gress would have power to prohibit the slave trade, and 
 that thus slavery would finally die out of itself. No debates 
 were preserved of the New Hampshire Convention, save a 
 mere fragment of a speech by Joshua Atherton, repro- 
 bating the slave trade. It does not appear, however, 
 whether he opposed the Constitution on that ground, or 
 supported it because it provided a way for its final extinc- 
 tion. We therefore do not copy it. 
 
 In some States the debates are voluminous, and yet very 
 little, comparatively, on the subject of slavery. We have 
 aimed to give all that w T as said, pro and con, leaving the 
 reader to form his own opinions. 
 
 EXTRACTS FROM THE DEBATES IN THE CONVEN- 
 TION OF MASSACHUSETTS. 
 
 February 4, 1188. Rev. Mr. Backus said — Mr. Presi- 
 dent, I have said very little in this honorable Convention ; 
 but I now beg leave to offer a few thoughts upon some 
 
 (115) 
 
116 
 
 THE STATE CONVENTIONS. 
 
 points in the Constitution proposed to us, and I shall begin 
 with the exclusion of the religious test. Many appear to 
 be much concerned about it ; but nothing is more evident, 
 both in reason and the Holy Scriptures, than that religion 
 is ever a matter between God and individuals ; and there- 
 fore no man or men can impose any religious test, without 
 invading the essential prerogatives of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ. Ministers first assumed this power under the Chris- 
 tian name ; and then Constantine approved of the practice, 
 when he adopted the profession of Christianity, as an 
 engine of State policy. And let the history of all nations 
 be searched from that day to this, and it will appear that 
 the imposing of religious tests hath been the greatest en- 
 gine of tyranny in the world. And I rejoice to see so 
 many gentlemen who are now giving in their rights of con- 
 science in this great and important matter. Some serious 
 minds discover a concern lest, if all religious tests should 
 be excluded, the Cougress would hereafter establish Popery, 
 or some other tyrannical way of worship. But it is most 
 certain that no such way of worship can be established 
 without any religious test. 
 
 Much, sir, hath been said about the importation of slaves 
 into this country. 
 
 I believe that, according to my capacity, no man abhors 
 that wicked practice more than I do ; I would gladly make 
 use of all lawful means toward the abolition of slavery in all 
 parts of the land. 
 
 But let us consider where we are and what we are doing. 
 In the Articles of Confederation, no provision was made to 
 hinder the importation of slaves into any of these States ; 
 but a door is now open hereafter to do it, and each State is 
 at liberty now to abolish slavery as soon as they please. 
 And let us remember our former connection with Great 
 Britain, from whom many in our own land think we ought 
 not to have revolted. How did they carry on the slave 
 
THE STATE CONVENTIONS. 
 
 117 
 
 trade ? I know that the Bishop of Gloucester, in an an- 
 nual sermon in London, in February, 1116, endeavored to 
 justify their tyrannical claims of power over us by casting 
 the reproach of the slave trade upon the Americans. 
 
 But at the close of the war, the Bishop of Chester, in an 
 annual sermon, in February, 1183, ingenuously owned that 
 their nation is the most deeply involved in the guilt of that 
 trade of any nation in the world ; and, also, that they have 
 treated their slaves in the West Indies worse than the 
 French or Spaniards have done theirs. 
 
 Thus slavery grows more odious through the world ; aud 
 as an honorable gentleman said, some days ago, “ Though 
 we cannot say that slavery is struck with an apoplexy, yet 
 we may hope it will die with consumption.” 
 
 Mr. Dawes said he was sorry to hear so many objec- 
 tions raised against the paragraph under consideration. He 
 thought them wholly unfounded; that the black inhabitants 
 of the Southern States must be considered either as slaves, 
 and as so much property, or in the character of so many 
 freemen ; if the former, why should they not be wholly re- 
 presented ? Our own State laws and Constitutions would 
 lead us to consider these blacks as freemen, and so in- 
 deed, would our own ideas of natural justice. If, then, they 
 are freemen, they might form au equal basis for represen- 
 tation as though they were all white inhabitants. 
 
 In either view, therefore, he could not see that the 
 Northern States would suffer, but directly to the contrary. 
 He thought, however, that gentlemen would do well to con- 
 nect the passage in dispute with another article in the 
 Constitution, that permits Congress, in the year 1808, 
 wholly to prohibit the importation of slaves, and in the 
 mean time to impose a duty of ten dollars a head on such 
 blacks as should be imported before that period. Besides, 
 by the new Constitution, every particular State is left to its 
 own option totally to prohibit the introduction of slaves 
 
118 
 
 THE STATE CONVENTIONS. 
 
 into its own territories. What could the Convention do 
 more ? The members of the Southern States, like ourselves, 
 have their prejudices. It would not do to abolish slavery, 
 by an Act of Congress, in a moment, and so destroy what 
 our Southern brethren consider as property. 
 
 But we may say, that although slavery is not smitten by 
 apoplexy, yet it has received a mortal wound, and will die of 
 consumption. 
 
 Gen. Heath said, the paragraph respecting the migra- 
 tion or importation of such persons as any of the States now 
 existing shall think proper to admit, &c., is one of those 
 considered during my absence, and I have heard nothing 
 on the subject, save what has been mentioned this morn- 
 ing ; but I think the gentlemen who have spoken have car- 
 ried the matter rather too far on both sides. 
 
 I apprehend that it is not in our power to do any thing 
 for or against those who are in slavery in the Southern 
 States. 
 
 Ho gentleman within these walls detests every idea of 
 slavery more than I do : it is generally detested by the 
 people of this commonwealth ; and I ardently hope that the 
 time will soon come when our brethren in the Southern 
 States will view it as we do, and put a stop to it ; but to 
 this we have no right to compel them. Two questions 
 naturally arise. If we ratify the Constitution, shall we do 
 anything by our act to hold the blacks in slavery ? Or 
 shall we become partakers of other men’s sins 1 I think, 
 neither of them. Each State is sovereign and independent 
 to a certain degree, and the States have a right, and they 
 will regulate their own internal affairs as to themselves 
 appears proper ; and shall we refuse to eat, or to drink, or 
 to be united, with those who do not think, or act, just as we 
 do ? Surely not. We are not, in this case, partakers of 
 other men’s sins ; for in nothing do we voluntarily encourage 
 the slavery of our fellow man. 
 
THE STATE CONVENTIONS. 
 
 119 
 
 Mr. President: After a long and painful investigation of 
 the Federal Constitution, by paragraphs, this honorable 
 Convention is drawing nigh to the ultimate question — a 
 question as momentous as ever invited the attention of man. 
 
 We are soon to decide on a system of government, 
 digested, not for the people of the commonwealth of Massa- 
 chusetts only — not for the present people of the United 
 States only — but, in addition to these, for all those States 
 which may hereafter rise into existence within the jurisdic- 
 tion of the United States, and for millions of people yet 
 unborn ; a system of government, not for a nation of slaves, 
 but for a people as free and virtuous as any on earth ; not 
 for a conquered uation, subdued to our will, but for a people 
 who have fought, who have bled, and who have conquered ; 
 who under the smiles of Heaven, have established their inde- 
 pendence and sovereignty, and have taken equal rank among 
 the nations of the earth. 
 
 In short, sir, it is a system of government for ourselves 
 and for our children, for all that is near and dear to us in 
 life ; and on the decision of the question is suspended our 
 political prosperity or infelicity, perhaps our existence as a 
 nation. What can be more solemn ? What can be more 
 interesting? Everything depends on our union. I know 
 that some have supposed, that although the union should be 
 broken, particular States may retain their importance ; but 
 this cannot be. 
 
 The strongest nerved State, even the right arm, if sepa- 
 rated from the body, must wither. If the great union be 
 broken, our country, as a nation, perishes ; and if our 
 country so perishes, it will be as impossible to save a par- 
 ticular State as to preserve one of the fingers of a mortified 
 hand. 
 
 By one of the paragraphs of the system, it is declared 
 that the ratifications of the Conventions of nine States shall 
 be sufficient for the establishment of the Constitution between 
 
120 
 
 THE STATE CONVENTIONS. 
 
 the States so ratifying the same. But, sir, how happy 
 will it be if, not only nine, but even all the States should 
 ratify it. 
 
 It will be a happy circumstance if only a small majority 
 of this Convention should ratify the federal system ; but 
 how much more happy if we could be unanimous ! And if 
 there are any means whereby they may be united, every 
 exertion should be made to effect it. I presume, sir, that 
 there is not a single gentleman within these walls who does 
 not wish for a federal government — for an efficient federal 
 government; and that this government should be possessed 
 of every power necessary to enable it to shed on the people 
 the benign influence of a good government. 
 
 The third paragraph of the 2d section being read, Mr. 
 King, a member of the Federal Convention, rose to explain 
 it. There has, says he, been much misconception of this 
 section. It is a principle of this Constitution that represen- 
 tation and taxation should go hand in hand. This para- 
 graph states that to the number of free persons, including 
 those bound to service for a term of years, and excluding In- 
 dians not taxed, three-fifths of all other persons shall be 
 added. These persons are the slaves. By this rule are 
 representation and taxation to be apportioned ; and it was 
 adopted, because it was the language of all America. Ac- 
 cording to the Confederation, ratified in 1181, the suras 
 for the general welfare and defense should be apportioned 
 according to the surveyed lands, and improvements thereon, 
 in the several States ; but that it hath never been in the 
 power of Congress to follow that rule, the returns from 
 the several States being so very imperfect. 
 
THE STATE CONVENTIONS. 
 
 121 
 
 EXTRACTS PROM THE DEBATES IN THE COHVES 
 TION OP THE STATE OP NEW YORK. 
 
 June 20, 1IS8. *Mr. Hamilton said : In order that tin 
 committee may understand clearly the principle on which 
 the genera] Convention acted, I think it necessary to explain 
 some preliminary circumstances. Sir, the natural situation 
 of this country seems to divide its interests into different 
 classes. There are navigating and non-navigating States. 
 The Northern are properly navigating States ; the Southern 
 appear to possess neither the means nor the spirit of navi- 
 gation. This difference or situation naturally produces a 
 dissimilarity of interests and views respecting foreign com- 
 merce. It was the interest of the Northern States that there 
 should be no restraints on their navigation, and that they 
 should have full power, by a majority in Congress, to make 
 commercial regulations in favor of their own, and in restraint 
 of the navigation of foreigners. The Southern States wished 
 to impose a restraint on the Northern, by requiring that 
 two-thirds in Congress should be requisite to pass an act 
 in regulation of commerce. They were apprehensive that 
 the restraints of a navigation law would discourage foreign- 
 ers, and, by obliging them to employ the shipping of the 
 Northern States, would probably enhance their freight. 
 This being the case, they insisted strenuously on having 
 this provision engrafted in the Constitution ; and the North- 
 ern States were as anxious in opposing it. On the other 
 hand, the small States, seeing themselves embraced by the 
 Confederation upon equal terms, wished to retain the ad- 
 vantages which they already possessed. The large States, 
 on the contrary, thought it improper that Rhode Island and 
 Delaware should enjoy an equal suffrage with themselves. 
 
 * Mr. Hamilton was the only delegate in the New York Con- 
 vention that discussed, or expressed an opinion on thn subject 
 of slavery. 
 
122 
 
 THE STATE CONVENTION'S. 
 
 From these sources a delicate and difficult contest arose. 
 It became necessary, therefore, to compromise, or the Con- 
 vention must have dissolved without effecting anything. 
 Would it have been wise and prudent in that body, in this 
 critical situation, to have deserted their country? No 1 
 Every man who hears me, every wise man in the United 
 States would have condemned them. 
 
 The Convention were obliged to appoint a committee for 
 accommodation. In this committee the arrangement was 
 formed as it now stands, and their report was accepted. It 
 was a delicate point, and it was necessary that all parties 
 should be indulged. 
 
 Gentlemen will see that, if there had been no unanimity, 
 nothing could have been done; for the Convention had no 
 power to establish, but only to recommend, a government. 
 Any other system would have been impracticable. 
 
 Let a convention be called to-morrow. Let them meet 
 twenty times, — nay, twenty thousand times ; they will have 
 the same difficulties to encounter, the same clashing inte- 
 rests to reconcile. 
 
 But, dismissing these reflections, let us consider how far 
 the arrangement is in itself entitled to the approbation of 
 this body. We will examine it upon its own merits. 
 
 The first thing objected to is that clause which allows a 
 representation for three-fifths of the negroes. Much has 
 been said of the impropriety of representing men who have 
 no will of their own. Whether this be reasoning or decla- 
 mation I will not presume to say. It is the unfortunate 
 situation of the Southern States to have a great part of their 
 population, as well as property, in blacks. The regulation 
 complained of was one result of the spirit of accommodation 
 which governed the Convention, and without this indulgence 
 no union could possibly have been formed. 
 
 But, sir, considering some peculiar advantages which we 
 
THE STATE CONVENTIONS. 
 
 128 
 
 derive from them, it is entirely just that they should be 
 granted. 
 
 The Southern States possess certain staples — tobacco, 
 rice, indigo, &c. — which must be capital objects in treaties 
 of commerce with foreign nations ; and the advantages 
 which they necessarily procure in those treaties will be felt 
 throughout all the States. But the justice of this plan will 
 appear in another view. The best writers on government, 
 have held that representation should be compounded of per- 
 sons and property. This rule has been adopted, as far as 
 it could be, in the Constitution of New York. It will, 
 however, by no means be admitted that the slaves are con- 
 sidered altogether as property. They are men, though 
 degraded to the condition of slavery. 
 
 They are persons known to the municipal laws of the 
 States which they inhabit, as well as to the laws of nature. 
 But representation and taxation go together, and one uni- 
 form rule ought to apply to both. 
 
 Would it be just to compute these slaves in the assess- 
 ment of taxes, and discard them from the estimate in the 
 apportionment of representatives ? 
 
 Would it be just to impose a singular burden, without 
 conferring some adequate advantage ? 
 
 Another circumstance ought to be considered. The rule 
 we have been speaking of is a general rule, and applies to 
 all the States. Now, you have a great number of people in 
 your State which are not represented at all, and have no 
 voice in your government. 
 
 These will be included in the enumeration — not two-fifths, 
 nor three-fifths, but the whole. 
 
 This proves that the advantages of the plan are not con- 
 fined to the Southern States, but extend to other parts of 
 the Union. 
 
124 
 
 THE STATE CONVENTIONS. 
 
 EXTRACTS FROM THE DEBATES IN THE CONVEN- 
 TION OE CONNECTICUT. 
 
 January 4, 1188. — Oliver Ellsworth. Mr. President : It 
 is observable that there is no preface to the proposed Con- 
 stitution ; but it evidently pre-supposes two things ; one is, 
 the necessity of a federal government, the other is the ineffi- 
 ciency of the old Articles of Confederation. 
 
 A union is necessary for the purposes of national defense. 
 United we are strong, divided we are weak. It is easy for hos- 
 tile nations to sweep off a number of separate states, one after 
 another. Witness the states in the neighborhood of ancient 
 Rome. They were successively subdued by that ambitious 
 city, which they might have conquered with the utmost 
 ease if they had been united. 
 
 Witness the Canaanitish nations, whose divided situation 
 rendered them an easy prey. Witness England, which, 
 when divided into separate states, was twice conquered by 
 an inferior force. Thus it always happens to small states, 
 and to great ones if divided. Or if, to avoid this, they 
 connect themselves with some powerful state, their situation 
 is not much better. This shows us the necessity of combin- 
 ing our whole force, and, as to national purposes, becoming 
 one state. 
 
 A union, sir, is likewise necessary, considered with rela- 
 tion to economy. 
 
 They must provide for their defense. 
 
 The expense of it, which would be moderate for a large 
 kingdom, would be intolerable to a petty state. The Dutch 
 are wealthy, but they are one of the smallest of the Euro- 
 pean nations, and their taxes are higher than in any other 
 country of Europe. Their taxes amount to forty shillings 
 per head, when those of England do not exceed half that 
 sum. 
 
 We must unite in order to preserve peace among our- 
 
THE STATE CONVENTIONS. 
 
 125 
 
 Helves. If we be divided, what is to prevent wars from 
 breaking out among the States ? States, as well as indi- 
 viduals, are subject to ambition, to avarice, to those jarring 
 passions which disturb the peace of society. What is to 
 check these ? If there be a parental hand over the whole, 
 this, and nothing else, can restrain the unruly conduct of the 
 members. 
 
 Union is necessary to preserve commutative justice be- 
 tween the States. 
 
 If divided what is to prevent the large States from 
 oppressing the small ? What is to defend us from the am- 
 bition and rapacity of New York, when she has spread over 
 that vast territory which she claims and holds ? Do we not 
 already see in her the seeds of an overbearing ambition ? 
 On our other side there is a large and powerful State. 
 Have we not already begun to be tributaries ? If we do 
 not improve the present critical time — if we do not unite — 
 shall we not be like Issachar of old, a strong ass crouching 
 down between two burdens. New Jersey and Delaware 
 have seen this, and have adopted the Constitution unani- 
 mously. 
 
 A more energetic system is necessary. 
 
 The present is merely advisory. It has no coercive 
 power. Without this, government is ineffectual, or rather 
 is no government at all. But it is said, “ Such a power is 
 not necessary. States will not do wrong. They need only 
 to be told their duty and they will do it.” I ask, sir, what 
 warrant is there for this assertion ? Do not States do 
 wrong ? Whence come wars ? One of two hostile nations 
 must be in the wrong. 
 
 But it is said, “ Among sister States this can never be 
 presumed.” But do we not know that when friends become 
 enemies, their enmity is the most virulent ? 
 
 The seventeen provinces of the Netherlands were once 
 confederated : they fought under the same banner. Ant- 
 
126 
 
 THE STATE CONVENTION'S. 
 
 vverp, hard pressed by Philip, applied to the other states 
 for relief. Holland, a rival in trade, opposed and prevented 
 the needy succors. 
 
 Antwerp was made a .sacrifice. I wish I could say there 
 were no seeds of similar injustice springing up among us. 
 Is there not in one of our States injustice too barefaced for 
 Eastern despotism ? That State is small. It does little 
 hurt to any but itself. 
 
 But it has a spirit which would make a Topket of the 
 universe. But some will say, “We formerly did well with- 
 out any union.” 
 
 I answer, our situation is materially changed. While 
 Great Britain held her authority, she awed us. She ap- 
 pointed governors and councils for the American provinces. 
 She had a negative upon our laws. But now, our circum- 
 stances are so altered, that there is no arguing what we 
 shall be, from what we have been.* 
 
 EXTRACTS FROM THE DEBATES OF THE COMMON- 
 WEALTH OF VIRGINIA. 
 
 June 2, 1188. Mr. George Nicholas. Mr. Chairman: I 
 feel apprehensions lest the subject of our debates should be 
 misunderstood. Every one wishes to know the true meaning 
 of the system ; but I fear those who hear us will think we 
 are captiously quibbling on words. We have been told, iu 
 the course of this business, that the government will operate 
 like a screw. Give me leave to say that the exertions of 
 the opposition are like that instrument. They catch at 
 every thing, and take it into their vortex. 
 
 * The report of the debates in the Connecticut Convention is 
 very meagre, occupying but a few pages. In none of the 
 speeches reported is the slavery question debated at all. We 
 copy the foregoing from Mr. Ellsworth, as containing healthy 
 Union sentiments, peculiarly applicable to a large class of 
 people at the present time. 
 
THE STATE CONTENTIONS. 
 
 127 
 
 The worthy member says that this government is de- 
 fective, because it comes from the people. 
 
 Its greatest recommendation with me, is putting the 
 power in the hands of the people. 
 
 He disapproves of it because it does not say in what par- 
 ticular instances the militia shall be called out to execute 
 the laws. 
 
 This is a power of the Constitution, and particular in- 
 stances must be defined by the legislature. But, says the 
 worthy member, those laws which have been read are argu- 
 ments against the Constitution, because they show that the 
 States are now in possession of the power, and competent 
 to its execution. 
 
 Would you leave this power in the States, and by that 
 means deprive the general government of a power which 
 will be necessary for its existence ? If the State govern- 
 ments find this power necessary, ought not the general 
 government to have a similar power ? But, sir, there is no 
 State check in this business. The gentleman near me has 
 shown that there is a very important check. 
 
 Another worthy member says there is no power in the 
 States to quell an insurrection of slaves. Have they it 
 now? If they have, does the Constitution take it away? 
 If it does, it must be one of the three clauses which have 
 been mentioned by the worthy member. The first clause 
 gives the general government power to call them out when 
 necessary. Does this take it away from the States ? Ho. 
 But it gives an additional security ; for, beside the power 
 in the State governments to use their own militia, it will be 
 the duty of the general government to aid them with the 
 strength of the Hnion when called for. 
 
 Ho part of this Constitution can show that this power is 
 taken away. 
 
 But an argument is drawn from that clause which says 
 “that no State shall engage in war, unless actually invaded, 
 
128 
 
 THE STATE CONVENTIONS. 
 
 or in sucli imminent danger as will not admit of delay.” 
 What does this prohibition amount to ? It must be a war 
 with a foreign enemy that the States are prohibited from 
 making; for the exception to the restriction proves it. 
 The restriction includes only offensive hostility, as they are 
 at liberty to engage in war when invaded, or in imminent 
 danger. They are, therefore, not restrained from quelling 
 domestic insurrections, which are totally different from 
 making war with a foreign power. But the great thing to 
 be dreaded is that, during an insurrection, the militia will 
 be called out from the State. 
 
 This is his kind of argument. Is it possible that, at 
 such a time, the general government would order the militia 
 to be called ! It is a groundless objection to work on 
 gentlemen’s apprehensions within these walls. As to 
 the 4th article, it was introduced wholly for the particular 
 aid of the States. A republican form of government is 
 guaranteed, and protection is secured against invasion 
 and domestic violence on application. Is not this a guard 
 as strong as possible ? Does it not exclude the unneces- 
 sary interference of Congress in business of this sort. 
 
 The gentlemen over the way- cannot tell who will be the 
 militia at a future day, and enumerates dangers of select 
 militia. Let me attend to the nature of gentlemen’s objec- 
 tions. One objects because there will be a select militia ; 
 another objects because there will be no select militia; and 
 yet both oppose it on these contradictory principles. 
 
 If you deny the general government the power of call- 
 ing out the militia, there must be a recurrence to a standing 
 army. 
 
 If you are really jealous of your liberties confide in 
 Congress. 
 
 Mr. George Mason. Mr. Chairman : This is a fatal sec- 
 tion, which has created more dangers than any other. The 
 first clause allows the importation of slaves for twenty years. 
 
THE STATE CONVENTION'S. 
 
 129 
 
 Under the royal government, this evil was looked upon as 
 a srreat oppression, and many attempts were made to pre- 
 vent it ; but the interest of the African merchants pre- 
 vented its prohibition. No sooner did the Revolution take 
 place than it was thought of. It was one of the great 
 causes of our separation from Great Britain. Its exclu- 
 sion has been a principal object of this State, and most of 
 the States of the Union. 
 
 The augmentation of slaves weakens the States ; and 
 such a trade is diabolical in itself, and disgraceful to man- 
 kind; yet, by this Constitution, it is continued for twenty 
 years. As much as I value a union of all the States, I 
 would not admit the Southern States into the Union unless 
 they agree to the discontinuance of this disgraceful trade, 
 because it would bring weakness, and not strength, to the 
 Union. 
 
 And, though this infamous traffic be continued, we have 
 no security for the property of that kind which we have 
 already. There is no clause in this Constitution to secure 
 it ; for they may lay such a tax as will amount to manu- 
 mission. And should the government be amended, still 
 this detestable kind of commerce will be continued till after 
 the expiration of twenty years ; for the 5th article which 
 provides for amendments, expressly excepts this clause. I 
 have ever looked upon this as a most disgraceful thing to 
 America. 
 
 I cannot express my detestation of it. Yet they have 
 riot secured us the property of the slaves we have already. 
 
 So that “they have done what they ought not to have 
 Kone, and have left undone what they ought to have 
 done.” 
 
 Mr. Madison. Mr. Chairman : I should conceive this 
 clause to be impolitic, if it were one of those things which 
 could be excluded without encountering greater evils. 
 
 The Southern States would not have entered into the 
 
 9 
 
130 
 
 THE STATE CONVENTIONS. 
 
 Union of America without the temporary permission of that 
 trade ; and if they were excluded from the Union, the con- 
 sequences might be dreadful to them and to us. We are 
 not in a worse situation than before. The traffic is pro- 
 hibited by our laws, and we may continue the prohibition. 
 The Union in general is not in a worse situation. 
 
 Under the Articles of Confederation, it might be con- 
 tinued forever ; but, by this clause, an end may be put to it 
 after twenty years. There is, therefore, an amelioration of 
 our circumstances. 
 
 A tax may be laid in the mean time ; but it is limited ; 
 otherwise Congress might lay such a tax as would amount 
 to a prohibition. From the mode of representation and 
 taxation, Congress cannot lay such a tax on slaves as will 
 amount to manumission. 
 
 Another clause secures us that property which we now 
 possess. 
 
 At present, if any slave elopes to any of those States 
 where slaves are free, he becomes emancipated by their laws ; 
 for the laws of the States are uncharitable to one another in 
 this respect. But in this Constitution, “ no person held to 
 service or labor in one state, under the laws thereof, escap- 
 ing into another, shall, in consequence of any law or regula- 
 tion therein, be discharged from such service or labor; but 
 shall be delivered up on claim of the party to whom such 
 service or labor shall be due.” This clause was expressly 
 inserted, to enable owners of slaves to reclaim them. 
 
 This is a better security than any that now exists. No 
 power is given to the general government to interpose with 
 respect to the property in slaves now held by the States. 
 The taxation of this State being equal only to its represen- 
 tation, such a tax cannot be laid as he supposes. 
 
 They cannot prevent the importation of slaves for twenty 
 years ; but after that period they can. The gentlemen from 
 South Carolina and Georgia argued in this manner : “We 
 
THE STATE CONVENTIONS. 
 
 131 
 
 have now liberty to import this species of property, and 
 much of the property now possessed had been purchased, or 
 otherwise acquired, in contemplation of improving it by the 
 assistance of imported slaves. What would be the conse- 
 sequence of hindering us from it ? The slaves of Virginia 
 would rise in value, and we should be obliged to go to your 
 markets.” 
 
 I need not expatiate on this subject. Great as the evil 
 is, a dismemberment of the Union would be worse. If 
 those States should disunite from the other States for not 
 indulging them in the temporary continuance of this traffic, 
 they might solicit and obtain aid from foreign powers. 
 
 Mr. Tyler warmly enlarged on the impolicy, iniquity, 
 and disgracefulness of this wicked traffic. He thought the 
 reasons urged by gentlemen in defense of it were inconclu- 
 sive and ill founded. 
 
 It was one cause of the complaints against British 
 tyranny, that this trade was permitted. The Revolution had 
 put a period to it ; but now it was to be revived. He thought 
 nothing could justify it. 
 
 This temporary restriction on Congress militated, in his 
 opinion, against the arguments of gentlemen on th & other 
 side, that what was not given up was retained to the States ; 
 for that, if this restriction had not been inserted, Congress 
 could have prohibited the African trade. The power of 
 prohibiting it was not expressly delegated to them ; yet 
 they would have had it by implication, if this restraint had 
 not been provided. This seemed to him to demonstrate 
 most clearly the necessity of restraining them, by a bill of 
 rights, from infringing our unalienable rights. It was im- 
 material whether the bill of rights was by itself, or included 
 in the Constitution. 
 
 But he contended for it one way or the other. It would 
 be justiSed by our own example and that of England. 
 
L32 
 
 THE STATE CONVENTIONS. 
 
 His earnest desire was, that it should be handed down to 
 posterity that he had opposed this wicked clause. 
 
 Mr. Madison was surprised that any gentleman should 
 return to the clauses which had already been discussed. 
 
 He begged the gentleman to read the clauses which gave 
 the power of exclusive legislation, and he might see that 
 nothing could be done without the consent of the States. 
 
 With respect to the supposed operation of what was de- 
 nominated the sweeping clause, the gentleman, he said, was 
 mistaken ; for it only extended to the enumerated powers. 
 
 Should Congress attempt to extend it to any power not 
 enumerated, it would not be warranted by the clause. 
 
 As to the restriction in the clause under consideration, it 
 was a restraint on the exercise of a power expressly dele- 
 _ gated to Congress ; namely, that of regulating commerce 
 with foreign nations. 
 
 Patrick Henry insisted that the insertion of these restric- 
 tions on Congress was a plain demonstration that Congress 
 could exercise powers by implication. The gentleman had 
 admitted that Congress could have interdicted the African 
 'trade, were it not for this restriction. If so, the power, not 
 having been expressly delegated, must be obtained by im- 
 plication. He demanded where, then, was their doctrine 
 of reserved rights. He wished for negative clauses. to pre- 
 vent them from assuming any powers but those expressly 
 given. He asked why it was omitted to secure us that pro- 
 perty in slaves which we held now. He feared its omission 
 was done with design. They might lay such taxes on 
 slaves as would amount to emancipation ; and then the 
 Southern States would be the only sufferers. 
 
 His opinion was confirmed by the mode of levying mo- 
 ney. Congress, he observed, had power to lay and collect 
 taxes, imposts, and excises. Imposts (or duties) and ex- 
 cises were to be uniform ; but this uniformity did not ex- 
 tend to taxes. This might compel the Southern States to 
 
THE STATE CONVENTIONS. 
 
 133 
 
 liberate their .legroes. He wished this property, therefore, 
 to be guarded. He considered the clause, which had been 
 adduced by the gentleman as a security for this property, 
 as no security at all. It was no more than this — that a 
 runaway negro could be taken up in Maryland or New 
 York. 
 
 This could not prevent Congress from interfering with 
 that property by laying a grievous and enormous tax on it, 
 so as to compel owners to emancipate their slaves rather 
 than pay the tax. 
 
 He apprehended it would be productive of much stock- 
 jobbing, and that they would play into one another’s hands 
 in such a manner as that this property would be lost to the 
 country. 
 
 Mr. George Nicholas wondered that gentlemen who 
 were against slavery should be opposed to this clause ; as, 
 after that period, the slave trade would be done away. 
 
 He asked if gentlemen do not see the inconsistency of 
 their arguments. 
 
 They object, says he, to the Constitution, because the 
 slave trade is laid open for twenty odd years ; and yet they 
 tell you that, by some latent operation of it, the slaves who 
 are so now will be manumitted. 
 
 At the same moment it is opposed for being promotive 
 and destructive of slavery. He contended that it was ad- 
 vantageous to Virginia that it should be in the power of 
 Congress to prevent the importation of slaves after twenty 
 years, as it would then put a period to the evil com- 
 plained of. 
 
 As the Southern States would not confederate without 
 this clause, he asked if gentlemen would rather dissolve the 
 confederacy than to suffer this temporary inconvenience, 
 admitting it to be such. 
 
 Virginia might continue the prohibition of such importa- 
 tion during the intermediate period, and would be benefited 
 
134 
 
 TIIE STATE CONVENTIONS. 
 
 by it, as a tax of ten dollars on each slave might be laid, of 
 which she would receive a share. 
 
 He endeavored to obviate the objection of gentlemen, 
 that the restriction on Congress was a proof that they 
 would have powers not given them, by remarking, that they 
 would only have had a general superintendency of trade, if 
 the restriction had not been inserted. 
 
 But the Southern States insisted on this exception to that 
 general superintendency for twenty years. It could not, 
 therefore, have been a power by implication, as the restric- 
 tion was an exception from a delegated power. The taxes 
 could not, as had been suggested, be laid so high on negroes 
 as to amount to emancipation ; because taxation and repre- 
 sentation were fixed according to the census established in 
 the Constitution. The exception of taxes from the unifor- 
 mity annexed to duties and excises could not have the 
 operation contended for by the gentleman, because other 
 clauses had clearly and positively fixed the census. 
 
 Had taxes been uniform, it would have been universally 
 objected to ; for no one object could be selected without 
 involving great inconveniences and oppressions. 
 
 But, says, Mr. Nicholas, is it from the general govern- 
 ment we are to fear emancipation ? Gentlemen will recollect 
 what I said in another house, and what other gentlemen 
 have said, that advocated emancipation. Give me leave to 
 say, that clause is a great security for our slave tax. I can 
 tell the committee that the people of our own country are 
 reduced to beggary by the taxes on negroes. 
 
 Had this Constitution been adopted, it would not have 
 been the case. The taxes were laid on all our negroes. 
 By this system two-fifths are exempted. 
 
 He then added, that he had not imagined gentlemen 
 would support here what they had opposed in another place. 
 
 Mr. Henry replied that, though the proportion of each 
 was to be fixed by the census, and three-fifths of the slaves 
 
THE STATE CONVENTIONS. 
 
 135 
 
 only were included in the enumeration, yet the proportion 
 of Virginia, being once fixed, might be laid on blacks and 
 blacks only ; for the mode of raising the proportion of each 
 State being to be directed by Congress, they might make 
 slaves the sole object to raise it. 
 
 Personalities he wished to take leave of ; they had nothing 
 to do with the question, which was solely whether that paper 
 was wrong or not. 
 
 Mr. Nicholas replied, that negroes must be considered as 
 persons or property. If as property, the proportion of 
 taxes to be laid on them was fixed in the Constitution. 
 
 If he apprehended a poll tax on negroes, the Constitu- 
 tion had prevented it ; for, by the census, where a white 
 man paid ten shillings, a negro paid but six shillings ; for 
 the exemption of two fifths of them reduced it to that pro- 
 portion. 
 
 Mr. George Mason said, that gentlemen might think 
 themselves secured by the restriction, in the fourth clause, 
 that no capitation or other direct tax should be laid but in 
 proportion to the census b’efore directed to be taken ; but 
 that, when maturely considered, it would be found to be no 
 security whatsoever. It was nothing but a direct assertion, 
 or mere confirmation of the clause which fixed the ratio of 
 taxes and representation. It only meant that the quantum 
 to be received of each State should be in proportion to 
 their numbers, in the manner therein directed. But the 
 general government was not precluded from laying the 
 proportion of any particular State on any one species of 
 property they might think proper. 
 
 For instance, if five hundred thousand dollars were to be 
 raised, they might lay the whole of the proportion of the 
 Southern States on the blacks, or any one species of 
 property ; so that by laying taxes too heavily on slaves, 
 they might totally annihilate that kind of property. No 
 real security could arise from the clause which provides 
 
136 
 
 THE STATE CONVENTIONS. 
 
 that persons held to labor in one state, escaping into 
 another, shall be delivered up. This only meant that runa- 
 way slaves should not be protected in other States. As to 
 the exclusion of ex post facto laws, it could not be said to 
 create any security in this case ; for laying a tax on slaves 
 would not be ex post facto. 
 
 Mr Madison replied, that even the Southern States, 
 which were most affected, were perfectly satisfied with this 
 provision, and dreaded no danger to the property they now 
 hold. It appeared to him that the general government 
 would not intermeddle with that property for twenty years, 
 but to lay a tax on every slave imported, not exceeding ten 
 dollars ; and that, after the expiration of that period, they 
 might prohibit the traffic altogether. The census in the 
 Constitution was intended to introduce equality in the bur- 
 dens to be laid on the community. 
 
 No gentleman objected to laying duties, imposts, and ex- 
 cises uniformly. But uniformity of taxes would be subver- 
 sive of the principles of equality ; for it was not possible to 
 select any article which would' be easy for one State but 
 what would be heavy for another ; that the proportion of 
 each State being ascertained, it would be raised by the 
 general government in the most convenient manner for the 
 people, and not by the selection of any one particular object ; 
 that there must be some degree of confidence put in agents, 
 or else we must reject a state of civil society altogether. 
 
 Another great security to this property, which he men- 
 tioned, was, that five States were greatly interested in that 
 species of property, and there were other States which had 
 some slaves, and had made no attempt, or taken any step, 
 to take them from the people. 
 
 There were a few slaves in New York, New Jersey, and 
 Connecticut; these States would, probably, oppose any at- 
 tempts to annihilate this species of property. 
 
THE STATE CONVENTIONS. 
 
 137 
 
 He concluded by observing that he should be glad to 
 eave the decision of this to the committee. 
 
 Mr. Henry. As much as I deplore slavery, I see that 
 prudence forbids its abolition. I deny that the general 
 government ought to set them free, because a decided ma- 
 jority of the States have not the ties of sympathy and fel- 
 low-feeling for those whose interest would be affected by 
 their emancipation. The majority of Congress is to the 
 North, and the slaves are to the South. 
 
 In this situation, I see a great deal of the property of the 
 people of Virginia in jeopardy, and their peace and tran- 
 quillity gone. I repeat it again, that it would rejoice my 
 very soul that every one of my fellow-beings were emanci- 
 pated. 
 
 As we ought with gratitude to admire that decree of 
 Heaven which has numbered us among the free, we ought 
 to lament and deplore the necessity of holding our fellow- 
 men in bondage. 
 
 But is it practicable, by any human means, to liberate 
 them without producing the most dreadful and ruinous con- 
 sequences ? We ought to possess them in the manner we 
 inherited them from our ancestors, as their manumission is 
 incompatible with the felicity of our country. 
 
 But we ought to soften, as much as possible, the rigor of 
 their unhappy fate. I know, that in a variety of particular 
 instances, the legislature, listening to complaints, have ad- 
 mitted their emancipation. Let me not dwell on this subject. 
 
 I will only add, that this, as well as every other property 
 of the people of Yirginii, is in jeopardy, and put in the 
 hands of those who have no similarity of situation with us. 
 
 This is a local matter, and I can see no propriety in sub- 
 jecting it to Congress. 
 
 Gov. Randolph. Mr. Chairman : Once more, sir, I ad- 
 dress you, and perhaps it will be the last time I shall speak 
 
138 
 
 THE STATE CONVENTIONS. 
 
 concerning this Constitution, unless I be urged by the ob- 
 servations of some gentlemen. 
 
 Although this is not the first time that my mind has been 
 brought to contemplate this awful period, yet I acknowl- 
 edge it is not rendered less awful by familiarity with it. 
 
 Did I persuade myself that those fair days were present 
 which the honorable gentlemen described — could I bring 
 my mind to believe that there were peaco and tranquillity 
 in this land, and that there was no storm gathering which 
 would burst, and that previous amendments could be re- 
 tained — I would concur with the honorable gentleman ; for 
 nothing but the fear of inevitable destruction would lead 
 me to vote for the Constitution in spite of the objections I 
 have to it. 
 
 But, sir, what have I heard to-day ? I sympathized 
 most warmly with what other gentlemen said yesterday, 
 that, let the contest be what it may, the minority should 
 submit to the majority. With satisfaction and joy I heard 
 what he then said — that he would submit, aud that there 
 should be peace if his power could preserve it. 
 
 What a sad reverse to-day ! Are we not told, by way 
 of counterpart to language that did him honor, that he 
 would secede ? I hope he will pardon, and correct me if 
 I misrecite him ; but if not corrected, my interpretation is, 
 that secession by him will be the consequence of adoption 
 without previous amendments. 
 
 [Here Mr. Henry explained himself, and denied having 
 said any thing of secession ; but that he said, he would 
 have no hand in subsequent amendments ; that he would 
 remain and vote, and afterward he would have no business 
 here.] 
 
 I see, continued His Excellency, that I am not mistaken 
 in my thoughts. 
 
 The honorable gentleman says, he will remain and vote 
 on the questi m, but after that he has no business here, and 
 
THE STATE CONVENTIONS. 
 
 139 
 
 ft, it lie will go home. I beg to make a few remarks on the 
 subject of secession. 
 
 If there be in this house members who have in contem- 
 plation to secede from the majority, let me conjure them, 
 by all the ties of honor and duty, to consider what they are 
 about to do. 
 
 Some of them have more property than I have, and all 
 of them are equal to me in personal rights. Such an 
 idea of refusing to submit to the decision of the majority 
 is destructive of every republican principle. 
 
 It will kindle a civil war, and reduce every thing to an- 
 archy and confusion. To avoid a calamity so lamentable, 
 I would submit to it, if it contained greater evils thau it 
 does. 
 
 What are they to say to their constituents when they go 
 home? “We come here to tell you that liberty is in 
 danger, and, though the majority is in favor of it, you 
 ought not to submit.” Can any man consider, without 
 shuddering with horror, the awful consequences of such 
 desperate conduct? I entreat men to consider and ponder 
 what good citizenship requires of them. 
 
 I conjure them to contemplate the consequences as to 
 themselves as well as others. They themselves will be over- 
 whelmed in the general disorder. 
 
 I did not think that the proposition of the honorable 
 gentleman near me (Mr. White) could have met with the 
 treatment it has. The honorable gentleman says there are 
 only three rights stipulated in it. I thought this error 
 might have been accounted for at first ; but after he read 
 it, the continuance of the mistake has astonished me. 
 
 He has wandered from the point. [Here he read Mr. 
 White’s proposition.] Where in this paper do you dis- 
 cover that the people of Virginia are tenacious of three 
 rights only ? It declares that all power comes from the 
 people, and whatever is not granted by them remains with 
 
140 
 
 THE STATE CONVENTIONS. 
 
 them ; that among other things remaining with them are 
 liberty of the press, right of conscience, and some other 
 essential rights. Could you devise any express form of 
 words by which the rights contained in the bill of rights of 
 Virginia could be better secured or more fully compre- 
 hended ? What is the paper which he offers in the form 
 of a bill of rights ? Will that better secure our rights than 
 a declaration like this ? All rights are therein declared to 
 be completely vested in the people, unless expressly given 
 away. Can there be a more pointed or positive reser- 
 vation ? 
 
 That honorable gentleman, and some others, have insisted 
 that the abolition of slavery will result from it, and at the 
 same time have complained that it encourages its continu- 
 ation. 
 
 The inconsistency proves, in some degree, the futility of 
 their arguments. 
 
 But if it be not conclusive, to satisfy the committee that 
 there is no danger of enfranchisement taking place, I beg 
 leave to refer them to the paper itself. 
 
 I hope that there is none here who, considering the sub- 
 ject in the calm light of philosophy, will advance an objec- 
 tion dishonorable to Virginia — that, at the moment they 
 are securing the the rights of their citizens, an objection is 
 started that there is a spark of hope that those unfortunate 
 men now held in bondage may, by the operation of the 
 general government, be made free. But if any gentleman 
 be terrified by this apprehension, let him read the system. 
 
 I ask, and I will ask again and again, till I be answered 
 (not by declamation), Where is the part that has a tendency 
 to the abolition of slavery? Is it the clause which says 
 that “the migration or importation of such persons as any 
 of the States now existing shall think proper to admit shall 
 be prohibited by Congress prior to the year 1808”? 
 
THE STATE CONVENTIONS. 
 
 141 
 
 This is an exception from the power of regulating com- 
 merce, anrl the restriction is only to continue till 1808. 
 
 Then Congress can, by the exercise of that power, pre- 
 vent future importations ; but does it affect the existing 
 state of slavery ? Were it right here to mention what 
 passed in Convention on the occasion, I might tell you that 
 the Southern States, even South Carolina herself conceived 
 this property to he secure by these words. 
 
 I believe, whatever we may think here, that there was not 
 a member of the Virginia delegation who had the smallest 
 suspicion of the abolition of slavery. Go to their mean- 
 ing. Point out the clause where this formidable power of 
 emancipation is inserted. 
 
 But another claase of the Constitution proves the ab- 
 surdity of the supposition. The words of the clause are, 
 “jSTo persons held to service or labor in one State, under 
 the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in consequence 
 of any law or regulation therein, be- discharged from such 
 service or labor, but shall be delivered up on claim of the 
 party to whom such service or labor may be due.” Every 
 one knows that slaves are held to service and labor. And 
 when authority is given to owners of slaves to vindicate 
 their property, can it be supposed they can be deprived 
 of it ? 
 
 If a citizen of this State, in consequence of this clause, 
 can take his runaway slave in Maryland, can it be seriously 
 thought that, after taking him and bringing him home, he could 
 be made free ? I observed that the honorable gentleman’s 
 proposition comes in a truly questionable shape, and is still 
 more extraordinary and unaccountable for another conside- 
 ration — that although we went, article by article, through 
 the Constitution, and although we did not expect a general 
 review of the subject (as a most comprehensive view had 
 been taken of it before it was regularly debated), yet we 
 
142 
 
 THE STATE CONVENTIONS. 
 
 are carried back to the clause giving that dreadful power, 
 for the general welfare. 
 
 Pardon me, if I remind you of the true state of that 
 business. I appeal to the candor of the honorable gentle- 
 man, and if he thinks it an improper appeal, I ask the 
 gentlemen here, whether there be a general, indefinite 
 power of providing for the general welfare ? The power 
 is, “ to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excise, to 
 pay the debts, and provide for the common defense and 
 general welfare so that they can only raise money by 
 these means, in order to provide for the general welfare. 
 
 No man who reads it can say it is general, as the honor- 
 able gentleman represents it. You must violate every rule 
 of construction and common sense, if you sever it from the 
 power of raising money, and annex it to any thing else, in 
 order to make it that formidable power which it is repre- 
 sented to be. 
 
 EXTRACTS FROM THE DEBATES IN THE CONVEN- 
 TION OF NORTH CAROLINA. 
 
 July 24, 1788. Mr. Goudy. Mr. Chairman : This clause 
 of taxation will give an advantage to some States over the 
 others. It will be oppressive to the Southern States. 
 Taxes are equal to our representation. To augment our 
 taxes, and increase our burdens, our negroes are to be rep- 
 resented. If a State has fifty thousand negroes, she is to 
 send one representative for them. I wish not to be repre- 
 sented with negroes, especially if it increases my burdens. 
 
 Mr. Davie. Mr. Chairman : I will endeavor to obviate 
 what the gentleman last up said. I wonder to see gentle- 
 men so precipitate and hasty on a subject of awful import- 
 ance. It ought to be considered, that some of us are slow 
 of apprehension, or not having those quick conceptions 
 and luminous understandings, of which other gentlemen 
 may be possessed. 
 
 The gentleman “ does not wish to be represented with 
 
THE STATE CONVENTIONS. 
 
 143 
 
 negroes.” This, sir, is an unhappy species of population ; 
 but we cannot at present alter their situation. 
 
 The Eastern States had great jealousies on this subject. 
 They insisted that their cows and horses were equally 
 entitled to representation ; that the one was property as 
 well as the other. 
 
 It became our duty, on the other hand, to acquire as 
 much weight as possible in the legislation of the Union; 
 and, as the Northern States were more populous in whites, 
 this only could be done by insisting that a certain propor- 
 tion of our slates should make a part of the computed 
 population. It was attempted to form a rule of repre- 
 sentation from a compound ratio of wealth and population ; 
 but, on consideration, it was found impracticable to deter- 
 mine the comparative value of lands, and other property, in 
 so extensive a territory, with any degree of accuracy ; and 
 population alone was adopted as the only practicable rule 
 or criterion of representation. 
 
 It was urged by the deputies of the Eastern States, that 
 a representation of two-fifths would be of little utility, and 
 that their entire representation would be unequal and bur- 
 densome — that, in a time of war, slaves rendered a country 
 more vulnerable, while its defense devolved upon its free 
 inhabitants. On the other hand, we insisted that, in time 
 of peace, they contributed, by their labor, to the general 
 wealth, as well as other members of the community — that, 
 as rational beings, they had a right of representation, and, 
 in some instances, might be highly useful in war. 
 
 On these principles, the Eastern States gave the matter 
 up, and consented to the regulation as it has been read. 
 
 I hope these reasons will appear satisfactory. It is the 
 same rule or principle which was proposed some years ago 
 by Congress, and assented to by twelve of the States. It 
 may wound the delicacy of the gentleman from Guilford, 
 (Mr. Goudy,) but I hope he will endeavor to accommodate 
 
144 
 
 THE STATE CONVENTIONS. 
 
 liis feelings to the interest and circumstances of bis country. 
 [1st clause of the 9th section read.] 
 
 Mr. J. McDowall, wished to hear the reasons of this re- 
 striction. 
 
 Mr. Spaight answered, that there was a contest between 
 the Northern and Southern States ; that the Southern 
 States, whose principal support depended on the labor of 
 slaves, would not consent to the desire of the Northern 
 States to exclude the importation of slaves absolutely; that 
 South Carolina and Georgia insisted on this clause, as they 
 were now in want of hands to cultivate their lands; that in 
 the course of twenty years they would be fully supplied ; that 
 the trade would be abolished then, and that, in the mean time, 
 some tax or duty might be laid on it. 
 
 Mr. M’Dowall replied, that the explanation was just such 
 as he expected, and by no means satisfactory to him, and 
 that he looked upon it as a very objectionable part of the 
 system. 
 
 Mr. Iredell. Mr. Chairman : I rise to express sentiments 
 similar to those of the gentleman from Craven. For my 
 part, were it practicable to put an end to the importation 
 of slaves immediately, it would give me the greatest plea- 
 sure ; for it is a trade inconsistent with the rights of hu- 
 manity, and under which great cruelties have been ex- 
 ercised. 
 
 When the entire abolition of slavery takes place, it will 
 be an event which must be pleasing to every generous mind, 
 and every friend of human nature ; but we often wish for 
 things which are not attainable. It was the wish of a great 
 majority of the Convention to put an end to the trade im- 
 mediately ; but the States of South Carolina and Georgia 
 would not agree to it. Consider, then, what would be the 
 difference between our present situation in this respect, if 
 we do not agree to the Constitution, and what it will be if 
 we do agree to it. 
 
THE STATE CONVENTIONS. 
 
 145 
 
 Tf we do not agree to it, do we remedy the evil ? No, 
 sir, we do not. For if the Constitution be not adopted, it 
 will be in the power of every State to continue it forever. 
 
 They may or may not abolish it, at their discretion. But 
 if we adopt the Constitution, the trade must cease after 
 twenty years, if Congress declare so, whether particular 
 States please so or not ; surely, then, we can gain by it. 
 
 This was the utmost that could be obtained. I heartily 
 wish more could have been done. But, as it is, this govern- 
 ment is nobly distinguished above others by that very pro- 
 vision. 
 
 Where is there another country in which such a restriction 
 prevails ? We, therefore, sir, set an example of humanity, 
 by providing for the abolition of this inhuman traffic, 
 though at a distant period. 
 
 I hope, therefore, that this part of the Constitution will 
 not be condemned because it has not stipulated for what 
 was impracticable to obtain. 
 
 Mr. Spaight further explained the clause. That the 
 limitation of this trade to the term of twenty years was 
 a compromise between the Eastern States and the Southern 
 States. South Carolina and Georgia wished to extend the 
 term. 
 
 The Eastern States insisted on the entire abolition of the 
 trade. That the State of North Carolina had not thought 
 proper to pass any law prohibiting the importation of slaves, 
 and therefore its delegation in the Convention did not think 
 themselves authorized to contend for an immediate prohibi- 
 tion of it. 
 
 Mr. Iredell added to what he had said before, that the 
 States of Georgia and South Carolina had lost a great many 
 slaves during the war, and that they wished to supply the 
 loss. 
 
 Mr. Galloway. Mr. Chairman : The explanation given to 
 10 
 
146 
 
 THE STATE CONVENTIONS. 
 
 this clause does not satisfy my mind. I wish to see this 
 abominable trade put an end to. 
 
 But in case it be thought proper to continue this abomi- 
 nable traffic for twenty years, yet I do not wish to see the 
 tax on the importation extended to all persons whatsoever. 
 Our situation is different from + he people of the North. 
 We want citizens ; they jo not. 
 
 Instead of laying a tax, we ought to give a bounty to en- 
 courage foreigners to come among us. With respect to the 
 abolition of slavery, it requires the utmost consideration. 
 The property of the Southern States consists principally of 
 slaves. If they mean to do away slavery altogether, this 
 property will be destroyed. I apprehend it means to bring 
 forward manumission. If we must manumit our slaves, 
 what country shall we send them to ? It is impossible 
 for us to be happy if, after manumission, they are to stay 
 among us. 
 
 Mr. Iredell. Mr. Chairman : The worthy gentleman, I 
 believe, has misunderstood this clause, which runs in the 
 following words : “ The migration or importation of such 
 
 persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper 
 to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to 
 the year 1808 ; but a tax or duty may be imposed on such 
 importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each person.” 
 Now, sir, observe that the Eastern States, who long ago 
 have abolished slaves, did not approve of the expression 
 slaves ; they therefore used another, that answered the same 
 purpose. 
 
 The committee will observe the distinction between the 
 words migration and importation. The first part of the 
 clause will extend to persons who come into this country as 
 free people, or are brought as slaves. But the last part 
 extends to slaves only. The word migration refers to free 
 persons ; but the word importation refers to slaves, because 
 free people cannot be said to be imported. The tax, there- 
 
THE STATE CONTENTIONS, 
 
 147 
 
 fore, is only to be laid on slaves who are imported, and not 
 on free persons who migrate. 
 
 I further beg leave to say that the gentleman is mistaken 
 in another thing. He seems to say that this extends to the 
 abolition of slavery. Is there anything in this Constitution 
 which says that Congress shall have it in their power to 
 abolish the slavery of those slaves who are now in the coun- 
 try ? Is it not the plain meaning of it, that after twenty 
 years they may prevent the future importation of slaves ? 
 It does not extend to those now in the country. 
 
 There is another circumstance to be observed. There is 
 no authority vested in Congress to restrain the States, in 
 the interval of twenty years, from doing what they please. 
 If they wish to prohibit such importation, they may do so. 
 Our next assembly may put an entire end to the importation 
 of slaves. 
 
 Article 4. The first section and two first clauses of the 
 second section read without observation. The last clause 
 read. 
 
 Mr. Iredell begged leave to explain the reason of this 
 clause. In some of the Northern States they have emanci- 
 pated all their slaves. If any of our slaves, said he, go 
 there, and remain there a certain time, they would, by the 
 present laws, be entitled to their freedom, so that their mas- 
 ters could not get them again. This would be extremely 
 prejudicial to the inhabitants of the Southern States ; and 
 to prevent it, this clause is inserted in the Constitution. 
 Though the word slave is not mentioned, this is the mean- 
 ing of it. 
 
 The Northern delegates, owing to their particular scru- 
 ples on the subject of slavery, did not choose the word 
 slave to be mentioned. 
 
 Mr. Iredell, upon Art. 5th, said — Mr. Chairman : This 
 is a very important clause. In every other constitution of 
 
148 
 
 THE STATE CONVENTIONS. 
 
 government tliat I have ever heard or read of, no provision 
 is made for necessary amendments. 
 
 The misfortune attending most constitutions which have 
 been deliberately formed, has been, that those who formed 
 them thought their wisdom equal to all possible contingen- 
 cies, and that there could be no error in what they did. 
 
 The gentlemen who framed this Constitution thought 
 with much more diffidence of their capacities ; and, un- 
 doubtedly, without a provision for amendment, it would 
 have been justly liable to objection, and the characters of 
 its framers would have appeared much less meritorious. 
 
 This, indeed, is one of the greatest beauties of the sys- 
 tem, ard should strongly recommend it to every candid 
 mind. 
 
 The constitution of any government which cannot be re- 
 gularly amended when its defects are experienced, reduces 
 the people to this dilemma — they must either submit to its 
 oppressions, or bring about amendments, more or less, by a 
 civil war. Happy this, the country we live in ! 
 
 The Constitution before us, if it be adopted, can be 
 altered with as much regularity, and as little confusion, as 
 any act of Assembly; not, indeed, quite so easily, which 
 would be extremely impolitic ; but it is a most happy cir- 
 cumstance, that there is a remedy in the system itself for its 
 own fallibility, so that alterations can without difficulty be 
 made, agreeable to the general sense of the people. Let 
 us attend to the manner in which amendments may be 
 made. The proposition for amendments may arise from 
 Congress itself, when two-thirds of both Houses shall deem 
 it necessary. 
 
 If they should not, and yet amendments be generally 
 wished for by the people, two-thirds of the legislatures of 
 the different States may require a general convention for 
 the purpose, in which case Congress are under the necessity 
 of convening one 
 
THE STATE CONVENTIONS. 
 
 149 
 
 Any amendments which either Congress shall propose, 
 or w T hich shall be proposed by such general convention, 
 are afterwards to be submitted to the legislatures of the 
 different States, or conventions called for that purpose, as 
 Congress shall think proper, and upon the ratification of 
 three-fourths of the States, will become a part of the Con- 
 stitution. By referring this business to legislatures, ex- 
 pense would be saved ; and in general, it may be presumed, 
 they would speak the genuine sense of the people. It may, 
 however, on some occasions, be better to consult an imme- 
 diate delegation for that special purpose. This is therefore 
 left discretionary. It is highly probable that amendments 
 agreed to in either of these methods would be conducive to 
 the public welfare, when so large a majority of the States 
 consented to them. 
 
 And in one of these modes, amendments that are now 
 wished for may, in a short time, be made to this Consti- 
 tution by the States adopting it. 
 
 It is, however, to be observed, that the 1st and 4th 
 clauses in the 9 tli section of the 1st article are protected 
 from any alteration till the year 1808; and in order that 
 no consolidation should take place, it is provided that no 
 State shall, by any amendment or alteration, be ever de- 
 prived of an equal suffrage in the Senate without its own 
 consent. 
 
 The first twm prohibitions are with respect to the census, 
 (according to which direct taxes are imposed,) and with 
 respect to the importation of slaves. As to the first, it 
 must be observed, that there is a material difference be- 
 tween the Northern and Southern States. The Northern 
 States have been much longer settled, and are much fuller 
 of people, than the Southern, but have not land in equal 
 proportion, nor scarcely any slaves. The subject of this 
 article w T as regulated with great difficulty, and by a spirit 
 
150 
 
 THE STATE CONVENTIONS. ' 
 
 of concession which it w r ould not be prudent to disturb for 
 a good many years. 
 
 In twenty years, there will probably be a great alteration, 
 and then the subject may be reconsidered with less difficulty 
 and greater coolness. 
 
 In the mean time, the compromise w r as upon the best 
 footing that could be obtained. A compromise likewise 
 took place in regard to the importation of slaves. It is 
 probable that all the members reprobated this inhuman 
 traffic ; but those of South Carolina and Georgia would not 
 consent to an immediate prohibition of it — one reason of 
 which was, that, during the last war, they lost a vast num- 
 ber of negroes, which loss they wash to supply. 
 
 In the mean time, it is left to the States to admit or pro- 
 hibit the importation, and Congress may imoose a limited 
 duty upon it. 
 
 EXTRACTS PROM THE DEBATES, IN THE CONVEN- 
 TION OP SOUTH CAROLINA. 
 
 January 16, 1188. Hon. Rawlins Lowndes. It has 
 been said that this new government was to be considered as 
 an experiment. He really was afraid it w'ould prove a fatal 
 one to our peace and happiness. An experiment! 
 
 What ! risk the loss of political existence on experiments ? 
 No, sir; if w T e are to make experiments, rather let them be 
 such as may do good, but which cannot possibly do any in- 
 jury to us or our posterity. 
 
 So far from having any expectation of success from such 
 experiments, he sincerely believed that, when this new Con- 
 stitution should be adopted, the sun of the Southern States 
 would set, never to rise again. 
 
 To prove this, he observed, that six of the Eastern States 
 formed a majority in the House of Representatives. In the 
 enumeration he passed Rhode Island, and included Penn- 
 sylvania. 
 
 Now, was it consonant ,v ilh reason, with wisdom, with 
 
THE STATE CONVENTIONS. 
 
 151 
 
 policy, to suppose, in a legislature where a majority of 
 persons sat whose interests were greatly different from ours, 
 that we had the smallest chance of receiving adequate ad- 
 vantages ? Certainly not. He believed the gentlemen 
 that went from this State, to represent us in Convention, 
 possessed as much integrity, and stood as high in point of 
 character, as any gentlemen that could have been selected ; 
 aud he also believed that they had done everything in their 
 power to procure for us a proportionate share in this new 
 government but the very little they had gained proved 
 what we may expect in future — that the interest of the 
 Northern States would so predominate as to divest us of 
 auy pretensions to the title of a republic. 
 
 In the first place, what cause was there for jealousy of 
 our importing negroes ? Why confine us to twenty years, 
 or, rather, why limit us at all ? For his part, he thought 
 this trade could be justified on the principles of religion, 
 humanity, aud justice ; for certainly to translate a set of 
 human beiugs from a bad country to a better, was fulfilling 
 every part of these principles. 
 
 But they don’t like our slaves, because they have none 
 themselves and therefore want to exclude us from this great 
 advantage. Why should the Southern States allow of this, 
 without the consent of nine States. 
 
 Judge Pendleton observed, that only three States, Geor- 
 gia, South Carolina, and North Carolina, allowed the im- 
 portation of negroes. Virginia had a clause in her Consti- 
 tution for this purpose, and Maryland, he believed, even 
 before the war prohibited them. 
 
 Mr. Lowndes continued, that we had a law prohibiting 
 the importation of negroes for three years, a law he greatly 
 approved of ; but there was no reason offered why the 
 Southern States might not find it necessary to alter their 
 conduct, and open their ports. 
 
 Without negroes, this State would degenerate into one 
 
152 
 
 THE STATE CONVENTIONS. 
 
 of the most contemptible in the Union ; and he cited an 
 expression that fell from General Pinckney, on a former 
 debate, that whilst there remained one acre of swamp-land 
 in South Carolina, he should raise his voice against restrict- 
 ing the importation of negroes. Even in granting the im- 
 portation for twenty years, care had been taken to make up 
 pay for this indulgence, each negro beiug liable, on import 
 ation, to pay a duty not exceeding ten dollars, and in addi 
 tion to this they were liable to a capitation tax. Negroes 
 were our wealth, our only natural resource ; yet behold how 
 our kind friends in the North were determined soon to tie 
 up our hands, and drain us of what we had 1 The Eastern 
 States drew their means of subsistence, in a great measure, 
 from their shipping ; and, on that head, they had been par- 
 ticularly careful not to allow of any burdens ; they were 
 not to pay tonnage or duties; no, not even the form of 
 clearing out ; all ports were free and open to them. Why 
 then call this a reciprocal bargain, which took all from on# 
 party to bestow it on the other. 
 
 Hon. E. Rutledge. In the Northern States the labor is 
 performed by white people, in the Southern by black. All 
 the free people (and there are few others) in the Northern 
 States are to be taxed by the new Constitution ; whereas 
 only the free people and two-fifths of the slaves, in the 
 Southern States, are to be rated in the apportioning of 
 taxes. But the principal objection is, that no duties are 
 laid on shipping; that, in fact, the carrying trade was to 
 be vested, in a great measure, in the Americans ; that the 
 ship-building business was principally carried on in the 
 Northern States. 
 
 When this subject is duly considered, the Southern States 
 should be the last to object to it. 
 
 Gen. Charles Cotesworth Pinckney said he would make 
 a few observation on the objections which the gentleman 
 
THE STATE CONVENTIONS. 
 
 153 
 
 had thrown out on the restriction that might be laid on the 
 African trade after the year 1808. 
 
 On this point your delegates had to contend with the 
 religious and political prejudices of the Eastern and Middle 
 States,, and with the interested and inconsistent opinion of 
 Virginia, who was warmly opposed to our importing more 
 slaves. 
 
 I am of the same opinion now as I was two years ago, 
 when I used the expressions the gentleman has quoted — 
 that while there remained one acre of swamp-land uncleared 
 in South Carolina, I would raise my voice against restrict 
 iug the importation of negroes. 
 
 I am as thoroughly convinced as that gentleman is, that 
 the nature of our climate, and the flat, swampy situation 
 of our country, obliges us to cultivate our lands with 
 negroes, and that without them South Carolina would soon 
 be a desert waste. 
 
 You have so frequently heard my sentiments on this sub- 
 ject, that I need not now repeat them. It was alleged, by 
 some of the members who opposed an unlimited importa- 
 tion, that slaves increased the weakness of any State who 
 admitted them ; that they were a dangerous species of 
 property, which an invading enemy could easily turn against 
 ourselves and the neighboring States ; and that, as we were 
 allowed a representation for them in the House of Repre- 
 sentatives, our influence in government would be increased 
 in proportion as we were less able to defend ourselves. 
 
 “ Show some period,” said the members from the Eastern 
 States, “ when it may be in our power to put a stop, if we 
 please, to the importation of this weakness, and we will 
 endeavor, for your convenience, to restrain the religious 
 and political prejudices of our people on this subject.” 
 
 The Middle States and Virginia made us no such propo- 
 sition ; they were for an immediate and total prohibition. 
 
 We endeavored to obviate the objections that were made 
 
154 
 
 THE STATE CONVENTIONS, 
 
 in the best manner we could, and assigned reasons for our 
 insisting on the importation, which there is no occasion to 
 repeat, as they must occur to every gentleman in the house ; 
 a committee of the States was appointed, in order to accom- 
 modate this matter, and, after a great deal of difficulty, it 
 was settled on the footing recited in the Constitution. 
 
 By this settlement we have secured an unlimited importa- 
 tion of negroes for twenty years. Nor is it declared that 
 the importation shall then be stopped ; it may be continued. 
 
 We have a security that the general government can 
 never emancipate them, for no such authority is granted ; 
 and it is admitted, on all hands, that the general govern- 
 ment has no powers but what are expressly granted by the 
 Constitution, and that all rights not expressed were reserved 
 by the several States. 
 
 We have obtained a right to recover our slaves, in what- 
 ever part of America they may take refuge, which is a right 
 we had not before. 
 
 In short, considering all circumstances, we have made 
 the best terms for the security of this species of property 
 it was in our power to make. 
 
 We would have made better if we could ; but on the 
 whole, I do not think them bad. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE ORDINANCE OP 17S7. 
 
 The following authentic history of the Ordinance of 
 1787 was prepared for the National Intelligencer in 1847. 
 The author has kindly permitted us to use it in this volume. 
 It is unquestionably the only perfect history of that Ordi- 
 nance ever given to the American people. We copy it 
 with the remarks of that journal. 
 
 “A discussion having arisen in the public prints as to 
 the authorship of certain important provisions embraced iu 
 the Ordinance of 1787 for the government of the Western 
 Territory, now constituting several States of the Union, 
 and especially in regard to that celebrated provision which 
 forever excluded slavery from that vast and fertile region ; 
 our fellow-townsman, Peter Force, Esq., has prepared 
 from authentic materials the article which appears on the 
 preceding page. From this careful exposition, it seems 
 clear that Mr. Webster was right when, in his celebrated 
 speech on Foote’s resolution, he ascribed the authorship 
 (if not the original conception) of the clause above speci- 
 fied to Nathan Dane, of Massachusetts. 
 
 “It happens that, in seeking among the archives of all 
 the old States, and among numerous private collections, for 
 materials for his voluminous work, ‘American Archives,’ 
 Mr. Force became possessed of the original projects and 
 reports submitted to Congress respecting a plan of govern- 
 ment for the Northwestern Territory, from this step in 
 1784 to 1787, when the Ordinance was finally adopted. 
 He has the copy of the Ordinance of 1787, with all its 
 
 055) 
 
156 
 
 THE ORDINANCE OF 1787. 
 
 alterations marked on it, while under consideration, just as 
 i! was amended at the President’s table, among which the 
 clause respecting slavery remains attached to it as an 
 amendment in Mr. Dane’s hand-writing, in the exact words 
 in which it now stands in the Ordinance. From these 
 materials, together with the official journals of the body, 
 Mr. Force has compiled the narrative which we now insert ; 
 and, his materials being thus authentic, we must receive it 
 as settling the question. He has taken this trouble for the 
 sake of historic truth, and the same motive, together with 
 the intrinsic interest of the subject, and the further reason 
 that we have given currency to versions of the transaction 
 which do injustice to the dead, have induced us cheerfully 
 to yield to it the large share of our space which it occupies.” 
 
 NOTES ON THE ORDINANCE OP 1787. 
 
 In the history of the Ordinance of 1187, published in the 
 National Intelligencer on the 6th of the present month, 
 there are several errors, which, before they become “ fixed 
 facts” should be corrected. These notes furnish material 
 for the correction of some of them. 
 
 On the 1st of March 1184, a committee, consisting of 
 Mr. Jefferson, of Virginia, Mr. Chase, of Maryland, and 
 Mr. Howell, of Rhode Island, submitted to Congress the 
 following plan for the temporary government of the Western 
 Territory : 
 
 The committee appointed to prepare a plan for the tem- 
 porary government of the Western Territory have agreed to 
 the following resolutions, — 
 
 Resolved, That the Territory ceded or to be ceded by 
 individual States to the United States, whensoever the . 
 same shall have been purchased of the Indian inhabitants 
 and offered for sale by the United States, shall be formed 
 into additional States, bounded in the following manner, as 
 nearly as such cessions will admit ; that is to say North- 
 
THE ORDINANCE OF 1787. 
 
 157 
 
 wardly and Southwardly by parallels of latitude, so that 
 each State shall comprehend, from South to North, two de- 
 grees of latitude, beginning to count from the completion 
 of thirty-one degrees north of the equator : but any terri- 
 tory northwardly of the 4tth degree shall make part of the 
 State next below. And eastwardly and westwardly they 
 shall be bounded, those on the Mississippi, by that river on 
 one side and the meridian of the lowest point of the rapids 
 of the Ohio on the other; and those adjoining on the east, 
 by the same meridian on their western side, and on their 
 eastern by the meridian of the western cape of the mouth of 
 the Great Kanawha. And the territory eastward of this 
 last meridian, between the Ohio, Lake Erie and Pennsyl- 
 vania shall be one State. 
 
 That the settlers within the territory so to be purchased 
 and offered for sale, shall, either on their own petition, or 
 the order of Congress, receive authority from them, with ap- 
 pointments of time and place, for their free males, of full 
 age, to meet together, for the purpose of establishing a 
 temporary government, to adopt the constitution and laws 
 of any one of these States, so that such laws nevertheless 
 shall be subject to alteration by their ordinary legislature, 
 and to erect, subject to a like alteration, counties or town- 
 ships for the election of members for their legislature. 
 
 That such temporary government shall only continue in 
 force in any State until it shall have acquired 20,000 free 
 inhabitants, when, giving due proof thereof to Congress', they 
 shall receive from them authority, with appointments of time 
 and place, to call a convention of representatives to establish a 
 permanent constitution and government for themselves. 
 
 Provided, That both the temporary and permanent 
 government be established on these principles as their 
 basis : 
 
 1. That they shall forever remain a part of the United 
 States of America 
 
158 
 
 THE ORDINANCE OF 1787. 
 
 2. That in their persons, property, and territory they 
 shall be subject to the government of the United States in 
 Congress assembled, and to the Articles of Confederation in 
 all those cases in which the original States shall be so 
 subject. 
 
 3. That they shall be subject to pay a part of the federal 
 debts contracted or to be contracted, to be apportioned on 
 them by Congress according to the same common rule and 
 measure by which apportionments thereof shall be made on 
 other States. 
 
 4. That their respective governments shall be in republi- 
 can forms, and shall admit no person to be a citizen who 
 holds any hereditary title. 
 
 5. That after the year 1800 of the Christian era there 
 shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in any of 
 the said States otherwise than in punishment of crimes, 
 whereof the party shall have been duly convicted to have 
 been personally guilty. 
 
 That whensoever any of the said States shall have of free 
 inhabitants as many as shall then be in any one of the least 
 numerous of the thirteen original States, such State shall 
 be admitted by its delegates into the Congress of the United 
 States, on an equal footing with the said original States, 
 after which the assent of two-thirds of the United States, iu 
 Congress assembled, shall be requisite in all those cases 
 wherein, by the confederation, the assent of nine States is 
 now required ; provided the consent of nine States to such 
 admission may be obtained according to the 11th of the 
 Articles of Confederation. Until such admission by their 
 delegates into Congress, any of the said States, after the 
 establishment of their temporary government, shall have 
 authority to keep a sitting member in Congress, with a 
 right of debating, but not voting. 
 
 That the territory northward of the 45th degree, that is 
 to say, of the completion of 45 degrees from the equator, 
 
THE ORDINANCE OF 1737. 
 
 159 
 
 and extending to the Lake of the Woods, shall be called 
 Sylvania ; that of the territory under the 45th and 44th de- 
 grees, that which lies westward of Lake Michigan shall be 
 called Michigania ; and that which is eastward thereof, 
 within the peninsula formed by the Lakes and waters of 
 Michigan, Huron, St. Clair, and Erie shall be called Cher- 
 ronesus, and shall include any part of the peninsula which 
 may extend above the 45th degree. Of the territory under 
 the 43d and 45th degrees, that to the westward, through 
 wdiich the Assenippi or Rock river runs, shall be called 
 Assenisipia ; and that to the eastward, in which are the 
 the fountains of the Muskingum, the two Miamies of Ohio, 
 the Wabash, the Illinois, the Miami of the Lake, and the 
 Sandusky rivers, shall be called Mesopotamia. Of the ter- 
 ritory which lies under the 39th and 38th degrees, to which 
 shall be added so much of the point of land within the fork 
 of the Ohio and Mississippi as lies under the 37th degree, 
 that to the westward within and adjacent to which are the 
 confluences of the rivers Wabash, Shawnee, Tamsee, Ohio, 
 Illinois, Mississippi and Missouri, shall be called Polypo- 
 tamia ; and that to the eastward farther up the Ohio, shall 
 be called Polisipia. 
 
 This report was recommitted to the same committee on 
 the 17th of March and a new one was submitted on the 22d 
 of the same month. The second report agreed in sub- 
 stance with the first. The principal difference was the 
 omission of the paragraph giving names to the States to be 
 formed out of the Western Territory. It was taken up for 
 consideration by Congress on the 19th of April, on which 
 day, on the motion of Mr. Spaight, of North Carolina, the 
 following clause was struck out: 
 
 That after the year 1800 of the Christian era there shall 
 be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in any of the 
 said States, otherwise than in the punishment of crimes 
 whereof the party shall have been duly convicted to have 
 been personally guilty. 
 
160 
 
 THE ORDINANCE OF 1787. 
 
 The report was further considered and amended on the 
 20th and 21st. On the 23d it was agreed to (ten States 
 voting Aye, and one No), without the clause prohibiting 
 slavery and involuntary servitude after the year 1800. On 
 the question to agree to the report, after the prohibitory 
 clause was struck out, the yeas and nays were required by 
 Mr. Beresford. The vote was : 
 
 Ayes — New Hampshire, Mr. Poster, Mr. Blanchard ; 
 Massachusetts, Mr. Gerry, Mr. Partridge ; Rhode Island, 
 Mr. Ellery, Mr. Howell ; Connecticut, Mr. Sherman, Mr. 
 Wadsworth; New York, Mr. Dewitt, Mr. Payne; New 
 Jersey, Mr. Beatty, Mr. Dick ; Pennsylvania, Mr. Mifflin, 
 Mr. Montgomery, Mr. Hand ; Maryland, Mr. Stone, Mr. 
 Chase; Virginia, Mr. Jefferson, Mr. Mercer, Mr. Monroe; 
 North Carolina, Mr. Williamson, Mr. Spaight. 
 
 Nays — South Carolina, Mr. Read, Mr. Beresford. 
 
 Absent — Delaware, Georgia. 
 
 Thus the report of Mr. Jefferson for the temporary gov- 
 ernment of the Western Territory, without any restriction 
 as to slavery, received the vote of every State present ex- 
 cept South Carolina. It did not lie on the table of Con- 
 gress during the three years from 1784 to 1787. During 
 these three years it was the law of the land. It was re- 
 pealed in 1787. 
 
 Nearly a year after the first plan was adopted, the clause 
 originally offered by Mr. Jefferson, as a part of the charter 
 of compact and fundamental constitutions between the 
 thirteen original States and the new States to be formed 
 in the Western Territory prohibiting slavery and invol- 
 untary servitude, was again submitted to Congress, omit- 
 ting the time named, “ after the year 1800 of the Christian 
 era.” 
 
 On the 16th March, 1785 — “A motion was made by Mr. 
 King, seconded by Mr. Ellery, that the following proposi- 
 tion be committed : 
 
THE ORDINANCE OF 1787 . 
 
 161 
 
 “That there shall be neither slavery nor involuntary 
 servitude iu any of the States described in the resolve of 
 Congress of the 23d of April, 1784, otherwise than in the 
 punishment of crimes, whereof the party shall have been 
 personally guilty; and that this regulation shall be an 
 article of compact, and remain a fundamental principle of 
 the constitutions between the thirteen original States, and 
 each of the States described in the said resolve of the 23d 
 of April, 1784.” 
 
 The motion was, “that the following proposition be 
 committed” — that is, committed to a committee of the 
 whole House : it was not “in the nature of an instruction 
 to the Committee on the Western Territory.” At that 
 time there was no such committee. It was a separate, in- 
 dependent proposition. The very terms of it show that it 
 was offered as an addition to the resolve of April 23d, 
 1784, with the intention of restoring to that resolve a clause 
 that had originally formed part of it. 
 
 Mr. King’s motion to commit was agreed to ; eight 
 States (New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, 
 Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and 
 Maryland) voted in the affirmative, and three States (Vir- 
 ginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina) in the negative. 
 Neither Delaware nor Georgia was represented. 
 
 After the commitment of this proposition, it was neither 
 called up in Congress nor noticed by any of the committees 
 who subsequently reported plans for the government of the 
 Western Territory. 
 
 The subject was not laid over from this time till Sep- 
 tember, 1786. It is noticed as being before Congress on 
 the 24th of March, the 10th of May, the 13th of July, and 
 the 24th of August, of that year. 
 
 On the 24th of March, 1786, a report was made by the 
 grand committee of the House, to whom had been referred 
 11 
 
162 
 
 THE ORDINANCE OF 1787. 
 
 a motion of Mr. Monroe upon the subject of the Western 
 Territory. 
 
 On the 10th of May, 1786, a report was made by another 
 committee, consisting of Mr. Monroe of Virginia, Mr. 
 Johnson of Connecticut, Mr. King of Massachusetts, Mr. 
 Kean of South Carolina, and Mr. Pinckney of South Caro- 
 lina, to whom a motion of Mr. Dane, for considering and 
 reporting the form of a temporary government for the 
 Western Territory, was referred. This report, after 
 amendments, was recommitted on the 13th of July fol- 
 lowing. 
 
 On the 24th of August, 1786, the Secretary of Congress 
 was directed to inform the inhabitants of Kaskaskia “that 
 Congress have under their consideration the plan of a tem- 
 porary government for the said district, and that its adop- 
 tion will be no longer protracted than the importance 
 of the subject and a due regard to their interest may 
 require.” 
 
 On the 19th of September, 1786, a committee, consisting 
 of Mr. Johnson of Connecticut, Mr. Pinckney of South 
 Carolina, Mr. Smith of New York, Mr. Dane of Massachu- 
 setts, and Mr. Henry of Maryland, appointed to prepare 
 a “ plan of temporary government for such Districts or New 
 States as shall be laid out by the United States upon the 
 principles of the acts of cession from individual States, and 
 admitted into the confederacy,” made a report, which was 
 taken up for consideration on the 29th, and, after some 
 discussion and several motions to amend, the further con- 
 sideration was postponed. 
 
 On the 26th of April, 1787, the same committee (Mr. 
 Johnson, Mr. Pinckney, Mr. Smith, Mr. Dane, and Mr. 
 Henry) reported “ An Ordinance for the government of 
 the Western Territory.” It was read a second time, and 
 amended on the 9th of May, when the next day was assigned 
 for the third reading. On the 10th the order of the day 
 
THE ORDINANCE OF 1787. 
 
 163 
 
 for the third reading was called for by the State of Massa- 
 chusetts, and was postponed. On the 9th and 10th of May, 
 Massachusetts was represented by Mr. Gorham, Mr. King, 
 and Mr. Dane. The proposition which, on Mr. King’s mo- 
 tion, was “committed” on the 16th of March of the pre- 
 ceding year, was not in the Ordinance as reported by the 
 committee, nor was any motion made in the Congress to in- 
 sert it as an amendment. 
 
 The following is a copy of the Ordinance, as amended, 
 and ordered to a third reading : 
 
 AN ORDINANCE 
 
 For the Government of the Western Territory. 
 
 It is hereby ordained by the United States, in Congress 
 assembled, That there shall be appointed from time to time, 
 a Governor, whose commission shall continue in force for 
 the term of three years, unless sooner revoked by Congress. 
 
 There shall be appointed by Congress from time to time, 
 a secretary, whose commission shall continue iu force for 
 four years, unless sooner revoked by Congress. It shall be 
 his duty to keep and preserve the acts and laws passed by 
 the General Assembly, and public records of the district, 
 and of the proceedings of the Governor in his executive de- 
 partment, and transmit authentic copies of such acts and 
 proceedings every six months to the Secretary of Congress. 
 
 There shall also be appointed a court, to consist of three 
 judges, any two of whom shall form a court, who shall have 
 a common law jurisdiction, whose commissions shall continue 
 in force during good behavior. 
 
 And to secure the rights of personal liberty and property 
 to the inhabitants and others, purchasers in the said district, 
 it is hereby ordained that the inhabitants of such districts 
 shall always be entitled to the benefits of the act of habeas 
 corpus, and of the trial by jury. 
 
 The Governor and judges, or a majority of them, shall 
 
164 
 
 THE ORDINANCE OF 1787. 
 
 adopt, and publish in the district, such laws of the original 
 States, criminal and civil, as may be necessary and best 
 suited to the circumstances of the district, and report them 
 to Congress from time to time, which shall prevail in said 
 district until the organization of the General Assembly, un- 
 less disapproved of by Congress ; but afterwards the General 
 Assembly shall have authority to alter them as they shall think 
 fit, provided, however, that said Assembly shall have no 
 power to create perpetuities. 
 
 The Governor for the time being shall be commander-in- 
 chief of the militia, and appoint and commission all officers 
 in the same below the rank of general officer. All officers 
 of that rank shall be appointed and commissioned by Con- 
 gress. 
 
 Previous to the organization of the General' Assembly, 
 the Governor shall appoint such magistrates and other civil 
 officers in each county or township, as he shall find neces- 
 sary for the preservation of peace and good order in the 
 same. After the General Assembly shall be organized, the 
 powers and duties of magistrates and other civil officers shall 
 be regulated and defined by the said Assembly ; but all 
 luagistrates and other civil officers not herein otherwise di- 
 rected, shall, during the continuance of this temporary gov- 
 ernment, be appointed by the Governor. 
 
 The Governor shall, as soon as may be, proceed to lay 
 out the district into counties and townships, subject, how- 
 ever, to such alterations as may thereafter be made by the 
 legislature, as soon as there shall be five thousand free male 
 inhabitants of full age within the said district. Upon giving 
 due proof thereof to the Governor, they shall receive authori- 
 ty, with time and place to elect representatives from their 
 counties or townships as aforesaid, to represent them in Gen- 
 eral Assembly, provided that for every five hundred free male 
 inhabitants there shall be one representative, and so on pro- 
 gressively with the number of free male inhabitants shall the 
 
THE ORDINANCE OF 1TS7. 
 
 165 
 
 right of representation increase, until the number of repre- 
 sentatives amount to twenty-five ; after which the number and 
 proportion of representatives shall be regulated by the legis- 
 lature, provided that no person shall be eligible or qualified 
 to act as a representative, unless he shall be a citizeu of one 
 of the United States, or have resided within the district three 
 years, and shall likewise hold, in his own right in fee simple, 
 two hundred acres of land within the same ; provided also, 
 that a freehold or life estate in fifty acres of land, in the said 
 district, of a citizen of any of the United States, and two 
 years’ residence, if a foreigner, in addition shall be necessary 
 to qualify a man as elector for said representatives. 
 
 The representatives thus elected shall serve for the term 
 of two years ; and in the case of the death of a representa- 
 tive or removal from office, the Governor shall issue a writ 
 to the county or township for which he was a member, to 
 elect another in his stead, to serve during the residue of the 
 time. 
 
 The General Assembly shall consist of the Governor, a 
 Legislative Council — to consist of five members, to be ap- 
 pointed by the United States, in Congress assembled, to 
 continue in office during pleasure, any three of whom to be 
 a quorum — and a House of Representatives, who shall have 
 a legislative authority, complete in all cases for the good 
 government of said district ; provided that no act of the said 
 General Assembly shall be construed to affect any lands the 
 property of the United States ; and provided further, that 
 the lands of the non-resident proprietors shall in no instance 
 be taxed higher than the lands of residents. 
 
 All bills shall originate indifferently either in the Coun- 
 cil or House of Representatives, and having been passed 
 by a majority in both Houses, shall be referred to the 
 Governor for his assent, after obtaining which, they shall 
 be complete and valid ; but no bill or legislative act, 
 
166 
 
 THE ORDINANCE OF 1787. 
 
 whatever, shall be valid, or of any force, without his 
 assent. 
 
 The Governor shall have power to convene, prorogue, 
 and dissolve the General Assembly, when in his opinion it 
 shall be expedient. 
 
 The said inhabitants or settlers shall be subject to pay a 
 part of the federal debts contracted, or to be contracted, 
 and to bear a proportional share of the burdens of the 
 government, to be apportioned on them by Congress, ac- 
 cording to the same common rule and measure by which 
 apportionments thereof shall be made on the other States. 
 
 The Governor, Judges, Legislative Council, Secretary, 
 and such other officers as Congress shall at any time 
 think proper to appoint in such district, shall take an oath 
 or affirmation of fidelity ; the Governor before the Presi- 
 dent of Congress, and all other officers before the Governor, 
 prescribed on the 27th day of January, 1785, to the Se- 
 cretary of War, mutatis mutandis. 
 
 Whensoever any of the said States shall have of free 
 inhabitants as many as are equal in number to the one-thir- 
 teenth part of the citizens of the original States, to be 
 computed from the last enumeration, such State shall be 
 admitted by its delegates into the Congress of the United 
 States on an equal footing with the said original States, 
 provided the consent of so many States in Congress is 
 first obtained as may at that time be competent to such ad- 
 mission. 
 
 Resolved, That the resolutions of the 23d of April, 
 1784, be, and the same are hereby annulled and repealed. 
 
 Such was the Ordinance for the government of the West- 
 ern Territory, when it was ordered to a third reading on 
 the 10th of May, 1787. It had then made no furtner pro- 
 gress in the development of those great principles for which 
 it has since been distinguished as one of the greatest monu- 
 
THE ORDINANCE OF 1787. 
 
 167 
 
 ments of civil jurisprudence. It made no provision for 
 the equal distribution of estates. It said nothing of ex- 
 tending the fundamental principles of civil and religious 
 liberty; nothing of the rights of conscience, knowledge, 
 or education. It did not contain the articles of compact 
 which were to remain unaltered forever unless by common 
 consent. 
 
 We now come to the time when these great principles 
 were first brought forward. 
 
 On the 9th of July, 1787, ordinances were again referred. 
 The committee now consisted of Mr. Carrington of Vir- 
 ginia, Mr. Dane of Massachusetts, Mr. R. H. Lee of Vir- 
 ginia, Mr. Kean of South Carolina, and Mr. Smith of New 
 York. Mr. Carrington, Mr. Lee, and Mr. Kean, the new 
 members, were a majority. 
 
 This Committee did not merely revise the Ordinance, they 
 prepared and reported the great Bill of Rights for the 
 territory northwest of the Ohio. 
 
 The question is here presented, why was Mr. Carrington, 
 a new member of the committee, placed at the head of it, to 
 the exclusion of Mr. Dane and Mr. Smith, who had served 
 previously ? In the absence of positive evidence, there 
 appears to be but one answer to this question, the opinions 
 of all the members were known in Congress. In the course 
 of debate new views had been presented which must have 
 been received with general approbation. A majority of the 
 committee were the advocates of these view's, and the mem- 
 ber by whom they were presented to the House, was 
 selected as the chairman. There is nothing improbable or 
 out of the usual course in this. Indeed the prompt action of 
 the committee and of the Congress goes far to confirm it. 
 
 On the 11th of July (two days after the reference), Mr. 
 Carrington reported the ordinance for the government of 
 the Territory of the United States northwest of the Ohio. 
 This ordinance was read a second time on the 12th, (and 
 
168 
 
 THE ORDINANCE OF 1787. 
 
 amended as stated below,) and on the 13th it was read a third 
 time, and passed by the unanimous vote of the eight States 
 present in the Congress. 
 
 On the passage the Yeas and Nays (being required by 
 Mr. Yates,) were as follows : 
 
 Ayes — Massachusetts, Mr. Holten, Mr. Dane ; New 
 York, Mr. Smith, Mr. Harney, Mr. Yates; New Jersey, 
 Mr. Clark, Mr. Schureman ; Delaware; Mr. Kearney; Mr. 
 Mitchell ; Virginia, Mr. Grayson, Mr. R. H. Lee, Mr. 
 Carrington ; North Carolina, Mr. Blount, Mr. Hawkins : 
 South Carolina, Mr. Kean, Mr. Huger; Georgia, Mr. Pew, 
 Mr. Pierce. 
 
 Nays — None. 
 
 Absent — New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut, 
 Pennsylvania, Maryland. 
 
 It appears then that, instead of having “this ordinance 
 under deliberation and revision for three years and six 
 months,” in five days it was passed through all the forms 
 of legislation — the reference, the action of the committee, 
 the report, the three several readings, the discussion and 
 amendment by Congress, and the final passage. 
 
 On the 12th of July (as above stated), Mr. Dane offered 
 the following amendment, which was adopted as the sixth 
 of the articles of the compact : 
 
 “ Article the sixth. There shall be neither slavery nor 
 involuntary servitude in the said territory, otherwise than 
 in the punishment of crimes whereof the party shall have 
 been duly convicted. Provided always, That any person 
 escaping into the same, from whom labor or service is 
 claimed in any of the original States, such fugitive may 
 be lawfully reclaimed and conveyed to the person claiming 
 his or her labor or service as aforesaid.” 
 
 This had in part been presented by Mr. Jefferson, in 
 1784, and again by Mr. King, in 1785. The assertion 
 that this clause, “ as it now exists in the ordinance,” was 
 
THE ORDINANCE OF 1787. 
 
 169 
 
 "proposed and carried by Mr. King, when neither Jefferson 
 nor Dane was present,” is singularly incorrect. In the 
 proposition submitted by Mr. King in 1785 (which was 
 never afterwards called up in Congress) there was no pro- 
 vision for reclaiming fugitives; and without such a pro- 
 vision it could not have been carried at all : besides, the 
 clause, “as it now exists in the ordinance,” was proposed 
 by Mr. Dane on the 12th of July, 1787, and carried by 
 the unanimous vote of Congress when Mr. King was not 
 present. 
 
 Mr. King was a member of the Convention fbr framing 
 the federal Constitution. He was present and voted in the 
 Convention on the 12th of July, 1787. The whole of that 
 day was occupied in settling the proportion of representa- 
 tion and direct taxation, which was then determined as it 
 now stands in the Constitution, viz., “by adding to the 
 whole number of free persons, including those bound to ser- 
 vice for a term of years, and excluding Indians not taxed, 
 three-fifths of all other persons. 
 
 The Congress and the Convention were both in session at 
 the same time in Philadelphia; there was of course free in- 
 tercourse and interchange of opinion between the members 
 of the two bodies. To this may be attributed the adoption 
 on the same day, of the clause in the Ordinance and the 
 clause in the Constitution.* 
 
 The accompanying copy of the Ordinance shows the 
 
 * An additional reason for the agreement of the Southern 
 States to this restriction of slavery, may he found in the fact 
 that the institution would not he likely to flourish to any con- 
 siderable extent in that climate. They therefore gave up little 
 and gained what was far more important to them, a recognition, 
 in the article itself, of their right to capture their fugitive 
 slaves in that territory — a right they had not before possessed. 
 This all occurred prior to the adoption of the present Constitu- 
 tion, and seems to have been a compromise of sectional in- 
 terests. 
 
170 
 
 THE ORDINANCE OF 1787. 
 
 amendments made in Congress, on the 12th of July to Mr. 
 Carrington’s report of the 11th. All that was struck out 
 is printed in italic, what was inserted is in small capitals. 
 The reader, on comparing this with the plans previously 
 reported by Mr. Jefferson, and by Mr. Johnson, will see 
 that most of the principles on which its wisdom and fame 
 rest, were first presented by Mr. Carrington. 
 
 Washington, August 20th, 1847. P. F. 
 
 AN ORDINANCE 
 
 For the Government of the Territory of the United States 
 Northwest of the river Ohio. 
 
 Be it ordained by the United States in Congress assem- 
 bled, That the said Territory, for the purposes of tempo- 
 rary government, be one district ; subject, however to be 
 divided into two districts, as circumstances may in the 
 opinion of Congress make it expedient. 
 
 Be it ordained by the authority aforesaid, That the estates 
 both of resident and non-resideut proprietors in the said 
 territory dying intestate, shall descend to and be distributed 
 among their children and the descendants of a deceased 
 child in equal parts ; the descendants of a deceased child or 
 grandchild to take the share of their deceased parent in 
 equal parts among them ; and where there shall be no chil- 
 dren or descendants, then in equal parts to the next of kin 
 in equal degree ; and among collaterals, the children of a 
 deceased brother or sister of the intestate shall have in 
 equal parts among them their deceased parents’ share ; and 
 THERE SHALL IN NO CASE BE A DISTINCTION BETWEEN KIN- 
 DRED OP the whole AND half blood ; saving in all cases to 
 the widow of the intestate her third part of the real estate 
 for life, and [ where there shall be no children of the in- 
 testate ] one-third part of the personal estate ; and this law 
 relative to descent and dower shall remain in full force until 
 altered by the legislature of the district. And until the 
 
THE ORDINANCE OF 1787. 
 
 171 
 
 Governor and Judges shall adopt laws as hereinafter men* 
 tioned, estates in the said territory may be devised or be- 
 queathed by wills in writing, signed and sealed by him or 
 her, in whom the estate may be (being of full age) and at- 
 tested by three witnesses ; and real estates may be conveyed 
 by lease and release, or bargain and sale, signed sealed and 
 delivered by the person, being of full age, in whom the 
 estate may be, and attested by two witnesses, provided such 
 wills be duly proved, and such conveyances be acknow- 
 ledged, or the execution thereof duly proved, and be 
 recorded within one year after proper magistrates, courts, 
 and registers shall be appointed for that purpose ; and per- 
 sonal property may be transferred by delivery, saving, how- 
 ever, to the [ inhabitants of Kaslcaskies and Post Vincent ,] 
 French and Canadian inhabitants, and other settlers 
 
 OF THE KaSKASKIES, SAINT YiNOENT’s, AND THE NEIGH- 
 BORING VILLAGES, WHO HAVE HERETOFORE PROFESSED THEM- 
 SELVES citizens of Virginia, their laws and customs now 
 in force among them relative to the descent and conveyance 
 of property. 
 
 Be it ordained by the authority aforesaid, That there 
 shall be appointed from time to time by Congress, a 
 Governor, whose commission shall continue in force for the 
 term of three years unless sooner revoked by Congress ; he 
 shall reside in the district, and have a freehold estate therein, 
 in one thousand acres of land, while in the exercise of his 
 office. 
 
 There shall be appointed from time to time, by Congress, 
 a Secretary, whose commission shall continue in force for 
 four years unless sooner revoked; he shall reside in the 
 district, and have a freehold estate therein, in five hundred 
 acres of land, while in the exercise of his office. It shall be 
 his duty to keep and preserve the acts and laws passed by 
 the legislature, and the public records of the district, and 
 the proceedings of the Governor in his executive depart- 
 
172 
 
 THE ORDINANCE OF 1787. 
 
 ment, and transmit authentic copies of such acts and pro- 
 ceedings every six months to the Secretary of Congress. 
 There shall also be appointed a court to consist of three 
 judges, any two of whom to form a court, who shall have 
 a common-law jurisdiction, and reside in the district, and 
 have each therein a freehold estate, in five hundred acres of 
 land while in the exercise of their offices ; and their com 
 missions shall continue in force during good behavor. 
 
 The Governor and Judges, or a majority of them, shall 
 adopt and publish in the district such laws of the original 
 States, criminal and civil, as may be necessary and best 
 suited to the circumstances of the district, and report them 
 to Congress from time to time, which laws shall be in force 
 in the district until the organization of the General Assem- 
 bly therein, unless disapproved of by Congress; but after- 
 wards the legislature shall have authority to alter them as 
 they shall see fit. 
 
 The Governor for the time being, shall be commander in 
 chief of the militia, appoint and commission all officers in 
 the same below the rank of general officers ; all general 
 officers [ above that rank~\ shall be appointed and commis- 
 sioned by Congress. 
 
 Previous to the organization of the General Assembly, 
 the Governor shall appoint such magistrates and other civil 
 officers, in each county and township as he shall find neces- 
 sary for the preservation of the peace and good order in the 
 same. After the General Assembly shall be organized, the 
 powers and duties of magistrates and other civil officers, 
 shall be regulated and defined by the said Assembly ; but all 
 magistrates and other civil officers not herein otherwise 
 directed, shall, during the continuance of this temporary 
 government, be appointed by the Governor. 
 
 For the prevention of crime and injuries, the laws, to be 
 adopted or made, shall have force in all parts of the district, 
 and for the execution of process, criminal and civil, the 
 
THE ORDINANCE OF 1787. 
 
 173 
 
 Governor shall make proper division thereof ; and he shall 
 proceed from time to time as circumstances may require to lay 
 out the parts of the district in which the Indian titles shall 
 have been extinguished into counties and townships, subject, 
 however, to such alterations as may thereafter be made by 
 the legislature. 
 
 So soon as there shall be five thousand free male inhabi- 
 tants of full age, in the district, upon giving proof thereof 
 to the governor, they shall receive authority, with time and 
 place to elect Representatives from their counties and town- 
 ships to represent them in the General Assembly ; provided 
 that, for every five hundred free male inhabitants there shall 
 be one representative, and so on progressively with the 
 number of free male inhabitants shall the right of represen- 
 tation increase until the number of representatives shall 
 amount to twenty-five, after which the number and propor- 
 tion of representatives shall be regulated by the legislature ; 
 provided that no person be eligible or qualified to act as a 
 representative unless he shall have been a citizen of one 
 of the United States three years and be a resident in the 
 district, or unless he shall have resided in the district three 
 years, and in either case shall likewise hold in his own right, 
 in fee simple, two hundred acres of land within the same. 
 Provided also, that a freehold in fifty acres of land in the 
 district, having been a citizen of one of the States, and be- 
 ing resident in the district, or the like freehold and two 
 years’ residence in the district, shall be necessary to qualify 
 a man as an elector of a representative. 
 
 The representatives thus elected shall serve for the term 
 of two years, and in case of the death of the representative, 
 or removal from office, the Governor shall issue a writ to 
 the county or township for which he was a member, to elect 
 another in his stead, to serve for the residue of the term. 
 
 The General Assembly or Legislature, shall consist of the 
 Governor, Legislative Council and a House of Represeu- 
 
174 
 
 THE ORDINANCE OF 1787. 
 
 tatives. The Legislative Council shall consist of five mem- 
 bers to continue in office five years, unless sooner removed 
 by Congress, and three of whom to be a quorum, and the 
 members of the Council shall be nominated and appointed in 
 the following manner, to wit : As soon as representatives shall 
 be elected, the Governor shall appoint a time and place for 
 them to meet together, and when met, they shall nominate 
 ten persons, residents in the district, and each possessed of a 
 freehold in five hundred acres of land, and return their 
 names to Congress ; five of whom Congress shall appoint 
 and commission to serve as aforesaid, and whenever a 
 vacancy shall happened in the Council, by death or re- 
 moval from office, the House of Representatives shall 
 nominate two persons, qualified as aforesaid, for each 
 vacancy, and return their names to Congress ; one of whom 
 Congress shall appoint and commission for the residue of 
 the term ; and every five years, four months at least before 
 the expiration of the time of service of the members of 
 Council the said House shall nominate ten persons, qualified 
 as aforesaid, and return their names to Congress, five of 
 whom Congress shall appoint and commission to serve as 
 members of the Council five years, unless sooner removed. 
 And the Governor, Legislative Council and House of Re- 
 presentatives, shall have authority to make laws in all cases 
 for the good government of the district, not repugnant to 
 the principles and articles in this Ordinance established and 
 declared. And all bills having passed by a majority in the 
 House and by a majority in the Council, shall be referred to 
 the Governor for his assent ; but no bill or legislative act 
 whatever shall be of any force without his assent. The 
 Governor shall have power to convene, prorogue, and dis- 
 solve the General Assembly, when in his opinion it shall be 
 expedient. 
 
 The Governor, Judges, Legislative Council, Secretary, 
 and such other officers as Congress shall appoint in the 
 district, shall take an oath or affirmation of fidelity and of 
 
THE ORDINANCE OF 1787. 
 
 175 
 
 office, the Governor before the President of Congress, and 
 all other officers before the Governor. As soon as a Legis- 
 lature shall be formed in the district, the Council and 
 House, assembled in one room, shall have authority, by 
 joint ballot, to elect a delegate to Congress, who shall have 
 a seat in Congress, with a right of debating, but not of 
 voting, during this temporary government. 
 
 And for extending [to all parts of the Confederacy J 
 the fundamental principles of civil and religious liberty* 
 which form the basis whereon these republics, their laws 
 and constitutions, are erected ; to fix and establish those 
 principles as the basis of all laws, constitutions, and gov- 
 ernments, which forever hereafter shall be formed in the 
 said territory ; to provide also for the establishment of 
 States and permanent government therein, and for their 
 admission to a share in the federal councils, on au equal 
 footing with the original States, at as early periods as may 
 be consistent with the general interest: 
 
 It is hereby ordained and declared by the authority afore- 
 said, That the following articles shall be considered as arti- 
 cles of compact between the original States and the people 
 and States in the said territory, and forever remain unalter- 
 able, unless by common consent, to-wit : 
 
 Article 1 . No person, demeaning himself in a peaceable 
 and orderly manner, shall ever be molested on account ot 
 his mode of worship or religious sentiments in the said 
 territory. 
 
 Article 2. The inhabitants of the said territory shall 
 always be entitled to the benefits of the writ of habeas 
 corpus and of the trial by jury; of a proportionate repre- 
 sentation of the people in the Legislature, and of judicial 
 proceedings according to the course of the common law ; 
 all persons shall be bailable, unless for capital offenses, 
 where the proof shall be evident or the presumption great; 
 all fines shall be moderate, and no cruel or unusual punish- 
 
176 
 
 THE ORDINANCE OF 1787. 
 
 ments shall be inflicted ; no man shall be deprived of his 
 liberty or property but by the judgment of his peers, or the 
 law of the land ; and should the public exigencies make it 
 necessary, for the common preservation, to take any per- 
 son’s property, or to demand his particular services, full 
 compensation shall be made for the same ; and, in the just 
 preservation of rights and property, it is understood and 
 declared that no law ought ever to be made or have force 
 in the said territory, that shall in any manner whatever 
 interfere with or affect private contracts or engagements, 
 bona fide and without fraud previously formed. 
 
 Article 3. [ Institutions for the promotion of] reli- 
 
 gion [and] morality, and knowledge, being necessary 
 
 TO GOOD GOVERNMENT AND THE HAPPINESS OF MANKIND, 
 schools and the means of education shall forever be en- 
 couraged, [ and all persons while young shall be taught 
 some useful occupation.] The utmost good faith shall 
 always be observed towards the Indians ; their lands and 
 property shall never be taken from them without their con- 
 sent ; and in their property, rights, and liberty, they never 
 shall be invaded or disturbed, unless in just and lawful 
 wars authorized by Congress ; but laws founded in justice 
 and humanity shall from time to time be made, for pre- 
 venting wrongs being done to them, and for preserving 
 peace and friendship with them. 
 
 Article 4. The said territory and the States which 
 may be formed therein, shall forever remain a part of this 
 confederacy of the United States of America, subject to 
 the Articles of Confederation, and to such alterations 
 therein as shall be constitutionally made ; and to all the 
 acts and ordinances of the United States in Congress 
 assembled. The Legislature of those districts, or new 
 States, shall never interfere with the primary disposal of 
 the soil by the United States in Congress assembled, nor 
 with any regulations Congress may find necessary for 66- 
 
THE ORDINANCE OF 1787. 
 
 177 
 
 curing the title in such soil to bona fide purchasers. No 
 tax shall be imposed on lands the property of the United 
 States; and in no case shall non-resident proprietors be 
 taxed higher than residents. The navigable waters leading 
 into the Mississippi and St. Lawrence, and the carrying- 
 places between the same, shall be common highways, and 
 forever free, as well to the inhabitants of the said territory 
 as to the citizens of the United States, and those of any 
 other States that may be admitted into the confederacy, 
 without any tax, impost, or duty therefor. 
 
 Article 5. There shall be formed in the said territory 
 not less than three, nor more than five States ; and the 
 boundaries of the States, as soon as Virginia shall alter her 
 act of cession and [ authorize ] consent to the same, shall 
 become fixed and established as follows, to wit: The west- 
 ern State in the said territory shall be bounded by the 
 Mississippi, the Ohio, and Wabash rivers; a direct line 
 drawn from the Wabash and Post Vincent’s, due north to 
 the territorial line between the United States and Canada, 
 and by the said territorial line to the Lake of the Woods 
 and Mississippi. The middle State shall be bounded by 
 the said direct line, the Wabash from Post Vincent’s to 
 the Ohio ; by the Ohio, by a direct line drawn due north 
 from the mouth of the Great Miami to the said territorial 
 line, and by the said territorial line. The eastern State 
 shall be bounded by the last-mentioned direct line, the 
 Ohio, Pennsylvania and the said territorial line : Provided, 
 however, and it is further understood and declared, that the 
 boundaries of these three States, shall be subject so far to 
 be altered, that if Congress shall hereafter find it expedient, 
 they shall have authority to form one or two States in that 
 part of the said territory which lies north of an east and 
 west line drawn through the southerly bend or extreme of 
 Lake Michigan ; and whenever any of the said States shall 
 have sixty thousand free inhabitants therein, such State 
 12 
 
178 
 
 THE ORDINANCE OF 1787. 
 
 shall be admitted by its delegates into the Congress of the 
 United States, on an equal footing with the original States 
 in all respects whatever ; and shall be at liberty to form a 
 permanent constitution and State government : Provided 
 the constitution and government so to be formed shall be 
 republican, and in conformity to the principles contained in 
 these articles ; and, so far as it can be consistent with the 
 general interest of the confederacy, such admission shall be 
 allowed at an earlier period, and when there may be a less 
 number of free inhabitants in the State than sixty thousand. 
 
 Article 6. There shall be neither slavery nor involun- 
 tary servitude in the said territory, otherwise than in punish- 
 ment of crimes whereof the party shall have been duly con- 
 victed : Provided always, that any person escaping into the 
 same, from whom labor or service is lawfully claimed in any 
 one of the original States, such fugitive may be lawfully 
 reclaimed and conveyed to the person claiming his or her 
 labor or service as aforesaid. 
 
 Be it ordained by the authority aforesaid, That the 
 resolutions of the 23d of April, 1784, relative to the subject 
 of this ordinance, be and the same are hereby repealed, and 
 declared null and void. 
 
 Done by the United States in Congress assembled the 
 thirteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord 1787, and 
 of the sovereignty and independence the twelfth. 
 
 CHAS. THOMPSON, 
 
 Secretary. 
 
CHAPTER Y. 
 
 THE SLAVE TRADE. 
 
 In Congress, Friday, Feb. 12, 1190, the following memo- 
 rial of the Pennsylvania Society for promoting the aboli- 
 tion of slavery, the relief of free negroes unlawfully held in 
 bondage, and the improvement of the condition of the Afri- 
 can race, was presented and read.* 
 
 This memorial respectfully showeth, that from a regard 
 for the happiness of mankind, an association was formed 
 several years since in this State, by a number of her citizens 
 of various religions denominations, for promoting the abo- 
 lition of slavery, and for the relief of those unlawfully held 
 in bondage. A just and acute conception of the true 
 principles of liberty as it spread through the land, produced 
 accessions to their numbers, many friends of their cause, 
 and a legislative co-operation with their views, which by 
 the blessing of Divine Providence, have been successfully 
 directed to the relieving from bondage a large number of 
 their fellow-creatures of the African race. They have also 
 the satisfaction to observe, that — in consequence of that 
 spirit of philanthropy and genuine liberty which is gener- 
 ally diffusing its beneficial influence, — similar institutions 
 are forming at home and abroad. 
 
 That mankind are all formed by the same Almighty Be- 
 ing, alike objects of his care, and equally assigned for the 
 
 * It will be noticed that this was the first Congress assembled 
 under the Constitution, and was the first action taken by that 
 body on the subject. 
 
180 
 
 THE SLAVE TRADE. 
 
 enjoyment of happiness, the Christian religion teaches us 
 to believe ; and the political creed of Americans fully coin- 
 cides with the position. Your memorialists, particularly 
 engaged in attending to the distresses arising from slavery, 
 believe it their indispensable duty to present this subject to 
 your notice. They have observed, with real satisfaction, that 
 many important and salutary powers are vested in you for 
 “ promoting the welfare, and securing the blessings of 
 liberty to the people of the United States;” and as they con- 
 ceive that these blessings ought rightfully to be administered, 
 without distinction of color, to all descriptions of people, 
 so they indulge themselves in the pleasing expectation that 
 nothing which can be done for the relief of the unhappy 
 objects of their care will be either omitted or delayed. 
 
 From a persuasion that equal liberty was originally the 
 portion, and is still the birthright of all men, and influenced 
 by the strong ties of humanity, and the principles of their 
 institution, your memorialists conceive themselves bound to 
 use all justifiable endeavors to loosen the bands of slavery; 
 and promote a general enjoyment of the blessings of free- 
 dom. Under these impressions, they earnestly entreat your 
 serious attention to the subject of slavery. That you will 
 be pleased to countenance the restoration of liberty to 
 those unhappy men who alone in this land of freedom are 
 degraded into perpetual bondage, and who, amidst the 
 general joy of surrounding freemen, are groaning in servile 
 subjection ; that you will devise means for removing this 
 inconsistency from the character of the American people ; 
 that you will promote mercy and justice toward this dis- 
 tressed race, and that you will step to the very verge of 
 the power invested in you for discouraging every species of 
 traffic in the persons of our fellow-men. 
 
 The memorial was referred to a special committee. 
 
TEE SLAVE TRADE. 
 
 181 
 
 REPORT OP THE SPECIAL COMMITTEE. 
 
 The Committee to whom were referred sundry memorials 
 from the people called Quakers ; and also a memorial from 
 the Pennsylvania Society for promoting the Abolition of 
 Slavery, submit the following report : 
 
 That, from the nature of the matters contained in these 
 memorials, they were induced to examine the powers vested 
 in Congress under the present Constitution, relating to tho 
 abolition of Slavery, and are clearly of opinion — 
 
 Firstly. That the General Government is expressly re- 
 strained from prohibiting the importation of such persons 
 “as any of the other States now existing shall think proper 
 to admit until the year one thousand eight hundred and 
 eight.” 
 
 Secondly. That Congress, by a fair construction of the 
 Constitution, is equally restrained from interfering in the 
 emancipation of slaves, who already are, or who may, 
 within the period mentioned, be imported into, or born 
 within, any of the said States. 
 
 Thirdly. That Congress has no authority to interfere in 
 the internal regulations of particular States, relative to the 
 instruction of slaves in the principles of morality and re- 
 ligion ; to their comfortable clothing, accommodations, and 
 subsistence ; to the regulation of their marriages, and the 
 violation of the rights thereof, or the separation of children 
 from their parents ; to a comfortable provision in case of 
 sickness, age, or infirmity ; or to the seizure, transportation, 
 or sale of free negroes ; but have the fullest confidence in 
 the wisdom and humanity of the legislatures of the several 
 States ; that they will revise their laws from time to time, 
 when necessary, and promote the objects mentioned in the 
 memorials, and every other measure that may tend to the 
 happiness of slaves. 
 
 Fourthly. That, nevertheless, Congress have authority, 
 
182 
 
 THE SLAVE TRADE. 
 
 if they shall think it necessary, to lay at any time a tax or 
 duty, not exceeding ten dollars for each person of any des- 
 cription, the importation of whom shall be by any of the 
 States admitted as aforesaid. 
 
 Fifthly. That Congress have authority to interdict, or 
 (so far as it is or may be carried on by citizens of the 
 United States for supplying foreigners,) to regulate the 
 African trade, and to make provision for the humane treat- 
 ment of slaves in all instances while on their passage to the 
 United States, or to foreign ports, so far as it respects the 
 citizens of the United States. 
 
 Sixthly. That Congress have also authority to prohibit 
 foreigners from fitting out vessels in any port of the United 
 States, for transporting persons from Africa to any foreign 
 port. 
 
 Seventhly. That the memorialists be informed that, in 
 all cases in which the authority of Congress extends, they 
 will exercise it for the humane object of the memorialists, 
 so far as they can be promoted on the principles of justice, 
 humanity, and good policy. 
 
 EEPOET Of THE COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE HOUSE, 
 On the Report of the Special Committee preceding. 
 
 March 25, 1190. The Committee of the whole House, 
 to whom was committed the report of the committee on the 
 memorials of the people called Quakers, and of the Penn- 
 sylvania Society for promoting the Abolition of Slavery, 
 report the following amendments. 
 
 Strike out the first clause, together with the recital thereto, 
 and in lieu thereof, insert, “ That the migration or importa- 
 tion of such persons as any of the States now existing shall 
 think proper to admit, cannot be prohibited by Congress, 
 prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight.” 
 
 Strike out the second and third clauses, and in lieu 
 thereof, iusert “ That Congress have no authority to inter- 
 
THE SLAVE TRADE. 
 
 183 
 
 fere in the emancipation of slaves or in the treatment of 
 them within any of the States ; it remaining with the several 
 States alone to provide any regulations therein, which 
 humanity and true policy may require.” 
 
 Strike out the fourth and fifth clauses, and in lieu thereof, 
 insert, “ That Congress have authority to restrain the 
 citizens of the United States from carrying on the African 
 trade, for the purpose of supplying foreigners with slaves ; 
 and of providing, by proper regulations, for the humane 
 treatment during their passage, of slaves imported by the 
 said citizens into the States admitting such importation.” 
 
 Strike out the seventh clause. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 VIRGINIA RESOLUTIONS OF 1798 , 
 
 Pronouncing the Alien and Sedition Laws to be unconsti * 
 tutional, and defining the rights of the States. ( Drawn 
 
 by Mr. Madison.) 
 
 Resolved, That the General Assembly of Virginia, doth 
 unequivocally express a firm resolution to maintain and de- 
 fend the Constitution of the United States, and the Constitu- 
 tion of this State, against every aggression, either foreign or 
 domestic, and that they will support the government of the 
 United States in all measures warranted by the former. 
 
 That this Assembly most solemnly declares a warm attach- 
 ment to the union of the States, to maintain which it pledges 
 its power; and that for this end, it is their duty to watch 
 over and oppose every infraction of those principles which 
 constitute the only basis of that union, because a faithful 
 observance of them can alone secure its existence and the 
 public happiness. 
 
 That this Assembly doth explicitly and peremptorily de- 
 clare, that it views the powers of the federal government as 
 resulting from the compact to which the States are parties, 
 as limited by the plain sense and intention of the instrument 
 constituting that compact, as no further valid than they are 
 authorized by the grant enumerated in that compact ; and 
 that, in case of a deliberate, palpable, and dangerous 
 exercise of other powers, not granted by the said compact, 
 the States who are parties thereto, have the right, and are 
 in duty bound to interpose, for arresting the progress of 
 ( 184 ) 
 
VIRGINIA RESOLUTIONS OF 1798. 
 
 185 
 
 the evil, and for maintaining within their respective limits, 
 the authorities, rights, and liberties, appertaining to them. 
 
 That the General Assembly doth also express its deepest 
 regret, that a spirit has, in sundry instances, been mani- 
 fested by the federal government to enlarge its powers by 
 forced constructions of the constitutional charter which de- 
 fines them : and that indications have appeared of a design 
 to expound certain general phrases (which, having been 
 copied from the very limited grant of powers in the former 
 Articles of Confederation, were the less liable to be mis- 
 construed) so as to destroy the meaning and effect of the 
 particular enumeration which necessarily explains and limits 
 the general phrases, and so as to consolidate the States, by 
 degrees, into one sovereignty, the obvious tendency and 
 inevitable result of which would be, to transform the pre- 
 sent republican system of the United States into an abso- 
 lute, or, at best, a mixed monarchy. 
 
 That the General Assembly doth particularly protest 
 against the palpable and alarming infractions of the Con- 
 stitution, in the two late cases of the “ Alien and Sedition 
 Acts,” passed at the late session of Congress : the first of 
 which exercises a power nowhere delegated to the federal 
 government, and which, by uniting legislative and judicial 
 powers to those of executive subverts the general principle 
 of free government, as well as the particular organization 
 and positive provisions of the federal Constitution : and 
 the other of which acts exercises, in like manner, a power 
 not delegated by the Constitution, but, on the contrary, 
 expressly and positively forbidden by one of the amend- 
 ments thereto — a power, which, more than any other, ought 
 to produce universal alarm, because it is leveled against 
 the right of freely examining public characters and mea- 
 sures, and of free communication among the people 
 thereon, which has ever been justly deemed the only effec- 
 tual guardian of every other right. 
 
186 
 
 VIRGINIA RESOLUTIONS OF 1798. 
 
 That this State having, by its Convention, which ratified 
 the federal Constitution, expressly declared that, among 
 other essential rights, “the liberty of conscience and the 
 press cannot be concealed, abridged, restrained, or modified 
 by any authority of the United States,” and from its ex- 
 treme anxiety to guard these rights from every possible 
 attack of sophistry and ambition, having, with other States, 
 recommended an amendment for that purpose, which amend- 
 ment was, in due time, annexed to the Constitution, — it 
 would mark a reproachful inconsistency, and criminal de- 
 generacy, if an indifference were now shown to the most 
 palpable violation of one of the rights thus declared and 
 secured, and to the establishment of a precedent which may 
 be fatal to the other. 
 
 That the good people of this commonwealth, having ever 
 felt, and continuing to feel, the most sincere affection for 
 their brethren of the other States ; the truest anxiety 
 for establishing and perpetuating the union of all, and the 
 most scrupulous fidelity to that Constitution, which is the 
 pledge of mutual friendship, and the instrument of mutual 
 happiness, the General Assembly doth solemnly appeal 
 to the like dispositions in the other States, in confidence 
 that they will concur with this commonwealth in declaring, 
 as it does hereby declare, that the acts aforesaid are uncon- 
 stitutional, and that the necessary and proper measures will 
 be taken by each for co-operating with this State in main- 
 taining unimpaired the authorities, rights, and liberties, re- 
 served to the States respectively or to the people. 
 
 That the Governor be desired to transmit a copy of the 
 foregoing resolutions to the executive of each of the other 
 States, with a request that the same may be communicated 
 to the legislature thereof, and that a copy be furnished to 
 each of the senators and representatives representing this 
 State in the Congress of the United States. 
 
KENTUCKY RESOLUTIONS OF 1798 — 9 . 187 
 
 KENTUCKY RESOLUTIONS OP 1798 AND 1799. 
 
 {Drawn by Mr. Jefferson .) 
 
 1. Resolved, That the several States composing the 
 United States of America are not united on the principle 
 of unlimited submission to their general government ; but 
 that by compact, under the style and title of a Constitution 
 for the United States, and of amendments thereto, they 
 constituted a general government for special purposes, dele- 
 gated to that government certain power, reserving, each 
 State to itself, the residuary mass of rights to their own self- 
 government, and that whensoever the general government 
 assumes undelegated powers, its acts are unauthoritative, 
 void, of no force ; that to this compact each State acceded 
 as a State, and is an integral party; that this government, 
 created by this compact, was not made the exclusive or final 
 judge of the extent of the powers delegated to itself, since 
 that would have made its discretion, and not the Constitu- 
 tion, the measure of its powers ; but that, as in all other 
 casus of compact among parties having no common judge, 
 each party has an equal right to judge for itself, as well 
 of infractions as of the mode and measure of redress. 
 
 2. Resolved, That the Constitution of the United States 
 having delegated to Congress a power to punish treason, 
 counterfeiting the securities and current coin of the United 
 States, piracies and felonies committed on the high seas, 
 and offenses against the laws of nations, and no other crimes 
 whatever, and it being true, as a general principle, and one 
 of the amendments to the Constitution having also declared, 
 “that the powers not delegated to the United States by the 
 Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved 
 to the States respectively or to the people,” therefore, also, 
 the same act of Congress, passed on the 14th day of July, 
 1798, and entitled “An Act in addition to the Act entitled 
 an Act for the punishment of certain crimes against the 
 
188 KENTUCKY RESOLUTIONS OF 1798 — 9 . 
 
 United States as also the act passed by them on the 27th 
 day of June, 1798, entitled an Act to punish frauds com- 
 mitted on the Bank of the United States, (and all other 
 their acts which assume to create, define, or punish crimes 
 other than those enumerated in the Constitution,) are alto- 
 gether void, and of no force ; and that the power to create, 
 define, and punish such other crimes is reserved, and of right 
 appertains, solely and exclusively to the respective States, 
 each within its own territory. 
 
 3. Resolved, That it is true, as a general principle, and is 
 also expressly declared by one of the amendments of the 
 Constitution, that “ the powers not delegated to the 
 United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to 
 the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the 
 people and that, no power over the freedom of religion, 
 freedom of speech, or freedom of the press, being delegated 
 to the United States by the Constitution, uor prohibited by 
 it to the States, all lawful powers respecting the same did of 
 right remain, and were reserved to the States, or to the 
 people ; that thus was manifested their determination, to 
 retain to themselves the right of judging how far the licen- 
 tiousness of speech, and of the press, may be abridged with- 
 out lessening their useful freedom, and how far those abuses 
 which cannot be separated from their use, should be tole- 
 rated rather than the use be destroyed ; and thus also they 
 guarded against all abridgment, by the United States, of 
 the freedom of all religious principles and exercises, and re- 
 tained to themselves the right of protecting the same, as 
 thus stated, by a law passed on the general demand of its 
 citizens, had already protected them from all human re- 
 straint or interference, and that, in addition to this general 
 principle, and express determination, another and more 
 special provision has been made by one of the amendments 
 to the Constitution, which expressly declares, that “Con- 
 gress shall make no laws respecting an establishment of re- 
 
KENTUCKY RESOLUTIONS OF 1798 — 9 . 189 
 
 ligion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging 
 the freedom of speech or the press,” thereby guarding in 
 the same sentence and under the same words, the freedom 
 of religion, of speech, and of the press, insomuch that what- 
 ever violates either throws down the sanctuary which covers 
 the others, — and that libels, falsehood and defamation, 
 equally with heresy and false religion, are withheld from 
 the cognizance of federal tribunals. That, therefore, the act 
 of the Congress of the United States, passed on the 14th 
 of July, 1798, entitled, An Act in addition to the Act en- 
 titled an Act for the punishment of certain crimes against 
 the United States,” which does abridge the freedom of the 
 press, is not law, but is altogether void, and of no force. 
 
 4. Resolved, That alien friends are under the jurisdiction 
 and protection of the laws of the State wherein they are ; 
 that no power over them has been delegated to the United 
 States, nor prohibited to the individual States, distinct from 
 their power over citizens ; and it being true as a gene- 
 ral principle, and one of the amendments to the Constitution 
 having also declared, that “the powers not delegated to 
 the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited to the 
 States, are reserved to the States, respectively, or to the 
 people,” the Act of the Congress of the United States, 
 passed the 22nd day of June, 1798, entitled, “ An Act con- 
 cerning Aliens,” which assumes power over alien friends 
 not delegated by the Constitution, is not law, but is alto- 
 gether void and of no force. 
 
 5. Resolved, That, in addition to the general principle, 
 as well as the express declaration, that powers not dele- 
 gated are reserved, another and more special provision, in- 
 serted in the Constitution from abundant cautiou, has de- 
 clared, “ that the migration or importation of such persons 
 as any of the States now existing shall think proper to ad- 
 mit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the 
 year 1808.” That this commonwealth does admit the 
 
190 KENTUCKY RESOLUTIONS OF 1798 — 9. 
 
 migration of alien friends described as the subject of the 
 said act concerning aliens, that a provision against prohibi- 
 ting their migration is a provision against all acts equiva- 
 lent thereto, or it would be nugatory ; that to remove them 
 when migrated, is equivalent to a prohibition of their migra- 
 tion, and is, therefore, contrary to the said provision of the 
 Constitution, and void. 
 
 6. Resolved. That the imprisonment of a person under 
 the protection of the laws of this Commonwealth, on his 
 failure to obey the simple order of the President to depart 
 out of the United States, as is undertaken by the said act, 
 entitled, “An Act concerning Aliens,” is contrary to the 
 Constitution, one amendment in which has provided that 
 “ no person shall be deprived of liberty without due process 
 of law;” and that another having provided, “that, in all 
 criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right of a 
 public trial by an impartial jury, to be informed as to the 
 nature and cause of the accusation, to be confronted with 
 the witnesses against him, to have compulsory process for 
 obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have assistance of 
 counsel for his defense,” the same act undertaking to autho- 
 rize the President to remove a person out of the United 
 States who is under the protection of the law, on his own 
 suspicion, without jury, without public trial, without con- 
 frontation of the witnesses against him, without having 
 witnesses in his favor, without defense, without counsel,' — ■ 
 contrary to these provisions also of the Constitution — is 
 therefore not law, but utterly void, and of no force. 
 
 That transferring the power of judging any person who is 
 under the protection of the laws, from the courts to tho 
 President of the United States, as is undertaken by the 
 same act concerning aliens, is against the article of the 
 Constitution which provides “that the judicial power of the 
 United States shall be vested in the courts, the judges 
 of which shall hold their office during their good behavior,” 
 
KENTUCKY RESOLUTIONS OF 1798 — 9 . 191 
 
 and that the said act is void for that reason also ; and it is 
 farther to be noted that this transfer of judiciary power is 
 to that magistrate of the general government who already 
 possesses all the executive and a qualified negative ou all 
 the legislation. 
 
 7. Resolved, That the construction applied by the 
 general government (as is evident by sundry of their 
 proceedings) to those parts of the Constitution of the 
 United States which delegate to Congress power to lay 
 and collect taxes, duties, imposts, excises, to pay the debts, 
 and provide for the common defense and general welfare, 
 of the United States, and to make all laws which shall be 
 necessary and proper for carrying into execution the powers 
 vested by the Constitution in the Government of the United 
 States, or any department thereof, goes to the destruction 
 of all the limits prescribed to their power by the Constitu- 
 tion ; that words meant by that instrument to be subsidiary 
 only to the execution of the limited powers, ought not to be 
 so construed as themselves to give unlimited powers, nor a 
 part so to be taken as to destroy the whole residue of the 
 instrument ; that the proceedings of the general government 
 under color of these articles, will be a fit and necessary sub- 
 ject for revisal and correction at a time of greater tran- 
 quillity, while those specified in the preceding resolutions 
 call for immediate redress. 
 
 8. Resolved, That the preceding resolutions be trans- 
 mitted to the senators and representatives in Congress from 
 this commonwealth, who are enjoined to present the same 
 to their respective houses, and to use their best endeavors 
 to procure, at the next session of Congress, a repeal of the 
 aforesaid unconstitutional and obnoxious acts. 
 
 9. Resolved, lastly, That the governor of this common- 
 wealth be, and is, authorized and requested to communicate 
 the preceding resolutions to the legislatures of the several 
 States, to assure them that this commonwealth considers 
 
192 KENTUCKY RESOLUTIONS OF 1798 — 9 . 
 
 union for special national purposes, and particularly for 
 those specified in their late federal compact, to be friendly 
 to the peace, happiness, and prosperity of all the States ; 
 that, faithful to that compact, according to the plain in- 
 tent and meaning in which it was understood and acceded 
 to by the several parties, it is sincerely anxious for its 
 preservation ; that it does also believe that, to take from 
 the States all the powers of self-government, and transfer 
 them to a general and consolidated government, without 
 regard to the special government and reservations solemnly 
 agreed to in that compact, is not for the peace, happiness, 
 or prosperity of these States ; and that, therefore, this com- 
 monwealth is determined, as it doubts not its co-States are, 
 to submit to undelegated and consequently unlimited pow- 
 ers in no man, or body of men, on earth ; that, if the acts 
 before specified should stand, these conclusions would flow 
 from them, — that the general government may place any 
 act they think proper on the list of crimes, and punish it 
 themselves, whether enumerated or not enumerated by the 
 Constitution as recognized by them ; that they may transfer 
 vts cognizance to the President, or any other person, who 
 may himself be the accuser, counsel, judge, and jury, whose 
 suspicions may be evidence, his order the sentence, his offi- 
 cer the executioner, and his breast the sole’ record of the 
 transaction ; that a very numerous and valuable description 
 of the inhabitants of these States, being by this precedent 
 reduced, as outlaws, to the absolute dominion of one man, 
 and the barriers of the Constitution thus swept from us all, 
 no rampart now remains against the passion and the power 
 of a majority of Congress to protect from a like exporta- 
 tion, or other grievous punishment, the minority of the 
 same body, the legislatures, judges, governors, and counsel- 
 lors of the State, nor their peaceable inhabitants, who may 
 venture to reclaim the constitutional rights and liberties of 
 the States and people, or who, for other causes, good or 
 
KENTUCKY RESOLUTIONS OF 1798 — 9 . 193 
 
 bad, may be obnoxious to the view, or marked by the sus- 
 picions, of the President, or thought dangerous to his elec- 
 tions, or other interests, public or personal ; that the friend- 
 less alien has been selected as the safest subject oi a first 
 experiment ; but the citizen will soon follow, or rather has 
 already followed ; for already has a Sedition Act marked 
 him as a prey ; that these and successive acts of the same 
 character, unless arrested on the threshold, may tend to 
 drive these States into revolution and blood, and will fur- 
 nish new calumnies against republican governments, and 
 new pretexts for those who wish it to be believed that man 
 cannot be governed but by a rod of iron ; that it would be 
 a dangerous delusion were a confidence in the men of our 
 choice to silence our fears for the safety of our rights ; that 
 confidence is everywhere the parent of despotism ; free 
 government is founded in jealousy, and not in confidence ; 
 it is jealousy, not confidence, which prescribes limited con- 
 stitutions to bind down those whom we are obliged to trust 
 with power; that our Constitution has accordingly fixed 
 the limits to which, and no farther, our confidence may go ; 
 and let the honest advocate of confidence read the Alien and 
 Sedition Acts, and say if the Constitution has not been 
 wise in fixing limits to the government it created, and 
 whether we should be wise in destroying those limits ; let 
 him say what the government is, if it be not a tyranny, 
 which the men of our choice have conferred on the Presi- 
 dent, and the President of our choice has assented to and 
 accepted, over the friendly strangers to whom the mild 
 spirit of our country and its laws had pledged hospitality 
 and protection; that the men of cur choice have more re- 
 spected the base suspicions of the President, than the solid 
 rights of ignorance, the claims of justification, the sacred 
 force of truth, and the forms and substance of law and 
 justice. 
 
 In questions of power, then, let no more be said of con- 
 13 
 
194 KENTUCKY RESOLUTIONS OF 1798 — 9 . 
 
 fidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the 
 chains of the Constitution. That this commonwealth does 
 therefore call on its co-States for an expression of their 
 sentiments on the acts concerning aliens, and for the pun- 
 ishment of certain crimes herein before specified, plainly 
 declaring whether these acts are or are not authorized by 
 the federal compact. And it doubts not that their sense 
 will be so announced as to prove their attachment to limited 
 government, whether general or particular, and that the 
 rights and liberties of their co-States will be exposed to no 
 dangers by remaining embarked on a common bottom with 
 their own; but they will concur with this commonwealth 
 in considering the said acts as so palpably against the Con- 
 stitution as to amount to an undisguised declaration, that 
 the compact is not meaut to be the measure of the powers 
 of the general government, but that it will proceed in the 
 exercise over these States of all powers whatever ; that they 
 will view this as seizing the rights of the States, and con- 
 solidating them in the hands of the general government, 
 with a power assumed to bind the States, not merely in 
 cases made federal, but in all cases whatsoever, by laws 
 made, not with their consent, but by others against their 
 consent ; that this would be to surrender the form of gov- 
 ernment we have chosen, and live under one deriving its 
 powers from its own will, and not from our authority ; and 
 that the co-States, recurring to their natural rights not 
 made federal, will concur in declaring them void and of no 
 force, and will each unite with this commonwealth in re 
 questing their repeal at the next session of Congress. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE MISSOURI QUESTION 
 
 In December, 1818, Congress received a petition from the 
 legislature of the territory asking admission into the Union. 
 On the 19th February, 1819, while the bill was under dis- 
 cussion for the admission, an amendment was offered “pro- 
 viding that the further introduction of slavery, or involun- 
 tary servitude be prohibited in said State.” Adopted, 81 
 to 16 votes in the House. Another amendment, “That all 
 children born in said State, after admission thereof, shall be 
 free after the age of twenty-five years.” Adopted, 19 to 61. 
 The Senate struck out this amendment, 22 to 16. Each 
 House adhered obstinately to its position and the bill was 
 lost. 
 
 At the next session Mr. Taylor of New York offered a 
 resolution raising a committee to report “ a bill prohibiting 
 the further admission of slaves into the territory west of the 
 Mississippi.” This proposition was postponed. In the 
 mean time, a bill was introduced for the admission of 
 Maine into the Union, which passed the House. The 
 Senate tacked a section admitting Missouri to the Maine 
 bill. Ou the 18th January, 1820, Mr. Thomas of Illi- 
 nois introduced in the Senate the celebrated slavery re- 
 striction, excluding slavery forever from all territory north 
 of 86° 80' north latitude. After an exciting debate it was 
 referred to a select committee. The motion to exclude 
 slavery from Missouri was lost in the Senate, 16 to 21. 
 
 On the ltth February, Mr. Thomas’s amendment, ex- 
 cluding slavery from the territory north of 36° 30' passed 
 
 .195) 
 
196 
 
 THE MISSOURI QUESTION. 
 
 the Senate, Ayes 34 ; Noes 10. It was moved in the 
 House by Mr. Storrs of New York. The bill for the ad- 
 mission of both Maine and Missouri, with the restriction of 
 slavery in territories West, in lieu of applying it to the State, 
 then passed the Senate. Mr. Macon of North Carolina, and 
 Mr. Smith of South Carolina, being the only Southern 
 Senators that voted against it. The House subsequently 
 agreed to the Senate bill by a vote of 134 to 42, and thus 
 ended the agitation for that session. The restriction thus 
 engrafted upon the territorial law was repealed in the 
 Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 ; but was not, as will be 
 seen, and as has been generally understood by the people, 
 a part of Mr. Clay’s Compromise, by which Missouri was 
 finally admitted into the Union. 
 
 At the session of 1821, Missouri presented her Consti- 
 tution to Congress. It contained a clause excluding free 
 colored people from the State. The question was at once 
 raised, that her Constitution was not republican in form, 
 as required by the Constitution of the United States. The 
 Senate voted to admit and the House refused. Committees 
 of conference were appointed, of which Mr. Clay was chair- 
 man in the House, and Mr. Holmes of Maine, in the 
 Senate. On the 26th of February, 1821, Mr. Clay, from 
 the Joint Committee, reported a resolution for the admis- 
 sion of Missouri, upon condition that the clause in her Con- 
 stitution prohibiting free negroes from coming into or re- 
 maining in the State, should never be construed to autho- 
 rize the passage of any law by which any citizen of any 
 other State should be excluded from any privileges to which 
 such citizen is entitled under the Constitution of the United 
 States. This resolution passed the House the same day by 
 a vote of 81 to 31. 
 
 The resolution was called up in the Senate on the 27th, 
 and finally passed in that body on the 28th of February, 
 1821, by a vote of 28 to 14. Missouri accepted the con- 
 
THE MISSOURI QUESTION. 
 
 197 
 
 dition imposed by the resolution of Mr. Clay, and on the 
 10th of August, 1821, President Monroe issued his procla- 
 mation declaring the admission of Missouri complete ac- 
 cording to law. This resolution of Mr. Clay was, properly 
 speaking, the Missouri Compromise, and of itself had 
 nothing to do, whatever, with the question of slavery in 
 the territories. That question had been settled nearly a 
 year prior to the passage of this resolution, under which 
 that State became a member of the coufederacy. 
 
 For the purpose of showing what the doctrine of the 
 Southern States, and of that party in the North that acted 
 with the South in that struggle, was upon the subject of 
 the power of Congress to restrict slavery in the territories, 
 we make the following extracts from the speeches of those 
 most prominent in that debate, North and South. The 
 reader will of course understand, that those who advocated 
 the power of restriction in Congress, used, necessarily, the 
 same arguments that are used at the present time upon that 
 subject. It is only in reference to what was, at that time, 
 claimed as the national view of the slavery question, that 
 we compile this chapter ; and, in compiling it, we have 
 sought to give the opinion of those who, from their position 
 and talents, may be fairly supposed to have reflected that 
 view at that day. Some of the extracts refer to the State 
 restriction, which was abandoned, but most are upon the 
 amendment of Mr. Thomas, of the Senate, introduced in 
 the House by Mr. Storrs, of New York, involving the con- 
 stitutional power of Congress to prohibit slavery in the 
 territories. This was the first debate ever had in Congress 
 upon the subject. 
 
 January 2G, 1821. The Bill for the admission of Mis- 
 souri into the Union being under consideration, Mr. Storrs, 
 of New York, offered the following proviso : 
 
 “And provided further, and it is hereby enacted, That, 
 forever hereafter, neither slavery nor involuntary servitude. 
 
198 
 
 THE MISSOURI QUESTION. 
 
 (except in the punishment of crimes, whereof the party 
 shall have been duly convicted,) shall exist in the territory 
 of the Uuited States, lying north :>f the 38th degree of 
 north latitude, and west of the river Mississippi, and the 
 boundaries of the State of Missouri, as established by this 
 act : Provided, That any person escaping into the said 
 territory, from whom labor or service is lawfully claimed, in 
 any of the States, such fugitive may be lawfully reclaimed, 
 and conveyed, according to the laws of the United States 
 in such case provided, to the person claiming his or her 
 labor or service as aforesaid.” 
 
 Mr. Meigs, of New York, said : — It is now at least 
 twenty years, that I have, with some pain and apprehension, 
 remarked the increasing spirit of local and sectional envy 
 and dislike between the North and South. A continued 
 series of sarcasms upon each other’s circumstances, modes of 
 living, and manners, so foolishly persevered in, has produced 
 at length that keen controversy which now enlists us in masses 
 against each other on the opposite sides of the line of latitude. 
 
 Gentlemen may dignify it by whatever titles they please. 
 They may flatter themselves that all is logic, reason, pure 
 reason. But certain I am, that it is neither more nor less 
 than sectional feeling. 
 
 Feeling, sir, however gravely dignified, has brought us in 
 hostility to this singular line of combat, and we, who are, 
 you know sir, “but children of a larger growth,” are now 
 most aptly comparable to those celebrated and eternal 
 factions of “Up -Town and Down -Town Boys.” I put 
 this observation to every one who hears me, with the wish 
 that he may apply his own recollections and reflections 
 to it. 
 
 Gentlemen may exhaust all their arguments, all their 
 eloquence npon the question before us ; they may pour out 
 every flower of rhetoric upon it ; but, sir, I view their 
 labors as wholly vain, and I fear that their flowers will be 
 
THE MISSOURI QUESTION". 
 
 199 
 
 found to be the most deleterious and the most poisonous in 
 the whole range of botany. They poison the national 
 affection. 
 
 Keason divided by parallels of latitude ! Why, sir, it is 
 easy for prejudice and malevolence, by aid of ingenuity, to 
 erect an eternal, impenetrable wall of brass between the 
 North and South, at the latitude of thirty-nine degrees ! 
 But, in the view of reason, there is no other line between 
 them than that celestial arc of thirty-nine degrees which 
 offers no barrier to the march of liberal and rational men. 
 
 It is forgotten that the enlightened high priest, the 
 archbishop of one belligerent, goes to the temple of the 
 Almighty and chants “ Te Deum laudamus ,” for the vic- 
 tory obtained by his country, with carnage and devastation, 
 over the enemy ; while the archbishop of another bellige- 
 rent is at the same time entering the house of God, aud 
 singing also, “ Te Deum laudamus pro victoria ,” upon 
 the other side of the line, the creek, or the river ? We, 
 who know these things, should profit by our knowledge, 
 learn liberality, and practice it. It is true, and I glory in 
 the knowledge of the truth, that in matters of religion, this 
 country has, in its constitutions, attained a high poiut of 
 reason and liberality. 
 
 Men, after forty or sixty years of religious intolerance, 
 here, at last, may worship the Creator in their own way. 
 What a privilege I how dearly acquired I how much to be 
 prized ! It fills us with astonishment, when we reflect how 
 hard it is for us to refrain from forcing by power our 
 opinions upon our brother men ! how readily each indivi- 
 dual imagines that the light is alone in his own breast, and 
 how enthusiastically he engages in propagating it among 
 mankind by all possible means, fancying, dreaming that he 
 is a prophet, a vicegerent of Almighty God. 
 
 January 21, 1830. Mr. Holmes, of Massachusetts, rose 
 and spoke as follows : — Mr. Chairman : When a man is 
 
200 
 
 THE MISSOURI QUESTION. 
 
 fallen into distress, his neighbors surround him to offer re- 
 lief. Some, by an attempt at condolence, increase the grief 
 which they would assuage ; others, by administering reme- 
 dies, inflame the disorder; while others, affecting all the 
 solicitude of both, actually wish him dead. It is so with 
 liberty. Always in danger — often in distress — she not only 
 suffers from open and secret foes, but officious and unskillful 
 friends. And among the thousands and millions that throng 
 her temple from curiosity or policy, how few — very few — 
 there are, who are her sincere, faithful, and intelligent wor- 
 shipers ? Among these few, I trust, are to be found all 
 the advocates for restriction in this House. And I readily 
 admit, that most of those out of doors, whose zeal is excited 
 on this occasion, are of the same description. 
 
 But is it not probable that there are some jugglers behind 
 the screen who are playing a deeper game — who are com- 
 bining to rally under this standard, as the last resort, the 
 forlorn hope of an expiring party. But while we admit 
 this in behalf of the respectable gentlemen who advocate the 
 restriction of slavery in Missouri, we ask, may we demand 
 of them the same liberality. We are not the advocates or 
 the abettors of slavery. 
 
 For one, sir, I would rejoice if there was not a slave on 
 earth. Liberty is the object of my love — my adoration. I 
 would extend its blessings to every human being. But, 
 though my feelings are strong for the abolition of slavery, 
 they are yet stronger for the Constitution of my country. 
 And, if I am reduced to the sad alternative to tolerate the 
 holding of slaves in Missouri or violate the Constitution of 
 my country, I will not admit a doubt to cloud my choice. 
 
 Sir, of what benefit would be abolition, if at a sacrifice 
 of your Constitution ? Where would be the guarantee of 
 the liberty which you grant ? Liberty has a temple her*, 
 and it is the only one which remains. Destroy this, and s*-* 
 
THE MISSOURI QUESTION. 
 
 201 
 
 must flee — she must retire among the brutes of the wilder- 
 ness to mourn and lament the misery and folly of man. 
 
 The proposition for the consideration of the committee is, 
 to abolish shivery in Missouri, as a condition of her admis- 
 sion into the Union. 
 
 This Constitution, which I hold in my hand, I am sworn 
 to support, not according to legislative or judicial exposi- 
 tion, but as I shall understand it ; not as private interest or 
 public zeal may urge, but as I shall believe ; not as I may 
 wish it, but as it is. 
 
 I have carefully examined this Constitution, and I can 
 find no such pow r er. I have looked it through, and I am 
 certain it is not in the book. 
 
 This power is not express, and if given at all, it must be 
 constructive. 
 
 This amplifying power by construction is dangerous, and 
 will, not improbably, effect the eventual destruction of the 
 Constitution. ♦ 
 
 That there are resulting or implied poivers, I am not dis- 
 posed to deny ; but they are only where the powers are 
 subordinate and the implication necessary. 
 
 All powers not granted are prohibited, is a maxim to 
 which we cannot too religiously adhere. 
 
 * * * * * * 
 
 How comes it that Congress can prohibit a transfer of a 
 slave from one State to another, and under this power to 
 regulate commerce, when they are expressly forbidden to 
 compel a vessel bound from one State to enter, clear, nor pay 
 duties, in that of another ? If Congress has this power 
 under this clause in the Constitution, then slaves are to be 
 prohibited as commerce. 
 
 And, sir, where is the authority to prohibit the transfer 
 of an article of commerce from State to State ? A man 
 leaves a State to go into another with his family, slaves, 
 cattle, and implements of husbandry, to clear up and cult! 
 
202 
 
 THE MISSOURI QUESTION. 
 
 vate a farm or plantation. His object is exclusively agri- 
 cultural. He is met at the line by a law of Congress, and 
 bis slaves are stopped under the authority to regulate 
 commerce I 
 
 When under this power, you shall have succeded in 
 proving the extravagant and untenable position that Con- 
 gress can prohibit this transfer, how do you arrive at the 
 conclusion, that you can pass this act of abolition which the 
 amendment proposes ? 
 
 There are two powers grown out of that to regulate com- 
 merce. And preserve your gravity while I repeat, one of 
 them is to prohibit a transfer of slaves from State to State, 
 and the other to abolish slavery in Missouri, as a condition 
 of her admission into the Union. 
 
 * * * * * * 
 
 Sir, I trust enough has been said to prove that this clause 
 gives no authority to prohibit a transfer of slaves from one 
 State to another; and if it did, it has notlrtng to do with 
 the question. Sir, it is a new doctrine, and allow me to 
 add, it is an alarming doctrine. Let me ask the gentleman 
 from New York a question, and I will do it with that con- 
 fidence which friendship inspires. With the suggestion that 
 the Declaration of Independence is an act of general eman- 
 cipation, and with this doctrine, that Congress may confine 
 the slaves within the limits of the respective States, let the 
 four hundred thousand slaves of Virginia be transferred to 
 New York, and what would be his feelings? [Here Mr. 
 Taylor rose, and disclaimed having advanced that the 
 Declaration of Independence had any effect to emancipate 
 the slaves.] 
 
 Sir, I have not said that that gentleman did advance 
 6uch a doctrine. 
 
 I stated that such an opinion had been advanced, and 
 from high authority. 
 
 And I again appeal to the candor of that gentleman, 
 
THE MISSOURI QUESTION. 
 
 203 
 
 and ask him whether he should feel entirely easy if the slaves 
 of Virginia were shut up in New York, under this power 
 which he advocates, and if it had come to their ears from 
 any respectable source that they were all free ? 
 
 Would he not be inclined to doubt the constitutionality 
 or policy of such a law ? 
 
 Confine the slaves in the old slaveholding States, where 
 they are most numerous ; the constant emigration of the 
 whites will soon bring them to an equality with their slaves. 
 Emigration will increase with the danger, and murder and 
 massacre will succeed. 
 
 And yet, we can look on and see this storm gathering — 
 hear its thunders, and witness its lightnings, with great 
 composure, with wonderful philosophy ! 
 
 We are aware, gentlemen, that we are diffusing senti- 
 ments which endanger your safety, happiness, and lives ; 
 nay, more, the safety, happiness, and lives of those whom 
 you value more than your own. 
 
 But it is a constitutional question. 
 
 Keep cool. We are conscious that we are inculcating 
 doctrines that will result in spilling the best of your blood, 
 but as this blood will be spilled in the cause of humanity, 
 keep cool. 
 
 We have no doubt that the promulgating of these prin- 
 ciples will be the means of cutting your throats; but, as it 
 will be done in the most unexceptionable manner possible, by 
 your slaves, who will no doubt perform the task in great 
 style and dexterity, and with much delicacy and humanity, 
 too, therefore keep cool. 
 
 Sir, speak to the wind, command the waves, expostulate 
 with the tempest, rebuke the thunder, but never ask an 
 honorable man thus circumstanced to suppress his feelings. 
 
 But, sir, I beg pardon for this digression; it is aside 
 from my purpose. 
 
 My object is not declamation, but reason. 
 
204 
 
 THE MISSOURI QUESTION. 
 
 January 28. — Mr. Smyth, of Virginia, addressed the Chair. 
 He said that the constitutionality of the measure proposed 
 was the subject which he intended first to consider. The legis- 
 lative power of every State is originally co-extensive. Each 
 State, by the Constitution, commits an equal portion of its 
 legislative powers to Congress, and all the residue is re- 
 served to the States, unless prohibited to them or to the 
 people. The only powers of this government are given by 
 the Constitution. 
 
 The powers granted are to be exercised over every State ; 
 and the powers reserved are retained by every State. 
 
 In Pennsylvania and in Virginia, the power to legislate 
 respecting slavery is in the legislature. In Ohio and Indi- 
 ana that power is in the people, who have denied it to their 
 legislatures. No power has been delegated to Congress to 
 legislate on that subject. 
 
 The Constitution provides that, “the powers not dele- 
 gated to the Uuited States by the Constitution, nor pro- 
 hibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States re- 
 spectively, or to the people.” The powers not delegated 
 being reserved to the States, respectively, are reserved to 
 each of the States, whether new or old. 
 
 Has the power to legislate over slavery been delegated 
 to the United States? It has not. 
 
 Has it been prohibited to the States ? It has not. 
 
 Then it is reserved to the States respectively, or to the 
 people. Consequently, it is reserved to the State of Mis- 
 souri, or to the people of that State. And any attempt by 
 Congress to deprive them of this reserved power, will be 
 unjust, tyrannical, unconstitutional, and void. 
 
 The only condition that may constitutionally be annexed 
 to the admission of a new State into this Union is that its 
 constitution shall be republican. 
 
 This the Constitution authorizes us to require, and it is 
 the only condition that is necessary. We possess power t<? 
 
THE MISSOURI QUESTION. 
 
 205 
 
 make all needful regulations respecting the territorial pro- 
 perty of the United States. 
 
 Our acts in pursuance of the Constitution are paramount 
 to the laws of any State. 
 
 When we pursue our constitutional authority, we need no 
 aid from stipulations ; and when we exceed it, our acts are 
 acts of usurpation, and void. 
 
 It has been questioned by some, whether a constitu- 
 tion can be said to be republican which does not exclude 
 slavery. 
 
 But we must understand the phrase “ republican form of 
 government,” as the people understood it when they adopted 
 the Constitution. We are bound by the construction which 
 was put upon the Constitution by the people. It would 
 be perfidious toward them to put on the Constitution a 
 different construction from that which induced them to 
 adopt it. 
 
 The people of each of the States who adopted the Con- 
 stitution, except Massachusetts, owned slaves, yet they cer- 
 tainly considered their own constitutions to be republican. 
 
 And the federal government has not, by virtue of its 
 power to guarantee a republican constitution to each State 
 in the union, required a change of the constitution of any 
 one of those States. 
 
 The Constitution recognizes the right to the slave pro- 
 perty, and it thereby appears that it was intended by the 
 Convention and by the people that that property should be 
 secure. 
 
 The representation of each State in this House is propor- 
 tioned by the whole number of free persons and three-fifths 
 of the number of the slaves. In forming the Constitution, 
 the Southern States, Virginia excepted, insisted on and 
 obtained a provision, authorizing them to import slaves for 
 twenty years. 
 
 And the Constitution provides that slaves running away 
 
206 
 
 THE MISSOURI QUESTION. 
 
 from their masters in one State and going into another, 
 shall be delivered up to their masters. 
 ***** * 
 
 To render this right, with other rights, still more secure, 
 Virginia, in adopting the Constitution, declared that “no 
 right of any denomination can be canceled, abridged, re- 
 strained, or modified, except in those instances in which 
 power is given by the Constitution for those purposes 
 and New York declared that “ every power, jurisdiction, 
 and right, which is not by the said Constitution clearly 
 delegated to the Congress of the United States, remains to 
 the people of the several States, or to their respective State 
 governments.” Several of the other States made similar 
 declarations. 
 
 But the States were not content to declare their rights. 
 An amendment to the Constitution declares that, “ The 
 powers not delegated to the United States by the Consti- 
 tution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to 
 the States respectively, or to the people.” The right to 
 own slaves being acknowledged and secured by the Con- 
 stitution, can you proscribe what the Constitution guaran- 
 tees ? Can you touch a right reserved to the States or 
 the people ? You cannot I 
 
 * * 
 
 If you possessed power to legislate concerning slavery, 
 the adoption of the proposition on your table, which goes 
 to emancipate all children of slaves hereafter born in Mis- 
 souri, would be a direct violation of the Constitution, which 
 provides that “no person shall be deprived of property 
 without due process of law ; nor shall private property be 
 taken for public use, without just compensation.” 
 
 If you cannot take property even for public use, without 
 just compensation, you certainly have not power to take it 
 away for the purpose of annihilation, without compensa- 
 tion. And if you cannot take away that which is in exis- 
 
THE MISSOURI QUESTION. 
 
 207 
 
 tence, you cannot take away that which will come into exis- 
 tence hereafter. If you cannot take away the land, you 
 cannot take the future crops ; and if you cannot take the 
 slaves, you cannot take their issue, who, by the laws of 
 slavery, will be also slaves. You cannot force the people 
 to give up their property. You cannot force a portion of 
 the people to emancipate their slaves. 
 
 * * * * * * 
 
 All legitimate power proceeds from the people. And 
 although an illegitimate power may be imposed by force and 
 submitted to from necessity, it cannot bind the people 
 longer than the force and necessity are present. Such was 
 the power which the British Parliament exercised before 
 the Revolution over these then colonies ; and such was the 
 power asserted by the Congress of 1781 over the North- 
 western territory. 
 
 But, as the declaration of the British Parliament, that 
 they had power to bind the colonies iu all cases whatsoever, 
 does not bind the people of these States ; so the Ordinance 
 of 1787 does not bind the people of Ohio any longer than 
 they please to submit to it. 
 
 It was an act of illegitimate power; and it cannot bind 
 those who are the source of all legitimate power. 
 
 It is even doubtful whether the Ordinance was duly 
 passed. By the Articles of Confederation, the concurrence 
 of nine States was necessary to important transactions. 
 The power exercised was not given ; and of the powers 
 which were given, those of making appropriations and 
 treaties most resemble the power exercised. It was neces- 
 sary that nine States should concur in exercising either of 
 these powers. Only eight States were present and concui- 
 ing in passing this Ordinance. 
 
 It has been said that the restriction on the introduction 
 of slavery northwest of the Ohio river was proposed by 
 Virginia, and that the Southern States unanimously agreed 
 
208 
 
 THE MISSOURI QUESTION. 
 
 to it. This is said to fix the character of inconsistency on 
 Virginia. The fact is, that Virginia and the Southern 
 States voted for the whole ordinance, when completed - t but 
 it is also true that those States had repeatedly voted against 
 the clause excluding slavery. In April, 1784, a vote was 
 taken on this clause, when Maryland, Virginia, and South 
 Carolina voted against it; North Carolina divided, and 
 Georgia absent. And although seven States voted for the 
 clause, it was rejected ; a proof that Congress then con- 
 ceived that the concurrence of nine States was necessary to 
 every clause of this Ordinance ; which they called a “com- 
 pact.” 
 
 In March, 1785, Mr. King proposed a similar clause; 
 Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, 
 voted against it ; eight States voted for the commitment of 
 it, and it was committed. The member from Virginia, 
 (Mr. Grayson,) to whom the measure is ascribed, was not 
 a member of Congress in 1784. 
 
 My honorable friend from Massachusetts (Mr. Holmes) 
 was mistaken, when he supposed that Congress of 1787, 
 was bound by the Ordinance of 1784, which did not ex- 
 clude slavery from the Northwestern Territory. 
 
 They would have been bound, had any part of the land 
 m Ohio been sold, not to change the Ordinance of 1784, 
 without the consent of Ohio. But no point of the land was 
 sold, previous to the passage of the Ordinance on the 13th 
 July, 1787. 
 
 I have examined that matter carefully, and am unwilling 
 that the committee should be under any erroneous impressions 
 that I can remove. 
 
 It has been said that the Constitution vests in Congress 
 a power to make all needful regulations respecting the ter- 
 ritory of the United States; and this power, it is supposed 
 authorizes us to exclude slaves from the territories of the 
 
THE MISSOURI QUESTION. 
 
 209 
 
 United States, and also to demand from any of those ter- 
 ritories about to become States, a stipulation for the ex- 
 clusion of slaves. 
 
 The clause of the Constitution referred to, reads thus : 
 “ The Congress shall have power to dispose of, and make 
 all needful rules aud regulations respecting, the territory 
 or other property belonging to the United States.” It has 
 been contended that this gives a power of legislation over 
 persons and private property within the territories of the 
 United States. 
 
 The clause obviously relates to the territory belonging to 
 the United States, as property only. The power given is 
 to dispose of, and make all needful regulations respecting, 
 the territorial property, or other property of the United 
 States ; and Congress has powrnr to pass all laws neces- 
 sary and proper to the exercise of that power. This clause 
 speaks of the territory as property, as a subject of sale. 
 It speaks not of the jurisdiction. 
 
 This clause, as first proposed in Convention, read thus : 
 “To dispose of the unappropriated lands of the United 
 States ; to institute temporary governments for new States 
 arising therein.” The latter power was not granted. (See 
 Journal Convention, page 260.) 
 
 That the Convention considered as being provided for by 
 the Ordinance of Congress. This clause contains no grant 
 of power to legislate over persons and private property 
 within a territory. 
 
 A power to dispose of, and make all needful regulations 
 respecting the property of the United States, is very dif- 
 ferent from a power to legislate over the persons and the 
 property of the people. When it was the intention of the 
 Convention that the Constitution should convey to Congress 
 power to legislate over persons and private property, they 
 expressed themselves in terms not doubtful. 
 
 14 
 
210 
 
 THE HISSOD .rtl QUESTION. 
 
 Thus they said, “Congress shall have power to exercise 
 exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever,” within the 
 ten miles square. 
 
 But no such power to legislate over the territories is 
 granted. 
 
 The power is, to dispose of, and make all needful regula- 
 tions respecting the property of the United States. 
 
 When that is sold and conveyed, it ceases to be an object 
 of the power to make regulations respecting the property 
 of United States; and if the construction contended for by 
 our opponents be correct, and Congress possesses power to 
 legislate for a territory, that would not authorize them to 
 make regulations which shall continue in force when the ter- 
 ritory became a State, and the United States ceased to own 
 property therein. 
 
 * * * * * * * 
 
 Suppose that a general emancipation was to take place, 
 and the two people were to co-mingle, what would be the 
 effect on the character of your country throughout the 
 civilized world ? Would you be willing that your nation 
 should become a nation of mulattoes, and be considered on 
 a level with Hayti ? Are the two races equal ? If so, 
 how is it that that the race of whites has produced so 
 many civilized nations in ancient and modern times, and the 
 race of African negroes not one. 
 
 * * * * * * * 
 
 As the emancipation of the present race of blacks in this 
 country cannot be effected, the tendency of the popular 
 meetings, resolutions, pamphlets, and newspaper publica- 
 tions, respecting this question, merit notice and exposition. 
 The philosophers the abolition societies, and societies of 
 friends to the negroes, in Europe, who were not at all inter- 
 ested in negro slavery themselves, produced the catastrophe 
 of St. Domingo. The philanthropists, societies, and popular 
 meetings of the North, are pursuing a similar course. 
 
THE MISSOURI QUESTION. 
 
 211 
 
 Like causes produce like effects. 
 
 Our philanthropists may acquire as good a title to the 
 execrations of the Southern people as Robespierre and 
 Gregoire acquired to the execrations of the French people 
 of St. Domingo. 
 
 February 1. Mr. Reid, of Georgia, said : Sir, the 
 slaves of the South are held to a service which, unlike that 
 of the ancient villain, is certain and moderate. 
 
 They are well supplied with food and raiment. 
 
 They are “content and careless of to-morrow's fare.” 
 
 The lights of our religion shine as well for them as for 
 their masters ; and their rights of personal security, guar- 
 anteed by the Constitution and the laws, are vigilantly pro- 
 tected by the courts. It is true, they are often made sub- 
 1 ject to wanton acts of tyranny ; but this is not their pecu- 
 liar misfortune ! For, search the catalogue of crimes, and 
 you will find that man — the tyrant — is continually preying 
 upon his fellow-men ; there are as many white as black vic- 
 tims to the vengeful passion and the lust of power! Be- 
 lieve me, sir, I am not the panegyrist of slavery. It is an 
 unnatural state ; a dark cloud which obscures half the lustre 
 of our free institutions ! But it is a fixed evil, which we 
 can only alleviate. 
 
 Are we called upon to emancipate our slaves ? I an- 
 swer, their welfare, the safety of our citizens, forbid it. Can 
 we incorporate them with us, and make them and us one 
 people ? The prejudices of the North and of the South 
 rise up in equal strength against such a measure ; and even 
 those who clamor most loudly for the sublime doctrines of 
 your Declaration of Independence, who shout in your ears 
 “ all men are by nature equal,” would turn with abhorrence 
 and disgust from a parti-colored progeny ! Shall we then 
 be blamed for a state of things to which we are obliged to 
 submit? Would it be fair, would it be manly, would it be 
 generous, would it be just, to offer contumely and contempt 
 
212 
 
 THE MISSOURI QUESTION. 
 
 to the unfortunate man who wears a cancer in his bosom, 
 because he will not submit to cautery at the hazard of his 
 existence ? For my own part, surrounded by slavery from 
 my cradle to the present moment, I yet 
 
 “Hate the touch of servile hands ; 
 
 I loathe the slaves who cringe around 
 
 and I would hail that day as the most glorious in its dawn- 
 ing which should behold, with safety to themselves and our 
 citizens, the black population of the United States placed 
 upon the high eminence of equal rights, and clothed in the 
 privileges and immunities of American citizens! But this 
 is a dream of philanthropy which can never be fulfilled ; 
 and whoever shall act in this country upon such wild theo- t 
 ries, shall cease to be a beuefactor, and become a destroyer 
 of the human family. 
 
 It is. said, however, to be high time to check the progress 
 of this evil, and that this may be best done by inhibiting 
 slavery beyond the Mississippi, and in Missouri, which 
 prays to be admitted as a State into the Union. It is im- 
 portant to consider if this project be consistent with the 
 Constitution of the United States. 
 
 The States formed the Constitution in the capacity of 
 sovereign and independent States, and the Constitution is 
 the instrument by which they conveyed certain power to the 
 general government. This is evident, not only from the 
 nature of the government formed, and in every line of the 
 Constitution, but it is a doctrine distinctly asserted in the 
 ninth and tenth articles of the amendments. “The enume- 
 ration, in the Constitution, of certain rights shall not be 
 construed to deny or disparage others retained by the 
 people ; and the powers not delegated to the United 
 States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the 
 States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the 
 people.” Hence it will follow, that the several States re- 
 
THE MISSOURI QUESTION. 
 
 213 
 
 tain every power not delegated by the Constitution to the 
 general government ; or, in other words, that in all enume- 
 rated cases, the several States are left in the full enjoyment 
 of their sovereign and independent jurisdictions. 
 ******** 
 
 But it is argued that Congress has ever imposed restric- 
 tions upon new States, and no objection has been urged 
 until this moment. 
 
 If it be true, that only one condition can constitutionally 
 be imposed, it would seem that any other is null and void, 
 and may be thrown off by the State at pleasure. 
 
 And then this argument, the strength of which is in prece- 
 dent, cannot avail. 
 
 Uniformity of decision for hundreds of years cannot make 
 that right which at first was wrong. 
 
 If it were otherwise, in vain would science and the arts 
 pursue their march toward perfection ; in vain the constant 
 progress of truth ; in vain the new and bright lights which 
 are daily finding their way to the human mind, like the 
 rays of the distant stars, which, passing onward from the 
 creation of time, are said to be continually reaching our 
 sphere. 
 
 Malus usus abolendus esL When error appears, let her 
 be detected and exposed, and let evil precedents be abol- 
 ished. 
 
 It is true that the old Confederation, by the 6th section 
 of the Ordinance of 1181, inhibited slavery in the territory 
 northwest of the Ohio, and that the States of Illinois, Ohio, 
 and Indiana, have been introduced into the Union under 
 this restriction. 
 
 Sir, the Ordinance of llST had an origin perfectly worthy 
 of the end it seems destined to accomplish. It had no au- 
 thority in the Articles of Confederation, which did not 
 contemplate, with the exception of Canada, the acquisition 
 of territory. 
 
214 
 
 THE MISSOURI QUESTION. 
 
 It was in contradiction of the resolution of 1180, by 
 which the States were allured to cede their unlocated lands 
 to the Geueral Government, upon the condition that these 
 should constitute several States, to be admitted into the 
 Union upon an equal footing with the original States. 
 
 It is in fraud of the acts of cession by which the States 
 conveyed territory in faith of the resolution of 1180. And, 
 when recognized by acts of Congress, and applied to the 
 States formed from the ’ territory beyond the Ohio, it is in 
 violation of the Constitution of the United States. 
 
 So much for the efficacy of the precedent which, although 
 binding here, is not, it would seem, of obligation upon 
 Ohio, Indiana, or Illinois, or, if you impose it, upon Mis- 
 souri. It is not the force of your legal provisions which 
 attaches the restrictive 6th article of the ordinance to the 
 States I have mentioned. 
 
 It is the moral sentiment of the inhabitants. Impose it 
 upon Missouri, and she will indignantly throw off the yoke 
 and laugh you to scorn ! You will then discover that you 
 have assumed a weapon that you cannot wield — the bow 
 of Ulysses, which all your efforts cannot bend. 
 
 The open and voluntary exposure of your weakness will 
 make you not only the object of derision at home, but a 
 by-word among nations. Can there be a power in Con- 
 gress to do that which the object of the power may right- 
 fully destroy ? Are the rights of Missouri and of the Union 
 in opposition to each other ? Can it be possible that Con- 
 gress has authority to impose a restriction which Missouri, 
 by an alteration of her Constitution, may abolish ? Sir, the 
 course we are pursuing reminds me of the urchin who, with 
 great care and anxiety, constructs his card edifice, which 
 the slightest touch may demolish, the gentlest breath* dis- 
 solve. 
 
 But let us stand together upor the basis of precedent; 
 
THE MISSOURI QUESTION! 
 
 215 
 
 aad apon that ground you eaDnot extend this restriction to 
 Missouri. 
 
 Tou have imposed it upon the territory beyond the Ohio, 
 but you have never applied it elsewhere. Tennessee, Ver- 
 mont, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, have 
 come into the Union without being required to submit to 
 the condition inhibiting slavery; nay, whenever the Ordi- 
 nance of 1187 has been applied to any of these States, the 
 operation of the 6th article has been suspended or destroyed. 
 
 According, then, to the uniform tenor of the precedent, 
 let the States to be formed of the territory without the 
 boundaries of the territory northwest of Ohio remain unre- 
 stricted, and in the enjoyment of the fullness of their rights. 
 
 Thus, it appears to me, the power you seek to assume is 
 not found in the Constitution, or to be derived from prece- 
 dent. 
 
 Shall, it, then, without any known process of generation, 
 spring spontaneously from your councils, like the armed 
 Minerva from the brain of Jupiter? The goddess, sir, 
 although of wisdom, was also the inventress of war — and 
 the power of your creation, although extensive in its dimen- 
 sions, and ingenious in its organization, may produce the 
 most terrible and deplorable effects. 
 
 Assure yourselves you have not authority to bind a State 
 coming into the Union, with a single hair ! If you have, 
 zou may rivet a chain upon every limb, a fetter upon every 
 oint. 
 
 Where, then, I ask is the independence of your State 
 ^wernmeuts ? Do they not fall prostrate, debased, covered 
 ' ~»h sackloth and crowned with ashes, before the gigantic 
 M.'wer of the Union? They will no longer, sir, resemble 
 nlunets, moving in order around a solar centre, receiving 
 and imparting lustre. They will dwindle to mere satellites, 
 or, thrown from their orbits, they will wander “like stars 
 condemned, the wrecks of worlds demolished !” 
 
216 
 
 THE MISSOURI QUESTION. 
 
 But, let gentlemen beware! Assume the Mississippi as 
 the boundary. Say, that to the smiling Canaan beyond its 
 waters no slave shall approach, and you give a new charac- 
 ter to its inhabitants, totally distinct from that which shall 
 belong to the people thronging on the east of your limits. 
 
 You implant diversity of pursuits, hostility of feeling, 
 envy, hatred, and bitter reproaches, which 
 
 “ Shall grow to clubs and naked swords, 
 
 To murder and to death.” 
 
 If you remain inexorable ; if you persist in refusing the 
 humble, the decent, the reasonable prayer of Missouri, is 
 there no danger that her resistance will rise in proportion 
 to your oppression ? Sir, the firebrand, which is even now 
 cast into your society, will require blood — ay, and the 
 blood of freemen — for its quenching. Your TJnion shall 
 tremble, as under the force of an earthquake ! While you 
 incautiously pull down a constitutional barrier, you make 
 way for the dark, and tumultuous, and overwhelming waters 
 of desolation ! If you “ sow the wind, must you not reap 
 the whirlwind ?” 
 
 February 25. Mr. Scott, of Missouri, said : The pow- 
 ers given to Congress by the Constitution were few, express, 
 limited, positive, and defined ; the majority of them were to 
 be found in the eighth section of that instrument, and con- 
 sisted in the authority to levy taxes, borrow money, and 
 regulate commerce ; establish a uniform system of bank- 
 ruptcy ; to regulate the coin, punish counterfeiting, establish 
 post-offices and post-roads, constitute courts, declare war, 
 raise armies, maintain a navy, call forth the militia, organize 
 aud regulate them ; to have exclusive jurisdiction over the 
 District of Columbia, and their forts, magazines, arsenals, 
 doc':-yards, and to make all laws which should be necessary 
 and proper to carry into effect the enumerated powers. Mr. 
 S. could not discover that the authority to impose restric- 
 
THE MISSOURI QUESTION. 
 
 217 
 
 tions on States could be derived from any latitude of con- 
 struction growing out of this section. 
 
 But the powers of Congress were not only enumerated 
 and expressed in the Constitution ; the tenth section was 
 equally explicit in declaring of what attributes of sove- 
 reignty the States should be deprived ; no State was to enter 
 into any treaty of alliance, grant letters of marque and re- 
 prisal, coin money, emit bills of credit, make anything but 
 gold and silver a tender, pass any bill of attainder, ex post 
 facto law, impair contracts, or grant titles of nobility ; nor, 
 without consent of Congress, lay imposts or duties on im- 
 ports or exports, lay any duty on tonnage, keep troops or 
 ships of war in time of peace, or make any agreement with 
 any foreign power, or even with a sister State, or engage in 
 war, unless actually invaded. 
 
 The States, then, were divested by the Constitution of 
 no portion of sovereignty but those actually named and vol- 
 untarily surrendered ; all other powers, and the residue of 
 sovereignty, were inherent in, and expressly reserved to, 
 the States and the people. 
 
 ******** 
 
 The second clause of the third section of the fourth article 
 provided that “ Congress shall have power to dispose of, and 
 make all needful rules and regulations respecting the terri- 
 tory or other property of the United States.” 
 
 The whole context of this article showed that it was a3 
 property, and not otherwise, that Congress were to make 
 rules and regulations. Certainly the boldest advocate for 
 restriction would not contend that .Congress had any prop- 
 erty in the persons of the citizens of Missouri, because they 
 were circumstantially connected with a territory over which 
 they had a limited control. Surely gentlemen would not 
 undertake to advance the doctrine that Congress had any 
 property in the confirmed lands of individuals, or in the 
 lands purchased of the government and patented to the pur- 
 
218 
 
 THE MISSOURI QUESTION. 
 
 chaser, and still less had Congress any property in the rights 
 of the people. 
 
 And if Congress ever had the power contended for, while 
 they owned the land, it would surely cease to exist so soon 
 as they parted with th ; soil. 
 
 The sovereignty of Congress over the territory, as the 
 lords paramount, was but temporary, and could only endure 
 so long as they l'eraiued the soil ; when that was disposed 
 of, their sovereignty ceased also. 
 
 Yet, by virtue of this brief and temporary authority, lim- 
 ited in its extent, and short in its duration, Congress were 
 about to fix on Missouri a never-ending condition, that was 
 to continue long after the authority on which it rested for 
 existence, had passed away. 
 
 If, in consequence of owning the land, Congress possessed 
 that description of sovereignty that would authorize them 
 to legislate in regard to the property of the citizens of a 
 Territory or a State, or to dictate what kind of property 
 the citizens should introduce and hold, then might they at 
 this day undertake to regulate the affairs of the States of 
 Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Ala- 
 bama ; and their right to impose restrictions on each of 
 them, similar to that contemplated in regard to Missouri, 
 would be equally as unquestionable. 
 
 The whole amount of the authority Congress could claim 
 under this clause of the Constitution, was, to make rules 
 and regulations for the surveying and disposing of the pub- 
 lic lands, to regulate the quantities in which it should be 
 sold, the price, and the predit. 
 
 But this power was limited in its operation to the 
 property alone, and by no construction could be extended to 
 the rights of the citizens inhabiting the territory. Congress 
 had no power over the right or property of the citizen, bat, 
 in certain cases, to levy taxes ; and this authority was one of 
 
THE MISSOURI QUESTION. 
 
 219 
 
 those expressly conferred by the Constitution, and was not 
 alone supported by inference. 
 
 * * * * * * 
 
 To ascertain what powers Congress had under the Con- 
 stitution, which was ratified on the 17th of September 1787, 
 resort was made to an ordinance of the 13th of July, 1787, 
 several months, in date, prior to the Constitution of the 
 United States. 
 
 The ordinance was passed by the old Congress, under the 
 Articles of Confederation. 
 
 The adoption of the federal Constitution was the forma- 
 tion of a new government, and an abolition of the old ; and 
 yet, an ordinance passed by the former government was 
 brought up in judgment to define and expound the powers 
 of Congress under a new and totally different government — ■ 
 under a new Constitution, and new organization. 
 
 Gentlemen had contended that Congress had revived and 
 ratified the ordinance in the act of 1802, relating to Ohio ; 
 the act of 1816, relating to Indiana; and the act of 1818, 
 in reference to Illinois ; these being the acts by which Con- 
 gress authorized those States to form a Constitution and 
 State government. 
 
 But, were he to surrender this part of the argument to 
 gentlemen, could it possibly be deduced, that, because Con- 
 gress had revived the ordinance in reference to any one or 
 all those States, that, by that revival, it would have any 
 operation beyond the State actually named, and to which it 
 was applied. Nor, had the question ever been made, by 
 any of those States, which Missouri now made, how far 
 Congress had the power to impose the provisions of that 
 ordinance over a State ; they had taken it as a matter of 
 course because it comported with their wishes and their 
 will. 
 
 Missouri did not intend so to take it, because it neither 
 promoted her i iterest, nor complied with her wishes or her 
 
220 
 
 THE MISSOURI QUESTION. 
 
 will ; nor did he believe that either of those States would 
 now acknowledge that they had not the equal right with 
 any other State of the Union to call a convention, and so 
 alter their constitution as to admit slavery ; and if they had 
 this right, the operation of the ordinance upon them as a 
 State was void and of no avail. 
 
 The Ordinance of r78?, then, was a dead letter, so far as 
 it had been resorted to as furnishing any explanation of the 
 powers of Congress under the federal Constitution, and it 
 was equally inapplicable, as precedent, in relation to Mis- 
 souri, because, at no period of the territorial government, 
 had any portion of its provisions been extended to that ter- 
 ritory, save only those principles that had been incorporated 
 into the act of the 4th of Juue, 1802, when the second grade 
 of government had been conferred upon Missouri. 
 
 * * * * * * 
 
 A member from Ohio (Mr. Brush) had contended that, 
 under the 8th section of the Constitution that gave Con- 
 gress the power “ to provide for the common defense and 
 general welfare,” they could impose the restriction on Mis- 
 souri, because he had assumed it for granted, that, to limit 
 the negroes to certain latitudes, and to confine them within 
 certain limits, would be promoting the common defense and 
 general welfare. 
 
 Now, what would contribute to the common defense and 
 general welfare was mere matter of opinion, and it was not 
 always that the means used produced the end ; a mistake in 
 the one was sure to defeat the other, and it appeared to 
 Mr. S. much more reasonable to suppose that the common 
 defense was weakened, and the general welfare much more 
 endangered, by confining the slaves within certain districts, 
 condensing their population, and enabling them to act in 
 concert, than to spread them over a vast extent of territory, 
 distributing them in small proportions among the whites, 
 
THE MISSOURI QUESTION. 
 
 221 
 
 and thus prevent the probability of insurrection, from a want 
 of capacity to concentrate their forces. 
 
 If, then, an occasional majority of Congress had the 
 right, under this or any other clause of the Constitution, to 
 say that, in their opinion, it promoted the common defense 
 and general welfare, that slavery should not exist in certain 
 States of the Union ; a counter majority, at any other 
 time, under the same clause of the Constitution, would 
 have the power to declare that it comported with their 
 views of common defense and general welfare that it 
 should exist in all the States, and that the non-slaveholding 
 States should admit slaves within their borders, under pain 
 of suspension or expulsion from the Union. 
 
 How would gentlemen then stand affected ? 
 
 Would they not then declare against this mighty power, 
 exercised upon mere speculation, whether this or that mea- 
 sure promoted the common defense and general welfare of 
 the nation ! In point of fact there was little, if any, dif- 
 ference between the taking away, or forcing upon, any 
 person or people that which they did or did not want ; each 
 was equally a violation of their rights. 
 
 Mr. Tucker, of Virginia, said : Putting aside the feel- 
 ings of the people of Missouri, is it not a solid objection to 
 this restriction, that your power to impose it is doubtful 
 and contested ? However thoroughly gentlemen on the 
 other side may be persuaded that Congress possesses this 
 power, they must know that a large portion of the United 
 States are as thoroughly persuaded that it does not ; that, 
 on this question there is entire unanimity in the slavehold- 
 ing States ; and that, with all the motives to an opposite 
 unanimity in the other States, there is among them, as well 
 as among their representatives in this House, considerable 
 diversity of opinion. 
 
 They must also recollect, that, though these circum- 
 stances do not produce conviction, they must produce some 
 
222 
 
 THE MISSOURI QUESTION. 
 
 doubt, avvalcen some distrust in the infallibility of human 
 reason in every ingenuous mind. 
 
 And, Mr. Chairman, when we consider the influence of 
 public opinion on the harmony and stability of this Union, 
 it must always be a matter of regret that the government 
 should exercise powers that are doubtful, or even disputed. 
 Until habit and custom have had their wonted effect in 
 cementing the Union, its strength and permanency must 
 rest on the affections, the undivided affections, of the peo- 
 ple, and nothing is more likely to weaken their attachment 
 than a want of confidence in this House, the natural 
 guardian of the people’s rights, and their immediate repre- 
 sentatives. 
 
 March 2. Mr. Stevens, of Connecticut, said : In this 
 question of compromise now to be decided, I am more 
 fortunate, I now have the floor, and must avail myself of 
 this first opportunity to state, explicitly, that I have listened 
 with pain to the very long, protracted debate that has been 
 had on this unfortunate question ; I call it unfortunate, sir, 
 because it has drawn forth the worst passions of man in the 
 course of the discussion. I have heard gentlemen, and I 
 must in candor say, gentlemen on both sides of the question, 
 boast of sectional powers, and sectional achievements; and 
 remind gentlemen from opposite sections of the Union that 
 they had not so fought and so conquered ; or left such con- 
 clusion irresistibly to follow. 
 
 I want, and the manifest public good requires that the 
 reverse of this language should be holden. 
 
 Let each gentleman boast the valor of the inhabitants 
 of an opposite section of the Union, then all get the praise 
 due them, and in a way infinitely more acceptable to gentle- 
 men of becoming modesty ; and surely if any people ever 
 merited all the praise that has been arrogated instead of 
 being bestowed, the American people do. But it is not 
 the inhabitants of any section of America that exclusively 
 
THE MISSOURI QUESTION. 
 
 223 
 
 merit all their exalted praise ; but the Union collectively. 
 In casting my eye over the map of my country, I scarcely 
 discover a spot on it but is rendered memorable as the 
 birth-place of some sage, hero, or philosopher; if these occur 
 most frequently in Connecticut it is very well — if most fre- 
 quently in some other State, very well — it is still my coun- 
 try. Shall I forego every joy of my life because the im- 
 mortal Washington was not born in the State, of very cir 
 cumscribed limits, in which I was born ? Preposterous 
 thought ! He was born in America. 
 
 That is enough for me. His glory reaches us, bottomed 
 on merit, aud scorns the proffered aid of mouldering marble 
 to perpetuate it. If the deadliest enemy this country has, 
 or ever had, could dictate language the most likely to 
 destroy your glory, prosperity, and happiness, would it not 
 be precisely what has been so profusely used in this debate — 
 sectional vaunting ? Most undoubtedly it would. If the 
 fell Spirit of Discord, the prime mover of sedition and re- 
 bellion in the heavenly realms, should rack his hellish in- 
 vention for the same malicious purpose, he would undoubt- 
 edly pull the cord of sectional prowess; he would magnify 
 the valorous deeds of each particular State or party divi- 
 sion, and distort or obliterate all the rest. The arch plan- 
 ner of the first sedition and rebellion must for ever despair 
 of improving on the sad invention. But, sir, gentlemen 
 start at the mention — Why do this ? You hold your seats 
 by the tenure of compromise. The Constitution is a crea- 
 ture of compromise ; it originated in a compromise ; and 
 has existed ever since by a perpetual extension aud exercise 
 of that principle ; and must continue to do so, as long as it 
 lasts. When your Convention met for its formation, they 
 immediately discovered that the general welfare, the object 
 of their solicitude, could not be secured and perpetuated, 
 without giving up something like particular rights ; and 
 this giving up of particular rights, to secure the great end 
 
224 
 
 THE MISSOURI QUESTION. 
 
 and object of their meeting was called a compromise 
 What did they do ? They debated some months and then 
 came to the obviously necessary result — compromise. It 
 was plainly seen then as now — that, to obtain the object 
 sought, it was necessary to make some sacrifices and to as- 
 sume some evils. They thus thought the good sought was 
 worth the sacrifices necessary to obtain it ; and now after 
 thirty years’ successful experience, who dare arraign their 
 wisdom or their patriotism ? Rashness itself must forever 
 remain dumb to this demand. If gentlemen are in favor 
 of any compromise, it is a fit time to discuss that subject, 
 and see if any can be hit on that will give general satisfac- 
 tion. I am in favor of a compromise, but have strong ob- 
 jections to that now under consideration. I greatly fear it 
 would tend to perpetuate the evil we seek to remedy. The 
 south line of Pennsylvania State and the Ohio waters now 
 form the boundary line between the two parties. If you 
 continue that line, by the 36° 30' of north latitude, to the 
 Pacific Ocean, I fear it will not prove a pacific measure. 
 This would be to place on your records a perpetual sallying 
 place for party. It is devoutly to be wished that such 
 compromise might be hit on as would forever put an end 
 to the unhappy existence of parties in their present shape. 
 I should prefer a prohibition of the admission of slaves into 
 that State, as a measure most likely to effect that desirable 
 object. The number already there is not so great now as 
 to be a subject of any great uneasiness to those most op- 
 posed to the continuance of slavery. 
 
 Pew gentlemen have risen in debate on this question, 
 without deeply lamenting (and I think with great reason) 
 the existence of parties, designated by geographical lines 
 and boundaries. 
 
 I also deprecate it, as being a division of the Union into 
 parties so equal in number, wealth, intelligence, and extent 
 of territory. Indeed, sir, there is no view of this unhappy 
 
THE MISSOURI QUESTION. 
 
 225 
 
 division of our country, but must be sickening to the patriot, 
 and in direct violation of the dictate of wisdom and the 
 last, though not least, important advice of the father and 
 friend of his country. He forbids the use of the words 
 Northern and Southern, Atlantic and Western, as descrip- 
 tive of the various parts of your country. 
 
 And will you forget so important an injunction from that 
 n.an in so short a time ? Was there no political wisdom in 
 the command ? If none, why has it been so Idng venerated ? 
 I should prefer a compromise forbidding the importation of 
 any more slaves into the State of Missouri. 
 
 This, I think, would allay party feeling, drive into for- 
 getfulness present feuds, and satisfy my friends to the north 
 and east, with whom I have acted, and delight to act. In 
 common with them, I have an hereditary dislike to slavery, 
 strengthened by a residence all my life, to the present time, 
 in a country where it does not exist. I honor their dislike 
 of slavery, and firmly believe there is not a gentleman iu 
 this House but deprecates its existence. Agreeing in this 
 all-important point, let us not separate because we cannot 
 think precisely alike of the means best calculated to eradi- 
 cate it. 
 
 Was it ever known that a body so numerous thought 
 exactly alike throughout any one grand, all-important 
 measure for public good, in all the detail ? And is it not 
 the circumstance of a division in sentiment ill so large a 
 body, so equal iu point of number, a thing that should lead 
 both to suspect they may be wrong ? Gentlemen who have 
 much property of this sort, I agree, are deeply interested ; 
 but candor must at the same time admit they have, from 
 the fact of being slaveholders, much practical and useful 
 knowledge on this subject that cannot be claimed by non- 
 slaveholders. And this knowledge is extremely useful, not 
 to say indispensable, especially as to the extent of the evil 
 to the slaves, and to the community generally. This know- 
 15 
 
226 
 
 THE MISSOURI QUESTION. 
 
 ledge is indispensable when it is sought to effect emanci- 
 pation on terms the best calculated to insure infallible 
 success, and to effect it in a way the least likely to hazard 
 any destructive revolution that might, in unskillful hands, 
 insure more evil than the good intended. If we admit 
 slaveholders to have more knowledge on this subject than, 
 from the nature of the case, we can have, their voice in 
 council should not be entirely unheeded. 
 
 But, sir, we have now arrived at a point at which every 
 gentleman agrees something must be done. A precipice 
 lies before us, at which perdition is inevitable. Gentlemen 
 on both sides of this question, and in both Houses, in doors 
 and out of doors, have evinced a determination that augurs 
 ill of the high destinies of this country ? And who does 
 not tremble for the consequences ? 
 
 I do not here speak of that feeling which results from an 
 apprehension of personal danger. No, sir! I speak of 
 that feeling which agitates the soul of every patriot when 
 his country is in danger. 
 
 I speak of that feeling, without a susceptibility of which 
 a man is no ornament to any country. I wish not to be 
 misunderstood, sir. I don’t pretend to say that in just five 
 calendar months your union will be at an end ; your con- 
 stitution destroyed ; your proud trophies, won in the most 
 valiant combat, profaned ; glories of half a century, gained 
 by yourselves and your departed friends, and un equaled in 
 the history of any country or people on the face of the 
 earth, made the sport of an envying world ; and all this in 
 a sacrilegious contest, at the end of which no wise man 
 would give a pea-straw for his choice on which side to be 
 found, as the victors would have lost all, and the vanquished 
 have nothing left to excite envy. 
 
 February, 1820. Mr. Richard M. Johnson, of Kentucky, 
 addressed the Senate as follows : 
 
THE MISSOURI QUESTION. 
 
 227 
 
 Mr. President : It appears to me, sir, that in the course 
 of this debate we have unhappily misunderstood each other. 
 Expressions have been used, on both sides, conveying dif- 
 ferent sentiments from what were intended. Those who 
 have advocated the measure of restriction, have used 
 language which would indicate a disposition to proceed to 
 universal emancipation, alike regardless of the means by 
 which they would accomplish it, and of the sovereignty of 
 the States in which it is tolerated ; at the same time 
 charging upon the present proprietors of this species of 
 property all the odium of that perfidy and cruelty by which 
 slavery was first introduced into the country. Those, on 
 the other hand, who have contended for the sovereignty of 
 the States, and opposed the measure of restriction as an 
 assumption of power unknown in the Constitution, have 
 given a latitude to their expressions which has been con 
 strued into a justification of the abstract principle of slavery. 
 Misconceptions, and misconstructions of language, pro- 
 ducing crimination and recrimination, should ever be 
 avoided in this body, especially upon this delicate subject. 
 
 On reviewing the scope of argument, on both sides, I am 
 satisfied that the one cannot be justly charged wdth advoca- 
 ting the sentiments which their language would seem to in- 
 dicate ; nor the other, with an attempt to justify the ab- 
 stract principle of slavery as either religiously, morally, or 
 politically, correct. None will pretend, that Congress can 
 interfere with the subject of slavery in the several States ; and 
 no member of the Senate could advocate the slave trade 
 without exciting the indignation of the whole nation. The 
 tree is known by its fruit. And let me entreat you, sir, 
 to recollect what has been the conduct of the representa- 
 tives of States, wnere this property is recognized, from the 
 commencement of 1808, the moment in which the general 
 government was authorized by the Constitution to prut an 
 end to this merciless traffic. Not a solitary voice has been 
 
228 
 
 THE MISSOURI QUESTION. 
 
 raised in favor of the African slave trade. A universal dis- 
 position has ever been evinced to annihilate forever this 
 cruel branch of commerce, which swells every bosom with 
 sorrow ; which fills every heart with indignatiou. If all the 
 States, in which slavery exist, can furnish one exception — 
 if the slave trade has ever had one advocate within these 
 walls, let it be proclaimed to the world ! No such excep- 
 tion does exist — no such advocate can be found. For my 
 own part, in verity I protest, that no person in existence 
 more detest this abominable traffic in human beings than 
 myself ; and I am confident that every man whom I repre- 
 sent has the same abhorrent feelings in relation to the sub- 
 ject. But, sir, the right of Congress to interfere in pro- 
 perty of this, and other description, is quite a different ques- 
 tion. It was originally imposed upon us by the policy of 
 Great Britain; but now we have acquired in it a legitimate 
 propriety ; we have paid for it our money ; we hold it under 
 the sanction of law, and have the right to dispose of it as we 
 please. The General Government, if not pledged to guar- 
 antee to us the enjoyment of it, certainly have no right, con- 
 stitutional or moral, to wrest it from us. We hold not 
 ourselves accountable to the nation for the treatment we 
 shall observe, or the disposition we shall make of this, more 
 than any other species of property, nor will any be permit- 
 ted to dictate our conduct therein. Notwithstanding these 
 sentiments, no person can more sincerely lament, than I do, 
 the existence of involuntary servitude in the United States; 
 and none would make greater personal sacrifices, could I 
 discover a way, in the providence of God, to bring it to an 
 end. 
 
 We are not the only people who have had slaves ; yes, 
 and slaves of their own complexion. I speak not this to 
 justify the principle, but to remind you of the fact, that 
 slavery has existed from the earliest ages of antiquity to the 
 present day. Nor has its existence been confined to heathen 
 
THE MISSOURI QUESTION. 
 
 229 
 
 nations ; both Jews and Christians, believers as well as un- 
 believers in divine revelation, from the patriarchs of God’s 
 ancient people to the present time, have been the proprie- 
 tors of slaves, without one admonition from Heaven in the 
 whole book of inspiration against it. The law of Moses, 
 delivered by the Almighty himself for the government of his 
 own chosen race, recognized a complete property in slaves. 
 “ Abraham, the father of the faithful,” “the friend of God,” 
 had upwards of two hundred born in his own house, whom 
 he trained to war. Isaac, the child of promise, inherited 
 this property ; and Jacob, the progenitor of the twelve tribes 
 of Israel, had bond-men and bond-maids of his own. We 
 even find the same custom to have prevailed with them, 
 which continues to the present day ; that when a daughter 
 was given in marriage, she received, as a gift from her fa- 
 ther, a maid-servant, and a man-servant was given with a 
 son. Under the benign influence of the gospel dispensation, 
 no change in this respect is found. The Apostle Paul, in 
 his letters to the churches of Ephesus and Colosse, and in 
 his instruction to Timothy, designed for all Christians, and 
 in all ages, speaking of the relative and reciprocal duties of 
 parents and children, of husbands and wives, never fails to 
 exhort servants or slaves to be obedient to their masters, 
 and masters to deal gently with their slaves. Fidelity, on 
 the part of the slave, and kindness, on the part of the 
 master, are thus made Christian duties ; but emancipa- 
 tion is not even hinted at, as the right of the one, or 
 the obligation of the other. Before I leave this part 
 of the subject it may not be improper to advert to the 
 story of Onesimus ; he was the slave of Philemon, a dis- 
 tinguished Christian minister. Onesimus fled from his mas- 
 ter and went to Home, where, by the instruction of Paul, he 
 was converted to the Christian faith. Paul found him use- 
 ful in the cause, and desired to retain him in Home ; but 
 recognizing the property of Philemon in him, he had n-j 
 
230 
 
 THE MISSOURI QUESTION. 
 
 hesitation to remand Onesimus to his master ; and not even 
 to employ him in the cause of God, without first obtaining 
 his master’s consent. Now, sir, as it is evident, that, under 
 every dispensation of Heaven, slavery has existed, and that 
 neither patriarchs, prophets, nor apostles, to whom the 
 word of inspiration was committed, ever made the subject 
 a test of piety, or matter of animadversion, I know of no 
 principle, either human or divine, by which slaveholders in 
 America can be justly reprobated as the most odious of 
 mankind. 
 
 Do I attempt to justify the principle of slavery by thus 
 adverting to sacred history to prove its existence among good 
 men ? No. But the allusion is made to prove this fact : 
 that there may be a state of things in which slavery be- 
 comes a necessary evil, and which its existence is not in- 
 compatible with true religion. Such a state of things, the 
 gentlemen on the opposite side must acknowledge to have 
 existed among themselves ; for in the abolition of slavery in 
 those States where it is abolished, though the number was 
 small, yet the wisdom of their legislatures, in almost every 
 instance, prevented the evils which they expected to result 
 from a sudden change, by providing for its gradual aboli- 
 tion. Yes, sir, those who are now most censorious in their de- 
 clamations against slavery, have, by their own acts, in their 
 own States, sanctioned, every principle which the slave- 
 holder in other States, either sanctions or avows; because, 
 in the gradual instead of sudden abolition, they have ac- 
 knowledged the existence of that state of things among 
 themselves, which justified the holding of some iu a state of 
 involuntary servitude for life, and of others for a term of 
 years. If such has been the policy of States, where the 
 numbers of slaves, owing originally to the coldness of their 
 climate rather than to any moral cause, bore but a very 
 small proportion to their whole population, it is but rea- 
 sonable to conclude that they would have justified I he same 
 
THE MISSOURI QUESTION. 
 
 231 
 
 policy which has governed their sister States, had it been 
 their lot to have embosomed as great a proportion of 
 slaves. 
 
 Bat humanity is the plea. And can gentlemen sincerely 
 believe that the cause of humanity will be promoted by still 
 confining this population within such limits as that their 
 relative numbers will oppose everlasting obstacles to their 
 emancipation ? Upon the most extensive principle of 
 philanthropy, I say, let them spread forth with the growing 
 extent of our nation. I am sure I plead the cause of 
 humanity. I advocate the best interests of the sons of 
 bondage, when I entreat you to give them room to be 
 happy ; and so disperse them as that, under the auspices of 
 Providence, they may one day enjoy the rights of man, 
 without convulsing the empire or endangering society. Wo 
 must now take the world as we find it — not as we would 
 have it — and adapt our measures to the actual state of 
 things. The cruelties which are passed cannot be retracted ; 
 and upon the slave trade we can now only look back with 
 emotions of regret, which have but one balm of consolation 
 to mitigate our sorrows. It is this : that outrages upon 
 humanity may >e tolerated in civilized society, which are 
 overruled by I ivine Providence, for the ultimate good of 
 those who were the victims of cruelty. Such has been the 
 consequence of the slave trade ; and let it now be our object 
 to make them feel the benefit, since they have not been 
 exempted from the misery. 
 
 There is no just cause for irritation on this subject. We 
 should suppress our feelings, when they threaten to trans- 
 port us beyond the bounds of reason. Early habits beget 
 strong prejudices ; and under a heavy burden of them we 
 all labor. But it becomes us to bring them to one common 
 altar, and consume them together. Before we compel our 
 brother to pluck the mote from his eye, it will be wise to 
 take the beam from our own. On this occasion I cannot 
 
232 
 
 THE MISSOURI QUESTION. 
 
 omit to mention my own feelings on a former occurrence. 
 When I first came to Congress, it was with mingled emo- 
 tions of horror and surprise that I saw citizens from the 
 non-slaveholding States, as they are called — yes, and both 
 branches of our National Legislature — riding in a coach 
 and four, with a white servant seated before, managing the 
 reins, another standing behind the coach, and both of these 
 white servants in livery. Is this, said I to myself, the 
 degraded condition of the citizen, on whose voice the liber- 
 ties of a nation may depend '( I could not reconcile it with 
 my ideas of freedom ; because, in the State where I received 
 my first impressions, slaves alone were servile. All white 
 men there are on an equality, and every citizen feels his 
 independence. We have no classes — no patrician or ple- 
 beian rank. Honesty and honor form all the distinctions 
 that are felt or known. Whatever may be the condition of 
 a citizen with us, you must treat him as an equal. This, I 
 find, is not so in every part of the non-slaveholding States, 
 especially in your populous cities, where ranks and distinc- 
 tions, the precursors of aristocracy, already begin to exist. 
 They whose business it is to perform menial offices in other 
 States, are as servile as our slaves in the West. Where is 
 the great difference betwixt the condition ot him who keeps 
 your stable, who blacks your boots, who holds your stirrups, 
 or mounts behind your coach when you ride, and the slave 
 who obeys the command of his master ? There may be a 
 nominal difference ; but it would be difficult to describe its 
 reality. In the one case it is called voluntary, because it is 
 imposed by its own necessity, and in the other involuntary, 
 because imposed by the will of another. Whatever differ- 
 ence there may be in the principle, the effects upon society 
 are the same. The condition, in some respects, is in favor 
 of the slave. He is supplied with food and clothing ; and 
 in the hour of sickness he finds relief. No anxious cares 
 in relation to age and infirmity, invade his breast. He 
 
THE MISSOURI QUESTION. 
 
 233 
 
 fears no duns : careless of the pressure of :he times, he 
 dreads not the coercion of payment, nor feels the cruelty of 
 that code which confines^ the white servant in prison, be- 
 cause the iron hand of poverty has wrested from him the - 
 means of support for his family. Though slavery still must 
 be confessed a bitter draught, yet where the stamp of 
 nature marks the distinction, and when the mind, from 
 early habit, is moulded to the condition, the slave often 
 finds less bitterness in the cup of life than most white ser- 
 vants. What is the condition of many, who are continually 
 saluting our ears with cries of want, even in this city ? 
 Men, women, boys, girls, from infancy to old age, craving 
 relief from every passenger. Are they slaves? No. 
 Among the slaves are no beggars ; no vagrants ; none idle 
 for want of employ, or crying for want of bread. Every 
 condition of life has its evils ; and most evils have some 
 palliative ; though perhaps none less than those of white 
 menials. Yet, sir, none are more lavish of their censures 
 against slavery than those lordlings with livery servants of 
 their own complexion. For my own part, I have hitherto 
 been fortunate in my public course, in having retained the 
 confidence of my fellow citizens. I have not only triumphed 
 over the most troubled elements — I have even braved the 
 storm produced by the famous compensation law ; but I 
 never could stand having white servants dressed in livery. 
 No, sir, when the honest laborer, the mechanic, however 
 poor, or whatever his employment, visits my house, it mat- 
 ters not what company is there, he must sit with me at my 
 board, and receive the same treatment as the most dis 
 tinguished guest ; because in him I recognize a fellow 
 citizen and an equal. 
 
 The condition of the slave is but little understood by 
 those who are not the eye-witnesses of his treatment. His 
 sufferings are greatly aggravated in their apprehension. 
 The general character of the slaveholding community can 
 
284 
 
 THE MISSOURI QUESTION. 
 
 no more be determined, nor should they be any more stig- 
 matized, by a particular instance of cruelty to a slave, than 
 the character of the non-slaveholding community by a par- 
 ticular instance of cruelty in a parent toward his child, a 
 guardian to his ward, or a master to his apprentice. No 
 man among us can be cruel to his slave without incurring 
 the execration of the wdiole community. The slave is trained 
 to industry; and he is recompensed by kindness and hu- 
 manity, which lighten his burden. His master is his guar- 
 dian. He enjoys the rights of conscience, and worships 
 God as he chooses. The Gospel sheds as bright a lustre 
 on his path as on that of the white man ; and quite as great 
 a proportion of them become believers in the Saviour, and 
 are admitted into the communion of the Christian Church. 
 
 Except on the sugar, the rice, and the cotton plantations, 
 at the South, the slave is not a profit to his master. Upon 
 a fair calculation of debtor and creditor, the majority of 
 them would fall in debt ; and the holding of them is more 
 a matter of convenience than profit. 
 
 A solemn appeal has been made to the Declaration of 
 Independence, as if that instrument had a bearing upon this 
 question ; though, at that day, and long since, slavery ex- 
 isted in every State of the Union. That sentiment has 
 been quoted, that all men are created equal ; that they are 
 endowed by their Creator with certain equal, inalienable 
 rights ; among which are life, liberty, and the pursuit of 
 happiness. This sacred truth should be engraven upon 
 every heart, for it is the foundation of all civil rights, and 
 the palladium of our liberties. The meaning of this sen- 
 tence is defined in its application ; that all communities 
 stand upon an equality; that Americans are equal with 
 Englishmen, and have the right to organize such govern- 
 ment for themselves as they shall choose, whenever it is 
 their pleasure to dissolve the bonds which unite them to 
 another people. The same principle applied to Missouri 
 
THE MISSOURI QUESTION. 
 
 2ci5 
 
 will defeat the object of gentlemen who advocate this re- 
 striction. 
 
 Could this principle be reduced to practice in relation 
 to every human being, it would be happy ; but such is the 
 character, and such the condition of man, that it is per- 
 petually violated by every individual, and by every body 
 politic ; often wantonly, sometimes through necessity. 
 Every State in this Confederacy, not even excepting the 
 great and unambitious State of Pennsylvania, violates this 
 principle, if it be understood according to the application 
 given it by gentlemen, in the most important political 
 rights — the elective franchise and the qualification for office. 
 The organization of every department, both of the general 
 government and the State governments, infringes upon this 
 principle. Different qualifications are required in different 
 States; in some, a freehold inheritance; and the least, in 
 the most democratic States, are age and residence. And 
 shall we reject a State for this violation of principle ? 
 However unfortunate it may be, this great principle of 
 equality, so delightful in theory, is but very partially re- 
 garded in practice ; and I will not deny the allegation, when 
 it is asserted that necessity often justifies the measure. 
 Then, sir, let imperious necessity, in this case, also prefer 
 its claim to consideration. 
 
 * * * * * * * 
 
 There is a mystery in this anxiety, this excitement of 
 popular commotion on the one hand, and this utter indiffer- 
 ence on the other, which it requires a casuist to divine. 
 Is your object the emancipation of slaves? No one pre- 
 tends that this measure will diminish the number of slaves, 
 unless, by this very singular kind of humanity, you dimin- 
 ish their comfort to such a degree as to prevent the increase 
 of that species of population. Nor is it pretended that the 
 failure of this favorite motion for restriction will enslave a 
 Bolitary individual of the human race ; though we have wit- 
 
236 
 
 THE MISSOURI QUESTION. 
 
 nessed that strange kind of sympathy for their sufferings 
 which would so confirm their misery as to deprive them of 
 a posterity. For my own part, Mr. President, I do not 
 well comprehend this humanity. I would prefer a different 
 exercise of this noble principle. Miserable as the condi- 
 tion of the slave may be, his condition is yet preferred to 
 that of annihilation. He finds in life sufficient charms to 
 induce him still to cleave to it ; and in his rising progeny 
 he has the same kind of satisfaction that the free man feels. 
 He will never court your sympathies, if they are to be 
 elicited in adding confinement to servitude, and to ultimate 
 in annihilation. Humanity has a head as well as heart; 
 and as the citizens of Missouri have the same right in na- 
 ture to govern themselves that any others enjoy, the legiti- 
 mate exercise of this principle will be, to leave them to the 
 enjoyment of that right, and they will decide for themselves 
 the most humane policy to be pursued. 
 
 But, sir, this is not a question of slavery. The simple 
 question involved is this ; whether I shall have an equal 
 right with my worthy friend from Pennsylvania (Mr. Rob- 
 erts) to remove with my property (slaves and all) to Mis- 
 souri — a common property, purchased by the common 
 treasure of the whole Union ; and whether my constituents, 
 the citizens of Kentucky, shall enjoy the same right with 
 the citizens of Maine to inherit this common property, with 
 all their effects. I am aware, sir, that, by some means, this 
 question has been made to assume the appearance of a ques- 
 tion for freedom, on the one hand, and slavery on the other. 
 From the popular excitement which has manifested itself 
 in many communities at the North, I am warranted in this 
 conclusion. The mass of society in every section of our 
 country is righteous; and I am certain the expression of 
 their sentiments upon this subject, by such worthy and 
 honorable citizens, in so many popular meetings, has been 
 upon this mistaken view. It has not been the clamor of 
 
THE MISSOURI QUESTION - . 
 
 237 
 
 intriguing politicians, striving for an ascendancy of power, 
 provoking local animosities for ambitious purposes, but 
 from a misapprehension of the main question for that of 
 slavery. I am ready to acknowledge that they have shown 
 a zeal in the cause of liberty which does honor to their 
 hearts. I will mention a case in point : A very worthy 
 friend of mine, who was always an enemy to slavery, and 
 had made personal sacrifices in the cause of emancipation, 
 was of the opinion that Congress had no constitutional 
 right to impose this restriction. He received a letter from 
 an intimate friend of his, expressing much surprise on 
 learning that he had become an advocate for slavery. In 
 his reply, he denied the charge of having changed his sen- 
 timents ; but stated his reasons for the opinion which he 
 held in a manner which would have done honor both to the 
 bead and heart of a legislator. He conceived the govern- 
 ment to be pledged, by the solemn stipulation of the treaty 
 of cession by which that territory was acquired, to admit 
 them into the Union ; which pledge could not be honorably 
 redeemed, if conditions were imposed which did not exist 
 in relation to the original States. As slavery therein had 
 been sanctioned by law while it remained a territory; and 
 as citizens of the States, holding slaves, had purchased 
 lands from the Government, in that territory, under the ex- 
 pectation of removing to it, and improving it with their 
 slaves, he conceived it to be an act of injustice in that Gov- 
 ernment to require a condition which would deprive them 
 of these benefits. The power of Congress to admit new 
 States into the Union, he conceived to be no other than 
 that of the principle of the Constitution ; whereby every 
 State so admitted must retain the same sovereignty as that 
 retained by the States which formed the Federal compact ; 
 and as those States had reserved to themselves the power 
 of sanctioning or abolishing slavery, so Missouri, on be- 
 coming a State, could not be constitutionally deprived of 
 
238 
 
 THE MISSOURI QUESTION. 
 
 that power. This reasoning, sir, appears to me conclusive. 
 The stipulations of the treaty ; the sanctions under which 
 the lands have been sold, and the nature of the Constitution 
 itself, in regard to State sovereignties, oppose irresistible 
 obstacles to the restriction proposed. But these misunder- 
 standings of the real question at issue are unfortunate, as 
 they produce a false alarm in the community. Prejudices 
 thus riveted upon the minds of a virtuous people are cal- 
 culated to array one part of the great American family 
 against the other, without the hope of one solitary benefit 
 for the result. Ambitious men may giadly seize the occa- 
 sion to court popularity and confidence; but rest assured 
 the people are to, be the victims of their wiles. 
 
 The division which this subject produces is the more to 
 be deprecated as it is marked by geographical lines. The 
 mischievous consequences of thus provoking jealousies and 
 animosities have not been sufficiently contemplated by the 
 patriot and statesman. The inevitable result must be this : 
 you will look for residence, and overlook merit. Public 
 services and private virtues will be forgotten. A demon or 
 a saint will equally suit your purpose, till the favorite ob- 
 ject is accomplished. Prejudice will blind your eyes to the 
 danger of bad principles ; and while laboring in vain to 
 break the manacles of others, who do not thank you for the 
 effort, you are forging chains for yourselves that will one 
 day hold you in bondage. Heretofore we have divided 
 upon the principle of measures equally affecting every part 
 of the nation. In 1198, when measures tending to consoli- 
 dation, threatening the liberty of speech and the press, were 
 pursued, no geographical lines, marking the division be- 
 tween slaveholding and non-slaveholding States, produced 
 the sentiments of either party. The strife was betwixt 
 honest and patriotic members of every community and every 
 village. The consequences were often unhappy for a 
 moment, but not dangerous to the whole family. The 
 
THE MISSOURI QUESTION. 
 
 239 
 
 enmities which it occasioned were temporary, and would 
 soon die a natural death. But when local residence be- 
 comes the occasion of deep-rooted animosities, the conse- 
 quences are always dangerous, and often fatal. Why, then, 
 attempt a dangerous course when necessity does not de- 
 mand it ? There is nothing in the legitimate exercise of 
 the powers of the general government, touching any of Lhe 
 objects of the confederacy, which requires a single allusion 
 to the subject of slavery in the States. Once in ten years 
 it may possibly have its influence in fixing the ratio of 
 representation ; and I believe, at the last census, the slave- 
 holding States lost several representatives, by the superior 
 management of the other States, in leaving the greatest 
 fraction upon them. But, this being accidental and tempo- 
 rary, was no subject of contention. 
 
 On the present occasion, sir, you attempt impossibilities. 
 You may injure, but you cannot benefit, the black popula- 
 tion. If ever they enjoy freedom their emancipation must 
 be gradual ; and it must be preceded by a progressive 
 amelioration of their condition, to prepare them for liberty. 
 The more you suffer them to disperse, the more rapidly you 
 will accelerate this desirable state of things. The energies 
 of the Christian world are now combined in the diffusion 
 of evangelical light, and the principles which it inculcates 
 are every day relaxing the bonds of slavery. 
 
 Providence, all wise and inscrutable in its ways, is gradu- 
 ally effecting the nltimate object of our wishes, which your 
 ill-timed interposition is calculated only to retard. Indi- 
 vidual exertion, acting in concert, can alone prepare the 
 way. Encourage Sunday-schools ; multiply Bible societies ; 
 increase missionary exertions ; animate to deeds of benevo- 
 lence abolition societies, and perfect the system of coloniza- 
 tion. Then trust the kind providence of God for the 
 result, and you will perform the duties of Christians and 
 patriots, in the service of God and his creatures. But till 
 
240 
 
 THE MISSOURI QUESTION". 
 
 you can change the spots of the leopard, you cannot change 
 the condition of the slaves by the illegitimate measures 
 now proposed. You may violate the Constitution — you 
 may impair the social compact by encroaching upon the 
 sovereignty of the States, which is the palladium of our 
 liberties — you may touch the right of property under the 
 pretext of letting the captive go free ; you may essay to 
 bind the people of Missouri, by prescribing to them con- 
 ditions of legislation ; but your effort will be fruitless. You 
 risk much and gain nothing. The people of Missouri are 
 Americans. They have the right of self-government, and 
 they will govern themselves. You may prepare chains for 
 them, but, like Samson’s cords, they will be as tow, and fall 
 asunder like ropes of sand. These people are descendants 
 of freemen. They are of the old stock who achieved your 
 independence, and they will be free. Do you hope to 
 abridge their sovereignty? Their character is a pledge 
 that they will not yield their rights. 
 
 Whatever may be our anxiety for universal freedom, it 
 is very certain that no sudden change can be effected. To 
 attempt impossibilities will only expose our folly. God 
 himself has taught us to wait patiently the operations of 
 time, by his own example, in six days’ employment in the 
 formation of the world ; and while we find sufficient evil to 
 awaken all our sensibilities, we should remember that man 
 cannot renovate the world in one day. In the moral world, 
 w r e see vices and crimes ; in the religious world, perse- 
 cutions and martyrdoms ; in the political world, despotism 
 and convulsions ; in the physical world, earthquakes and 
 tornadoes. Who can renovate the heart of the vicious, and 
 chasten the thoughts of the wicked ? Who can sustain the 
 martyr upon the cross ? Who can hush the tempest in the 
 political world, or control the destinies of nature ? He 
 only, who holds the winds in the hollow of his hand. 
 I charge you, then, to let patience have its perfect work ; 
 
THE MISSOURI QUESTION. 241 
 
 And do not rashly disturb the balance of this harmonious 
 political system. If you do, the blood will be upou your 
 own heads. I have unshaken confidence in the providence 
 of God, that he will, in his goodness, provide the ways and 
 means of deliverance from this great evil, and that he will 
 do it without violence or compulsion. But we are to 
 choose the time, and effect in a day what cannot be accom- 
 plished in years, without a miracle ; and this is to be done 
 without respect to either the sentiments or rights of our 
 neighbors. Instead of satisfying ourselves with the happy 
 condition in which a kind Providence has placed us, we are 
 to aspire, like our first parents in Eden, to become as gods ; 
 and, for the sake of giving law to others, independent as 
 ourselves, we are to set the whole nation in a state of com- 
 motion. Beware, lest, like them, you should experience a 
 sad reverse, and entail the curse upon posterity. We are 
 to become constitution-makers, and give both the text and 
 commentary. I was taught to believe in the doctrine of the 
 Revolutionary patriots, vox populi vox Dei, but now the 
 maxim is too antiquated to be regarded. I have been a 
 disciple of the old school, which taught us to believe that 
 all power belonged to the people ; and have ever admired 
 the beautiful fabric of this Western empire, because it was 
 calculated to secure the exercise of this power to each 
 State, while it delegated to the federal government a suffi- 
 cient portion, to provide for the common safety, and secure 
 the harmony of its several parts ; but this harmony is now 
 to be disturbed ; this magna charta of our rights is to be 
 broken ; this fair fabric is to be shaken, to gratify the lust 
 of power; and Congress, deriving all its authority from the 
 States, is to prescribe to the States the limits of their con- 
 stitutional prerogative. I would not impeach the political 
 sagacity of this body ; but sueh is my confidence in the vir- 
 tue and talents of the community, that, in my opinion, 
 every ten miles square in the United States is as competent 
 16 
 
242 
 
 THE MISSOURI ..QUESTION. 
 
 as the whole collected wisdom of the nation to frame a con- 
 stitution. Competent or not, the people of Missouri ha^e 
 the right, and they must exercise it without any restriction 
 which is not common to all the States. If you begin to 
 prescribe restrictions, you may pursue the course without 
 limitation or control. You may prescribe the qualifications 
 of electors and candidates; the powers and organization 
 of every branch of their government, till self-government is 
 lost, and their liberty is but an empty name. The doctrine, 
 sir, is alarming. But one security from its baleful influence 
 is in the independence of the people. They will not swh- 
 mit. It is not the question whether the thing required is 
 right or wrong in itself, but whether you have the right to 
 impose it. The principle of taxation, or the amount levi~d, 
 had no influence in bringing on the American Revolution ; 
 but the right of Parliament, in which the colonies had no 
 representation, to impose the tax. They persisted, ano a 
 bloody war ensued ; and the decision was in favor of thA 
 side where justice was. 
 
 I exhort to moderation and justice. Look at the starving 
 poor in England. Hear the clanking chains of despotism 
 throughout Europe, Asia, and Africa. The cries of op- 
 pression are heard in every region, and the cause of injured 
 humanity rends every American bosom. But will our com- 
 miseration justify our interference ? Shall we become a 
 nation of knight-errants, and involve the country in war 
 with all the rest of the world to establish free government 
 in other quarters of the globe? We may pity other na- 
 tions, but we have no right to intermeddle with their poli- 
 cies ; and to attempt it would be the extreme of madness. 
 Still more cautious should we be about intermeddling with 
 the right of property and self-government in Missouri. In 
 so doing, you will jeopardize the harmony of the Union, 
 which may possibly ultimate in i civil war. Recollect, 
 Greece was destroyed bv division, and Rome by consolida- 
 
THE MISSOURI QUESTION". 
 
 243 
 
 tion. Then let us be content with onr inheritance, and 
 profit by their example; lest, in our zeal to perform what 
 we cannot accomplish, we one day become what Greece 
 and Rome now are. 
 
 I will readily admit, sir, that the non-slaveholding States 
 are composed of brave and virtuous citizens, but merit does 
 not exclusively attach to them. We will not shrink from 
 the comparison, whether we look at periods or principles — 
 the Revolution, the late war ; internal policy, republican 
 principles, moral character, or religious practice. The 
 authors of this discussion are welcome to all the advantages 
 they can derive from the comparison. There is no essential 
 difference of character among all the different sections 
 of this community. A general coincidence of sentiment 
 strengthens their mutual attachments, which I trust th.v 
 demon of discord will never be able to dissolve. Ye*, sir, 
 the Union is founded in the affections of the people, 
 cemented by the blood of our fathers, endeared by common 
 suffering, and secured by common interest. Future gene- 
 rations, remembering that their fathers mingled theii blood 
 in one common cause, and their ashes in one commi n urn, 
 will still feel like brothers, when ambition shall have wasted 
 its efforts ; and the blessings of the confederacy .shall bo 
 long enjoyed after oblivion shall have drawn a vail over the 
 disturbers of its peace. The history of other nations is 
 before us, and they should be marked as beacons of warn- 
 ing. Remember the unhappy record of the ten tribes of 
 Israel, and the miserable consequences, whenever you con- 
 template the effects of local jealousies. Before we are 
 aware, we are too apt to excite our own passions jis well as 
 others, and rush precipitately into measures which will 
 leave us to regret our folly when it shall be too late to 
 retract. 
 
 But another cause of complaint is recently brought to 
 light. In the ratio of representation and direct taxation. 
 
244 
 
 THE MISSOURI QUESTION". 
 
 three-fifths of the slaves are enumerated. The Constitution 
 was framed by patriots of the Revolution ; and the prin- 
 ciples of that event were too deeply engraven upon their 
 minds to suffer them to separate the ratio of representation 
 from that of taxation ; and, by mutual compromise, the 
 ratio was settled by all the States as we now have it. Rut, 
 it the organization of this branch of the legislature, there 
 is a total departure from this rule. Upon what principle 
 does the little State of Delaware send two members to this 
 body, and the great State of New York send no more ? 
 This also was settled upon a principle of compromise. It 
 is, that State sovereignties may be here represented, and, 
 in the confederacy the States, are all equal. The federal 
 character is here preserved ; and, in the other House, the 
 representative character. In one house every State is 
 equal, in the other every individual ; and none would wish 
 it otherwise. 
 
 In what way, I would ask, is the just principle of repre- 
 sentation violated, by taking three-fifths of the slaves into 
 the calculation ? The answer is given, because slaves have 
 no political rights. And what political rights have the 
 female and the minor ? And how many free persons of full 
 age are excluded from the exercise of the elective franchise 
 in the different States ? Yet all are taken into the enume- 
 ration as the basis for representation. Why ? Because 
 they are also taken into the enumeration for taxation ; so 
 are three-fifths of the slaves taken into the enumeration as 
 the basis for taxation, and of course for representation. In 
 the one case no complaint is made, but in the other injustice 
 js urged. Every argument, true or false, must be brought 
 to bear upon the subject; which, in the end, will effect 
 nothing, and is, in fact, worse than nothing. 
 
 There is another article of the Constitution, which is 
 thought to have some relation to this intended restriction. 
 “Congress shall guarantee to each State a republican form 
 
THE MISSOURI QUESTION. 
 
 245 
 
 of government;” and here we have a controlling powe. 
 Suppose, then, you erect your standard of republicanism, 
 and revise the constitutions of the different States. Vir- 
 ginia requires a freehold qualification in the voter. Dictate 
 to her better principles. Most of the other States require 
 some property qualifications. Change their constitutions, 
 and proclaim annual elections and universal suffrage, such 
 as we have in Kentucky, where every person is equal ; and 
 the beggar (if such a being can be found there) has as 
 good a vote as the man of wealth. Attempt these things, 
 and you will have enough to do ; but you may accomplish 
 it as easily, and upon as fair Constitutional ground, as the 
 restriction upon Missouri. The fact is, we shall be better 
 employed in confining ourselves to the great objects of 
 the confederacy, and leave every State to manage its own 
 concerns. 
 
 Philosophers have said much upon the theory of colors, 
 and especially upon the variety of complexion in the human 
 species. It is contended by some that the black man, the 
 red man, and the white man, originally sprang from different 
 ancestors ; by others that all sprang from one common 
 stock ; and the last theory is supported by revelation. It 
 is further believed, that the difference of color, from the 
 slightest shade to the deepest black, is owing principally to 
 climate, and the different degrees of heat to which they have 
 been for many ages exposed. To whatever cause it may be 
 owing, the difference does now exist ; and it is as well known 
 that a universal prejudice also exists as to the color of the 
 African, which in a great measure deprives him of the bless- 
 ings of freedom when emancipated. Till this prejudice is 
 eradicated, or till the Ethiopian shall change his skin, his 
 freedom is nominal in every part of the United States. If 
 not, where is the black man of the north ? Like the red 
 man, he is nearly extinct. If your humanity has conquered 
 your prejudice, till you know no color, where are your 
 
246 
 
 THE MISSOURI QUESTION. 
 
 magistrates, your governors, your representatives, of the 
 black population ? You proclaim them equal, but you are 
 still their lawgivers ; we see none of them in the national 
 legislature, nor hear of them in your State governments. 
 The prejudices which these distinctions of color create can- 
 not be overcome in a moment, and we should contentedly 
 wait that gradual change in the moral world — that slow but 
 certain progress of improvement, which will one day give 
 universal liberty to the race of Adam. 
 
 One insurmountable, I may say omnipotent barrier with 
 us, against this sudden revolution, is, the number of our 
 slaves. It would produce convulsions and derangements, 
 destructive to the morals and safety of the whole com- 
 munity. But liberty has charms, and so has music ; but 
 was there anything captivating in Nero’s harp while Rome 
 was enveloped in (lames ? Let the safety of the common- 
 wealth be first secured, and then extend the blessings of 
 freedom as time shall prepare them to enjoy it, with advan- 
 tage to themselves and tranquillity to the State. 
 
 The sages of our Revolution were not so conscientious 
 as to make emancipation a sine qua non to a Union against 
 British encroachments ; nor did they ever think of interfer- 
 ing in the subject of slavery with the States. That was 
 left with God and the consciences of those interested. 
 Slaveholders and others could march under one standard in 
 the common cause. Washington and Greene could move 
 in perfect concert of action ; Hancock and Jefferson could 
 act in harmony of council, without one discordant passion 
 on this account. Nor did the wise framers of the Consti- 
 tution essay to give it the slightest touch. Even a part of 
 the New England States voted against the power of Con- 
 gress to check the importation of slaves for twenty years. 
 But now, when all political animosities are subsiding, and 
 every angry passion is sinking to rest, the golden apple 
 must be thrown. Political power and personal aggrandize- 
 
THE MISSOURI QUESTION. 
 
 247 
 
 ment must arise, and light the torch of discord among this 
 happy, this virtuous, this affectionate people. Keep in 
 mind the theory of our general government. We have no 
 original powers. We act as an agent would under a spe- 
 cial power of attorney; and the Constitution is the charter 
 by which we act. The powers delegated are there defined. 
 Those not expressly delegated are reserved to the State-, 
 or to the people. To transcend the powers prescribed bv 
 the Constitution, is to violate the rights of the States am 1 
 of the people. Congress have no power delegated to 
 them by the Constitution to impose a restriction like this 
 upon any of the States ; nor can it be pretended, unless by 
 that kind of legerdemain construction which would make 
 Congress omnipotent, and render the sovereignties a mere 
 shadow, that this text book of the American statesman 
 contains a single clause even hinting at the delegation of 
 this power. The imposition of this restriction upon Mis- 
 souri, then, would be a violation of the Constitution ; and, 
 however plausible the pretext, the principle is equally dan- 
 gerous to the Union. 
 
 I have entertained doubts as to the wisdom of the or- 
 ganization of this body in the tenure of office. Six years 
 I have thought too long ; that the member did not feel 
 sufficient responsibility to the elective principle. But, on 
 this interesting occasion, I can see great evils, which we 
 have it in our power more effectually to prevent, and thus 
 give proof to the world that we are worthy of this trust. 
 The examples of Greece, of Carthage, and of Rome show 
 us the danger of being moved by a momentary excitement 
 of popular passion ; but, when time for sober reasoning 
 shall have elapsed, the popular sentiment, the result of dis- 
 passionate deliberation, must prevail. This body is pecu- 
 liarly formed for that deliberation ; and when I behold 
 around me those who have gone through the gradation 
 of every office of honor and of trust — who have withstood 
 
248 
 
 TIIE MISSOURI QUESTION. 
 
 every trial, and now bear upon their hoary heads the 
 crown of honor — elected by their fellow-citizens to this sta- 
 tion, I feel a confidence that they will sustain the cause of 
 the Union. Then, when this excitement shall subside, the 
 deliberate, settled seutiment of the people will justify your 
 decision. But, should your determination to effect this re- 
 striction so completely overcome every consideration of 
 right, that you deem it paramount to all constitution and 
 compact, you will pay dearly for the object. Victory will 
 be worse than a defeat. You will violate the plighted faith 
 of the nation, under the sacred sanction of your own laws, 
 which have heretofore held out an invitation to the citizens 
 of every section of the country to embrace the advantages 
 which this newly-acquired wilderness promised. You will 
 violate the solemn stipulations of the treaty by w'hich this 
 territory was gained. You will violate the Constitution 
 of the United States, that sacred instrument which once had 
 power to compose the jarring interests and passions of 
 the nation ; the offspring of our former suffering ; the 
 pledge of our future harmony ; and the standing bulwark 
 of our liberty and independence. You will alarm the fears 
 and destroy the confidence of the States, by abridging their 
 prerogatives and usurping their rights. You will check 
 the progress of humanity, and strengthen the chains of the 
 captive. You will prolong the time of slavery, and aug- 
 ment its evils. You will divide the sentiments and affec- 
 tions by hills and dales, by rivers and mountains, aid by 
 imaginary lines, drawm only for convenience, and not for hos- 
 tility. You will excite to action every discordant passion 
 of the soul ; produce jargon, animosity, and strife, which 
 may eventuate in murder and devastation. And shall I 
 proceed to enumerate the crimes which belong to this black 
 catalogue? The heart sickens, the tongue falters, and T 
 forbear. Ponder well your doings; let wisdom and justice 
 direct you ; confine your measures to the legitimate object 
 
THE MISSOURI QUESTION. 
 
 2-1 9 
 
 of the confederacy, and we are still a united and happy 
 people. 
 
 Mr. Pinckney, of South Carolina, the only member of 
 Congress who was a member of the Federal Convention, 
 addressed the chair as follows : 
 
 Mr. Chairman : It was not my intention at first, and it is 
 not now my wish, to rise on this important question ; one 
 that has been so much and so ably discussed iu both 
 branches of Congress ; one that has been the object of so 
 many meetings of the people of the different States, and of 
 so many resolutions of the legislatures, and instructions to 
 their members : but I am so particularly circumstanced that 
 it is impossible to avoid it. Coming from one of the most 
 important of the Southern States, whose interests are 
 deeply involved, and representing here a city and district 
 which, I believe, export more of our native products than 
 any other in the Union ; having been also a member of the 
 Old Congress, some important acts of which are brought 
 into question on this occasion, and, above all, being the 
 only member of the General Convention which formed 
 the Constitution of the United States, now on this floor, 
 and on ivhose acts rest the great question in controversy 
 how far you are or are not authorized to adopt this measure, 
 it will, from all these circumstances, be seen that it is im- 
 possible for me to avoid requesting your permission to state 
 some observations in support of the vote I shall give on a 
 question, certainly, the most important that can come be- 
 fhre Congress ; one, to say the least of it, on which may 
 depend, not only the peace, the happiness, and the best in- 
 terests, but, not improbably, the existence of that Union 
 which has been, since its formation, the admiration of the 
 world, and the pride, the glory, and the boast of every 
 American bosom that beats within it. 
 
 In performing this solemn duty, I trust I shall do it with 
 that deference to the opinions of others which it is always 
 
250 
 
 THE MISSOURI QUESTION. 
 
 my duty to show on this respectable floor, and that I shall 
 be as short as the nature of the subject will permit, and 
 completely moderate. Indeed, in questions of this impor- 
 tance, moderation appears to me to be indispensable to the 
 discovery of truth. I, therefore, lament extremely that 
 so much warmth has been unnecessarily excited, and shall, 
 in the remarks I may make, studiously do, what I con- 
 ceive the decorum of debate ought to enjoin upon every 
 member. 
 
 At the time I left, or sailed from the city I here repre- 
 sent, scarcely a word was said of the Missouri question ; 
 no man there ever supposed that one of such magnitude 
 was before you. I, therefore, have, since the serious aspect 
 this subject has assumed, received numerous inquiries on it, 
 and wishes to know my opinion as to the extent and con- 
 sequences of it. I have candidly replied, that, so far as 
 respects the regaining an ascendency on both the floors 
 of Congress ; of regaining the possession of the honors and 
 offices of our government; aud of, through this measure, 
 laying the foundation of forever securing their ascendency, 
 and the powers of the government, the Eastern and North- 
 ern States had a high and deep interest. That, so far as 
 respects the retaining the honors and offices and the powers 
 of the government, and the preventing the establishment 
 of principles to interfere with them, the Southern and 
 Western States had equal interest with the Northern. But 
 that, when we consider to what lengths the right of Con- 
 gress to touch the question of slavery at all might reach, it 
 became one, indeed, of tremendous import. 
 
 Among the reasons which have induced me to rise, one is 
 to express my surprise. Surprise, did I say ? I ought 
 rather to have said, my extreme astonishment, at the as- 
 sertion I heard made on both floors of Congress, that, in 
 forming the Constitution of the United States, and particu- 
 larly that part of it which respects the representation on this 
 
THE MISSOURI QUESTION. 
 
 251 
 
 floor, the Northern and Eastern States, or, as they are now 
 called, the non-slaveholding States, have made a great con- 
 cession to the Southern, in granting them a representation- 
 of three-fifths of their slaves ; that they saw the concession 
 was a very great and important one at the time, but that 
 they had no idea it would so soon have proved itself of 
 such consequence ; that it would so soon have proved itself 
 to be by far the most important concession that had been 
 made. They say, that it was wrung from from them by 
 their affection to the Union, and their wish to preserve it 
 from dissolution or disunion ; that they had, for a long 
 time, lamented they had made it ; and that if it was to do 
 over, no earthly consideration should again tempt them to 
 agree to so unequal and so ruinous a compromise. By 
 this, I suppose, Mr. Chairman, is meant that they could 
 have had no idea that the Western and Southern States 
 would have grown with the rapidity they have, and filled so 
 many of the seats iu this House : in other words, that they 
 would so soon have torn the sceptre from the East. 
 
 It was, sir, for the purpose of correcting this great and 
 unpardonable error; unpardonable, because it is a wilful 
 one, and the error of it is well-known to the ablest of those 
 who make it ; of denying the assertion, and proving that 
 the contrary is the fact, and that the concession, on that 
 occasion, was from the Southern and not the Northern 
 States, that, among others, I have risen. 
 
 It is of the greatest consequence that the proof I am 
 about to give should be laid before this nation ; for, as the 
 inequality of representation is the great ground on which 
 the Northern and Eastern States have always, and now 
 more particularly and forcibly than ever, raised all their 
 complaints on this subject, if I can show and prove that 
 they have uot even a shadow of right to make pretenses or 
 complaints ; that they are as fully represented as they ought 
 to be ; while we, the Southern members, are unjustly de- 
 
252 
 
 THE MISSOURI QUESTION. 
 
 prived of any representation for a large and important part 
 of our population, more valuable to the Union, as can be 
 shown, than any equal number of inhabitants in the North- 
 ern and Eastern States can, from their situation, climate, 
 and productions, possibly be. If I can prove this, I think 
 I shall be able to show most clearly the true motives which 
 have given rise to this measure ; to strip the thin, the cob- 
 web veil from it, as well as the pretended ones of religion, 
 humanity, and love of liberty ; and to show, to use the soft 
 terms the decorum of debate obliges me to use, the extreme 
 want of modesty in those who are already as fully repre- 
 sented here as they can be, to go the great lengths they do 
 in endeavoring, by every effort in their power, public and 
 private, to take from the Southern and Western States, 
 which are already so greatly and unjustly deprived of an 
 important part of the representation, a still greater share ; 
 to endeavor to establish the first precedent, which extreme 
 rashness and temerity have ever presumed, that Congress 
 has a right to touch the question and legislate on slavery ; 
 thereby shaking the property in them, in the Southern and 
 Western States, to its very foundation, and making an 
 attack which, if successful, must convince them . that the 
 Northern and Eastern States are their greatest enemies; 
 that they are preparing measures for them which even 
 Great Britain, in the heat of the Revolutionary war, and 
 when all her passions were roused by hatred and revenge 
 to the highest pitch, never ventured to inflict upon them. 
 Instead of a course like this, they ought, in my judgment, 
 sir, to be highly pleased with their present situation ; that 
 they are fully represented, while we have lost so great a 
 share of our representation ; they ought, sir, to be highly 
 pleased at the dexterity and managament of their members 
 in the Convention, who obtained for them this great advan- 
 tage ; and, above all, with the moderation and forbearance 
 with which the Southern and Western States have always 
 
THE MISSOURI QUESTION. 
 
 253 
 
 borne their bitter provocations od this subject, and now 
 bear the open, avowed, and, by many of the ablest men 
 among them, undisguised attack on our most valuable rights 
 and properties. 
 
 At the commencement of our revolutionary struggle with 
 Great Britain, all the States had slaves. The New England 
 States had numbers of them, and treated them in the same 
 manner the Southern did. The Northern and Middle 
 States had still more numerous bodies of them, although 
 not so numerous as the Southern. They all entered into 
 that great contest with similar views, properties, and de- 
 signs. Like brethren, they contended for the benefit of the 
 whole, leaving to each the right to pursue its happiness in 
 its own way. 
 
 They thus nobly toiled and bled together, really like 
 brethren ; and it is a most remarkable fact that, notwith- 
 standing in the course of the Revolution the Southern 
 States were continually overrun by the British, and that 
 every negro in them had an opportunity of leaving their 
 owners, few did ; proving thereby not only a most remark- 
 able attachment to their owners, but the mildness of the 
 treatment, from which their affection sprang. They then 
 were, as they still are, as valuable a part of our population 
 to the Union as any other equal number of inhabitants. 
 They were, in numerous instances, the pioneers, and in all, 
 the laborers of your armies. To their hands were owing 
 the erection of the greatest part of the fortifications raised 
 for the protection of our country ; some of which, particu- 
 larly Fort Moultrie, gave, at that early period of the in- 
 experience and untried valor of our citizens, immortality 
 to American arms; and in the Northern States numerous 
 bodies of them were enrolled into and fought, by the sides 
 of the whites, the battles of the Revolution. 
 
 Things went on in this way until the period of our 
 attempt to form our first national compact, the confedera- 
 
254 
 
 THE MISSOURI QUESTION. 
 
 tion, in which the equality of vote was preserved, and the 
 first squeamishness on the subject of not using, or even 
 alluding to the word slavery, or making it a part of out 
 political machinery, was shown. In this compact, the value 
 of the lands and improvements w r as made the rule for appor- 
 tioning the public burdens and taxes. But the Northern 
 and Eastern States, who are always much more alive to their 
 interests than the Southern, found that their squeamishness 
 was inconsistent with their interest ; and, as usual, made 
 the latter prevail. They found it was paying too dear for 
 their qualms to keep their hand from the slaves any longer. 
 At their instance, and on their motion, as will appear by 
 a reference to the journals of the old Congress, the making 
 lands the rule was changed, and people, including the whites 
 and three-fifths of other descriptions, was adopted. It was 
 not until in 1181, that the confederation was adopted by, 
 and became binding on all the States. This miserable, 
 feeble mockery of government crawled on until 1185, when, 
 from New York’s refusing to agree with all the States to 
 grant to Congress the impost, (I am not sure, but I believe 
 she stood alone in the refusal,) the States determined no 
 longer to put up with her conduct, and absolutely rebelled 
 against the government. The first State that did so was 
 New Jersey, who, by a solemn act passed in all its proper 
 forms by her legislature and government, most positively 
 and absolutely refused any longer to obey the requisitions 
 of Congress, or to pay another dollar. As there was no 
 doubt other States w'ould soon follow their example — as 
 Pennsylvania shortly did — Congress, aware of the mischiefs 
 which must arise if a dissolution took place of the Union 
 before a new government could be formed, sent a deputation 
 of their own body to address the legislature of New Jersey, 
 of which I was appointed chairman. We did repair there, 
 and addressed them, and I had the honor and happiness to 
 carry back with me to Congress the repeal of her act by 
 
THE MISSOURI QUESTION. 
 
 255 
 
 New Jersey — a State, during the whole of the revolution- 
 ary war, celebrated for her patriotism, and who, in this 
 noble self-denial, and forgetfulness of injuries inflicted by 
 New York on her and the rest of the Union, exhibited a dis- 
 interestedness and love of Union which did her the highest 
 honor. 
 
 The revolt of New Jersey and Pennsylvania accelerated 
 the new Constitution. On a motion from Virginia the 
 Convention met at Philadelphia, where as you will find 
 from the journals, we were repeatedly in danger of dis- 
 solving without doing any thing ; that body being equally 
 divided as to large and small States, and each having a vote, 
 and the small States insisting most pertinaciously, for near 
 six weeks, on equal power in both branches — nothing but 
 the prudence and forbearance of the large States saved the 
 Union. A compromise was made, that the small States 
 and large should be equally represented in the Senate, and 
 proportionally in the House of Representatives. I am now 
 arrived at the reason for which I have, sir, taken the liberty 
 to make these preliminary remarks. For, as the true motive 
 for all this dreadful clamor throughout the Union, this 
 serious and eventful attack on our most sacred and valuable 
 rights aud properties, is, to gain a fixed ascendency in the 
 representation in Congress; and, as the only flimsy excuse 
 under which the Northern and Eastern States shelter them- 
 selves, is, that they have been hardly treated in the repre- 
 sentation in this House, and that they have lost the benefit 
 of the compromise they pretend was made, and which I shall 
 most positively deny, and show that nothing like a compro- 
 mise was ever intended. 
 
 By all the public expenses being borne by indirect taxes, 
 and not direct, as was expected ; if I can show that all their 
 pretensions and claims are wholly untrue and unfounded, and 
 that while they are fully represented, they did, by force, or 
 something like it, deprive us of a rightful part of our repre- 
 
256 
 
 THE MISSOURI QUESTION. 
 
 sentation, I shall then be able to take the mask from all their 
 pretended reasons and excuses, and show this unpardonable 
 attack, this monster, in its true and uncovered hideousness. 
 
 Long before our present public distresses had convinced 
 even the most ignorant and uninformed politician of the 
 truth of the maxim I am about to mention, all the well-in- 
 formed statesmen of our TJnion knew that the only true mode 
 for a large agricultural and commercial country to flourish 
 was, never to import more than they can pay for by the ex- 
 port of their own native products ; that, if they do, they will 
 be sure to plunge themselves into the distressing and dis- 
 graceful situation this country is in at present. 
 
 If, then, this great political truth or maxim, or call it what 
 you please, is most unquestionable, let us now see who sup- 
 ports this government ; who raises your armies, equips your 
 navies, pays your public debt, enables you to erect forts, 
 arsenals, and dock-yards. Who nerves the arm of this gov- 
 ernment, and enables you to lift it for the protection, the 
 honor, and extension of our beloved republic into regions 
 where none but brutes and savages have before roamed ? 
 Who are your real sinews in war, and the best — I had almost 
 said, nearly the only — sinews and sources of your commerce 
 in peace ? I will presently tell you. 
 
 If, as no doubt, you will in future confine your imports 
 to the amount of your exports of native products, and all 
 your revenue is to be, as it is now, raised by taxes or duties 
 on your imports, I ask you who pays the expense, and who, 
 in fact, enables you to go on with your government at all, 
 and prevents its wheels from stopping ? I will show you 
 by the papers which I hold in my hand. This, sir, is your 
 Secretary of the Treasury’s report, made a few weeks ago, 
 by which it appears that all the exports of native products, 
 from Maine to Pennsylvania inclusive, for the last year, 
 amounted to only about eighteen millions of dollars ; while 
 those among the slaveholding States, to the southward of 
 
THE MISSOURI QUESTION. 
 
 257 
 
 Pennsylvania, amounted to thirty-two millions or thereabouts, 
 thereby enabling themselves, or acquiring the right, to im- 
 port double as much as the others, and furnishing the trea- 
 sury with double the amount the Northern and Eastern 
 States do. And here let me ask, from whence do these ex- 
 ports arise ? By whose hands are they made ? I answer, 
 entirely by the slaves ; and yet these valuable inhabitants, 
 without whom your very government could not go on, and 
 the labor of two or three of whom in the Southern States is 
 more valuable to it than the labor of five of their inhabitants 
 in the Eastern States, the States owning and possessing 
 them are denied a representation but for three-fifths on this 
 floor, while the whole of the comparatively unproductive 
 inhabitants of the Northern and Eastern States are fully 
 represented here. Is it just — is this equal ? And yet they 
 have the modesty to complain of the representation, as un- 
 just and unequal ; and that they have not the return made 
 them they expected, by taxing the slaves, and making them 
 bear a proportion of the public burdens. Some writers on 
 political economy are of opinion that the representation of 
 a State ought always to be equally founded on population 
 and taxation. It is my duty to believe that these are the 
 true criterions ; for my own State (South Carolina) having, 
 in her House of Representatives, 124 members, 62 of them 
 are apportioned by the white population, and 62 on taxa- 
 tion ; thus representing the contributions of our citizens in 
 every way, whether arising from services or taxes. 
 
 Before I proceed to the other parts of this question, I 
 have thus endeavored to give a new view of the subject of 
 representation in the House ; to show how much more the 
 Eastern and Northern States are represented than the South- 
 ern and Western ; how little right the former have to com- 
 plain, and how unreasonable it is, that while to continue the 
 balance of representation in the Senate, we consent to give 
 admission to Maine, to make up for Missouri, they most 
 17 
 
258 
 
 THE MISSOURI QUESTION. 
 
 unconscionably require to have both, and thus add four to 
 the number now preparing, most cruelly, to lift the arm of 
 the government against the property of the Southern and 
 Western States. 
 
 If I have succeeded, as I hope I have, in proving the un- 
 reasonableness of the complaints of the Eastern and North- 
 ern States on the subject of representation, it would, I sup- 
 pose, appear extraordinary to the people of this nation that 
 this attempt should now be made, even if Congress should 
 be found to possess the right to legislate or interfere in it. 
 But if, in addition to this, it should be in my power to show 
 that they have not the most distant right to interfere,' or to 
 legislate at all upon the subject of slavery, or to admit a 
 State in any way whatever except on terms of perfect 
 equality ; that they have no right to make compacts ou the 
 subject, and that the only power they have is to see that the 
 government of the State to be admitted is a republican one, 
 having legislative, executive, and judiciary powers, the rights 
 of conscience, jury, a habeas corpus, and all the great lead- 
 ing principles of our republican systems, well secured, and to 
 guarantee them to it : if I shall be able to do this, of course 
 the attempt must fail, and the amendment be rejected. 
 
 The supporters of the amendment contend that Congress 
 have the right to insist on the prevention of involuntary 
 servitude in Missouri ; and found the right on the ninth 
 section of the first article, which says, “ the migration or 
 importation of such persons as the States now existing may 
 think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Con- 
 gress prior to the year 1808 , but a tax or duty may be im- 
 posed on such importation not exceeding ten dollars.” 
 
 In considering this article, I will detail, as far as at this 
 distant period is possible, what was the intention of the 
 Convention that formed the Constitution in this article. 
 The intention was, to give Congress a power, after the year 
 1808 , to prevent the importation of slaves either by land or 
 
THE MISSOURI QUESTION - . 
 
 259 
 
 water from other countries. The word import, includes 
 both, and applies wholly to slaves. Without this limita- 
 tion, Congress might have stopped it sooner under their 
 general power to regulate commerce ; and it was an agreed 
 point, a solemnly understood compact, that, on the Southern 
 States consenting to shut their ports against the importa- 
 tion of Africans, no power was to be delegated to Congress, 
 nor were they ever to be authorized to touch the question of 
 slavery ; that the property of the Southern States in slaves 
 was to be as sacredly preserved, and protected to them, as 
 that of land, or any other kind of property in the Eastern 
 States were to be to their citizens. 
 
 The term, or word, migration, applies wholly to free 
 whites ; in its constitutional sense, as intended by the 
 Convention, it means “voluntary change of servitude,” 
 from one country to another. The reasons of its being 
 adopted and used in the Constitution, as far as I can recol- 
 lect, were these : that the Constitution being a frame of 
 government, consisting wholly of delegated powers, all 
 power, not expressly delegated, being reserved to the people 
 or the States, it was supposed, that, without some express 
 grant to them of power on the subject, Congress w’ould not 
 be authorized ever to touch the question of migration hither, 
 or emigration to this country, however pressing or urgent 
 the necessity for such a measure might be ; that they could 
 derive no such power from the usages of nations, or even 
 the laws of war; that the latter would only enable them to 
 make prisoners of alien enemies, which would not be suffi- 
 cient, as spies or other dangerous emigrants, who were not 
 alien enemies, might enter the country for treasonable pur- 
 poses, and do great injury ; that, as all governments pos- 
 sessed this power, it was necessary to give it to our own, which 
 could alone exercise it, and where, on other and much 
 greater points, we had placed unlimited confidence ; it was, 
 therefore, agreed that, in the same article, the word migra- 
 
260 
 
 THE MISSOURI QUESTION. 
 
 tion should be placed ; and that, from the year 1808, Con- 
 gress should possess the complete power to stop either or 
 both, as they might suppose the public interest required ; 
 the article, therefore, is a negative pregnant, restraining for 
 twenty years, and giving the power after. 
 
 The reasons for restraining the power to prevent migra- 
 tion hither for twenty years, were, to the best of my recol- 
 lection, these : That as, at this time, we had immense and 
 almost immeasurable territory, peopled by not more than 
 two millions and a half of inhabitants, it was of very great 
 consequence to encourage the emigration of able, skillful, 
 and industrious Europeans. The wise conduct of William 
 Penu, and the unexampled growth of Pennsylvania, were 
 cited. It was said, that the portals of the only temple of 
 true freedom now existing on earth should be thrown open 
 to all mankind ; that all foreigners of industrious habits 
 should be welcome, and none more so than men of science, and 
 such as may bring to us arts we are unacquainted with, or the 
 means of perfecting those in which we are not yet sufficiently 
 skilled — capitalists whose wealth may add to our commerce 
 or domestic improvements ; let the door be ever and most 
 affectionately open to illustrious exiles and sufferers in the 
 cause of liberty ; in short, open it liberally to science, to 
 merit, and talents, wherever found, and receive and make 
 them your own. That the safest mode would be to pursue 
 the course for twenty years, and not, before that period, put 
 it at all into the power of Congress to shut it ; that, by that 
 time, the Union would be so settled, and our population 
 would be so much increased, we could proceed on our own 
 stock, without the farther accession of foreigners ; that as 
 Congress were to be prohibited from stopping the importa- 
 tion of slaves to settle the Southern States, as no obstacle 
 was to be thrown in the way of their increase and settle- 
 ment for that period, let it be so with the Northern and 
 Eastern, to which, particularly New York and Philadelphia, 
 
THE MISSOURI QUESTION. 
 
 261 
 
 it was expected most of the emigrants would go from 
 Europe : and it so happened, for, previous to the year 1808, 
 more than double as many Europeans emigrated to these 
 States, as of Africans were imported into the Southern 
 States. 
 
 I have, sir, smiled at the idea of some gentlemen, in sup- 
 posing that Congress possessed the power to insert this 
 amendment, from that which is given in the Constitution to 
 regulate commerce between the several States ; and some 
 have asserted, that under it, they not only have the power to 
 inhibit slavery in Missouri, but even to prevent the migra- 
 tion of slaves from one State to another — from Maryland to 
 Virginia. The true and peculiarly ludicrous manner in which 
 a gentleman from that State lately treated this part of the 
 subject, will, no doubt, induce an abandonment of this pre- 
 tended right ; nor shall I stop to answer it until gentlemen 
 can convince me that migration does not mean change of 
 residence from one country or climate to another, and that 
 the United States are not one country, one nation, or one 
 people. If the word does mean as I contend, and we are 
 one people, I will then ask how it is possible to migrate 
 from one part of a country to another part of the same 
 country ? Surely, sir, when such straws as these are caught 
 at to support a right, the hopes of doing so must be slender 
 indeed. I will only mention here, as it is perfectly within 
 my recollection, that the power was given to Congress to 
 regulate the commerce by water between the States ; and it 
 being feared, by the Southern, that the Eastern would, when- 
 ever they could, do so to the disadvantage of the Southern 
 States, you will find, in the 6th section of the 1st article, 
 Congress are prevented from taxing exports, or giving 
 preference to the ports of one State over another, oi 
 obliging vessels bound from one State to clear, enter, oi 
 pay duties in another; which restrictions, more clearly than 
 
262 
 
 THE MISSOURI QUESTION. 
 
 anything ;lse, prove what the power to regulate commerce 
 among th 3 several States means. 
 
 The gentlemen, being driven from these grounds, come 
 then to what they call their great and impregnable right — . 
 that, under the third section -of the fourth article, it is 
 declared, new States may be admitted into this Union by 
 the Congress ; and that, by the latter clause of the same 
 section, the Congress shall have power to dispose of, and 
 make all needful rules and regulations, respecting the terri- 
 tory or other property belonging to the United States. 
 
 By the first clause they contend, that Congress has an 
 ample and unlimited command over the whole subject; that 
 they can reject the admission of a State altogether, or can 
 admit one, and impose such conditions, or make such com- 
 pacts with a State as they may please ; and that, unless a 
 State accepts the offers they may make, they may refuse her 
 admission. Let us first inquire what the laws of nations 
 call a State. Yattel says, “Nations or States are bodies 
 politic : societies of men united together to procure their 
 mutual safety and advantage by means of their union. Such 
 a society has its affairs and interests ; it deliberates and 
 resolves in common, and thus becomes a moral person, hav- 
 ing an understanding and a will peculiar to itself, and is 
 susceptible of obligations and laws.” This is what he calls 
 a State. What do we call one ? A territory inhabited by 
 a people living under a government formed by themselves, 
 which government possesses, in a republican form, all the 
 legislative, executive, and judiciary powers necessary to the 
 protection of the lives, liberties, characters and properties 
 of their citizens, or which they can exercise for their benefit, 
 and have not delegated to the general government, for the 
 common defense and general welfare of a union, composed 
 of a number of States, whose rights and political powers are 
 all perfectly equal ; that, among these, one of the most im- 
 portant is, that of deciding for themselves what kind of per- 
 
THE MISSOURI QUESTION. 
 
 263 
 
 sons shall inhabit their country, no others being either so 
 capable or fit to judge on this very important point as 
 respects their private happiness as themselves, as they alone 
 are either to suffer or benefit from the injudicious or wise 
 choice they may make ; that as the other States possess 
 completely this power, Missouri has the same right ; that, 
 if she was inclined, she could not give to Congress the right 
 to decide for her, nor could the latter accept it ; that all the 
 inhabitants of Missouri being against the prohibition, to 
 insist on it, is to entirely put it out of her power to enter 
 the Union, and to keep her in a state of colonial tyranny ; 
 that, if you can exercise this right, where will you stop ? 
 May you not dictate to her the nature of the government 
 she shall have ? may you not give her a plural executive, a 
 legislature for six and judges for one year ? If you say 
 there shall be no slavery, may you not say there shall be no 
 marriage ? may you not insist on her being different in 
 every respect from the others ? Sir, if you are determined 
 to break the Constitution in this important point, you may 
 even proceed to do so in the essences of the very form you 
 are bound to guarantee to them. Instead of endeavoring to 
 lessen or injure the force and spirit of the State govern- 
 ments, every true friend of his country ought to endeavor, 
 as far as he can, to strengthen them ; for, be assured, it 
 will be to the strength and increase of our State govern- 
 ments, more than any other, that the American Republic 
 will owe its firmness and duration. 
 
 The people of Europe, from their total ignorance of our 
 country and government, have always augured that its great 
 extent, when it came to be thickly peopled, would occasion 
 its separation ; this is still the opinion of all, and the hope 
 of many there ; whereas, nothing can be more true in our 
 politics than that, in proportion to the increase of the State 
 governments, the strength and solidity of the federal 
 Government are augmented ; so that with twenty or twenty- 
 
264 
 
 THE MISSOURI QUESTION. 
 
 two governments, we shall be much more secure from dis- 
 union than with twelve, and ten times more so than if we 
 were a single or consolidated one. By the individual Stales 
 exercising, as they do, all the powers necessary for munici- 
 pal or individual purposes — trying all questions of property, 
 and puuishing all crimes not belonging, in either case, to 
 the federal courts, and leaving the general government at 
 leisure and in a situation solely to devote itself to the exer- 
 cise of the great powers of war and peace, commerce, and 
 our connections with foreigners, and all the natural authori- 
 ties delegated by the Constitution, it eases them of a vast 
 quantity of business that would very much disturb the 
 exercise of their general powers. Nor is it clear that any 
 single government, in a country so extensive, could transmit 
 the full influence of the laws necessary to local purposes 
 through all its parts ; whereas, the State governments, 
 having all a convenient surrounding territory, exercise these 
 powers with ease, and are always at hand to give aid to 
 the federal tribunals and officers placed among them to 
 execute their laws, should assistance be necessary. Another 
 great advantage is, the almost utter impossibility of erect- 
 ing among them the standard of faction, to any alarming 
 degree, against the Union, so as to threaten its dissolution, 
 or produce changes in any but a constitutional way. It is 
 well known that faction is always much more easy and 
 dangerous in small than large countries ; and, when we con- 
 sider that, to the security afforded by the extent of our 
 territory are to be added, the guards of the State legisla- 
 tures, which being selected as they are, and always the most 
 proper organs of their citizens’ opinions as to the measures 
 of the general government, stand as alert amd faithful sentinels 
 to disapprove, as they did in the times that are past, such acts 
 as appear impolitic or unconstitutional, orto approve and sup- 
 port, as they have frequently done since, such as were patri- 
 otic or praiseworthy. With such guards it is impossible fur 
 
THE MISSOURI QUESTIONS 
 
 2G5 
 
 any serious opposition to be made to the federal government 
 on slight or trivial grounds ; nor, through such an extent of 
 territory or number of States, would any but the most tyran- 
 nical or corrupt acts claim serious attention ; and, whenever 
 they occur, we can always safely trust to a sufficient number 
 of the States arraying themselves in a manner to produce 
 by their influence the necessary reforms in a peaceable and 
 legal mode. With twenty-four or more States it will be 
 impossible, sir, for four or five States, or any comparatively 
 small number, ever to threaten the existence of the Union. 
 They will be easily seen through by the other eighteen or 
 twenty, and frowned into insignificancy and submission to 
 the general will, in all cases where the proceedings of the 
 federal government are approved by them. And, even in 
 cases where doubts may arise as to the wisdom or policy of 
 their measures, all factious measures will be made to wait 
 constitutional redress in the peaceable manner prescribed 
 by the Constitution. 
 
 Without the instrumentality of the States, in a country 
 so large and free, and with their government at a great dis- 
 tance from its extremities, there would be considerable 
 danger of faction ; but at present there is very little, and, 
 as the States increase, the danger will lessen; and it is this 
 admirable expanding principle or system, if I may use the 
 term, which, while it carries new States and governments 
 into our forests, and increases the population and resources 
 of the Union, must unquestionably, at the same time, add 
 to its means to resist and repress with ease all attacks of 
 foreign hostility or domestic faction. It is this system, 
 which is not at all understood in Europe and too little 
 among ourselves, that will long keep us a strong and united 
 people ; nor do I see any question, but the one which 
 respects slavery, that can ever divide us. 
 
 The question being the admission of a new State, I hope 
 these remarks will be considered as in point, as they go to 
 
266 
 
 THE MISSOURI QUESTION 
 
 show the importance of the State governments, and how 
 really and indeed indispensably they are the pillars of the 
 federal government, and how anxious we should be to 
 strengthen and not to impair them, to make them all the 
 strong and equa. supporters of the federal system. 
 
 With respect to Louisiana, Congress have already, by 
 their acts, solemnly ratified the treaty which extends to all 
 the States, created out of that purchase, the benefits of an 
 admission into the Union on equal terms with the old 
 States ; they gave to Louisiana first, and afterwards to 
 Missouri and Arkansas, territorial governments, in all of 
 which they agreed to the admission of slaves. Louisiana 
 was incorporated into the Union, allowing their admission; 
 Missouri was advanced to the second grade of territorial 
 government, without the prohibition of slavery : thus, for 
 more than sixteen years, Missouri considered herself pre- 
 cisely in the situation of her sister Louisiana, and many 
 thousands of slaves have been carried by settlers there. 
 To deny it then, now, will operate as a snare, unworthy the 
 faith of this government. What is to be done ? Are the 
 slaves now there to be manumitted, or their masters obliged 
 to carry them away, break up all their settlements, and, in 
 this unjust and unexpected manner, to be hurled into ruin ? 
 If w r e are to pay no respect to the Constitution, or to 
 treaties, are we to pay no respect to our own laws, by which 
 the faith of the nation has, for sixteen years, been solemnly 
 pledged, that no prohibition would take place, as to slavery, 
 in those States ? I have said so much, to show how im- 
 portant it is to the firmness and duration of the American 
 Union, to preserve the States and their government in the 
 full possession of all the rights secured by the Constitution. 
 ****** 
 
 Having thus, I trust, proved clearly that you have no 
 right to adopt this inhibition of slavery, but are forbid to 
 do so by the Constitution, as well as by the treaty, I ought 
 perhaps to stop here ; but there are some other points 
 
THE MISSOURI QUESTION. 
 
 267 
 
 which I ought not to pass unnoticed. One of these is the 
 ordinance of July, 1787, passed by the old Congress, at the 
 period of the sitting of the Convention in Philadelphia, 
 for forming the Constitution, by which that body (the old 
 Congress) undertook to form a code for the future settle- 
 ment, government, and admission into the Union, of all the 
 Territory northwest of the river Ohio, ceded by Virginia 
 to the United States in 1785 ; which cession has so often 
 been read to the House in this discussion. On this subject, 
 I beg leave to remark that, by the confederation of the 
 United States, the old Congress had no power whatever 
 but that of admitting new States, provided nine States 
 assented. By this, it is most unquestionable, that no num- 
 ber of States under nine had any right to admit new 
 States. Of course, it was the intention of the confedera- 
 tion that, on so important a measure as the establishment 
 of governments for, and the admission of, new States, 
 Congress should never possess the power to act, un- 
 less nine States were represented in that body at the 
 time of their doing so. This ordinance, therefore, in pre- 
 scribing the forms of government, as they respected legisla- 
 tive, executive, and judiciary powers, in establishing bills 
 of rights, and times and terms of their admission into the 
 Union, and inhibiting servitude therein, is chargeable with 
 ingratitude and usurpation. It is chargeable with ingrati- 
 tude, when we reflect that the cession of the great tract of 
 country — this rising empire of freemen — was gratuitously, 
 and with noble disinterestedness and patriotism, made by 
 Virginia, that the passing of an ordinance which contained 
 a provision which could not but go to prevent the admission 
 of Virginians there, as they could not move there with 
 their slaves, was a most ungracious and ungrateful return 
 to that State for her liberality, and could not but meet with 
 the disapprobation of this nation. 
 
 I have already mentioned the reasons to show, that uu* 
 
268 
 
 THE MISSOURI QUESTION. 
 
 less they had nine States present, the old Congress iad 
 no power to admit new States, and of course no power to 
 prescribe the forms of government, bills of rights, or 
 terms or times of admissions, benefits, or exclusions, with a 
 less number than nine. 
 
 If there were not other strong reasons attending the 
 passing this ordinance, those already mentioned are suffi- 
 cient to show that it is a nullity ; that it never had or could 
 have had a binding force ; that the present Congress has 
 not any constitutional right to confirm that part of it 
 which respects the exclusion of involuntary servitude from 
 that Territory; and that the States of Ohio and Indiana, 
 add Illinois, having by their constitutions voluntarily ex- 
 cluded it, possess the power whenever they please to alter 
 their constitutions, and admit servitude in any way they 
 think proper. 
 
 Let us, sir, recollect the circumstances the old Congress 
 were in at the time they passed this ordinance : they had 
 dwindled almost to nothing; the Convention had then been 
 three months in session ; it was universally known a Con- 
 stitution was in its essentials agreed to : and the public 
 were daily expecting (what soon happened) the promulga- 
 tion of a new form of government for the Union. I ask, 
 sir, was it, under these circumstauce, proper for a feeble, 
 dwindled body, that had wholly lost the confidence of the 
 nation, and which was then waiting its suppression by the 
 people — a feeble, inefficient body, in which only seven or 
 eight States were represented, the whole of which consisted 
 of but seventeen or eighteen men — a number smaller than 
 your large committees ; a body literally in the very agonies of 
 political death ; — was it, sir, even decent in them (not to say 
 lawful or constitutional) to have passed an ordinance of such 
 importance ? I do not know or recollect the names of the 
 members who voted for it, but it is to be fairly presumed 
 they could uot have been among the men who possessed tin 
 
THE MISSOURI QUESTION. 
 
 269 
 
 greatest confidence of the Union, or at that very time 
 they would have been members of the Convention sitting at 
 Philadelphia. But I am perhaps taking up your time 
 unnecessarily on this subject, and I shall proceed to others. 
 
 A great deal has been said on the subject of slavery — 
 that it is an infamous stain and blot on the States that 
 hold them ; not only degrading the slave, but the master, 
 and making him unfit for republican government ; that it 
 is contrary to religion and the law of God ; and that Con- 
 gress ought to do every thing in their power to prevent its 
 extension among the new States. 
 
 Now, sir, I should be glad to know how any man is ac- 
 quainted with what is the will or the law of God on this 
 subject. Has it ever been imparted either to the old or 
 new world? Is there a single line in the Old or New Tes- 
 tament, either censuring or forbidding it ? I answer with- 
 out hesitation, no. But there are hundreds speaking of and 
 recognizing it. Hagar, from whom millions sprang, was an 
 African slave, bought out of Egypt by Abraham, the father 
 of the faithful and the beloved servant of the Most High ; 
 and he had, besides, three hundred and eighteen male 
 slaves. The Jews in the time of the theocracy, and the 
 Greeks and Romans, had all slaves ; at that time there was 
 no nation without them If we are to believe that this 
 world was formed by a great and omnipotent Being ; that 
 nothing is permitted to exist here but by his will, and then 
 throw our eyes throughout the whole of it, we should form 
 an opinion very different indeed from that asserted, that 
 slavery was against the law of God. 
 
 Let those acquainted with the situation of the people of 
 Asia and Africa, where not one man in ten can be called a 
 freeman, or whose situation can be compared with the com- 
 forts of our slaves, throw their eyes over them, and carry 
 them to Russia, and f'om the north to the south of Europe, 
 where, except Great Britain, nothing like liberty exists. 
 
270 
 
 THE MISSOURI QUESTION. 
 
 Let them view the lower classes of their inhabitants, by far 
 the most numerous of the whole; the thousands of beggars 
 that infest their streets, more than half starved, half naked, 
 and in the most wretched state of human degradation. Let 
 him then go to England; the comforts, if they have any, of 
 the lower classes of whose inhabitants are far inferior to 
 those of onr slaves. Let him, when there, ask of their 
 economists, what are the numbers of millions daily fed by 
 the hand of charity ; and, when satisfied there, then let him 
 come nearer home, and examine into the situation of the 
 free negroes now resident in New York and Philadelphia, 
 and compare them with the situation of our slaves, and he 
 will tell you that, perhaps, the most miserable and degraded 
 state of human nature is to be found among the free negroes 
 of New York and Philadelphia, most of whom are fugitives 
 from the Southern States, received and sheltered in those 
 States. I did not go to New York, but I did to Philadel- 
 phia, and particularly examined this subject while there. 
 I saw their streets crowded with idle, drunken negroes, at 
 every corner; and, on visiting their penitentiary, found, to 
 my astonishment, that, out of five hundred convicts there 
 confined, more than one-half were blacks ; and, as all the 
 convicts throughout that State are sent to that penitentiary, 
 and, if Pennsylvania contains eight hundred thousand white 
 inhabitants, and only twenty-six thousand blacks, of course 
 the crimes and vices of the blacks in those States are, com- 
 paratively, tw’enty times greater than those of the whites in 
 the same States, and clearly proves that a state of freedom 
 is one of the greatest curses you can inflict on them. 
 
 From the opinions expressed respecting the Southern 
 States and the slaves there, it appears to me most clear, 
 that the members on the opposite side know nothing of the 
 Southern States, their lands, products, or slaves. Those 
 who visit us, or go to the southward, find so great a diffe- 
 rence that many of them remain and settle there I per- 
 
THE MISSOURI QUESTION. 
 
 271 
 
 fectly recollect when, in 1791, General Washington visited 
 South Carolina, he was so surprised at the richness, order, 
 and soil of our country, that he expressed his great as- 
 tonishment at the state of agricultural improvement and 
 excellence our tide-lands exhibited. He said, he had no 
 idea the United States possessed it. Had I then seen as 
 much of Europe as I have since, I would have replied to 
 him, that he would not see its equal in Europe. Sir, when 
 we recollect that our former parent State was the original 
 cause of introducing slavery iuto America, and that neither 
 ourselves uor ancestors are chargeable with it ; that it cannot 
 be got rid of without ruining the country, certainly the pre- 
 sent mild treatment of our slaves is most honorable to that 
 part of the country where slavery exists. Every slave has 
 a comfortable house, is well fed, clothed, and taken care 
 of; he has his family about him, and in sickness has the 
 same medical aid as his master, and has a sure and com- 
 fortable retreat in old age, to protect him against its in- 
 firmities and weakness. During the whole of his life he is 
 free from care, that canker of the human heart, which 
 destroys at least one-half of the thinking part of mankind, 
 and from which a favored few, very few, if indeed any, can 
 be said to be free. Being without education, and born to 
 obey, to persons of that description moderate labor and dis- 
 cipline are essential. The discipline ought to be mild, but 
 still, while slavery is to exist, there must be discipline. In 
 this state they are happier than they can possibly be if free. 
 A free black can only be happy where he has some share 
 of education, and has been bred to a trade, or some kind 
 of business. The great body of slaves are happier in their 
 present situation than they could be in any other, and the 
 man or men who would attempt to give them freedom 
 would be their greatest enemies. 
 
 All the writers who contend that the slaves increase 
 faster than the free blacks, if they assert what is true, prove 
 
272 
 
 THE MISSOURI QUESTION. 
 
 that the black, when in the condition of a slave, is happier 
 than when free, as, in proportion to the comfort xnd happi- 
 ness of any kind of people, such will be the increase ; and 
 the next census will show what has been the increase of 
 both descriptions, free and slave, and will, I think, prove 
 the truth of these opinions. 
 
 In this discussion the question as to the purchase of 
 Louisiana has been introduced, and gives me an opportunity 
 to state my opinion on the subject. So far as my knowledge 
 of the facts, preceding that purchase, enable me to form an 
 opinion, I pronounce that Mr. Jefferson, in planning the 
 purchase, and the gentlemen who were employed in nego- 
 tiating it, covered themselves with glory. The facts that 
 preceded that purchase were these: In the year 1186, 
 Spain despatched a Minister, named Gardoqui, to this 
 country, instructed to offer to form with us a treaty of 
 commerce, which she said was an advantageous one, if 
 we would, in the same treaty, consent to give up the navi- 
 gation of that part of the river Mississippi which ran 
 through the Spanish dominions. This, sir, I asserted 011 
 this floor some days ago, and now repeat, that, on this 
 treaty being, according to the then routine of business, 
 referred to Mr. Jay, then Secretary for Foreign Affairs, he 
 did, to the best of my recollection, report that it would, in 
 his opinion, be expedient to adopt it ; that seven, all of the 
 Eastern and Northern States, did vote for it, but that, owing 
 to the Confederation requiring that nine States should be 
 necessary to form a treaty, it was at length defeated. If 
 any part of the public business in this country, in which I 
 have been engaged, ever gave me more pleasure than others, 
 it was the agency I had, in association with an honorable 
 gentleman, now high in office, and in Washington, in pre- 
 venting it. I believe I may venture to say, that it was 
 owing to us the whole of the Western country now belongs 
 to us, and that the Mississippi now flows through American 
 
THE MISSOURI QUESTION 1 . 273 
 
 lands, and that the American flag now waves alone on her 
 waters. I, therefore, have always felt more than a frater- 
 nal — I have felt, sir, a paternal love for this country. Nor, 
 sir, is this the only important agency I have had in *he 
 affairs of this very valuable part of our Union. It will be 
 remembered that, in the year 1802, the Intendant of New 
 Orleans issued a proclamation, shutting that port to the 
 further reception and deposit of American produce, under 
 the treaty of 1795, and that, on his doing so, a ferment was 
 excited throughout the Union, of the most alarming nature ; 
 that war was called for, both in the Senate and out of doors, 
 which it was difficult for all the prudence and love of peace 
 of the President to repress. Being, at that time, the 
 Minister of the United States in Spain, I received instruc- 
 tions from our government to use every exertion in my 
 power, consistent with its dignity, to get the deposit 
 restored, which I fortunately did, and this affair led to the 
 acquisition of both the river and whole country in the man- 
 ner you know. At the time I went to Europe, I was alone 
 commissioned and authorized to treat for, and purchase, all 
 the part of Louisiana, including New Orleans, to the east 
 of the Mississippi and the Floridas ; but, on arriving in 
 Europe, I found Louisiana had been previously secretly 
 sold to Bonaparte, of which I informed Mr. Jefferson, and 
 lie took the measures which accomplished the purpose. 
 
 In pursuing the arguments of some gentlemen on this 
 subject, I have omitted to notice one of their arguments 
 springing from that part of the third section of the fourth 
 article, wffiich says, “the Congress shall have the power to 
 make all needful rules and regulations respecting the ter- 
 ritory, or other property belonging to the United States,” 
 because this article certainly refers only to the territorial 
 state, to which I have already referred, and in which, I do 
 not hesitate to aver, that, in making such regulations for 
 the government of the territory, they are no more author- 
 18 
 
274 
 
 THE MISSOURI QUESTION. 
 
 ized to inhibit slavery in the territory, than they are in the 
 State — for, if they should have the power, it would in- 
 directly effect the same thing ; it not being difficult to see, 
 that, when a territory has been, like Missouri, for sixteen 
 years in a strict state of territorial discipline, prohibiting 
 slavery, when the period arrives for her admission as a 
 State, she will be peopled entirely by inhabitants not having 
 slaves, and who will, of course, insert the prohibition in 
 their constitution. 
 
 It ought to be remembered, Mr. Chairman, that the great- 
 est part of the debt due for Louisiana is still unpaid, and 
 that, if the mode I have asserted, by which your treasury 
 is now furnished, and must be in future, is true, then the 
 slaveholding States will have more than half of the pur- 
 chase to pay ; but, suppose we have only one-half of it to 
 pay, is it not fair, is it not just, that the use of this purchase 
 should be as open to the inhabitants of the slaveholding, 
 as to the inhabitants of the non-slaveholding States ? And 
 how can this happen, if you say to the inhabitants of the 
 Northern States, you may go there with your families, and 
 all your properties ; but, if you, from the Southern or 
 slaveholding States, choose to go there, it must be with- 
 out your slaves, these shall not go ? thus denying to these 
 the instruments of their agriculture, and the means of their 
 comfort, and completely preventing the possibility of their 
 removing. From this, sir, will arise another evil, that of 
 the fall of the value of all the lands the United States may 
 have to sell in the Territories or States from which slavery 
 is excluded, at least one-half, which, if the computations of 
 the number of acres come any thing near the mark, must 
 amount to at least six hundreds of millions of dollars to the 
 common treasury. 
 
 I have not condescended to notice the remark, that one 
 of the evils of slavery is, the lessening and depreciating the 
 character of the whites in the slaveholding States, and ren- 
 
THE MISSOURI QUESTION. 
 
 275 
 
 deriug it less manly and republican, and less worthy, than 
 in the non-slaveholding States, because it is not less decor- 
 ous than true ; it is refuted in a moment by a review of the 
 revolutionary, and particularly the last war. Look into 
 your histories, compare the conduct of the heroes and states- 
 men of the North and South, in both those wars, in the field 
 and in the Senate ; see the monuments of valor, of wisdom, 
 and patriotism, they have left behind them, and then ask an 
 impartial world, on which side the Delaware lies the pre- 
 ponderance : they will answer in a moment, to the South. 
 
 It will not be a matter of surprise to any one, that so much 
 anxiety should be shown by the slaveholding States, when 
 it is known that the alarm, given by this attempt to legis- 
 late on slavery, has led to the opinion that the very founda- 
 tions of that kind of property are shaken ; that the estab- 
 lishment of the precedent is a measure of the most alarm- 
 ing nature ; for, should succeeding Congresses continue to 
 push it, there is no knowing to what length it may be 
 carried. 
 
 Have the Northern States any idea of the value of our 
 slaves ? At least, sir, six hundred millions of dollars. If 
 we lose them, the value of the lands they cultivate will be 
 diminished in all cases one-half, and, in many, they will 
 become wholly useless, and an annual income of at least 
 forty millions of dollars will be lost to your citizens ; the 
 loss of which will not alone be felt by the non-slaveholding 
 States, but by the whole Union ; for, to whom, at present, 
 do the Eastern States most particularly, and the Eastern 
 and Northern generally, look for the employment of their 
 shipping, in transporting our bulky and valuable products, 
 and bringing us the manufactures and merchandises of 
 Europe ? Another thing, in case of these losses being 
 brought on us, and our being forced into a division, what 
 becomes of your public debt ? Who are to pay this, and 
 how will it be paid ? In a pecuniary view of this subject, 
 
276 
 
 THE MISSOURI QUESTION. 
 
 therefore, it must ever be the policy of the Eastern and 
 Northern States to continue connected with us. But, sir, 
 there is an infinitely greater call upon them, and this is the 
 call of justice, of affection, and humanity. Reposing at a 
 great distance, in safety, in the full enjoyment of all their 
 federal and State rights, unattacked in either, or in their 
 individual rights, can they, with indifference, or ought they 
 to risk, in the remotest degree, the consequences which 
 this measure may produce. These may be the division of 
 this Union, and a civil war. Knowing that whatever is 
 said here, must get into the public prints, I am unwilling, 
 for obvious reasons, to go into the description of the hor- 
 rors which such a war must produce, and ardently pray 
 that none of us may ever live to witness such an event. 
 
 If you refuse to admit Missouri without this prohibition, 
 and she refuses it, and proceeds to form a constitution for 
 herself, and then applies to you for admission, what will 
 you do ? Will you compel them by force ? By whom, or 
 by what force can this be effected ? Will the States in her 
 neighborhood join in this crusade ? Will they who, to a 
 man, think Missouri is right, and you are wrong, arm in 
 such a cause ? Can you send a force from the eastward of 
 the Delaware ? The very distance forbids it ; and distance 
 is a powerful auxiliary to a country attacked. If, in the 
 days of James II., English soldiers, under military dis- 
 cipline, when ordered to march against their countrymen, 
 contending in the cause of liberty, disobeyed the order, and 
 laid down their arms, do you think our free brethren on the 
 Mississippi will not do the same ? Yes, sir, they will 
 refuse, and you will at last be obliged to retreat from this 
 measure, and in a manner that will not add much to the 
 dignity of your government. 
 
 I cannot, on any ground, think of agreeing to a com- 
 promise on this subject. However we all may wish to see 
 Missouri admitted, as she ought, ou equal terms with the 
 
THE MISSOURI QUESTION. 
 
 277 
 
 other States, this is a very unimportant object to her, com- 
 pared with keeping the Constitution inviolate — with keeping 
 the hands of Congress from touching the question of sla- 
 very. On the subject of the Constitution, no compromise 
 ought ever to be made. Neither can any be made on the 
 national faith, so seriously involved in the treaty which gives 
 to all Louisiana, to every part of it, a right to be incorpo- 
 rated into the Union on equal terms with the other States. 
 
 Surely, sir, when we consider the public distress of this 
 country, and the necessity of union and good humor to 
 repair our finances, and place our commerce in that im- 
 proved situation which will give us some hope of the rise of 
 our products, such as may have a tendency to relieve our 
 public and private embarrassments, if we had no other 
 motives for it, certainly this should be sufficient. But, sir, 
 there is one of infinitely higher moment. Do we recollect, 
 that we are the only free republic now in existence, and 
 that, probably, such existence can only depend upon our 
 distance from Europe, and our union with our present 
 numbers ? It may safely be calculated we have two millions 
 of men, the greatest part of whom are able to bear arms. 
 
 In case of our continuing a united people, no attack 
 from Europe, a distance of four thousand miles, could ever 
 be made with the least hope of success. From the distance, 
 all Europe could not furnish either the men or the means suffi- 
 cient to divide or destroy this Union. If we continue united, 
 as we have been, in such an event, the States would so second 
 the general government, and so nerve its arm, as to put all 
 attack at defiance. But, if on this, or any other occasion, 
 this Union should unhappily divide, and from friends be- 
 come bitter and implacable enemies to each other, who shall 
 say what Europe may attempt ? Mark what they have done 
 among themselves, to subjugate France, and destroy, in that 
 part of the world, everything that has the semblance of re- 
 publicanism. Yiew the league they have formed, in which, 
 
278 
 
 THE MISSOURI QUESTION. 
 
 for the first time, all Europe is seen united as a single gov- 
 ernment, to maintain their monarchical forms. Such is, no 
 doubt, their detestation of everything like republicanism, 
 that, were the United States in Europe, where they could 
 be reached by land, I have not the smallest doubt, they 
 would long since have been attacked, and every attempt 
 made to reduce them to a monarchy. We are considered, 
 sir, as an evil example to the monarchical world. We are 
 considered as the only repository of those principles which 
 have lately appeared and flourished for a time in Europe, 
 and which it has cost them so much blood and treasure to 
 suppress ; and should our divisions, from friends to enemies, 
 ever afford them an opportunity of striking at us, with the 
 least probability of success, no doubt they will do so. 
 
 I will not trespass further on your patience, but thank 
 the committee for the honor they have done me by their 
 attention. I hope the great importance of the subject will 
 be my excuse ; and that, considering the relation in which 
 I have stood to the Western country and the Mississippi, 
 for the salvation of which, so far as means the keeping it an- 
 nexed to this Union, as I have already said, I think I may 
 claim to a gentleman, now high in office, and myself, as 
 much as any other two can claim, the happiness of being 
 the instruments, and having thus, in the early part of my 
 life, labored with success for the parent, I cannot but think 
 it a little extraordinary that I should, at this distant period, 
 be called upon to defend the right of her children. My 
 fervent wish is, that I may be able to do it with the same 
 success. 
 
 Extract from the speech of Mr. Whitman, of Massa- 
 chusetts, on the Missouri bill, which may be found in the 
 sixteenth volume of Niles’s Register. It was delivered 
 upon the occasion of a motion to apply the slavery restric- 
 tion iu the Arkansas territorial bill : 
 
THE MISSOURI QUESTION. 
 
 279 
 
 “We should consider that we have, by our common and 
 joint funds, acquired a large tract of vacant territory west 
 of the Mississippi : that it is valuable to our country, as 
 furnishing a fertile region for the citizens of our country to 
 resort to for the purpose of bettering their condition, ac- 
 quiring property, and providing for their children. The 
 two great sections of the Union — to wit, the slaveholding 
 ind non-slaveholding sections — have an equal right to its 
 enjoyment. By permitting slavery in every part of it, the 
 aon-slaveholding portion will be deprived of it ; if not en- 
 tirely, certainly in a very great degree. On the other 
 hand, if the people of the South cannot carry their slaves 
 with them when they emigrate, the benefit will be equally 
 lost to them.” 
 
 Extract from the speech of Mr. Shaw, of Massachusetts, 
 on the Missouri bill, in 1820. 
 
 “The opinion of mutual interest, is the chain which 
 binds these States together. Change this opinion, for one, 
 that a section of this country is hostile to the interest of 
 another, and distrust and jealousy ensue : make that hos- 
 tility palpable, and the Union would not last a day. The 
 slaveholding States, like the non-slaveholding States, are 
 alive to all questions that touch their property : and, how- 
 ever humiliating it may be to speak of human beings as 
 property, the Constitution and laws of our country con- 
 sider the slaves of the South as such. Any question cal- 
 culated to affect the value, or the right to this species of 
 population, could not but be regarded by our countrymen 
 of the south with the utmost jealousy. The country west 
 of the Mississippi was purchased with the joint funds of 
 the nation ; all, therefore, had a joint interest in it. But 
 the amendment proposed, by excluding slaves, absolutely 
 excluded the population of all the southern and a part of 
 the western States from that fertile domain. This fur- 
 
280 
 
 THE MISSOURI QUESTION. 
 
 nished another ground of distrust : besides, it exhibited a 
 spirit of monopoly altogether incompatible with that har- 
 mony and good will so essential in preserving the Union of 
 the States ; it created a distinction between slaveholdiii”: 
 and non-slaveholdiug States — a distinction that loses none 
 of its mischievous quality from the ability to trace it on the 
 inap of our country. Who that regards the union of the 
 States, can contemplate the feelings which the agitation of 
 this question excited, without emotion ? And who, in re- 
 flecting upon it, is not strongly reminded of the admonition 
 of the Father of his Country, to ‘ frown with indignation 
 upon the first dawnings of an attempt to array one portion 
 of the inhabitants of this country against another’? 
 
 “And, after all, what has this question to do with the 
 principle of slavery ? Our ancestors brought this unfortu- 
 nate race of beings into our country ; they have multiplied 
 to an alarming extent ; they are the property of our fellow 
 citizens, secured to them by the Constitution and law's of 
 the United States. Their number forbids the idea of gen- 
 eral emancipation. What, then, does policy require in re- 
 lation to them ? That we should prevent the increase by 
 importation, by the most rigid execution of the severest 
 penalties. This we are attempting ; and I had the pleasure 
 of voting for a law at the late session, inflicting the penalty 
 of death on any one convicted of importing a slave into the 
 United States. What does humanity demand ? That we 
 should confine them forever within the present limits of the 
 slaveholding States, or suffer the master to emigrate with 
 his slaves into western America, where, from the extent, 
 the fertility and productions of the country, they must be 
 more tenderly treated, better fed, and in all respects their 
 condition ameliorated.” 
 
 Extract from the speech of Mr. Holmes, of Massachu- 
 setts, on the Missouri bill — the same gentleman to whom 
 
THE HISSOU.RI QUESTION. 
 
 281 
 
 Jefferson addressed his celebrated letter on the Missouri 
 question : 
 
 “ But this division, (upon the question of slave terri- 
 tory,) he says, is singularly unfortunate. It is the only 
 subject in which the slaveholding States could be made to 
 unite against the rest. Are the general interests of Dela- 
 ware more united with those of Georgia than Pennsylvania ? 
 Are the interests of Ohio more coincident with Massachu- 
 setts than Kentucky ? Sir, the hopes and prospects of the 
 north and east are interwoven with the prosperity of the 
 south and west ; and yet we have armed ourselves against 
 them all. It is not with them a question of policy, of 
 political power, but of safety, peace, existence. They 
 consider it is hastening and provoking scenes of insurrec- 
 tion and massacre. Their jealousy and their sensibility are 
 roused ; and they demand what motive, what inducement, 
 you have to this ? They are answered, ‘ Humanity !’ In 
 the name of humanity, desist. She asks no such sacrifices 
 at her altar. Create jealousies, heartburnings, aud hatred 
 — set brother against brother — kindle the flames of civil 
 discord — destroy the Union — and your liberties are gone. 
 And then where will your slaves find the freedom which you 
 have proffered them at the expense of your own ?” 
 
 * * * * * * 
 
 “ New States may be admitted, and no difference is 
 authorized. The authority is to admit or not, but not to 
 prescribe conditions. What would be a fair construction 
 of this ? Surely not that Congress might hold a territory 
 in a colonial condition as long as they choose, nor that they 
 might admit a new State with less political rights than 
 another, but that the admission should be as soon as the 
 people needed, and were capable of supporting a State 
 government.'’ 1 — National Intelligencer, Feb. 19, 1820. 
 
 Mr. J. Barbour, at that time a Senator in Congress 
 from the State of Virginia, said: 
 
282 
 
 THE MISSOURI QUESTION. 
 
 “ What, then, is your power ? Simply whether you will 
 admit or refuse. This is the limit of your power. And 
 even this power is subject to control, whenever a Terri- 
 tory is sufficiently large, and its population sufficiently 
 numerous, your discretion ceases, and the obligation be- 
 comes imperious that you forthwith admit ; for I hold 
 that, according to the spirit of the Constitution, the people 
 thus circumstanced are entitled to the privilege of self- 
 government." — National Intelligencer, March 18, 1820. 
 
CHAPTER VIIL 
 
 OPINIONS OF MADISON, JEFFERSON AND HARRISON. 
 
 Mr. Madison to President Monroe. — Extracts from a let- 
 ter dated Montpelier, Feb. 23 d, 1820. 
 
 “I received yours of the 19th, on Monday. * * * * 
 The pinch of the difficulty in the case stated, seems to be in 
 words “ forever,” coupled with the interdict relating to the 
 territory north of latitude 36° 30'. If the necessary import 
 of these words be, that they are to operate as a condition 
 on future States admitted into the Union, and as a restric- 
 tion on them after admission, they seem to encounter, in- 
 directly, the arguments which prevailed in the Senate for 
 an unconditional admission of Missouri. I must conclude, 
 therefore, from the assent of the Senate to the words, after 
 the strong vote, on constitutional grounds, against the re- 
 striction on Missouri, that there is some other mode of 
 explaining them in their actual application. 
 
 As to the right of Congress, to apply such a restriction 
 during the territorial period, it depends on the clause es- 
 pecially providing for the management of those subordinate 
 establishments. 
 
 On one side it naturally occurs, that the right being given 
 from the necessity of the case, and in suspension of the 
 great principle of self-government, ought not to be ex- 
 tended further, nor continued longer, than the occasion 
 might fairly require. 
 
 On the other side, it cannot be denied that the constitu- 
 tional phrase “to all rules,” &c., as expounded by uniform 
 
 (283) 
 
284 OPINIONS OF MADISON, JEFFERSON, ETC. 
 
 practice, is somewhat of a ductile nature, and leaves much 
 to legislative discretion. The question to be decided seems 
 to be — 
 
 “ 1. Whether a territorial restriction be an assumption 
 of illegitimate power ; or, 
 
 “ 2. A misuse of legitimate power ; and if the latter only, 
 whether the injury threatened to the nation from an acqui- 
 escence in the misuse, or from a frustration of it, be the 
 greater. 
 
 “ On the first point, there is certainly room for difference 
 of opinion ; though for myself, I must own that I have always 
 leaned to the belief that the restriction was not within the 
 true scope of the Constitution. 
 
 In reply to a letter from Mr. Monroe, on the Missouri 
 question he said : “ The question to be decided seem to 
 be — 
 
 “ 1. Whether a territoral restriction be an assumption 
 of illegitimate power ; or, 
 
 “ 2 A misuse of legitimate power; and if the latter only, 
 whether the injury threatened to the nation from an acqui- 
 escence in the misuse, or from a frustration of it, be the 
 greater. 
 
 “ On the first point, there is certainly room for difference 
 of opinion ; though, for myself, I must own that I have al- 
 ways leaned in the belief that the restriction was not within 
 the true scope of the Constitution. 
 
 “ On the alternative presented by the second point, there 
 can be no room, with the cool and candid, for blame in 
 those acquiescing in a conciliatory course, the demand for 
 which was deemed urgent, and the course itself deemed not 
 irreconcilable with the Constitution. 
 
 “ This is the hasty view I have taken of the subject. I 
 am aware that I may be suspected of being influenced by 
 the habit of a guarded construction of constitutional powers; 
 and I have certainly felt all the influence that could justly 
 
OPINIONS OP MADISON, JEFFERSON, ETC. 2S5 
 
 flow from a conviction, that an uncontrolled dispersion of 
 the slaves now within the United States, was not only best 
 for the nation, but most favorable for the slaves also, both 
 as to their prospects of emancipation, and as to their con- 
 dition in the mean time.” 
 
 As to the reason of the passage of the Ordinance of l'J'8’7, 
 under the old Confederation, Mr. Madison says : — 
 
 “ I have observed, as yet, in none of the views taken of 
 the Ordinance of 118?, interdicting slavery northwest of 
 the river Ohio, an allusion to the circumstance that when it 
 passed, Congress had no authority to prohibit the importa- 
 tion of slaves from abroad ; that all the States had, and 
 some were in the full exercise of, the right to import them ; 
 and, consequently, that there was no mode in which Con- 
 gress could check the evil, but the indirect one of narrow- 
 ing the space open for the reception of slaves. 
 
 “ Had a federal authority then existed to prohibit, 
 directly and totally, the importation from abroad, can it be 
 doubted that it would have been exerted, and that a regu- 
 lation having merely the effect of preventing the interior 
 disposition of slaves actually in the United States, and crea- 
 ting a distinction among the States in the degree of their 
 sovereignty, would not have been adopted, or perhaps 
 thought of?” — Mr. Madison to Mr. Monroe, February 
 10th, 1820. 
 
 Rough draught, or notes, of President Monroe's intended 
 Veto Message, rejecting the Missouri Bill, if it had passed 
 Congress with certain restrictions, found in his hand- 
 writing, among his papers in possession of S. L. Gou- 
 verneur, Bsq. 
 
 Having fully considered the bill entitled, &c., and disap- 
 proved of it, I now return it to the in which it ori- 
 
 ginated, with my objections to the same. 
 
 That the Constitution, in providing that new States may 
 
286 OPINIONS OF MADISON, JEFFERSON, ETC. 
 
 be admitted into the Union, as is done by the third section 
 of the fourth article, intended that they should be admitted 
 with all the rights and immunities of the original States, 
 retaining, like them, all the powers as to their local govern- 
 ments, all the powers ceded to it by the Constitution. 
 
 That if conditions of a character not applicable to the 
 original States should be imposed on a new State, an ine- 
 quality would be imposed or created, lessening in degree 
 the right of State sovereignty, which would always be de^ 
 grading to such new State, and which, operating as a con- 
 dition of its admission, its incorporation would be incom- 
 plete, and would also be annulled, and such new State be 
 severed from the Union, should afterwards assume equality, 
 and exercise a power acknowledged to belong to all the ori- 
 ginal States. 
 
 That the proposed restriction to territories which are to 
 be admitted into the Union, if not in direct violation of the 
 Constitution, is repugnant to its principles, since it is 
 intended to produce an effect on the future policy of the new 
 States, operating unequally in regard to the original States, 
 injuring those affected by it, in an interest protected from 
 such injury by the Constitution, without benefiting any 
 State in the Union ; and that, in this sense, it is repugnant 
 to the generous spirit which has [“so long” erased] always 
 existed and been cherished by the several States toward 
 each other. 
 
 That the first clause of the ninth section of the first arti- 
 cle, whieh provides that “ the migration or importation of 
 such persons as any of the States now existing shall think 
 proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress 
 prior,” &c., in whatever sense the term migration or impor- 
 tation may be understood, whether as applicable to the same 
 description of persons or otherwise, confines the power of 
 Congress exclusively to persons entering the United States, 
 or who might be disposed to enter, from abroad, and pre- 
 
OPINIONS OF MADISON, JEFFERSON, ETC. 287 
 
 clndes all interference with such persons, or any other 
 persons, who had previously entered according to the laws 
 of any of the States. 
 
 That by the third section of the first article, whereby it 
 is provided that representation and direct taxes shall be ap- 
 portioned among the several States which may be included 
 within this Union, according to the whole number of free 
 persons, including those bound to service for a number of 
 years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three-fifths of all 
 other persons— [the words “the persons held in bondage ” 
 erased,] slavery, as existing under the laws of the several 
 States, [the word “ were ” erased] was not only recognized, 
 but [the word “ secured ” erased] its political existence was 
 secured to the States, which it would be unjust to the States 
 within which such persons are to deprive them of, as it would 
 be inhuman to the persons themselves. 
 
 That should the slaves be confined to the States in which 
 slavery exists, as the free people will continue to emigrate, 
 the disproportion between them will in a few years be very 
 great, and at no distant period the whole country will fall 
 into the hands of the blacks. As soon as this disproportion 
 reaches a certain State, the white population would probably 
 abandon those States to avoid insurrection and massacre. 
 What would become of the country without States ? Would 
 the general government [“ protect ” erased] support the 
 owners of slaves in their authority over them, after the 
 States individually had lost the power? — or the slaves be- 
 ing in possession of those States, and independent of their 
 owners, would the States be recognized as belonging to them, 
 and their representatives be received in Congress. 
 
 That it would be better to compel the whites to remain, 
 and the blacks to move, &c. 
 
 That slavery is not the offspring of this Revolution ; that 
 it took place in our colonial state ; that all further impor- 
 tations have been prohibited since the Revolution, under 
 
288 OPINIONS OF MADISON, JEFFERSON, ETC. 
 
 laws which are vigorously enforced ; that in our revolution 
 ary struggle, the States in which slavery existed sustained 
 their share in the common burdens, furnished their equal 
 quotas of troops, and paid their equal share of taxes ; that 
 slavery, though a national evil, is felt most sensibly by the 
 States in which it exists ; that it would be destructive to the 
 whites to confine it there, and to the blacks, as the distri- 
 bution of them over an extensive territory, and among many 
 owners, will secure them abetter treatment; that the ex- 
 tension of it to new States cannot possibly injure the old, 
 as they will claim all their rights, since no attempt can ever be 
 made, or idea entertained, of requiring them to admit slavery ; 
 that an attempt to fix on the States having slavery any 
 odium is unmerited, and would be ungenerous. 
 
 Mr. Jefferson to President Monroe. — Extract from a 
 
 letter dated Monticello, March 3 d, 1820. 
 
 “ I am indebted to you for your two letters of February 
 7th and 19th. This Missouri question, by a geographical 
 line of division, is the most portentous one I have ever 
 contemplated. * * * * is ready to risk the Union for 
 any chancp of restoring his party to power and wriggling 
 himself to the head of it ; nor is******* with- 
 out his hopes, nor scrupulous as to the means of fulfilling 
 them. I hope I shall be spared the pains of witness- 
 ing it, either by the good sense of the people, or by 
 the more certain reliance — the hand of death. On this 
 or that side of the Styx, I am ever and devotedly yours.” 
 
 In a letter, dated on the 13th of April, 1820, he says ; 
 
 “ The old schism of Federal and Republican threatened 
 nothing, because it existed in every State, and united them 
 together by the fraternism of party ; but the coincidence of 
 a marked principle, moral and political, with a geographical 
 line, once conceived, I feared, w r ould never more be oblite- 
 rated from the mind ; that it would be recurring on every 
 
OPINIONS OF JIADI30N, JEFFERSON, ETC. 289 
 
 occasion, and renewing irritations until it would kindle suck 
 mutual and mortal hatred, as to render separation prefer- 
 able to eternal discord. I have been amongst the most 
 sanguine in believing that our Union would be of long dura- 
 tion. I now doubt it much ; and see the event at no great 
 distance, and the direct consequence of this question. 
 
 On the 20th of December, 1820, he wrote thus : 
 
 “ Nothing has ever presented so threatening an aspect as 
 what is called the Missouri question. The Federalists, 
 completely put down, and despairing of ever rising again 
 under the old divisions of Whig and Tory, devised a new 
 one, of slaveholding and non-slaveholding States, which, 
 while it had a semblance of being moral, was at the same 
 time geographical, and calculated to give them ascendency 
 by debauching their old opponents to a coalition with 
 them. Moral, the question certainly is not, because the re- 
 moval of slaves from one State to another, no more than 
 their removal from one country to another, would never make 
 a slave of one human being who would not be so without it. 
 Indeed, if there be any morality in the question, it is on the 
 other side, because, by spreading them over a larger surface 
 their happiness would be increased, and the burden of their 
 future liberation lightened, by bringing a greater number 
 of shoulders under it. However, it seemed to throw dust 
 into the eyes of the people, and to fanaticize them, while to 
 the knowing ones it gave a geographical and preponderating 
 line of the Potomac and Ohio, throwing fourteen States to 
 the North and East and ten to the South and West. With 
 these, therefore, it is merely a question of power. But with 
 this geographical minority it is a question of existence ; for 
 if Congress once goes out of the Constitution to arrogate the 
 right of regulating the condition of the inhabitants of the 
 States, its majority may, and probably will declare, that the 
 condition of all within the United States shall be that of 
 freedom ; in which case all the whites south of the Potomac 
 19 
 
290 OPINIONS OF MADISON, JEFFERSON, ETC. 
 
 and the Ohio must evacuate their States, and most fortunate 
 those who can do it first.” 
 
 And in this letter, after speculating on the probable con- 
 sequence of the threatened disunion, he adds : 
 
 “ Should the scission take place, one of its most deplor- 
 able consequences would be its discouragement of the efforts 
 of European nations, in the regeneration of their oppressive 
 and cannibal governments.” 
 
 In a letter of the same date (20th of December) to the 
 Marquis de Lafayette, he prophetically shadows forth, what 
 we now see realized, with the same precision as if he were 
 the historian of to-day. 
 
 “ With us things are going well. The boisterous sea of 
 liberty, indeed, is never without a wave; and that from 
 Missouri is now rolling towards us. But we shall ride over 
 it as we have done over all others. It is not a moral ques- 
 tion, but one merely of power. Its object is to raise a geo- 
 graphical principle for the choice of a President, and the 
 noise will be kept up till that is effected. All know that 
 permitting the slaves of the South to spread into the West, 
 will not add one being to that unfortunate condition ; that 
 it will increase the happiness of those existing, and by 
 spreading them over a large surface will dilate the evil 
 everywhere, and facilitate the means of getting finally rid 
 of it.” 
 
 So thought and so wrote Jefferson, on the question which 
 divided and threatened us then, as it divides and threatens 
 us now. 
 
 Mr. Jefferson was minister to France whilst the Conven- 
 tion sat which formed the Constitution ; and Mr. Mason, at 
 whose relation he recorded this scrap of history, was a 
 member of that Convention, and it is dated at the family 
 seat of the relator, (Gunston Hall,) some four years only 
 after the event. 
 
 September 30th, 1192. 
 
 “ Ex relatione G. Mason. The 
 
OPINIONS OF MADISON, JEFFERSON, ETC. 291 
 
 Constitution, as agreed to, till a fortnight before the Con- 
 vention rose, was such an one as he would have set his hand 
 and heart to. 1. The President was to be elected for seven 
 years, then ineligible for seven years more. 2. Rotation in 
 the Senate. 3. A vote of two-thirds in the legislature on 
 particular subjects, and expressly on that of navigation. 
 The three New England States were constantly with us in 
 all questions — (Rhode Island not there, and New York 
 seldom.) So that it was these three States, with the five 
 Southern ones, against Pennsylvania, Jersey, and Delaware 
 With respect to the importation of slaves, it was left to 
 Congress. This disturbed the two southernmost States, 
 who knew that Congress would immediately suppress the 
 importation of slaves. These two States, therefore, struck 
 up a bargain with the three New England States : if they 
 would join to admit slaves for some years, the tw r o southern- 
 most States would join in changing the clause which required 
 two-thirds of the legislature in any vote. It was done. 
 These articles were changed accordingly, and from that 
 moment the two Southern States and the three Northern 
 ones joined Pennsylvania, Jersey, and Delaware, and made 
 the majority 8 to 3 against us, instead of 8 to 3 for us, as it 
 had been through the whole Convention. Under this coali- 
 tion, the great principles of the Constitution were changed 
 in the last days of the Convention.” 
 
 In a letter to Mr. Adams, dated January 22d, 1821, he 
 says : 
 
 “ Our anxieties in this quarter are all concentrated in the 
 question, What does the Holy Alliance in and out of Con- 
 gress mean to do with us on the Missouri question ? And 
 this, by the by, is but the name of the case, it is only the 
 John Doe or Richard Roe of the ejectment. The real 
 question, as seen in the States afflicted with this unfortunate 
 population, is, Are our slaves to be presented with freedom 
 and a dagger ? For if Congress has the power to regulate 
 the conditions of the inhabitants of the States, within the 
 
292 OPINIONS OF MADISON, JEFFERSON, ETC. 
 
 States, it will be but another exercise of that power to de- 
 clare that all shall be free.” 
 
 Again, in a letter to General Lafayette, dated Novem- 
 ber 4th, 1823, he uses the following striking language: 
 
 “On the eclipse of federalism with us, although not its 
 extinction, its leaders got up the Missouri question, under 
 the false front of lessening the measure of slavery, but with 
 the real view of producing a geographical division of parties, 
 which might insure them the next President. The people 
 of the North went blindfold into the snare, followed their 
 leaders for a while with a zeal truly moral and laudable, 
 until they became sensible that they were injuring instead 
 of aiding the real interests of the slaves ; that they had been 
 used merely as tools for electioneering purposes ; and that 
 trick of hypocrisy then fell as quickly as it had been got 
 up.” 
 
 General ( afterwards President ) Harrison to President 
 
 Monroe. — Extract of a Letter dated North Bend , June 
 
 16, 1823. 
 
 “ In relation to the Missouri question, I am, and have 
 been for many years, so much opposed to slavery, that I 
 will never live in a State where it exists. But I believe 
 that the Constitution has given no power to the General 
 Government to interfere in this matter, and that to have 
 slaves or no slaves, depends upon the will of the people in 
 each State alone. 
 
 “ Besides the constitutional objection, I am persuaded 
 that the obvious tendency of such interferences on the part 
 of the States which have no slaves with the property of 
 their fellow citizens of the others, is to produce a state of 
 discord and jealousy that will, in the end, prove fatal to 
 the Union. I believe in no other State are such wild and 
 dangerous sentiments entertained on this subject as in Ohio, 
 and I claim the merit of being the only person of any 
 political standing in the State who publicly oppose them.” 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 FUGITIVE SLAVES — ORDINANCE OF 1TST — THE CONSTITU- 
 TION — ACT OF 1193. 
 
 (From Benton's Thirty Tears.) 
 
 It is of record proof that the anti-slavery clause in the 
 Ordinance of 1187, could not be passed until the fugitive 
 slave recovery clause was added to it. That anti-slavery 
 clause, first prepared in the Congress of the Confederation 
 by Mr. Jefferson, in 1781, was rejected, and remained re- 
 jected for three years, until 1787 ; when, receiving the 
 additional clause for the recovery of fugitives, it was 
 unanimously passed. This is clear proof that the first 
 clause, that prohibiting slavery in the Northwest Territory, 
 could not be obtained without the second, authorizing the 
 recovery of slaves who should take refuge in that territory. 
 It was a compromise between the slave States and the free 
 States, unanimously agreed upon by both parties, and 
 founded on a valuable consideration, one preventing the 
 spread of slavery over a vast extent of country, the other 
 retaining the right of property in the slaves which might 
 flee to it. Simultaneously with the adoption of this article 
 in the Ordinances, in 1787, was the formation of the Con- 
 stitution of the United States, both formed at the same 
 time in neighboring cities, and (it maybe said) by the same 
 men. The Congress sat in New York, the Federal Con- 
 vention in Philadelphia ; and while the most active mem- 
 bers of both were members of each, as Madison and 
 Hamilton, yet, by constant interchange of opinion, the 
 members of both bodies may be assumed to have work**4 
 
 (293) 
 
294 
 
 FUGITIVE SLAVES. ETC. 
 
 together for a common object. The right to recover fugi- 
 tive slaves went into the Constitution as it went into the 
 Ordinance, simultaneously and unanimously ; and it may be 
 assumed upon the facts of the case, and all the evidence of 
 the day, that the Constitution, no more than the Ordinance, 
 could have been formed without the fugitive slave recovery 
 clause contained in it. A right to recover slaves is not 
 only authorized in the Constitution, but it is a right without 
 which there would have been no Constitution, and also no 
 anti-slavery Ordinance. 
 
 One of the early acts of Congress, as early as February, 
 1793, was a statute to carry into effect the clause in the 
 Constitution for the reclamation of fugitives from justice 
 and fugitives from labor ; and that statute made by the 
 men who made the Constitution, as interpreted by men 
 who had a right to know its meaning. That act consisted 
 of four sections, all brief and clear, and the first two applied 
 exclusively to fugitives from justice. The third and fourth 
 applied to fugitives from labor, embracing apprentices as 
 well as slaves, and applying the same rights and remedies 
 in each case : and of these two, the third alone contains 
 the whole provisions for reclaiming the fugitive — the fourth 
 merely containing penalties for the obstruction of that right. 
 The third section, then, is the only one essential to the 
 object of this chapter, and is in these words : 
 
 “ That when a person held to labor in any of the United 
 States, or in either of the territories on the northwest or 
 south of Ohio, under the laws thereof, shall escape into any 
 olherof said States or territories, the person to whom such 
 labor is due, his agent or attorney, is hereby empowered to 
 seize or arrest such fugitive from labor, and to take him or 
 her before any judge of the circuit or district courts of the 
 United States, residing or being within the State, or before 
 any magistrate of a county, city, or town corporate, wherein 
 such seizure or arrest shall be made, and upon proof to the 
 
FUGITIVE SLAVES, ETC. 
 
 295 
 
 satisfaction of such judge or magistrate, either by oral tes- 
 timony, or by affidavit taken before and certified by a 
 magistrate, of any such State or territory, that the person 
 so seized and arrested, doth, under the laws of the State or 
 territory from which he or she fled, owe service to the persons 
 claiming him or her, it shall be the duty of such judge or 
 magistrate to give a certificate thereof to such claimant, his 
 agent or attorney, which shall be sufficient warrant for 
 removing the said fugitive from labor to the State or terri- 
 tory from which he or she fled.” 
 
 This act was passed on the recommendation of President 
 Washington in consequence of a case having arisen between 
 Pennylvania and Virginia, which showed the want of an 
 act of Congress to carry the clause in the Constitution into 
 effect. It may be held to be a fair interpretation of the 
 Constitution, and by it the party claiming the service of the 
 fugitive in any State or territory had the right to seize his 
 slave whenever he saw him, and to carry him before a judicial 
 authority in the State ; and upon affidavit or oral testimony, 
 showing his right, he was to receive a certificate to that 
 effect, by virtue of which he might carry him back to the 
 State from which he had fled. This act, fully recognizing 
 the right of the claimant to seize his slave by mere virtue 
 of ownership, and then to carry him out of the State upon 
 a certificate and without a trial, was passed as good as 
 unanimously by the second Congress which sat under the 
 Constitution — the proceedings of the Senate showing no 
 division, and in the House only seven voting against the 
 bill, there being no separate votes on the two parts of it, 
 and two of these seven from the slave States (Virginia 
 and Maryland). It does not appear to what these seven 
 objected — whether to the fugitive slave sections, or those 
 which applied to fugitives from justice. Such unanimity 
 in its passage by those who helped to make the Constitu- 
 tion was high evidence in its favor; the conduct of the 
 
296 
 
 FUGITIVE SLAVES ETC. 
 
 States, and both judiciaries, State and federal, were to the 
 same effect. The act was continually enforced, and the 
 courts decided that this right of the owner to seize his 
 slave was just as large in the free State to which he had 
 fled as in the slave State from which he had run away — . 
 that he might seize, by night as well as by day, on Sunday 
 as well as other days, and also in a house, provided no 
 breach of the peace ;vas committed. The penal section in 
 the bill was clear and heavy, and weut upon the ground of 
 the absolute right of the master to seize his slave by his own 
 authority wherever he saw him, and the criminality of any 
 obstruction or resistance iu the exercise of that right. It 
 was in these words : 
 
 “That any person who shall knowingly and wilfully 
 obstruct or hinder such claimant, his agent or attorney, in 
 so seizing or arresting such fugitive from labor, or shall 
 rescue such fugitive from such claimant, his agent or 
 attorney, when so arrested pursuant to the authority here- 
 in given or declared ; or shall harbor, or conceal such 
 persons after notice that he or she was a fugitive from 
 labor as aforesaid, shall, for either of the said offenses, 
 forfeit and pay the sum of five hundred dollars, which pen- 
 alty may be recovered by aud for the benefit of such claim- 
 ant, by action of debt in any court proper to try the same, 
 saving, moreover, to the person claiming such labor or ser- 
 vice his right of action for or on account of the said injuries, 
 or either of them.” 
 
 State officers, the magistrates and judges, though not 
 bound to act under the law of Congress, yet did so ; and 
 State jails, though not obligatory under a federal law, were 
 freely used for the recaptured fugitives. This continued 
 till a late day in most of the free States — in all of them 
 until after the Congress of the United States engaged in 
 the slavery agitation — and in the great State of Pennsyl- 
 vania until the 20th March, 1847 ; this is to say, until a 
 month after Mr. Calhoun brought into the Senate the 
 
FUGITIVE SLAVES, ETC. 
 
 297 
 
 slavery resolutions, stigmatized by Mr. Benton as “ fire- 
 brand” at the moment of their introduction, and which are 
 since involving the Union in conflagration. Then Pennsyl- 
 vania passed the law forbidding her judicial authorities to 
 take cognizance of any fugitive slave case — granted a habeas 
 corpus remedy to any fugitives arrested — denying the use 
 of her jails to confine any one, and repealing the six months’ 
 slave sojourning law of 1780. 
 
 Some years before the passage of this harsh act, and 
 before the slavery agitation had commenced in Congress, to 
 wit, 1826 (which was nine years before the commencement 
 of the agitation) Pennsylvania had passed a most liberal 
 law of her own, done upon the request of Maryland, to aid 
 the recovery of fugitive slaves. It was entitled “An Act to 
 give effect to the Constitution of the United States in re- 
 claiming fugitives from justice .” Such has been the just 
 and generous conduct of Pennsylvania toward the slave 
 States until up to the passing the harsh act of 1847. Her 
 legal right to pass that act is admitted ; her magistrates 
 were not bound to act under the federal law — her jails were 
 not liable to be used for federal purposes. The sojourning 
 law of 1780 was her own, and she had a right to repeal it. 
 But the whole act of 1847 was the exercise of a mere right, 
 against the comity which is due to states united under a 
 common head, against moral and social duty, against high 
 national policy, against the spirit in which the Constitution 
 was made, against her own previous conduct for sixty years, 
 and injurious and irritating to the people of the slave States, 
 and part of it unconstitutional. The denial of the interven- 
 tion of her judicial officers, and the use of her prisons, 
 though an inconvenience, was not insurmountable, and might 
 be remedied by Congress; the repeal of the act of 1780 
 was the radical injury, and for which there was no remedy 
 in federal legislation. 
 
 That act was passed before the adoption of the Constitu- 
 
298 
 
 FUGITIVE SLAVES, ETC. 
 
 tion, and while the feelings of cordiality, good-will, and en- 
 tire justice prevailed among the States, it was allowed to 
 continue in force nearly sixty years after the Constitution 
 was made, and was a proof of good feeling toward all during 
 that time. By the terms of this act, a discrimination was 
 established between sojourners and permanent residents, 
 and the elements of time — the most obvious and easy of all 
 arbiters — was taken for the rule of discrimination. Six 
 months was the time allowed to discriminate a sojourn from 
 a residence ; and during that time the rights of the owner 
 remained complete in his slave ; after the lapse of that time, 
 his ownership ceased. This six months was equally in favor 
 of all persons. But there was further and indefinite provi- 
 sions in favor of members of Congress, and of the federal 
 government, all of whom coming from slave States, were 
 allowed to retain their ownership as long as their federal 
 duties required them to remain the States. Such an act 
 was jusi and wise, and in accordance with the spirit of comity 
 which should prevail among States formed into a Union, 
 havinga common general government, and reciprocating the 
 rights of citizenship. It is to be deplored that any event 
 ever arose to occasion a repeal of that act. It is to be 
 wished a spirit would arise to re-enact it, and that other of 
 the free States should follow the example. For there were 
 others, and several which had similar acts, and which re- 
 pealed them in like manner as Pennsylvania, uuder the same 
 unhappy influences, and with the same baleful consequences. 
 New York for example — her law of discrimination between 
 the sojourner and resident being the same in principle, and 
 still more liberal in detail than that of Pennsylvania — allow- 
 ing nine months instead of six to determine that character. 
 
 This act of New York, like that of Pennsylvania, con- 
 tinued undisturbed in the State until the slavery agitation 
 took root in Congress, and was even so well established in 
 the good opinion of thv people of that State, as late as thir- 
 
FUGITIVE SLAVE.?, ETC. 
 
 299 
 
 teen years after the commencement of that agitation, as to 
 be boldly sustained by the candidates for the highest office. 
 On this an eminent instance will be given in the canvass for 
 the governorship of the State in the year 1838. Tn that 
 year Mr. Marcy and Mr. Seward were the opposing candi- 
 dates, and an anti-slavery meeting, held at Utica, passed a 
 resolve to have them interrogated (among other things) on 
 the point of repealing the slave sojournment act. Messrs. 
 Gerrit Smith and William Jay were nominated a committee 
 for that purpose, and fulfilled their mission so zealously as 
 to rather overstate the terms of the act, using the word 
 “ importation ” as applied to the coming of these slaves with 
 their owners, thus : “Are you in favor of the repeal of the 
 law which now authorizes the importation of slaves into this 
 State, and their detention as such for the time of nine 
 months ?” Objecting to the substitution of the term im- 
 portation, and stating the act correctly, both the candidates 
 answered fully in the negative, and with reasons for their 
 opinion. The act was first in its own term, as follows : 
 
 “Any person not being an inhabitant of this State, who 
 shall be traveling to or from, or passing through this State, 
 may bring with him any person lawfully held by him in 
 slavery, and may take such person with him from this State ; 
 but the person so held in slavery shall not reside or continue 
 in the State longer than nine months, and if such residence be 
 continued beyond that time, such person shall be free.” Re- 
 plying to the interrogatory, Mr. Marcy then proceeds to 
 give his opinion and reasons in favor of sustaining the act, 
 which he does unreservedly : 
 
 By comparing this law with your interrogatory, you will 
 perceive at once that the latter implies much more than the 
 former expresses. The discrepancy between them is so 
 great, that I suspected, at first, that you had reference to 
 some other enactment which had escaped general notice. 
 As none, however, can be found but the foregoing, to 
 
300 
 
 FUGITIVE SLAVES, ETC. 
 
 which the question is in any respect applicable, there will 
 be no mistake, I presume, in assuming it to be the one you 
 had in view. The deviation, in putting the question, from 
 what would seem to be the plain and obvious course of 
 directing the attention to the particular law under con- 
 sideration, by referring to it in the very terms in which it is 
 expressed or at least in language showing its objects and 
 limitations, I do not impute to an intention to create an 
 erroneous impression as to the law, or to ascribe to it a 
 character of odiousness which it does not deserve ; yet I 
 think that it must be conceded that your question will in- 
 duce those who are not particularly acquainted with the 
 section of the statute to which it refers, to believe that 
 there is a law of this State which allows a free importation 
 of slaves into it, without restriction as to object, and with- 
 out limitation as to the persons who may do so, yet this 
 is very far from being true. This law does not permit any 
 inhabitant of this State to bring into it any person held in 
 slavery, under any pretense, or for any object whatsoever : 
 nor does it allow any person of any other State or country 
 to do so, except such person is actually passing to or from, 
 or passing through this State. This law, in its operation 
 and effect, only allows persons belonging to States or na- 
 tions where domestic slavery exists, who happen to be 
 traveling in this State, to be attended by their servants, 
 whom they lawfully hold in slavery when at home, provided 
 they do not remain within our territories longer than nine 
 months. The difference between it and the one implied by 
 your interrogatory is so manifest, that it is perhaps fair to 
 presume, that if those by whose appointment you act in this 
 matter had not misapprehended its character, they would 
 not have instructed you to make it the subject of one of 
 your questions. It is so restricted in its object, and that 
 is so unexceptionable that it can scarcely be regarded as 
 obnoxious to well-founded objections when viewed in its 
 
FUGITIVE SLAVES, ETC. 
 
 301 
 
 true light. Its repeal would, I apprehend, have an injurious 
 effect upon our intercourse with some of the other States, 
 and particularly upon their business connection with our 
 commercial emporium. In addition to this, the repeal 
 would have a tendency to disturb the political harmony 
 among the members of the confederacy, without producing 
 any beneficial result to compensate for these evils. I am 
 not therefore in favor of it.” 
 
 This is an explicit answer, meeting the interrogatory 
 with a full negative, and implicitly rebuking the phrase, 
 “importation,” by supposing it would not have been used 
 if the TJtica convention had understood the act. Mr. 
 Seward answered in the same spirit, and to the same effect, 
 only giving a little more amplitude to his excellent reason. 
 He says : 
 
 “ Does not your inquiry give too broad a meaning to the 
 section ? It certainly does not confer upon any citizen of 
 a State, or of any other country, or any citizen from any 
 other State, except the owner of slaves iu another State by 
 virtue of the laws thereof, the right to bring slaves into 
 this State or detain them here under any circumstances 
 as such. I understand your inquiry, therefore, to mean, 
 whether I am in favor of a repeal of the law which declares, 
 in substance, that any person from the Southern or south- 
 western States, who may be traveling to or from or passing 
 through the State, may bring with him and take with him 
 any person lawfully held by him in slavery in the State 
 from whence he came, provided such slaves do not remain 
 here more than nine months. The article of the Consti- 
 tution of the United States which bears upon the present 
 question, declares that no person held to service or labor in 
 one State under the laws thereof, escaping to another State, 
 shall, in consequence of any law or regulation therein, be 
 discharged from such service or labor, but such person shall 
 be delivered up rn claim of the party to whom such service 
 
302 
 
 FUGITIVE SLAVES. ETC. 
 
 or labor may be due. I understand that, in the State of 
 Massachusetts, this provision of the Constitution has been 
 decided by the courts not to include the case of a slave 
 brought by his master into the State and escaping thence. 
 But the courts of law in this State have uniformly given a 
 different construction to the same article of the Constitution, 
 and have always decided that it does embrace the case of a 
 slave brought by his master into this State, and escaping 
 from him here. Consequently, under this judicial construc- 
 tion of the Constitution, and without, and in defiance of 
 any law or regulation of this State, if the slave escape from 
 his master in this State, he must be restored to him, when 
 claimed at any time during his master’s temporary so- 
 journment, within the State, whether that sojournment 
 be six months, nine months, or longer. It is not for 
 me to say that this decision is erroneous, nor is it for our 
 legislature. Acting under its authority, they passed the 
 law to which you object, for the purpose uot of conferring 
 new powers or privileges on the slave-owner, but to prevent 
 his abuse of that which the Constitution of the United 
 States, thus expounded, secures to him. The lav/, as I 
 understood it, was intended to fix a period of time as a test 
 of transient passage through, or temporary residence in the 
 State, within the provisions of the Constitution. The 
 duration of nine months is not material in the question, and 
 if it be unnecessarily long, may and ought to be abridged. 
 But, if no such law existed, the right of the master (under 
 the construction of the Constitution before mentioned) 
 would be indefinite, and the slave must be surrendered to 
 him in all cases of traveling through or passage to or from 
 the State. If I have correctly apprehended the subject, 
 this law is one not conferring a right upon any person to 
 import slaves into the State, and hold them here as such, 
 but is an attempt at restriction upon the constilntional 
 right of the master : a qualification, or at least a definition 
 
FUGITIVE SLAVES, ETC. 
 
 303 
 
 of it, and is in favor of the slave. Its repeal, therefore, 
 would have the effect to put in greater jeopardy the class 
 of persons you propose to benefit by it. 
 
 “ While the construction of the Constitution adopted here 
 is maintained, the law it would seem ought to remain upon 
 our statute book, not as an encroachment upon the rights 
 of man but a protection for them. 
 
 “But, gentlemen, being desirous to be entirely candid in 
 this communication, it is proper I should add, that I am not 
 convinced it would be either wise, expedient or humane to 
 declare to our fellow citizens of the Southern and South- 
 western States, that if they travel to or from or pass through 
 the State of New York, they shall not bring with them the 
 attendants whom custom, or education, or habit may have 
 rendered necessary to them. I have not been able to dis- 
 cover any good object to be attained by such an act of in- 
 hospitality. It certainly can work no injury to us, nor can 
 it be injurious to the unfortunate beings held in bondage 
 to permit them, once perhaps in their lives, and at most on 
 occasions few and far between, to visit a country where 
 slavery is unknown, I can even conceive of benefits to the 
 great cause of human liberty, from the cultivation of this 
 intercourse with the South. I can imagine but one ground 
 of objection, which is, that it may be regarded as an impli- 
 cation that this State sanctioned slavery. If this objection, 
 were well grounded, I should at once condemn the law. 
 But, in truth the law does not imply any such sanction. 
 The same statute which, in necessary obedience to the Con- 
 stitution of the United States as expounded, declares 
 the exception, condemns, in the most clear and definite 
 terms, all human bondages. I will not press the considera- 
 tion flowing from the nature of our Union, and the mutual 
 concessions on which it was founded, against the propriety 
 of such an exclusion as your question contemplates, ap- 
 parently for the purpose only of avoiding an implication not 
 
304 
 
 FUGITIVE SLAVES, ETC. 
 
 founded in fact, and which the history of our State so nobly 
 contradicts. It is sufficient to say that such an exclusion 
 could have no good effect practically, and would accom- 
 plish nothing in the great cause of human liberty.” 
 
 These answers do not seem to have affected the election 
 in any way. Mr. Seward was elected, each candidate re- 
 ceiving the full vote of his party. Since that time the act 
 has been repealed, and no voice has been raised to restore 
 it. Just and meritorious as were the answers of Messrs. 
 Marcy and Seward in favor of sustaining the sojourning 
 act, their voices in favor of its restoration would be still 
 more so now. It was a measure in the very spirit of the 
 Constitution, and in the very nature of a union, and in full 
 harmony with the spirit of concession, deference, and good 
 will in which the Constitution was founded. Several other 
 States had acts to the same effect, and the temper of the 
 people in all the free States was accordant. It was not 
 until after the slavery question became a subject of political 
 agitation, in the national legislature, that these acts were 
 repealed, and this spirit destroyed. Political agitation has 
 done all the mischief. 
 
 The act of Pennsylvania, of March 3d, 1841, beside 
 repealing the slave sojournment act of 1180 — (an act made 
 in the time of Dr. Franklin, and which had been on her 
 statute book near seventy years) — beside repealing her 
 recent act of 1826, and beside forbidding the use of her 
 prisons and the intervention of her officers in the recovery 
 of fugitive slaves — beside all this, went on to make positive 
 enactment to prevent the exercise of the rights of forcible 
 recaption of fugitive slaves, as regulated by the act of 
 Congress, under the clause in the Constitution ; and for 
 that purpose contained this section. 
 
 “ That if any person or persons, claiming any negro or 
 mulatto, as fugitive from servitude or labor, shall, under any 
 pretense of authority whatever, violently and tumultuously 
 
FUGITIVE SLAVES, ETC. 
 
 305 
 
 seize upon and carry away in a riotous, violent, and tumul- 
 tuous manner, and so as to disturb and eudanger the public 
 peace, any negro or mulatto within this commonwealth, 
 either with or without the intention of taking such negro or 
 mulatto before any district or circuit judge, the person or 
 persons so offending against the peace of this common- 
 wealth shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor ; and, on 
 conviction thereof, shall be sentenced to pay a fine of not 
 less than one hundred nor more than two thousand dollars ; 
 and, further, be confined in the county jail for any period 
 not exceeding three months, at the discretion of the court.” 
 
 The granting of the habeas corpus writ to any fugitive 
 slave, completed the enactment of this statute, which thus 
 carried out, to the full, the ample intimations contained in 
 its title, to-wit : “ An act to prevent kidnapping, preserve 
 the public peace, prohibit the exercise of certain powers 
 heretofore exercised by judges, justices of the peace, alder- 
 men, and jailors within this commonwealth : and to repeal 
 certain slave laws." This act made a new starting-point 
 in the anti-slavery movements North, as the resolutions of 
 Mr. Calhoun, of the previous month, made a new starting- 
 point in the pro-slavery movements in the South. The first 
 led to the new fugitive slave recovery act of 1850; the 
 other has led to the abrogation of the Missouri Compromise 
 line ; and between the two, the state of things has been 
 produced which now afflicts and distracts the country, and 
 is working a sectional divorce of the States. 
 
 A citizen of Maryland, acting under the federal law of 
 1193, in recapturing his slave in Pennsylvania, was prose- 
 cuted under the State act of 1826, convicted, and sentenced 
 to its penalties. The constitutionality of this enactment 
 was in vain pleaded in the Pennsylvania court; but her 
 authorities acted in the spirit of deference and respect to 
 the authorities of the Union, and concurred in an “ agreed 
 case," to be carried before the Supreme Court of the United 
 20 
 
306 
 
 FUGITIVE SLAVES, ETC. 
 
 States, to test the constitutionality of the Pennsylvania 
 law. That court decided, fully and promptly, all the points 
 in the case, and to the full vindication of all the rights of a 
 slaveholder, under the recaption clause in the Constitution. 
 The points decided cover all the ground, and, besides, show 
 precisely in what particular the act of 1193 required to be 
 amended, to make it work out its complete effect under the 
 Constitution, independent of all extrinsic aid. The points 
 were these : 
 
 “The provisions of the act of February 12th, 1*793, re- 
 lative to fugitive slaves, is clearly constitutional in all 
 its leading provisions, and, indeed, with the exception of 
 that part which confers authority on State magistrates, is 
 free from reasonable doubt or difficulty. As to the autho- 
 rity so conferred on State magistrates, while a difference 
 of opinion exists, and may exist on this point, in different 
 States, whether State magistrates are bound to act under 
 it, none is entertained by the Court that State magistrates 
 may, if they choose, exercise that authority, unless forbid 
 by State legislation.” “ The power of legislation in rela- 
 tion to fugitives from labor is exclusively in the national 
 legislature. ” 
 
 “The right to seize and retake fugitive slaves, and the 
 duty to deliver them up, in whatever State of the Union 
 they may be found is, under the Constitution, recognized as 
 an absolute positive right and duty, pervading the whole 
 Union with an equal and supreme force, uncontrolled and 
 uncontrollable by State sovereignty cr State legislation. 
 The right and duty are co-extensive and uniform in remedy 
 and operation throughout the whole Union. The owner 
 has the same exemptions from State regulations and con- 
 trol, through however many States he may pass with the 
 fugitive slaves in his possession in transitu to his domicile. 
 “ The act of the legislature of Pennsylvania, on which the in- 
 dictment against Edward Prigg was founded, for carrying away 
 
FUGITIVE SLAVES, ETC. 
 
 307 
 
 a fugitive slave, is unconstitutional and void. It purports to 
 punish, as a public offense against the State, the very act 
 of seizing and removing a slave by his master, which the 
 Constitution of the United States was designed to justify 
 and uphold.” “ The constitutionality of the act of Con- 
 gress (1193) relating to fugitives from labor has been 
 affirmed by the adjudications of the State tribunal, and by 
 those of the courts of the United States.” 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 SLAVERY IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 
 
 December 12, 1831. This being the first day of the 
 session for presenting petitions, a great number were pre- 
 sented. Among others, 
 
 Mr. Adams, of Massachusetts, (ex-President of the United 
 States) presented fifteen petitions, all numerously subscribed, 
 from sundry inhabitants of Pennsylvania, all of the same 
 purport, praying for the abolition of slavery and the slave 
 trade in the District of Columbia, and moved that the first 
 of them should be read, and it was read accordingly. 
 
 Mr. A. then observed that it had doubtless been re- 
 marked that these petitions came, not from Massachusetts, 
 a portion of whose people he had the honor to represent, 
 but from the citizens of the State of Pennsylvania. He 
 had received the petitions many months ago, with a request 
 that they should be presented ; and, although the petitions 
 were not of his immediate constituents, he had not deemed 
 himself at liberty to decline presenting their petitions, the 
 transmission of which to him manifested a confidence in 
 him for which he was bound to be grateful. From a letter 
 which had accompanied these petitions, he inferred that 
 they came from members of the Society of Friends, a body 
 of men than whom there was no more respectable and 
 worthy class of citizens ; none who more strictly made their 
 lives a commentary on their professions ; a body of men 
 comprising, in his firm opinion, as much of human virtue, 
 as little of human infirmity, as any other equal number of 
 men of any denomination on the face of the globe. 
 
 The petitions, Mr. A. continued, asked for two things: 
 
 (308) 
 
SLAVERY IN THE DISTRICT C? COLUMBIA. 309 
 
 the first was the abolition of slavery ; the second, the aboli- 
 tion of the slave trade in the District of Columbia. There 
 was a traffic of slaves carried on in the District, of which lie 
 did not know but that it might be a proper subject of legis- 
 lation by Congress, and he therefore moved that the peti- 
 tion he had the honor of presenting, should be referred to 
 the committee on the affairs of the District of Columbia, 
 who would dispose of them as they, upon examination of 
 their purport, should deem proper, and might report on the 
 expediency of granting so much of the prayer of the peti- 
 tioners as referred to the abolition of the slave trade in the 
 District. 
 
 As to the other prayer of the petitioners, the abolition by 
 Congress of slavery in the District of Columbia, it had oc- 
 curred to him that the petitions might have been committed 
 to his charge under an expectation that it would receive his 
 countenance and support. He deemed it, therefore, his 
 duty to declare that it would not. Whatever might be his 
 opinion of slavery in the abstract, or of slavery in the Dis- 
 trict of Columbia, it was a subject which he hoped would 
 not be discussed in the House ; if it should be, he might 
 perhaps assign the reasons why he could give it no counte- 
 nance or support. At present, he would only say to the 
 House, and to the worthy citizens who had committed their 
 petitions to his charge, that the most salutary medicines, 
 unduly administered, became the most deadly of poisons. He 
 concluded by moving to refer the petitions to the committee 
 for the District of Columbia. 
 
 December 19, 1831. Mr. Doddridge, from the commit 
 tee for the District of Columbia, made the following report, 
 which was read and concurred in by the House : 
 
 The committee for the District of Columbia have, accord- 
 ing to order, had under their consideration the memorials 
 of sundry citizens of the State of Pennsylvania, to them re- 
 ferred, praying the passage of such law or laws by Congress, 
 
310 SLAVERY IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 
 
 as may be necessary for the abolition of slavery and the 
 slave trade within the said District, and beg leave to report 
 thereon, in part. 
 
 Considering that the District of Columbia is composed 
 of cessions of territory made to the United States by the 
 States of Virginia and Maryland, in both of which States 
 slavery exists, and the territories of which surround the Dis- 
 trict, your committee are of an opinion, that until the wis- 
 dom of State governments shall have devised some practi- 
 cable means of eradicating or diminishing the evil of slavery, 
 of which the memorialists complain, it would be unwise and 
 impolitic, if not unjust, to the adjoining States, for Congress 
 to interfere in a subject of such delicacy and importance as 
 is the relation between master and slave. 
 
 If, under any circumstances, such an interference on the 
 part of Congress would be justified, your committee a, re 
 satisfied that the present is an inauspicious moment for its 
 consideration. Impressed with these views, your committee 
 offer for the consideration of the House the following [reso- 
 lution :] 
 
 Resolved, That the committee for the District of Colum- 
 bia be discharged from the further consideration of so much 
 of the prayer of the memorialists — citizens of the State of 
 Pennsylvania asking the passage of such law or laws as may 
 be necessary for the abolition of slavery and the slave trade 
 within said District — as relates to the first of these objects, 
 the abolition of slavery within said District. 
 
 Deceviber 21, 1835, petitions for the abolition of slavery 
 in the District of Columbia, being under discussion, Hon. 
 John Quincy Adams of Massachusetts, — rose and said he 
 hoped the motion to reconsider this vote would not prevail; 
 and he expressed this hope for the very reason which the 
 gentleman from Virginia [Mr. Patton], had assigned for ! 
 voting in favor of the motion. It appears to me (said Mr. 
 A)., that the only way of getting the question from the 
 
SLAVERY IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 311 
 
 view of the House and of the nation, is to dispose of all 
 petitions on the subject in the same way. This is not a new 
 opinion ; I assumed this position in my very first act as a 
 member of this House, from the very time when I first took 
 my seat as a member of 22d Congress. At that time fifteen 
 petitions were transmitted to me, not from my own consti- 
 tuents, but from citizens of the Society of Friends in the 
 State of Pennsylvania, with a request that I should present 
 them to the House. Sir, I did so in homage to the sacred right 
 of petition — a right which, in whatever manner it may be 
 treated by other members of this House, shall never be 
 treated by me other than with respect. 
 
 But, sir, not being in favor of the object of the petitions, 
 I then gave notice to the House and to the country, that 
 upon the supposition that these petitions had been trans- 
 mitted to me under the expectation that I should present 
 them, I felt it my duty to say I should not support them. 
 And, sir, the reason which I gave at that time for declin- 
 ing to support them was precisely the same reason which 
 the gentleman from Virginia now gives for reconsidering 
 this motion — namely, to keep the discussion of the subject 
 out of the House. I said, sir, that I believed this discus- 
 sion would be altogether unprofitable to the House and to 
 the country ; but, in deference to the sacred right of 
 petition, I moved that these fifteen petitions, all of which 
 were numerously signed, should be referred to the com- 
 mittee on the District of Columbia, at the head of which 
 was, at that time, a distinguished citizen of Virginia, now, 
 I regret to say — and the whole country has occasion to re- 
 gret — no more. These petitions were thus referred, and 
 after a short period of time, the chairman of the committee 
 ou the District of Columbia made a report to this House, 
 which report was read, and unanimously accepted ; and 
 nothing more has been heard of these petitions from that 
 day to this. In taking the course I then took, I was not 
 
312 SLAVERY IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 
 
 sustained by the unanimous voice of my own constituents; 
 there were mauy among them, persons as respectable and 
 as entitled to consideration as any others, who disapproved 
 of the course I pursued on that occasion. 
 
 Attempts were made within the district I then repre- 
 sented to get up meetings of the people to instruct me to 
 pursue a different course, or to multiply petitions of the 
 same character. These efforts were continued during the 
 whole of that long session of Congress ; but, I am gratified 
 to add, without any other result than that, from one single 
 town of the district which I had the honor to represent, a 
 solitary petition was forwarded before the close df the ses- 
 sion, with a request that I would present it to the House. 
 Sir, I did present it, and it was referred to the same com- 
 mittee on the District of Columbia, and I believe nothing 
 more has been heard of it since. From the experience 
 of this session, I was perfectly satisfied that the true and 
 only method of keeping this subject out of discussion was, 
 to take that course ; to refer all petitions of this kind to the 
 committee on the District of Columbia, or some other com- 
 mittee of the House, to receive their report, and to accept 
 it unanimously. This does equal justice to all parties in 
 the country ; it avoids the discussion of this agitating ques- 
 tion on the one hand, and on the other, it pays due respect 
 to the right of the constituent to petition. 
 
 Two years afterwards, similar petitions were presented, 
 and at that time an effort made, without success, to do that 
 which has now been done successfully in one instance. An 
 effort was made to lay these petitions on the table ; the 
 House did not accede to the proposition : they referred the 
 petitions as they had been before referred, and with the 
 same result. For, from the moment that these petitions 
 are referred to the committee on the District of Columbia, 
 they all go to the family vault “ of all the Capulcts,” and you 
 will never hear of them afterwards. 
 
SLAVERY-IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 313 
 
 Extract from the speech of Hon. Silas Wright, of New 
 York, in the Senate, Jan. 19, 1836, on the subject of abol- 
 ishing slavery in the District of Columbia. 
 
 Mr. Wright said he was not to discuss the subject of 
 slavery in the abstract. He knew it, and the people of the 
 North, as a body, knew it only as it existed under the 
 Constitution of the United States, and was sanctioned by 
 it. They thought of it in that light, and in that light only, 
 so far as its existence in these States is concerned, and so far 
 as the quiet of the country and the preservation of the Union 
 are involved in any agitation of the subject. In that sense, 
 it was not a question for discussion in that body. 
 
 Neither was he to debate the question of slavery in the 
 sovereign States of this Union. The sacred and invaluable 
 compact which constitutes us one people, had not given to 
 Congress the jurisdiction over that question. It was left 
 solely and exclusively to those States, and, in his humble 
 judgment, it ought never to be debated here in any manner 
 whatever. 
 
 Mr. W. said he would go farther, and say that he did not 
 purpose to trouble the Senate with a discussion upon the 
 propriety of any action on the part of Congress in reference 
 to the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia, or in 
 regard to the constitutional power of Congress over that 
 subject. He had listened with pleasure and profit to the 
 able argument of the honorable senator froih Virginia (Mr. 
 Leigh), upon the powers of Congress, and had marked his 
 concessions of power equal to that possessed by the legisla- 
 tures of the respective States of Maryland and Virginia 
 over the same subject within those States. He had not 
 studied the question himself, because he was able to mark 
 out his own course, with perfect satisfaction to his own 
 mind, without examining either the constitutional powers 
 of Congress, or the powers of those State legislatures. He 
 was ready to declare his opinion to be, that Congress ought 
 
3 i ± SLAVERY IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 
 
 noi to act in this matter, but upon the impulse of the two 
 Stales surrounding the District, and then in a manner pre- 
 cisely graduated by the action of those States upon the same 
 subject. Had the Constitution, in terms, given to Con- 
 gress all power in the matter, this would, with his present 
 views and feelings, be his opinion of the expedient rule of 
 acMon, and entertaining this opinion, an examination into 
 tbs power to act had been unnecessary to determine his 
 voU upon the prayer of these petitions. He was ready 
 pi’OTaptly to reject their prayer, and he deeply regretted 
 that he was not permitted so to vote without debate. 
 
 Ej, tract of a speech delivered in the United States Senate, 
 by Mr. Buchanan, in 1835. 
 
 “The Constitution has, in the clearest terms, recognized 
 the right of property in slaves. It prohibits any State into 
 which a slave may have fled from passing any law to dis- 
 charge him from slavery, and declares that he shall be de- 
 livered up by the authorities of such State to his master. 
 Nay, more, it makes the existence of slavery the foundation 
 of political powers, by giving to those States within which 
 it exists representatives in Congress, not only in proportion 
 to the whole number of free persons, but also in proportion 
 to three-fifths of the number of slaves. 
 
 “ Sir, this question of domestic slavery is a weak point 
 in our institutions. Tariffs may be raised almost to pro- 
 hibition, and then they may be reduced so as to yield no 
 adequate protection to the manufacturer; our Union is 
 sufficiently strong to endure the shock. Pierce political 
 storms may arise ; the moral elements of the country may 
 be convulsed by the struggles of ambitious men for the 
 highest honors of government. The sunshine does not more 
 certainly succeed the storm than that all will again be peace. 
 Touch this question of slavery seriously — let it once be 
 made manifest to the people of the South that they cannot 
 
SLAVERY IN' THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 315 
 
 live with us, except in a state of continual apprehension and 
 alarm for their wives and their children, for all that is near 
 and dear to them upon the earth, and the Union is from that 
 moment dissolved. It does not then become a question of 
 expediency, but of self-preservation. It is a question brought 
 home to the’ fireside, to the domestic circle, of every white 
 man in the Southern States.” 
 
 OPINIONS OP MR. BENTON. 
 
 At the session of 1835, Mr. Buchanan presented to the 
 Senate the memorial of the Society of Friends, adopted at 
 their Cain quarterly meeting, requesting Congress to abol- 
 ish slavery and the slave trade in the District of Columbia. 
 
 Mr. Benton rose to express his concurrence in the sug- 
 gestion of the Senator from Pennsylvania, [Mr. Buchanan,] 
 that the consideration of this subject be postponed until 
 Monday. It had come up suddenly and unexpectedly to- 
 day, and the postponement would give an opportunity for 
 senators to reflect, and to confer together, and to conclude 
 what was best to be done, where all were united in wishing 
 the same end, namely, to allay, and not to produce excite- 
 ment. He had risen for this purpose ; but, being on his 
 feet, he would say a few words on the general subject, which 
 the presentation of these petitions had so suddenly and un- 
 expectedly brought up. 
 
 With respect to the petitioners, and those with whom 
 they acted, he had no doubt but that many of them were 
 good people, aiming at benevolent objects, and endeavoring to 
 ameliorate the condition of one part of the human race, with- 
 out inflicting calamities on another part ; but they were mis- 
 taken in their mode of proceeding ; and so far from accom- 
 plishing any part of their object, the whole effect of their 
 interposition was to aggravate the condition of those in 
 whose behalf they were interfering. 
 
 But there was another part, and he meant to speak of the 
 
316 SLAVERY IN THE DISTRICT OF COI JMBIA 
 
 abolitionists generally, as the body containing the part of 
 which he spoke ; there was another part whom he could not 
 qualify as good people, seeking benevolent ends by mistaken 
 means, but as incendiaries and agitators, with diabolical 
 objects in view, to be accomplished by wicked and deplora- 
 ble means. He did not go into the proofs now to establish 
 the correctness of his opinion of this latter class, but he pre- 
 sumed it would be admitted that every attempt to work upon 
 the passions of the slaves, and to excite them to murder 
 their owners, was a wicked and diabolical attempt, and the 
 work of a midnight incendiary. Pictures of slave degrada- 
 tion and misery, and of the white man’s luxury and cruelty, 
 were attempts of this kind ; for they were appeals to the 
 vengeance of slaves, and not to the intelligence or reason of 
 those who legislated for them. He [Mr. B.] had had many 
 pictures of this kind, as well as many diabolical publica- 
 tions, sent to him on this subject during the last summer; 
 the whole of which he had cast into the fire, and should not 
 have thought of referring to the circumstance at this time, 
 as displaying the character of the incendiary part of the 
 abolitionists, had he not, within these few days past, and 
 while abolition petitions were pouring into the other end of 
 the Capitol, received one of these pictures, the design of 
 which could be nothing but mischief of the blackest dye. It 
 was a print from an engraving, (and Mr. B. exhibited it, 
 and handed it to senators near him,) representing a large 
 and spreading tree of liberty, beneath whose ample shade a 
 slave owner was at one time luxuriously reposing, with 
 slaves fanning him : at another, carried forth in a palanquin, 
 to view the half-naked laborers in the cotton field, whom 
 drivers, with whips, were scourging to the task. The print 
 was evidently from the abolition mint, and came to him by 
 some other conveyance than that of the mail, for there was 
 no post-mark of any kind to identify its origin, and to indi- 
 cate its line of march. For what purpose could such a pic- 
 
SLAVERY IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 317 
 
 ture be intended, unless to inflame the passions of slaves ? 
 And why engrave it, except to multiply copies for extensive 
 distribution ? But it was not pictures alone that operated 
 upon the passions of the slaves ; but speeches, publications, 
 petitions presented in Congress, and the whole machinery 
 of abolition societies. None of these things went to the 
 understandings of the slaves, but to their passions, all im- 
 perfectly understood, and inspiring vague hopes, and stimu- 
 lating abortive and fatal insurrections. Societies, especially, 
 were the foundation of the greatest mischiefs. Whatever 
 might be their objects, the slaves never did, and never can, 
 understand them but in one way : as allies organized for 
 action, and ready to march to their aid on the first signal 
 of insurrection. It was thus that the massacre of San Do- 
 mingo was made. The society in Paris, Les Amis des Noirs, 
 friends of the blacks, with its affiliated societies throughout 
 Prance and in London, made that massacre. And who com- 
 posed that society ? In the beginning, it comprised the ex- 
 tremes of virtue and of vice ; it contained the best and the 
 basest of human kind. Lafayette and the Abbe Gregoire, 
 those purest of philanthropists ; and Marat, and Anacharsis 
 Cloots, those imps of hell in human shape. In the end, 
 (for all such societies run the same career of degeneration,) 
 the good men, disgusted with their associates, retired from 
 the scene, and the wicked ruled at pleasure. Declamations 
 against slavery, publications in gazettes, pictures, petitions 
 to the constituent assembly, were the mode of proceeding ; 
 and the fish women of Paris — he said it with humiliation, 
 because American females had signed the petitions now be- 
 fore us — the fish women of Paris, the very poissardes from 
 the quays of the Seine, became the obstreperous champions 
 of West India emancipation. 
 
 The effect upon the French islands is known to the world ; 
 but what is not known to the world, or not sufficiently 
 known to it is, that the same societies which wrapt in flames 
 
318 SLAVERY IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 
 
 and drenched in blood the beautiful island, which was then 
 a garden and is now a wilderness, were the means of exciting 
 an insurrection upon our continent, in Louisiana. 
 
 At the session of 1839, the slavery question being under 
 discussion in the Senate, 
 
 Mr. Benton said, I was on the subject of slavery, as 
 connected with the Missouri question, when last on the 
 floor. 
 
 The Senator from South Carolina [Mr. Hayne], could 
 see nothing in the question before the senate, nor in any 
 previous part of the debate, to justify the introduction of 
 that topic. Neither could I. He thought he saw the 
 ghost of the Missouri question brought in among us. So 
 did I. He was astonished at the apparition. I was not : 
 for a close observance of the signs in the west had prepared 
 me for this development from the east. I was well prepared 
 for that invective against slavery, and for that amplification 
 of the blessings of exemption from slavery, exemplified in 
 the condition of Ohio, which the Senator from Massachu- 
 setts indulged in, and which the object in view required to 
 be derived from the north east. I cut the root of that deri- 
 vation by reading a passage from the journals of the old 
 Congress ; but this will not prevent the invective and enco- 
 mium from going forth to do their office ; nor obliterate the 
 line which was drawn between the free State of Ohio and 
 the slave State of Kentucky. If the only results of this in- 
 vective and encomium were to exalt still higher the orato- 
 rical fame of the speaker, I should spend not a moment in 
 remarking upon them. But it is not to be forgotten that 
 the terrible Missouri agitation took its rise from the “sub- 
 stance of two speeches” delivered on this floor; and since 
 that time, anti-slavery speeches, coming from the same 
 political and geographical quarter, are not to be disregarded 
 here. 
 
 What was said upon that topic was certainly intended for 
 
SLAVERY IN THE DISTRICT DF COLUMBIA. 319 
 
 the north side of the Potomac and Ohio ; to the people 
 then, of that division of the Union, I wish to address myself 
 and to disabuse them of some erroneous impressions. 
 
 To them I can truly say, that slavery, in the abstract, has 
 but few advocates or defenders in the sluveholding States, 
 and that slavery as it is, an hereditary institution descended 
 upon us from our ancestors, would have fewer advocates 
 among us than it has, if those who have nothing to do with 
 the subject would only let us alone. The sentiment in favor 
 of slavery was much weaker before those intermeddlers began 
 their operations than it is at present. The views of leading 
 men in the North and the South were indisputably the same 
 in the earlier periods of our government. Of this our legis- 
 lative history contains the highest proof. The foreign slave 
 trade was prohibited in Virginia, as soon as the Revolution 
 began. 
 
 It was one of her first acts of sovereignty. In the con- 
 vention of that State which adopted the federal Constitution, 
 it was an objection to that instrument that it tolerated the 
 African slave trade for twenty years. Nothing that has 
 appeared since has surpassed the indignant denunciations 
 of this traffic by Patrick Henry, George Mason, and others 
 in that convention. 
 
 Sir, I regard with admiration, that is to say, with wonder, 
 the sublime morality of those who cannot bear the abstract 
 contemplation of slavery, at the distance of five hundred or 
 a thousaud miles off. It is entirely above, that is to say, it 
 affects a vast superiority over the morality of the primitive 
 Christians, the Apostles of Christ, and Christ himself. 
 
 Christ and the apostles appeared in a province of the 
 Roman empire, when that empire was called the Roman 
 world, and that world was filled with slaves. Forty millions 
 was the estimated number, being one-fourth of the whole 
 population. Single individuals held twenty thousand slaves. 
 
 A freed man, one who had himself been a slave, died the 
 
320 SLAVERY IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 
 
 possessor of four thousand — such were the numbers. The 
 rights of the owners over this multitude of human beings 
 was that of life and death, without protection from law or 
 mitigation from public sentiment. 
 
 The scourge, the cross, the fish-pond, the den of the wild 
 beast, and the arena of the gladiator, was the lot of the 
 slave, upon the slightest expression of the master’s will. 
 
 A law of incredible atrocity made all slaves responsible 
 with their own lives for the life of their master ; it was the 
 law that condemned the whole household of slaves to death, 
 in case of the assassination of the master — a law uuder 1 
 which as many as four hundred have been executed at a 
 time. 
 
 And the slaves were the white people of Europe, and of 
 Asia Minor, the Greeks and other nations, from whom the 
 present inhabitants of the world derive the most valuable 
 productions of the human mind. 
 
 Christ saw all this — the number of slaves — their helpless 
 condition — and their white color, which was the same with 
 his own ; yet he said nothing against slavery; he preached 
 no doctrines which led to insurrection and massacre ; none 
 which, in their application to the state of things in oar 
 country, would authorize an inferior race of blacks to ex- 
 terminate that superior race of whites, in whose ranks he 
 himself appeared upon earth. 
 
 He preached no such doctrines, but those of a contrary 
 tenor, which inculcated the duty of fidelity and obedience 
 on the part of the slave — humanity and kindness on the part 
 of the master. His apostles did the same. 
 
 St. Paul sent back a runaway slave, Onesimus, to his 
 owner, with a letter of apology and supplication. 
 
 He was not the man to harbor a runaway, much less to 
 entice him from his master ; and least of all, to excite an 
 insurrection. 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 iESSION OF CONGRESS OF 1S39 — THB GAG RULE — SLAVER? 
 
 AGITATION IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, AND 
 
 RETIRING OF SOUTHERN MEMBERS FROM THE HALL. 
 
 (. From “ Benton's Thirty Years' View.") 
 
 The most angry and portentous debate which had yet 
 taken place in Congress, occurred at this time, in the House 
 of Representatives. It was brought on by Mr. William 
 Slade, of Vermont, who, besides presenting petitions of the 
 usual abolition character, and moving to refer them to a 
 committee, moved their reference to a select committee, 
 with instructions to report a bill in conformity to their 
 prayer. This motion, inflammatory and irritating in itself, 
 and without practical legislative object, as the great ma- 
 jority of the House was known to be opposed to it, was 
 rendered still more exasperating by the manner of support- 
 ing it. The mover entered into a general disquisition on 
 the subject of slavery, all denunciatory, and was proceeding 
 to speak upon it in the State of Virginia, and other States, 
 in the same spirit, when Mr. Legare, of South Carolina, 
 interposed, and hoped the gentleman from Vermont would 
 allow him to make a few remarks before he proceeded fur- 
 ther. He sincerely hoped that the gentleman would con- 
 sider well what he was about, before he ventured on such 
 ground, and that he would take time to consider what might 
 be its probable cousequeuces. He solemnly entreated him 
 to reflect on the possible results of such a course, which in- 
 volved the interests of a nation and a continent. Ho 
 would warn him, not in the language of defiance, which all 
 21 (321) 
 
822 
 
 SLAVERY AGITATION. 
 
 brave and wise men despised, but lie would warn him in the 
 language of a solemn sense of duty, that if there was a 
 spirit aroused in the north in relation to this subject, that 
 spirit would encounter another spirit in the south, full as 
 stubborn. He would tell them, that, when this question 
 was forced upon the people of the south, they would be 
 ready to take up the gauntlet. He concluded by urging on 
 the gentleman from Vermont to ponder well on his course 
 before he ventured to proceed. 
 
 Mr. Slade continued his remarks, when Mr. Dawson, 
 of Georgia, asked him for the floor, that he might move an 
 adjournment — evidently to carry off the storm which he 
 saw rising. Mr. Slade refused to yield it ; so the motion 
 to adjourn could not be made. Mr. Slade continued, and 
 was proceeding to answer his own inquiry, put to himself — 
 What was slavery ? when Mr. Dawson again asked 
 for the floor to make his motion of adjournment. Mr. 
 Slade refused it. A visible commotion began to pervade 
 the House — members rising, clustering together, and talk- 
 ing with animation. 
 
 Mr. Slade continued, and was about reading a judicial 
 opinion in one of the southern States, which defined a slave 
 to be a chattel, when Mr. Wise called him to order for 
 speaking beside the question — the question being upon the 
 abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia, and Mr. 
 Slade’s remarks goiug to its legal character, as property, in 
 a State. The Speaker, Mr. John White, of Kentucky, 
 sustained the call, saying it was not in order to discuss the 
 subject of slavery in any of the States. Mr. Slade denied 
 that he was doing so, and said ~e was merely quoting a 
 Southern judicial decision, as he might quote a legal opinion 
 delivered in Great Britain. 
 
 Mr. Robertson, of Virginia, moved that the House ad- 
 jOurn. The Speaker pronounced the motion (and cor- 
 rectly) out of order, as the member from Vermont was in 
 
SLAVERY AGITATION. 
 
 323 
 
 possession of the floor and addressing the House. He 
 would, however, suggest to the member from Vermont, who 
 could not but observe the state of the House, to confine 
 himself strictly to the subject of his motion. 
 
 Mr. Slade went on, at great length, when Mr. Petrikin, 
 of Pennsylvania, called him to order ; but the Chair did 
 not sustain the call. Mr. Slade went on, quoting from the 
 Declaration of Independence, and the Constitutions of the 
 several States, and had got to that of Virginia, when Mr. 
 Wise called him to order for reading papers without the 
 leave of the House. The Speaker decided, that no paper, 
 objected to, could be read without the leave of the House. 
 
 Mr. Wise then said : That the gentleman had wantonly 
 discussed the abstract questiou of slavery, going back to 
 the very first day of the creation, instead of slavery as it 
 existed in the District, and the powers and duties of Con- 
 gress in relation to it. He was now examining the State 
 Constitutions, to show, that as it existed in the States, it was 
 against them, aud against the laws of God and man. This 
 was out of order. 
 
 Mr. Slade explained, and argued in vindication of his 
 course, and was about to read a memorial of Dr. Franklin, 
 and an opinion of Mr. Madison on the subject of slavery, 
 when the reading was objected to by Mr. Griffin, of South 
 Carolina ; and the Speaker decided they could not be read 
 without the permission of the House. 
 
 Mr. Slade, without asking the permission of the House, 
 which he knew would not be granted, assumed to under- 
 stand the prohibition as extending only to himself per- 
 sonally, said — “Then I send them to the clerk: let him 
 read them.” The Speaker decided that this was equally 
 against the rule. 
 
 Then Mr. Griffin withdrew the objection, and Mr. Slade 
 proceeded to read the papers, and to comment upon them 
 as he went on, and was about to go back to the State of 
 
324 
 
 SLAVERY AGITATION. 
 
 Virginia, and show what had been the feeling there on the 
 subject of slavery, previous to the date of Dr. Franklin’s 
 memorial. 
 
 Mr. Rhett, of South Carolina, inquired of the Chair 
 what the opinions of Virginia fifty years ago had to do 
 with the case ? 
 
 The Speaker was about to reply, when Mr. Wise rose 
 with warmth, and said — “He has discussed the whole ab- 
 stract question of slavery : of slavery in Virginia ; of sla- 
 very in my own district; and I now ask all my colleagues 
 to retire with me from this hall.” 
 
 Mr. Slade reminded the Speaker that he had not yielded 
 the floor ; but his progress was impeded by the condition 
 of the House, and the many exclamations of members, 
 among whom Mr. Halsey, of Georgia, was heard calling on 
 the Georgia delegation to withdraw with him ; and Mr. 
 Rhett was heard proclaiming, that the South Carolina 
 members had already consulted together, and agreed to 
 have a meeting at three o’clock, in the committee room of 
 the District of Columbia. Here the Speaker interposed to 
 calm the House, standing up in his place and saying : 
 
 “The gentleman from Vermont had been reminded by 
 the Chair that the discussion of slavery, as existing within 
 the States, was not in order ; when he was desirous to read 
 a paper and it was objected to, the Chair had stopped him ; 
 but the objection had been withdrawn, aud Mr. Slade had 
 been suffered to proceed ; he was now about to read another 
 paper, and objection was made ; the Chair would therefore 
 take the question on permitting it to be read.” 
 
 Many members rose, all addressing the Chair at the same 
 time, and many members leaving the hall, and a general 
 scene of noise and confusion prevailing. 
 
 Mr. Rhett succeeded in raising his voice above the roar 
 of the tempest which raged in the House, and invited the 
 delegations from all the slave States to retire from the hall 
 
SLAVERY AGITATION. 
 
 325 
 
 forthwith, and meet in the committee room of the District of 
 Columbia. The Speaker again essayed to calm the House, 
 aud again standing up in his place, he recapitulated his 
 attempts to preserve order, and vindicated the correctness 
 of his own conduct — seemingly impugned by many. “ What 
 his personal feelings were on the subject (he was from a slave 
 State) might easily be conjectured. He had endeavored 
 to enforce the rules. Had it been in his power to restrain 
 the discussion, he should promptly have exercised the 
 power ; but it was not. 
 
 Hr Slade continuing, said the paper which he wished to 
 read was of the Continental Congress of 1'7’74. The 
 Speaker was about to put the question on leave, when Mr. 
 Cost Johnson, of Maryland, inquired whether it would be 
 in order to force the House to vote that the member from 
 Vermont be not permitted to proceed? The Speaker re- 
 plied it would not. Then Mr. James J. McKay, of North 
 Carolina, a clear, cool-headed, sagacious man — interposed 
 the objection which headed Mr. Slade. 
 
 There was a rule of the House, that when a member was 
 called to order, he should take his seat ; and if decided to 
 be out of order, he should not be allowed to speak again, 
 except on leave of the House. Mr. McKay judged this 
 to be a proper occasion for the enforcement of that rule ; 
 and stood up and said : 
 
 “That the gentleman had been pronounced out of order 
 in discussing slavery in the States ; and the rule declared 
 that when a member was so pronounced by the chair, he 
 should take his seat, and if any one objected to his proceed- 
 ing again, he should not do so, unless by leave of the House. 
 Mr. McKay did now object to the gentleman from Vermont 
 proceeding any further.” 
 
 Redoubled noise and confusion ensued — a crowd of mem- 
 bers rising and speaking at once — who eventually yielded 
 to the resounding blows of the speaker’s hammer upon the 
 
326 
 
 SLAVERY AGITATION. 
 
 lid of his desk, and his apparent desire to read something 
 to the House, as he held a book (recognized to be that of 
 the rules) in his hand. Obtaining quiet, so as to enable 
 himself to be heard, he read the rule referred to by Mr. 
 McKay ; and said, that as objection had now for the first 
 time been made under that rule to the gentleman’s resuming 
 his speech, the Chair decided that he could not do so with- 
 out the leave of the House. Mr. Slade attempted to go 
 on ; the Speaker directed him to take his seat until the 
 question of leave should be put. Then, Mr. Slade still 
 keeping his feet, asked leave to proceed as in order, saying 
 he would not discuss slavery in Virginia. On that question 
 Mr. Allen, of Vermont, asked the yeas and nays. 
 
 Mr. Rencher, of North Carolina, moved an adjournment. 
 Mr. Adams, and many others, demanded the yeas and nays 
 on this motion, which were ordered, and resulted in 106 
 yeas and 63 nays — some fifty or sixty members having with- 
 drawn. This opposition to adjournment was one of the 
 worst features of that unhappy day’s work — the only effect 
 of keeping the House together being to increase irritation, 
 and multiply the chances for an outbreak. 
 
 From the beginning Southern members had been in favor 
 of it, and essayed to accomplish it, but were prevented by 
 the tenacity with which Mr. Slade kept possession of the 
 floor : and now, at last, when it was time to adjourn any 
 way — when the House was in a condition in which no good 
 could be expected, and great harm might be apprehended, 
 there were sixty-three members — being nearly one-third of 
 the House — willing to continue it in session. 
 
 The House then stood adjourned ; and as the adjourn- 
 ment was being pronounced, Mr. Campbell, of South Caro- 
 lina, stood upon a chair, and calling for the attention of 
 members, said : 
 
 “ He had been appointed as one of the Southern delega- 
 tion, to announce that all those gentlemen who represented 
 
SLAVERY AGITATION'. 
 
 327 
 
 slaveholding States, were invited to attend the meeting now 
 being held in the district committee room.” 
 
 Members from the slaveholding States had repaired in 
 large numbers to the room in the basement, where they 
 were invited to meet. Various passions agitated them — 
 some violent. Extreme propositions were suggested, of 
 which Mr. Rhett, of South Carolina, in a letter to his con- 
 stituents, gave a full account of his own — thus : 
 
 “ In a private and friendly letter to the Editor of the 
 Charleston Mercury, amongst other events accompanying 
 the memorable secession of the Southern members from the 
 Hall of the House of Representatives, I stated to him, that 
 I had prepared two resolutions, drawn as amendments to 
 the motion of the member from Vermont, whilst he was dis- 
 cussing the institution of slavery in the South declaring, 
 that the Constitution having failed to protect the South in 
 the peaceable possession and enjoyment of their rights and 
 peculiar institutions, it was expedient that the Union should 
 be dissolved ; and the other, appointing a committee of two 
 members from each State, to report upon the best means of 
 peaceably dissolving it ! They were intended as amend- 
 ments to a motion to refer with instructions to report a bill 
 abolishing slavery in the District of Columbia. I expected 
 them to share the fate, which inevitably awaited the original 
 motion, so soon as the floor could have been obtained, viz., 
 to be laid upon the table. My design in presenting them, 
 was to place before Congress and the people, what in my 
 opinion, was the true issue upon this great and vital ques- 
 tion ; and to point out the course of policy by which it 
 should be met by the Southern States.” 
 
 But extreme counsels did not prevail. There were mem- 
 bers present, who well considered that, although the provo- 
 cation was great, and the number voting for such a firebrand 
 motion was deplorably large, yet it was but little more than 
 one-fourth of the House, and decidedly less than one-half 
 
328 
 
 SLAVERY AGITATION. 
 
 of the members from the free States : so that, even if left to 
 the free State vote alone, the motion would have been 
 rejected. 
 
 But the motion itself, and the manner in which it was 
 supported, was most reprehensible — necessarily leading to 
 disorder in the House, the destruction of its harmony and 
 capacity for useful legislation, tending to a sectional segre- 
 gation of the members, the alienation of feeling between 
 the North and South ; and alarm to all the slave holding 
 States. The evil required a remedy, but not the remedy of 
 breaking up the Union ; but one which might prevent the 
 like in future, while administering a rebuke upon the past. 
 That remedy was found in adopting a proposition to be 
 offered to the House, which if agreed to, would close the 
 door against any discussion upon abolition petitions in 
 future, and assimilate the proceedings of the House, in that 
 particular, to those of the Senate. This proposition was 
 put into the hands of Mr. Patton of Virginia, to be offered 
 as an amendment to the rules at the opening of the House 
 the next morning. 
 
 It was in these words : 
 
 “Resolved, That all petitions, memorials and papers, 
 touching the abolition of slavery or the buying, selling or 
 transferring of slaves, in any State, District or Territory, of 
 the United States, be laid on the table, without being debated, 
 printed, read or referred, and that no further action what- 
 ever shall be had thereon.’’ 
 
 Accordingly, at the opening of the House, Mr. Patton 
 asked leave to submit the resolution — which was read for 
 information. 
 
 Mr. Adams objected to the grant of leave. 
 
 Mr. Patton then moved a suspension of the rules — which 
 motion required two-thirds to sustain it; and unless obtained, 
 this salutary remedy for an alarming evil (which was already 
 in force in the Senate), could not be offered. It was a test 
 
SLAVEKY AGITATION. 
 
 329 
 
 motion, and on which the opponents of abolition agitation 
 in the House required all their strength : for unless two to 
 one, they were defeated. 
 
 Happily the two to one were ready, and on taking the 
 yeas and nays, demanded by an abolition member (to keep 
 his friends to the track, and to hold the free State anti- 
 abolitionists to their responsibility at home), the result, 
 stood one hundred and thirty-live yeas to sixty nays — the 
 full two-thirds, and fifteen over. The yeas on this import- 
 ant motion, were : 
 
 Messrs. Hugh J. Anderson, John J. Andrews, Charles 
 G. Atherton, 'William Beatty, Andrew Beirne, John Bell, 
 Bennet Bicknell, Richard Biddle, Samuel Birdsall, Ratliff 
 Boon, James W. Bouldin, John C. Brodhead, Isaac H. 
 Bronson, Andrew D. W. Bruyn, Andrew Buchanan, John 
 Calhoun, C. C. Cambreleng, Wm. B. Campbell, John 
 Campbell, Timothy J. Carter, Wm. B. Carter, Zadok Casey, 
 John Chambers, John Chaney, Reuben Chapman, Richard 
 Cheatham, Jonathan Cilley, John F. H. Claiborne, Jesse 
 F. Cleaveland, Wm. K. Clowney, Walter Coles, Thomas 
 Corwin, Robert Craig, John W. Crockett, Samuel Cush- 
 man, Edmund Deberry, John J. DeGraff, John Dennis, 
 George C. Dromgoole, John Edwards, James Farrington, 
 John Fairfield, Jacob Fry, Jr., James Garland, James 
 Graham, Seaton Grantland, Abr’rn. P. Grant, William 
 J. Graves, Robert H. Hammond, Thomas L. Hamar, 
 James Harlan, Albert G. Harrison, Richard Hawes, 
 Micajah T. Hawkins, Charles E. Haynes, Hopkins Holsey, 
 Orrin Holt, George W. Hopkins, Benjamin C. Howard, 
 Edward B. Hnbly, Jabez Jackson, Joseph Johnson, Wm 
 Cost Johnson, John W. Jones, Gouverneur Kemble, Daniel 
 Kilgore, John Klingensmith Jr., Jacob Lawler, Hugh S. 
 Legare, Henry Logan, Francis S. Lyon, Francis Mallory, 
 James M. Mason, Joshua L. Martin, Abram P. Maury, 
 Wm. S. May, James J. McKay, Robert McClellan, 
 
SLAVERY AGITATION. 
 
 3 TT) 
 
 Abrnitom McClelland, Charles McClure, Isaac McKim, 
 Richard H. Menefee, Charles F. Mercer, William Mont- 
 gomery, Fly Moore, Wm. S. Morgan, Samuel W. Morris, 
 Henry A. Muhlenberg, John L. Murray, Wm. II. Noble, 
 John Palmer, Amasa I. Parker, John M. Patton, Lemuel 
 Paynter, Isaac S. Pennybacker, David Petrikin, Lancelot 
 Phelps, Arnold Plumer, Zadock Pratt, John H. Prentiss, 
 Luther Reily, Abraham Rencher, John Robertson, Samuel T. 
 Sawyer, Augustine H. Shepperd, Charles Shepard, Ebenezer 
 J. Shields, Matthias Sheplor, Francis 0. J. Smith, Adam 
 W. Snyder, Wm. W. Southgate, James B. Spencer, Ed- 
 ward Stanly, Archibald Stuart, Wm. Stone, John Talia- 
 ferro, Wm. Taylor, Obadiah Titus, Isaac Toucey, Hopkins 
 L. Turney, Joseph R. Hnderwood, Henry Tail, David D. 
 Wagner, Taylor Webster, Joseph Weeks, Albert S. White, 
 John White, Thomas J. Whittlesey, Lewis Williams, 
 Sherrod Williams, Jared W. Williams, Joseph L. Williams, 
 Christ’r H. Williams, Henry A. Wise, Archibald Yell. 
 The Nays were : 
 
 Messrs. John Quincy Aoams, James Alexander, Jr., 
 Heman Allen, John W. Allen, J. Banker Aycrigg, Wm. 
 Key Bond, Nathaniel B. Borden, George N. Briggs, Wm. 
 
 B. Calhoun, Charles D. Coffin, Robert B. Crauston, Caleb 
 Cushing, Edward Darlington, Thomas Davee, Edward 
 Davies, Alexander Duncan, George H. Dunn, George 
 Evans, Horace Everett, John Ewing, Isaac Fletcher, Mil- 
 lard Fillmore, Henry A. Foster, Patrick G. Goods, George 
 Grennell, Jr., Elisha Haley, Hiland Hall, Alexander Har- 
 per, Wm. S. Hastings, Thomas Henry, Wm. Herod, 
 Samuel Ingham, Levi Lincoln, Richard P. Marvin, Sam- 
 son Mason, John P. B. Maxwell, Thos. M. T. McKennau, 
 Matthias Morris, Calvary Morris, Charles Naylor, Joseph 
 
 C. Noyes, Charles Ogle, Wm. Parmenter, Wm. Patterson, 
 Luther C. Peck, Stephen C, Phillips, David Potts, Jr., 
 James Rariden, Joseph F. Randolph, John Reed, Joseph 
 
SLAVERY AGITATION. 
 
 331 
 
 Ridgway, David Russell, Daniel Sheffer, Mark IT. Sibley. 
 Wtu. Slade, Charles C. Stratton, Joseph L. Tilliughast, 
 Geo. W. Toland, Elisha Whittlesey, Thomas Jones Yorke. 
 
 This was one of the most important votes ever delivered 
 in the House. Upon its issue depended the quiet of the 
 House on one hand, or on the other, the renewal, and per- 
 petuation of the scenes of the day before — ending in break- 
 ing up all deliberation, and all national legislation. 
 
 It was successful, and that critical step being safely over, 
 the passage of the resolution was secured — the free State 
 friendly vote being itself sufficient to carry it: but although 
 the passage of the resolution was secured, yet resistance to 
 it continued. 
 
 Thus was stifled, and in future prevented in the House, 
 the inflammatory debates on these disturbing petitions. It 
 was the great sessiou of their presentation — being offered 
 by hundreds, and signed by hundreds of thousands of per- 
 sons — many of them women, who forgot their sex and their 
 duties, to mingle in such inflammatory work ; some of them 
 clergymen, who forgot their mission of peace, to stir up 
 strife among those who should be brethren. Of the per- 
 tinacious 63, who backed Mr. Slade throughout, the 
 most notable were Mr. Adams, who had been President of 
 the United States — Mr. Fillmore, who became so — and 
 Mr. Pnleb Cushing, who eventually became as ready to 
 abolish all impediments to the general diffusion of slavery, 
 as he then was to abolish slavery in the District of Colum- 
 bia. It was a portentous contest. 
 
 The motion of Mr. Slade was not for an inquiry into the 
 expediency of abolishing slavery in the District of Colum- 
 bia (a motion in itself sufficiently inflammatory), but to get 
 the command of the House to bring in a bill for that pur- 
 pose — which w'ould be' a decision of the question. 
 
 His motion failed. The storm subsided ; and very few 
 of tb't free State members who had staked themselves on 
 
832 
 
 SLAVERY AGITATION. 
 
 the issue, lost anything among their constituents for the 
 devotion which they had shown to the Union,* 
 
 From Mr. Clay’s great speech in the U. S. Senate, Feb- 
 ruary 1th, 1889. 
 
 “ It is well known to the Senate,” said Mr. Clay, “that 
 I have thought that the most judicious course with abolition 
 petitions has not of late been pursued by Congress. 
 
 “ I have believed that it would have been wisest to have 
 received and referred them, without opposition, and to have 
 reported against their object in a calm and dispassionate 
 and argumentative appeal to the good sense of the whole 
 community. It has been supposed, however, by a majority 
 of Congress, that it was most expedient either not to receive 
 the petitions at all, or, if formally received, not to act 
 definitively upon them. There is no substantial difference 
 between these opposite opinions, since both look to an ab- 
 solute rejection of the prayers of the petitioners. But 
 there is a great difference in the form of proceeding ; and, 
 Mr. President, some experience in the conduct of human 
 affairs has taught, me to believe that a neglect to observe 
 established forms is often attended with more mischievous 
 consequences than the infliction of a positive injury. We 
 all know that, even in private life, a violation of the exist- 
 ing usages and ceremonies of society cannot take place 
 without serious prejudice. I fear, sir, that the abolitionists 
 have acquired a considerable apparent force by blending 
 with the object which they have in view a collateral and 
 totally different question arising out of an alleged violation 
 of the right of petition. I know full well, and take great 
 
 * This resolution afterward became notorious, from the stigma 
 cast upon it by the abolitionists, as the “Gag Rule.” Hon. 
 David Wilmot, of Pennsylvania, among others, voted against 
 its repeal in the Congress of ’ 46 — 7. It has since, however, 
 been repealed. 
 
SLAVERY AGITATION. 
 
 333 
 
 pleasure in testifying, that nothing was remoter from the 
 intention of the majority of the Senate, from which I dif 
 fered, than to violate the right of petition in any case in 
 which, according to its judgment, that right could be con 
 stitutionally exercised, or where the object of the petition 
 could be safely or properly granted. Still, it must be owned 
 that the abolitionists have seized hold of the fact of the 
 treatment which their petitions have received in Congress, 
 and made injurious impressions upon the minds of a large 
 portion of the community. This, I think, might have been 
 avoided by the course which I should have been glad to 
 have seen pursued. 
 
 And I desire now, Mr. President, to advert to some of 
 those topics which I think might have been usefully em- 
 bodied in a report by a committee of the Senate, and which, 
 I am persuaded, would have checked the progress, if it had 
 not altogether arrested the efforts of abolition. I am sen- 
 sible, sir, that this work would have been accomplished with 
 much greater ability, and with much happier effect, under 
 the auspices of a committee, than it can be by me. But, 
 anxious as I always am to contribute whatever is in my 
 power to the harmony, concord, and happiness of this great 
 people, I feel myself irresistibly impelled to do whatever is in 
 my power, incompetent as I feel myself to be, to dissuade the 
 public from continuing to agitate a subject fraught with 
 the most direful consequences. 
 
 There are three classes of persons opposed, or appa- 
 rently opposed, to the continued existence of slavery in the 
 United States. The first are those who, from sentiments 
 of philanthropy and humanity, are conscientiously opposed 
 to the existence of slavery, but who are no less opposed at 
 the same time to any disturbance of the peace and tran- 
 quillity of the Union, or the infringement of the powers of 
 the States composing the confederacy. In this class may 
 be comprehended that peaceful and exemplary society of 
 
334 
 
 SLAVERY AGITATION. 
 
 “ Friends,” one of whose established maxims is an abhorrence 
 of war in all its forms, and the cultivation of peace and 
 good-will amongst mankind. The next class consists of 
 apparent abolitionists — that is, those who, having been per- 
 suaded that the right of petition has been violated by Con- 
 gress, co-operate with the abolitionist for the sole purpose 
 of asserting and vindicating that right. And the third 
 class are the real ultra-abolitionists, who are resolved to 
 persevere in the pursuit of their object at all hazards, and 
 without regard to any consequences, however calamitous 
 they may be. With them the rights of property are no- 
 thing ; the deficiency of the powers of the general govern- 
 ment is nothing ; the acknowledged and incontestable 
 powers of the States are nothing ; civil war, a dissolution 
 of the Union, and the overthrow of a government in which 
 are concentrated the fondest hopes of the civilized world, 
 are nothing. A single idea has taken possession of their 
 minds, and onward they pursue it, overlooking all barriers, 
 reckless and regardless of all consequences. With this 
 class, the immediate abolition of slavery in the District of 
 Columbia, and in the Territory of Florida, the prohibition 
 of the removal of slaves from State to State, and the refusal 
 to admit any new State comprising within its limits the in- 
 stitution of domestic slavery, are but so many means con- 
 ducing to the accomplishment of the ultimate but perilous 
 end at which they avowedly and boldly aim, are but so 
 many short stages in the long and bloody road to the dis- 
 tant goal at which they would finally arrive. Their purpose 
 is abolition, universal abolition, peaceably if it can, forcibly 
 if it must. Their object is no longer concealed by the 
 thinnest veil ; it is avowed and proclaimed. Utterly desti- 
 tute of constitutional or other rightful power, living in 
 totally distinct communities, as alien to the communities in 
 which the subject on which they would operate resides, so 
 far as concerns political power over that subject, as if they 
 
SLAVERY AGITATION. 
 
 835 
 
 lived in Africa or Asia ; they nevertheless promulgate to the 
 world their purpose to be to manumit forthwith, and with 
 out compensation, and without moral preparation, three 
 millions of negro slaves, under jurisdictions altogether sepa- 
 rated from those under which they live. 
 
 I have said that immediate abolition of slavery in the 
 District of Columbia and in the Territory of Florida, and 
 the exclusion of new States, were only means towards the 
 attainment of a much more important end. Unfortunately, 
 they are not the only means. Another, and much more 
 lamentable one, is that which this class is endeavoring to 
 employ, of arraying one portion against another portion of 
 the Union. With that view, in all their leading prints and 
 publications, the alleged horrors of slavery are depicted in 
 the most glowing and exaggerated colors, to excite the 
 imaginations and stimulate the rage of the people in the 
 free States against the people in the slave States. The 
 slaveholder is held up and represented as the most atrocious 
 of human beings. Advertisements of fugitive slaves to be 
 sold are carefully collected and blazoned forth, to infuse a 
 spirit of detestation and hatred against one entire and the 
 largest section of the Union. And like a notorious agitator 
 upon another theatre, (Mr. Daniel O’Connell,) they would 
 hunt down and proscribe from the pale of civilized society 
 the inhabitants of that entire section. Allow me, Mr. 
 President, to say, that whilst I recognize in the justly 
 wounded feelings of the Minister of the United States at 
 the court of St. James much to excuse the notice which he 
 was provoked to take of that agitator, in my humble 
 opinion, he would better have consulted the dignity of his 
 station and of his country in treating him with contemptu- 
 ous silence. That agitator would exclude us from European 
 society — he who himself can only obtain a contraband ad- 
 mission, and is received with scornful repugnance into it I 
 If he be no more desirous of our society than we are of 
 
336 
 
 SLAVERY AGITATION. 
 
 his, he may rest assured that a state of eternal non-inter- 
 course will exist between us. Yes, sir, I think the American 
 Minister would have best pursued the dictates of true dig- 
 nity by regarding the language of that member of the 
 British House of Commons as the malignant ravings of the 
 plunderer of his own country, and the libeler of a foreign 
 and kindred people. 
 
 But the means to which I have already adverted are 
 not the only ones which this third class of ultra-abolitionists 
 are employing to effect their ultimate end. They began 
 their operations by professing to employ only persuasive 
 means in appealing to the humanity, and enlightening the 
 understandings, of the slaveholding portion of the Union. 
 If there were some kindness in this avowed motive, it must 
 be acknowledged that there was rather a presumptuous 
 display also of an assumed superiority in intelligence and 
 knowledge. For some time they continued to make these 
 appeals to our duty and our interest; but, impatient with 
 the slow influence of their logic upon our stupid minds, 
 they recently resolved to change their system of action. 
 To the agency of their powers of persuasion, they now 
 propose to substitute the powers of the ballot box; and he 
 must be blind to what is passing before us, who does not 
 perceive that the inevitable tendency of their proceedings 
 is, if these should be found insuflflcient, to invoke, finally, 
 the more potent powers of the bayonet. 
 
 Mr. President, it is at this alarming stage of the pro- 
 ceedings of the ultra-abolitionists that I would seriously 
 invite every considerate man in the country solemnly to 
 pause, and deliberately to reflect, not merely on our existing 
 posture, but upon that dreadful precipice down which they 
 would hurry us. It is because these ultra-abolitionists have 
 ceased to employ the instruments of reason and persuasion, 
 have made their cause political, and have appealed to the 
 
SLAVERY AGITATION. 
 
 337 
 
 ballot box, that I am induced, upon this occasion, to ad- 
 dress you. 
 
 There have been three epochs in the history of our 
 country at which the spirit of abolition displayed itself. 
 The first was immediately after the formation of the present 
 federal government. When the Constitution was about 
 going into operation, its powers were not well understood 
 by the community at large, and remained to be accurately 
 interpreted and defined. At that period numerous abo- 
 lition societies were formed, comprising not merely the So- 
 ciety of Friends, but many other good men. Petitions were 
 presented to Congress praying for the abolition of slavery. 
 They were received without serious opposition, referred, 
 and reported upon by a committee. The report stated that 
 the general government had no power to abolish slavery as 
 it existed in the several States, and that these States them- 
 selves had exclusive jurisdiction over the subject. The 
 report was generally acquiesced in, and satisfaction and 
 tranquillity ensued ; the abolition societies thereafter limit- 
 ing their exertions, in respect to the black population, to 
 offices of humanity within the scope of existing laws. 
 
 The next period when the subject of slavery and abo- 
 lition, incidentally, was brought into notice and discussion, 
 was on the memorable occasion of the admission of the 
 State of Missouri into the Union. The struggle was long, 
 strenuous, and fearful. It is too recent to make it necessary 
 to do more than merely advert to it, and to say that it was 
 finally composed by one of those compromises characteristic 
 of our institutions, and of which the Constitution itself is 
 the most signal instance. 
 
 The third is that in which we now find ourselves, and 
 to which various causes have contributed. The principal 
 one, perhaps, is British emancipation in the islands adjacent 
 to our continent. Confounding the totally different cases 
 of the powers of the British Parliament and those of our 
 22 
 
338 
 
 SLAVERY AGITATION. 
 
 Congress, and the totally different conditions of the slaves 
 in the British West India Islands and the slaves in the 
 sovereign and independent States of this confederacy, super- 
 ficial men have inferred from the undecided British experi- 
 ment the practibility of the abolition of slavery in these 
 States. All these are different. The powers of the British 
 Parliament are unlimited, and often described to be omnipo- 
 tent. The powers of the American Congress, on the con- 
 trary, are few, cautiously limited, scrupulously excluding all 
 that are not granted, and above all, carefully and absolutely 
 excluding all power over the existence or continuance of 
 slavery in the several States. The slaves, too, upon which 
 British legislation operated, were not in the bosom of the 
 kingdom, but in remote and feeble colonies, having no voice 
 in Parliament. The West India slaveholder was neither 
 representative nor represented in that Parliament. And 
 while I most fervently wish complete success to the British 
 experiment of West India emancipation, I confess that I 
 have fearful forebodings of a disastrous termination of it. 
 Whatever it may be, I think it must be admitted that, if 
 the British Parliament treated the West India slaves as 
 freemen, it also treated the West India freemen as slaves. 
 If, instead of these slaves being separated by a wide ocean 
 from the parent country, three or four millions of African 
 negro slaves had been dispersed over England, Scotland, 
 Wales, and Ireland, and their owners had been members 
 of the British Parliament — a case which would have pre- 
 sented some analogy to that of our own country — does any 
 one believe that it would have been expedient or practicable 
 to have emancipated them, leaving them to remain, with all 
 their embittered feelings, in the United Kingdom, boundless 
 as the powers of the British Parliament are ? 
 ***** * 
 
 And now, Mr. President, allow me to consider the sev- 
 eral cases in which the authority of Congress is invoked by 
 
SLAVERY AGITATION. 
 
 these abolition petitioners upon the subject of domestic 
 slavery. The first relates to it as it exists in the District 
 of Columbia. The following is the provision of the Con- 
 stitution of the United States in reference to that matter : 
 
 “ To exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever 
 over such District (not exceeding ten miles square,) as may 
 by cession of particular States, and the acceptance of Con- 
 gress, become the seat of government of the United States.” 
 
 This provision preceded, in point of time, the actual ces- 
 sions which were made by the States of Maryland and 
 Yirginia. The object of the cession was to establish a seat 
 of government of the United States, and the grant in the 
 Constitution of exclusive legislation, must be understood, 
 and should be always interpreted, as having relation to the 
 object of the cession. It was with a full knowledge of this 
 clause in the Constitution, that those two States ceded to 
 the general government the ten miles square constituting 
 the District of Columbia. In making the cession, they 
 supposed that it was to be applied, and applied solely, to 
 the purposes of a seat of government, for which it was 
 asked. When it was made, slavery existed in both those 
 commonwealths, and in the ceded territory, as it now con- 
 tinues to exist in all of them. Neither Maryland nor Yir- 
 ginia could have anticipated, that, whilst the institution 
 remained within their respective limits, its abolition would 
 be attempted by Congress without their consent. Neither 
 of them would probably have made an unconditional cession 
 if they could have anticipated such a result. 
 
 From the nature of the provision in the Constitution, and 
 the avowed object of the acquisition of the territory, two 
 duties arise on the part of Congress. The first is, to ren- 
 der the District available, comfortable, and convenient, as 
 a seat of government of the whole Union ; the other is, to 
 govern the people within the District so as best to promote 
 their happiness and prosperity. These objects are totally 
 
340 
 
 SLAVERY AGITATION. 
 
 distinct in their nature, and, in interpreting and exercising 
 the grant of the power of exclusive legislation, that distinc- 
 tion should be constantly borne in mind. Is it necessary, 
 in order to render this place a comfortable seat of the gen- 
 eral government, to abolish slavery within its limits ? No 
 one can or will advance such a proposition. The govern- 
 ment has remained here near forty years without the slight- 
 est inconvenience from the presence of domestic slavery. 
 Is it necessary to the well-being of the people of the Dis- 
 trict, that slavery should be abolished from amongst them ? 
 They not only neither ask nor desire, but are almost unani- 
 mously opposed to it. It exists here in the mildest and 
 most mitigated form. In a population of 39,834, there 
 were, at the last enumeration of the population of the 
 United States, but 6,119 slaves. The number has not 
 probably much increased since. They are dispersed over 
 the ten miles square, engaged in the quiet pursuits of hus- 
 bandry, or in menial offices in domestic life. If it were 
 necessary to the efficiency of this place as a seat of the 
 general government, to abolish slavery, which is utterly 
 denied, the abolition should be confined to the necessity 
 which prompts it, that is, to the limits of the city of Wash- 
 ington itself. Beyond those limits, persons concerned in 
 the government of the United States have no more to do 
 with the inhabitants of the District, than they have with the 
 inhabitants of the adjacent counties of Maryland and Vir- 
 ginia which lie beyond the District. 
 
 To abolish slavery within the District of Columbia, 
 whilst it remains in Virginia and Maryland, situated as that 
 District is, within the very heart of those States, would ex- 
 pose them to great practical inconvenience and annoyance. 
 The District would become a place of refuge and escape for 
 fugitive slaves from the two States, and a place from which 
 a spirit of discontent, insubordination and insurrection, 
 might be fostered and encouraged in the two States. Sup- 
 
SLAVERY AG1TA.I0N. 
 
 341 
 
 pose, as was at one time under consideration, Pennsylvania 
 had granted ten miles square within its limits, for the pur- 
 pose of a seat of the general government : could Congress, 
 without a violation of good faith, have introduced aud es- 
 tablished slavery within the bosom of that Commonwealth 
 in the ceded territory, after she had abolished it so long ago 
 as the year 1780 ? Yet the inconvenience to Pennsylvania 
 in the case supposed, would have been much less than that 
 to Virginia and Maryland, in the case we are arguing. 
 
 It was upon this view of the subject that the Senate, at 
 its last session, solemnly declared, that it would be a viola- 
 tion of implied faith, resulting from the transaction of the 
 cession, to abolish slavery within the District of Columbia. 
 And would it not be ? By implied faith, is meant, that 
 when a grant is made for one avowed and declared purpose, 
 known to the parties, the grant should not be perverted to 
 another purpose, uuavowed and undeclared, and injurious 
 to the grautor. The grant in the case we are considering, 
 of the territory of Columbia, was for a seat of government. 
 Whatever power is necessary to accomplish that object, is 
 carried along by the grant. But the abolition of slavery, is 
 not necessary to the enjoyment of this site as a seat of the 
 general government. The grant in the Constitution of ex- 
 clusive power of legislation over the District, was made to 
 insure the exercise of an exclusive authority of the general 
 government, to render this place a safe and secure seat of 
 government, and to promote the well-being of the inhabi- 
 tants of the District. The power granted ought to be in- 
 terpreted and exercised solely to the end for which it was 
 granted. The language of the grant was necessarily broad, 
 comprehensive, and exclusive, because all the exigencies 
 which might arise to render this a secure seat of the gen- 
 eral government, could not have been foreseen and provided 
 for. The language may possibly be sufficiently comprehen- 
 sive to include a power of abolition ; but it would not at 
 
342 
 
 SLAVERY AGITATION. 
 
 all thence follow, that the power could be rightfully exer- 
 cised. The case may be resembled to that of a plenipo- 
 tentiary invested with a plenary power, but who at the same 
 time has positive instructions from his government as to 
 the kind of treaty which he is to negotiate and conclude. 
 If he violates those instructions, and concludes a different 
 treaty, his government is not bound by it ; and if the foreign 
 government is aware of the violation, it acts in bad faith. 
 Or it may be illustrated by an example drawn from private 
 life. I am an endorser for my friend on a note discounted 
 in bank. He applies to me to endorse another, to renew it, 
 which I do, in blank. Now, this gives him power to make 
 any other use of my note which he pleases. But if, instead 
 of applying it to the intended purpose, he goes to a broker 
 and sells it, thereby doubling my responsibility for him, he 
 commits a breach of trust, and a violation of the good faith 
 implied in the whole transaction. 
 
 ***>K**:|:* 
 The first impediment is the utter and absolute want of all 
 power on the part of the general government to effect the 
 purpose. The Constitution of the United States creates a 
 limited government, comprising comparatively few powers, 
 and leaving the residuary mass of political power in the pos- 
 session of the several States. It is well known that the 
 subject of slavery interposed one of the greatest difficulties 
 in the formation of the Constitution. It was happily com- 
 promised and adjusted in a spirit of harmony and patriotism. 
 According to that compromise, no power whatever was 
 granted to the general government in respect to domestic 
 slavery, but that which relates to taxation and representa- 
 tion, and the power to restore fugitive slaves to their lawful 
 owners. All other power in regard to the institution of 
 slavery was retained exclusively by the States, to be exer- 
 cised by them severally, according to their respective views 
 of their own peculiar interest. The Constitution of the 
 
SLAVERY AGITATION. 
 
 343 
 
 United States never could have been formed upon the prin- 
 ciple of investing the general government with authority to 
 abolish the institution at its pleasure. It never can be 
 continued for a single day if the exercise of such a power 
 be assumed or usurped. 
 
 But it may be contended by these ultra-abolitionists that 
 their object is not to stimulate the action of the general 
 government, but to operate upon the States themselves in 
 which the institution of domestic slavery exists. If that be 
 their object, why are these abolition societies and move- 
 ments all confined to the free States ? Why are the slave 
 States wantonly and cruelly assailed ? Why do the aboli - 
 tion presses teem with publications tending to excite hatred 
 and animositj on the part of the inhabitants of the free 
 States against those of the slave States ? Why is Congress 
 petitioned ? The free States have no more power or right 
 to interfere with institutions in the slave States, confided to 
 the exclusive jurisdiction of those States, than they would 
 have to interfere with institutions existing in any foreign 
 country. What would be thought of the formation of soci- 
 eties in Great Britain, the issue of numerous inflammatory 
 publications, and the sending out of lecturers throughout 
 the kingdom, denouncing and aiming at the destruction of 
 any of the institutions of France ? Would they be regarded 
 as proceedings warranted by a good neighborhood ? Or 
 wha-t would be thought of the formation of societies in the 
 slave States, the issue of violent and inflammatory tracts, and 
 the deputation of missionaries, pouring out impassioned de- 
 nunciations against institutions under the exclusive control of 
 the free States ? Is their purpose to appeal to our understand- 
 ings, and to actuate our humanity ? And do they expect to 
 accomplish that purpose by holding us up to the scorn, and 
 contempt, and detestation of the people of the free States 
 and the whole civilized world ? The slavery which exists 
 amongst us is our affair, not theirs ; and they have no more 
 
344 
 
 SLAVERY AGITATION. 
 
 just concern with it than they have with slavery as it exists 
 throughout the world. Why not leave it to us. as the com- 
 mon Constitution of our country has left it, to be dealt with, 
 under the guidance of Providence, as best we may or can ? 
 ******** 
 
 I know that there is a visionary dogma which holds that 
 negro slaves cannot be the subject of property. I shall not 
 dwell long with this speculative abstraction. That is prop- 
 erty which the law declares to be property. Two hundred 
 years of legislation have sanctioned and sanctified negro slaves 
 as property. Under all the forms of government which 
 have existed upon this continent during that long space of 
 time — under the British government — under the colonial 
 government — under all the State constitutions and govern- 
 ments — and under the federal government itself — they have 
 been deliberately and solemnly recognized as the legitimate 
 subjects of property. To the wild speculations of theorists 
 and innovators stands opposed the fact, that in an uninter 
 rupted period of two hundred years’ duration, under ever) 
 form of human legislation, and by all the departments of 
 human government, African negro slaves have been held 
 and respected, have descended and been transferred, as law- 
 ful and indisputable property. They were treated as prop- 
 erty in the very British example which is so triumphantly 
 appealed to as worthy of our imitation. Although the 
 West India planters had no voice in the united Parliament 
 of the British Isles, an irresistible sense of justice extorted 
 from that legislature the grant of twenty millions of pounds 
 sterling to compensate the colonists for their loss of property. 
 ******** 
 
 Sir, I am not in the habit of speaking lightly of the pos- 
 sibility of dissolving this happy Union. The Senate knows 
 that I have deprecated allusions on ordinary occasions to 
 that direful event. The country will testify that if there be 
 anything in the history of my public career worthy of re- 
 
SLAVERY AGITATION. 
 
 345 
 
 collection, it is the truth and sincerity of my ardent devotion 
 to its lasting preservation. But we should be false in our al- 
 legiance to it, if we did not discriminate between the imagi- 
 nary and real dangers by which it may be assailed. Aboli 
 tion should no longer be regarded as an imaginary danger 
 The Abolitionists, let me suppose, succeed in their present 
 aim of uniting the inhabitants of the free States as one man 
 against the inhabitants of the slave States. Union on the 
 one side will beget union on the other ; and this process of 
 reciprocal consolidation will be attended with all the vio- 
 lent prejudices, embittered passions, and implacable ani- 
 mosities which ever degraded or deformed human nature. 
 A virtual dissolution of the Union will have taken place, 
 whilst the forms of its existence remain. The most valuable 
 elements of union, mutual kindness, the feelings of sym- 
 pathy, the fraternal bonds, which now happily unite us, will 
 have been extinguished forever. One Section will stand in 
 menacing and hostile array against the other. The collision 
 of opinion will be quickly followed by the clash of arms. I 
 will not attempt to describe scenes which now happily lie 
 concealed from our view. Abolitionists themselves would 
 shrink back in dismay and horror at the contemplation of 
 desolated fields, conflagrated cities, murdered inhabitants, 
 and the overthrow of the fairest fabric of human government 
 that ever rose to animate the hopes of civilized man. Nor 
 should these Abolitionists flatter themselves that, if they 
 can succeed in their object of uniting the people of the free 
 States, they will enter the contest with a numerical super- 
 iority that must insure victory. All history and experience 
 proves the hazard and uncertainty of war. And we are 
 admonished by holy writ that the “ race is not to the swift, 
 nor the battle to the strong.” But if they were to conquer, 
 whom would they conquer ? A foreign foe — one who had 
 insulted our flag, invaded our shores, and laid our country 
 waste ? No, sir ; no, sir. It would be a conquest without 
 
346 
 
 SLAVEJRY AGITATION. 
 
 laurels, without glory — a self, a suicidal conquest — a con- 
 quest of brothers over brothers, achieved by one over an- 
 other portion of the descendants of common ancestors, who 
 nobly pledging their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred 
 honor, had fought and bled, side by side, in many a hard 
 battle on land and ocean, severed our country from the 
 British Crown, and established our national independence. 
 
 The inhabitants of the slaves States are sometimes ac- 
 cused by their Northern brethren with displaying too much 
 rashness and sensibility to the operations and proceedings of 
 Abolitionists. But, before they can be rightly judged, there 
 should be a reversal of conditions. Let me suppose that 
 the people of the slave States were to form societies, sub- 
 sidize presses, make large pecuniary contributions, send 
 forth numerous missionaries throughout all their own bor- 
 ders, and enter into machinations to burn the beautiful 
 capitals, destroy the productive manufactories, and sink in 
 the ocean the gallant ships of the Northern States. Would 
 these incendary proceedings be regarded as neighborly and 
 friendly, and consistent with the fraternal sentiments which 
 should ever be cherished by one portion of the Union to- 
 wards another ? Would they excite no emotion ? occasion 
 no manifestations of dissatisfaction, nor lead to any acts of 
 retaliatory violence ? But the supposed case falls far short 
 of the actual one in a most essential circumstance. In no 
 contingency could these capitals, manufactories, and ships, 
 rise in rebellion and massacre inhabitants of the Northern 
 States. 
 
 I am, Mr. President, no friend of slavery. The Searcher 
 of all Hearts knows that every pulsation of mine beats high 
 and strong in the cause of civil liberty. Wherever it is 
 safe and practicable, I desire to see every portion of the 
 human family in the enjoyment of it. But I prefer the 
 liberty of my own country to that of any other people, and 
 the liberty of my own race to that of any other race. The 
 
SLAVERY AGITATION. 
 
 347 
 
 liberty of the descendants of Africa in the United States is 
 incompatible with the safety and liberty of the European 
 descendants. There slavery forms an exception — an excep- 
 tion resulting from a stern and inexorable necessity — to the 
 generahliberty in the United States. We did not originate, 
 nor are we responsible for, this necessity. Their liberty, if 
 it were possible, could only be established by violating the 
 incontestable powers of the States, and subverting the 
 Union ; and beneath the ruins of the Union would be buried, 
 sooner or later, the liberty of both races. 
 
 But if one dark spot exists on our political horizon, is it 
 not obscured by the bright and effulgent and cheering light 
 that beams all around us? Was ever a people before so 
 blessed as we are, if true to ourselves? Did ever any 
 other nation contain within its bosom so many elements of 
 prosperity, of greatness, and of glory ? Our only real dan- 
 ger lies ahead, conspicuous, elevated, and visible. It was 
 clearly discerned at the commencement, and distinctly seen 
 throughout our whole career. Shall we wantonly run upon 
 it, and destroy all the glorious anticipations of the high 
 destiny that awaits us ? I beseech the Abolitionists them- 
 selves solemnly to pause in their mad and fatal course. 
 Amidst the infinite variety of objects of humanity and bene- 
 volence which invite the employment of their energies, let 
 them select some one more harmless, that does not threaten 
 to deluge our country in blood. I call upon that small 
 portion of the clergy which has lent itself to these wild and 
 ruinous schemes, not to forget the holy nature of the divine 
 mission of the founder of our religion, and to profit by his 
 peaceful examples. I intreat that portion of my country- 
 women who have given their countenance to abolition, 
 to remember that they are ever most loved and ho- 
 nored when moving in their own appropriate and delight- 
 ful sphere, and to reflect that the ink which they shed in 
 subscribing witL their fai" hands Abolition petitions, may 
 
348 
 
 SLAVERY AGITATION. 
 
 prove but the prelude to the shedding of the bload of their 
 brethren. I adjure all the inhabitants of the free States to 
 rebuke and discountenance, by their opinion and their ex- 
 ample, measures which must inevitably lead to the most 
 calamitous consequences. And let us all, as countrymen, 
 as friends, and as brothers, cherish in unfading memory the 
 motto which bore our ancestors triumphantly through all 
 the trials of the Revolution, as, if adhered to, it will con 
 duct their posterity through all that may, in the dispensa 
 tions of Providence, be reserved for them. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 THE AGITATION IN 1841 AND 1850. 
 
 In 1841, Mr. Calhoun introduced the following Resolu* 
 tion in the Senate : 
 
 “ Resolved , That it is a fundamental principle in our 
 political creed that a people, in framing a Constitution, 
 have the unconditional right to form and adopt the govern- 
 ment which they may think best calculated to secure their 
 liberty, prosperity, and happiness ; and that, in conformity 
 thereto, no other condition is imposed by the federal Con- 
 stitution on a State, in order to be admitted into this Union, 
 except that its Constitution shall be republican ; and that 
 the imposition of any other by Congress would not only be 
 in violation of the Constitution, bnt in direct conflict with 
 the principle on which our political system rests.” 
 
 Upon this resolution Mr. Calhoun offered some highly 
 striking remarks, 
 
 “Mr. President: Not only is that proposition grossly in- 
 consistent with the Constitution, but the other, which under- 
 takes to say that no State shall be admitted into this Union 
 which shall not prohibit by its Constitution the existence of 
 slaves, is equally a great outrage against the Constitution 
 of the United States. Sir, I hold it to be a fundamental 
 principle of our political system that the people have a right 
 to establish what government they may think proper for 
 themselves ; that every State about to become a member of 
 this Union has a right to form its own government as it 
 pleases; and that, in 'order to be admitted, there is but one 
 qualification, and that is, that the government shall be re- 
 
 (349) 
 
350 
 
 THE AGITATION IN 1847 — 50 . 
 
 publican. There is no express provision to that effect, but 
 it results from that important section which guarantees to 
 every State in this Union a republican form of government. 
 Now, sir, what is proposed ? It is proposed, from a vague, 
 indefinite, erroneous, and most dangerous conception of 
 private individual liberty, to overrule this great common 
 liberty which the people have of framing their own Consti 
 tution ! Sir, the right of self-government on the part of 
 individuals is not near so easily to be established by any 
 course of reasoning as the right of a community or State to 
 self-government. And yet, sir, there are men of such deli- 
 cate feeling on the subject of liberty — men who cannot pos- 
 sibly bear what they call slavery in one section of the country, 
 although not so much slavery as an institution indispensable 
 for the good of both races — men so squeamish on this point, 
 that they are ready to strike down the higher right of a 
 community to govern themselves, in order to maintain the 
 absolute right of individuals in every possible condition to 
 govern themselves !” 
 
 In 1848 Mr. Calhoun said: 
 
 -x- * * * * * 
 
 “ There is a very striking difference between the position 
 in which the slaveholding and non-slaveholding States stand 
 in reference to the subject under consideration. The former 
 desire no action of the Government; demand no law to 
 give them any advantage in the Territory about to be 
 established ; are willing to leave it, and other Territories 
 belonging to the United States, open to all their citizens, so 
 long as they continue to be Territories, aid when they cease 
 to be so, to leave it to their inhabitants to form such govern- 
 ments as may suit them, without restriction or condition, 
 except that imposed by the Constitution, as a prerequisite for 
 admission into the Union. In short, they are willing to 
 leave the whole subject where the Constitution and the 
 great and fundamental principles of self-government place 
 
THE AGITATION IN 1847 — 50. 
 
 351 
 
 it. On the contrary, the non-slaveholding States, instead 
 of being willing to leave it on this broad and equal founda- 
 tion, demand the interposition of the Government, and the 
 passage of an act to exclude the citizens of the slaveholding 
 States from emigrating with their property into the Terri- 
 tory, in order to give their citizens, and those they may 
 permit, the exclusive right of settling it, while it remains in 
 that condition, preparatory to subjecting it to like restric- 
 tions and conditions when it becomes a State.” 
 
 ****** 
 
 “But I go further, and hold that justice and the Consti- 
 tution are the easiest and the safest guard on which the 
 question can be settled, regarded in reference to party. It 
 may be settled on that ground simply by non-action — by 
 leaving the Territories free and open to the emigration of 
 all the world so long as they continue so ; and when they 
 become States to adopt whatever Constitution they please, 
 with the single restriction, to be republican, in order to 
 their admission into the Union. If a party cannot safely 
 take this broad and solid position, and successfully maintain 
 it, what other can it take and maintain ? If it cannot 
 maintain itself by an appeal to the great principles of justice, 
 the Constitution, and self-government, to what other, suffi- 
 ciently strong to uphold them in public opinion, can they 
 appeal ? I greatly mistake the character of the people of 
 this Union, if such an appeal would not prove successful, if 
 either party should have the magnanimity to step forward 
 and boldly make it. It would, in my opinion, be received 
 with shouts of approbation by the patriotic and intelligent in 
 every quarter. There is a deep feeling pervading the 
 country that the Union and our political institutions are in 
 danger, which such a course would dispel.” 
 
 January 12, 1848. In the Senate of the United States, 
 
352 
 
 THE AGITATION IX 1847 — 50 . 
 
 the following resolutions, submitted by Mr. Dickinson on 
 the 14th ultimo, came up : 
 
 “ Resolved, That true policy requires the government of 
 the United States to strengthen its political and commercial 
 relations upon this continent, by the annexation of such 
 contiguous territory as may conduce to that end, and can 
 be justly obtained ; and that neither in such acquisition nor 
 in the territorial organization thereof can any conditions 
 lie constitutionally imposed, or institutions be provided for 
 or established, inconsistent with the right of the people 
 thereof to form a free sovereign State, with the powers and 
 privileges of the original members of the confederacy. 
 
 “ Resolved, That, in organizing a territorial government 
 for territories belonging to the United States, the principles 
 of self-government upon which onr federative system rests 
 will be best promoted, the true spirit and meaning of the 
 Constitution be observed, and the confederacy strengthened, 
 by leaving all questions concerning the domestic policy 
 therein to the legislatures chosen by the people thereof.” 
 
 Mr. Dickinson said : — The second resolution declares 
 that the principle of self-government upon which the federa- 
 tive system rests will be best promoted, the true spirit and 
 meaning of the Constitution be observed, and the con- 
 federacy strengthened, by leaving all questions concerning 
 the domestic regulation of territory to the legislatures 
 chosen by the people thereof. 
 
 It must be conceded by all, that Congress has no inherent 
 power over this subject, and no more right to legislate 
 concerning it than the British Parliament, unless such 
 authority is delegated by the Constitution. The only clause 
 of the Constitution which is supposed to confer upon Con- 
 gress the right to legislate for the people of. a territory, is 
 as follows : 
 
 “ The Congress shall have power to dispose of, and make 
 
THE AGITATION IN 1847 — 50 . 
 
 353 
 
 all needful rules and regulations respecting the territory or 
 other property belonging to the United States,” &c. 
 
 In providing legislation for the District of Columbia, 
 and for places occupied by the government of the United 
 States for fortifications and other erections required by the 
 public service, the Constitution thus confers the power 
 upon Congress : 
 
 “ To exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatever, 
 in such district (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by 
 the cession of particular States, and the acceptance of Con- 
 gress, become the seat of the government of the United 
 States, and to exercise like authority over all places pur- 
 chased, by the consent of the legislature of the State in 
 which the same shall be, for the erection of forts, magazines, 
 arsenals, dock-yards, and other needful buildings.” 
 
 By the clause of the Constitution first above cited, it is 
 evident that territory is mentioned in its material, and not 
 in its political sense, for it is classed with “other property,” 
 and Congress is authorized to dispose of and make all 
 needful rules and regulations respecting both. In the other 
 section they are separated, and Congress is auchorized to 
 legislate over all places occupied for public structures, but 
 no such authority is extended to territory. The language 
 of the Constitution is that of great precision — free from 
 repetition — and every word was well weighed in its positive 
 and relative sense. And if its framers had supposed the 
 phrase “needful rules and regulations” authorized legisla- 
 tion over places belonging to the United States, and used 
 for public service, they would scarcely have authorized 
 legislation over such places in express language in another 
 section. Again, in providing legislation for the District of 
 Columbia, Congress is authorized to “ exercise exclusive 
 legislation” over it. Now, if the words “needful rules and 
 regulations” were deemed proper and apt language to con- 
 fer legislative authority over the internal affairs of a terri- 
 23 
 
354 
 
 THE AGITATION IN 1847 — 50. 
 
 tory, why were they not employed to authorize legislation 
 over the District ? And to reverse the order of the inquiry, 
 if it was intended to confer upon Congress the power to 
 legislate over territory, why was it not given in the same 
 express terms as in authorizing legislation for the District ? 
 From this view, there is little doubt that a strict construc- 
 tion would deny to Congress the right to legislate for the 
 domestic affairs of the people of territory without their 
 consent. 
 
 Congress has, however, upon various occasions, exercised 
 legislative power over the subject, especially in incorporating 
 into the law organizing territories the provisions of the 
 Ordinance of 1787 ; and this has been acquiesced iu by the 
 people of the territory. This Ordinance was framed under 
 the old confederacy, for the. government of the North- 
 western Territory, and the sixth article forbade slavery or 
 involuntary servitude therein. Its validity has often been 
 questioned, and its adoption was pronounced by Mr. Madi- 
 son to be “ without the least color of constitutional law.” 
 But whether authorized or not, having been passed before 
 the adoption of the Constitution, the act has no authority 
 as a precedent for like practice under it. 
 
 Extract from the speech of Henry Clay, in the United 
 States Senate, February 5th and 6th, 1850. 
 
 Mr. Clay said : When I came to consider the subject, 
 and to compare the provisions of the line of 36° 30' — the 
 Missouri compromise line — with the plan which I have pro- 
 posed for the accommodation of this question, said I to my- 
 self, if I offer the line of 36° 30', to interdict the question 
 of slavery north of it, and to leave it unsettled and open 
 south of it, I offer that which is illusory to the South — I 
 offer that which will deceive them, if they suppose that 
 slavery will be received south of that line. It is better for 
 them — I said to myself — it is better for the South, that there 
 
THE AGITATION IN 1847 — 50. 
 
 355 
 
 should be nou-action as to slavery both north and south of 
 the line — far better that there should be non-action both 
 sides of the line, than that there should be action by the in- 
 terdiction on the one side, without action for the admission 
 upon the other side of the line. Is it not so ? What is 
 there gained by the South, if the Missouri line is extended 
 to the Pacific, with the interdiction of slavery north of it ? 
 Why, the very argument which has been most often and 
 most seriously urged by the South has been this : we do not 
 want Congress to legislate upon the subject of slavery at all ; 
 you ought not to touch it. You have no power over it. I 
 do not concur, as is well known from what I have said upon 
 that question, in this view of the subject ; but that is the 
 Southern argument. We do not want you, say they, to 
 legislate upon the subject of slavery. But if you adopt the 
 Missouri line, and thus interdict slavery north of that line, 
 you do legislate upon the subject of slavery, and you legis- 
 late for its restriction without a corresponding equivalent 
 of legislation south of that line for its admission ; for I in- 
 sist that if there be legislation interdicting slavery north of 
 the line, then the principles of equality would require that 
 there should be legislation admitting slavery south of the 
 line. 
 
 I have said that I never could vote for it myself, and I 
 repeat that I never can, and never will vote, and uo earthly 
 power will ever make me vote, to spread slavery over terri- 
 tory where it does not exist. Still, if there be a majority 
 who are for interdicting slavery north of the line, there 
 ought to be a majority, if justice is done to the South, to 
 admit slavery south of the line. And if there be a majority 
 to accomplish both of these purposes, although I cannot 
 concur in their action, yet I shall be one of the last to create 
 any disturbance ; I shall be one of the first to acquiesce in 
 that legislation, although it is contrary to my own judgment 
 and to my own conscience. 
 
356 
 
 THE AGITATION IN 1547 — 50 . 
 
 I hope, then, to keep the whole of these matters untouched 
 by any legislation of Congress upon the subject of slavery, 
 leaving it open and undecided. Non-action by Congress is 
 best for the South, and best for all the views which the South 
 have disclosed to us from time to time as corresponding to 
 their wishes. I know it has been said with regard to the 
 territories, and especially has it been said with regard to 
 California, that non-legislation upon the part of Congress 
 implies the same thing as the exclusion of slavery. That 
 we cannot help. That Congress is not responsible for. If 
 nature has pronounced the doom of slavery in these territo- 
 ries — if she has declared, by her immutable laws, that slavery 
 cannot and shall not be introduced there — who can you re- 
 proach but nature and nature’s God ? Congress you cannot. 
 Congress abstains. Congress is passive. Congress is non- 
 acting, south and north of the line ; or rather if Congress 
 agrees to the plan which I propose, extending no line, it 
 leaves the entire theatre of the whole cession of these terri- 
 tories untouched by legislative enactments, either to exclude' 
 or admit slavery. Well, I ask again, if you will listen to 
 the voice of calm and dispassionate reason — I ask of any 
 man of the South, to rise and tell me if it is not better for 
 that section of the Union, that Congress should remain 
 passive upon both sides of the ideal line, rather than that 
 we should interdict slavery upon the one side of that line 
 and be passive upon the other side of that line ? 
 
 Extract from Daniel Webster’s speech in the United 
 States Senate, March 7th, 1850. 
 
 Now, as to California and New Mexico, I hold slavery 
 to be excluded from those territories by a law even superior 
 to that which admits and sanctions it in Texas — I mean the law 
 of nature, of physical geography' — the law of the formation of 
 the earth. That law settles forever, with a strength beyond 
 all terms of human enactment, that slavery cannot exist in 
 
THE AGITATION IN 1847 — 50 . 
 
 857 
 
 California or Hew Mexico. Understand me, sir, — I mean 
 slavery as we regard it ; slaves in gross, of the colored 
 race, transferable by sale and delivery, like other property. 
 ******** 
 I look upon it, therefore, as a fixed fact, to use an ex- 
 pression current at this day, that both California and Hew 
 Mexico are destined to be free, so far as they are settled at 
 all, which I believe, especially in regard to Hew Mexico, 
 will be very little for a great length of time — free by the 
 arrangement of things by the Power above us. I have 
 therefore to say, in this respect also, that this country is 
 fixed for freedom, to as many persons as shall ever live 
 there, by as irrepealable, and a more irrepealable law, than 
 the law that attaches to the right of holding slaves in Texas ; 
 and I will say further, that if a resolution, or a law, were 
 now before us, to provide a territorial government for Hew 
 Mexico, I would not vote to put any prohibition into it 
 whatever. The use of such a prohibition would be idle, as 
 it respects any effect it would have upon the territory ; and 
 I would not take pains to reaffirm an ordinance of nature, 
 nor to re-enact the will of God. And I would put in no 
 Wilmot proviso, for the purpose of a taunt or a reproach, i 
 would put into it no evidence of the votes of superior 
 power, to wound the pride, even whether a just pride, a 
 rational pride, or an irrational pride — to wound the pride 
 of the gentlemen who belong to the Southern States. 1 
 have no such object, no such purpose. They would thffik 
 it a taunt, an indignity. They would think it to be an act 
 taking away from them what they regard a proper equality 
 of privilege ; and whether they expect to realize any benefit 
 from it or not, they would think it a theoretic wrong — that 
 something more or less derogatory to their character and 
 their rights had taken place. I propose to inflict no such 
 wound upon anybody, unless something essentially import- 
 ant to the country, and efficient to the preservation of liberty 
 
358 
 
 THE AGITATION IN 1847 — 50. 
 
 and freedom, is to be effected. Therefore I repeat, sir— 
 and I repeat it because I wish it to be understood — that I 
 do not propose to address the Senate often on this subject. 
 I desire to pour out all my heart in as plain a manner as 
 possible ; and I say again, that if a proposition were now 
 here for a government for New Mexico, and it was moved 
 to insert a provision for a prohibition of slavery, I would 
 not vote for it. 
 
 Now, Mr. President, I have established, so far as I pro- 
 posed to go into any line of observation to establish, the 
 proposition with which I set out, and upon which I propose 
 to stand or fall, and that is, that the whole territory of the 
 States in the United States, or in the newly-acquired terri- 
 tory of the United States, has a fixed and settled character, 
 now fixed and settled by law, which can not be repealed in 
 the case of Texas without a violation of public faith, and 
 can not be repealed by any human power in regard to Cali- 
 fornia or New Mexico; that, under one or other of these 
 laws, every foot of territory in the States, or in the Terri- 
 tories, has now received a fixed and decided character. 
 
 Sir, if we were now making a government for New Mex- 
 ico, and anybody should propose a Wilmot proviso, I should 
 treat it exactly as Mr. Polk treated that provision for ex- 
 cluding slavery from Oregon. Mr. Polk was known to be 
 in opinion decidedly averse to the Wilmot proviso ; but he 
 felt the necessity of establishing a government for the Terri- 
 tory of Oregon, and, though the proviso was there, he knew 
 it would be entirely nugatory ; and, since it must be entirely 
 nugatory, since it took away no right, no describable, no 
 estimable, no weighable, or tangible right of the South, he 
 said he would sign the bill for the sake of enacting a law to 
 form a government in that Territory, and let that entirely 
 useless, and, in that connection, entirely senseless, proviso 
 remain. For myself, I will say that we hear much of the 
 annexation of Canada ; and if there be any man, any of the 
 
THE AGITATION IN 1847 — 50 . 
 
 859 
 
 northern democracy, or any one of the free-soil party, who 
 supposes it necessary to insert a Wilrnot proviso in a terri- 
 torial government for New Mexico, that man will of course 
 be of opinion that it is necessary to protect the everlasting 
 snows of Canada from the foot of slavery, by the same over- 
 powering wing of an act of Congress. 
 
 Then, sir, there are those abolition societies, of which I 
 am unwilling to speak, but in regard to which I have very 
 clear notions and opinions. I do not think them useful. 
 I think their operations for the last twenty years have pro- 
 duced nothing good or valuable. At the same time, I know 
 thousands of them are honest and good men ; perfectly 
 well-meaning men. They have excited feelings ; they think 
 they must do something for the cause of liberty ; and in 
 their sphere of action, they do not see what else they can 
 do, than to contribute to an abolition press, or an abolition 
 society, or to pay an abolition lecturer. I do not mean to 
 impute gross motives even to the leaders of these societies, 
 but I am not blind to the consequences. I cannot but see 
 what mischiefs their interference with the South has pro- 
 duced. And is it not plain to every man ? Let any gen- 
 tleman who doubts of that, recur to the debates in the Vir- 
 ginia House of Delegates in 1832, and he will see with 
 what freedom a proposition, made by Mr. Randolph, for 
 the gradual abolition of slavery was discussed in that body. 
 Every one spoke of slavery as he thought ; very ignomi- 
 nious and disparaging names and epithets were applied to 
 it. The debates in the House of Delegates on that occa- 
 sion, I believe, were all published. They were read by 
 every colored man who could read, and if there were any 
 who could not read, those debates were read to them by 
 others. At that time Virginia was not unwilling nor afraid 
 to discuss this question, and to let that part of her popula- 
 tion know as much of it as they could learn. That was in 
 1832. As has been said by the honorable member from 
 
360 
 
 THE AGITATION IN 1847—50. 
 
 Carolina, these abolition societies commenced their course 
 of action in 1835. It is said — I do not know how true it 
 may be — that they sent incendiary publications into the 
 slave States ; at any event, they attempted to arouse, and 
 did arouse, a very strong feeling ; in other words, they 
 created great agitation in the North against Southern 
 slavery. Well, what was the result? The bonds of the 
 slaves were bound more firmly than before ; their rivets 
 were more strongly fastened. Public opinion, which in 
 Virginia had begun to be exhibited against slavery, and 
 was opening out for the discussion of the question, drew 
 back and shut itself up in its castle. I wish to know 
 whether any body in Virginia can, now, talk as Mr. Ran- 
 dolph, Gov. McDowell, and others talked there, openly, 
 and sent their remarks to the press, in 1832. We all 
 know the fact, and we all know the cause, and everything 
 that this agitating people have done, has been, not to en- 
 large, but to restrain, not to set free, but to bind faster, the 
 slave population of the South. That is my judgment. 
 Sir, as I' have said, I know many abolitionists in my own 
 neighborhood, very honest, good people, misled, as I think, 
 by strange enthusiasm ; but they wish to do something, and 
 they are called on to contribute, and they do contribute ; 
 and it is my firm opinion this day, that within the last 
 twenty years, as much money has been collected and paid 
 to the abolition societies, abolition presses, and aboli- 
 tion lecturers, as would purchase the freedom of every 
 slave — man, woman, and child — in the State of Maryland, 
 and send them all to Liberia. I have no doubt of it. But 
 I have yet to learn that the benevolence of these abolition 
 societies has at any time taken that particular turn. 
 
 Extract from Hon. John C. Calhoun’s speech in the 
 Senate, June 2tth, 1848. 
 
 But there is one precedent referred to by the Senator 
 
THE AGITATION IN 1847 — 50 . 
 
 361 
 
 unconnected with the power, and on that account requires 
 particular notice. I refer to the ordinance of 1187, which 
 was adopted by the old Congress of the Confederation while 
 the Convention that framed the Constitution was in session, 
 and about one year before its adoption, and of course od 
 the very eve of the expiration of the old Confederation 
 Against its introduction, I might object that the act of 
 the Congress of the Confederation cannot rightfully form 
 precedents for this government ; but I waive that. I 
 waive also the objection that the act was consummated 
 when that government was in extremis, and could hardly 
 be considered compos mentis. I waive also the fact that 
 the ordinance assumed the form of a compact, and was 
 adopted when only eight States were present, when the 
 Articles of Confederation required nine to form compacts. 
 I waive also the fact, that Mr. Madisou declared that the 
 act was without shadow of constitutional authority, and shall 
 proceed to show, from the history of its adoption, that it 
 cannot justly be considered of any binding force. 
 
 Virginia made the cession of the Territory north of the 
 Ohio, and lying between it and the Mississippi and the lakes, 
 in 1784. It now contains the States of Ohio, Indiana, Illi- 
 nois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and a very considerable extent 
 of territory lying North of the latter. Shortly after the 
 cession, a committee of three was raised, of whom Mr. Jeffer- 
 son was one. They reported an ordinance for the establish- 
 ment of the Territory, containing, among other provisions, 
 one, of which Mr. Jefferson was the author, excluding 
 slavery from the Territory after the year 1800. It was re- 
 ported to Congress, but this provision was struck out. On 
 the question of striking out, every Southern State present 
 voted in favor of it ; and what is more striking, every 
 Southern delegate voted the same way, Mr. Jefferson alone 
 excepted. The ordinance was adopted without the pro- 
 vision. At the next session, Rufus King, then a member 
 
362 
 
 THE AGITATION IN 1847—50. 
 
 of the old Congress, moved a proposition, very much in the 
 same shape as the sixth article (that which excludes slavery) 
 in the ordinance as it now stands, with the exception of its 
 proviso. It was referred to a committee, but there was no 
 action on it. A committee was moved the next or the 
 subsequent year, which reported without including or no- 
 ticing Mr. King’s proposition. Mr. Dane was a member 
 of that committee, and proposed a provision the same as 
 that in the ordinance as it passed, but the committee re- 
 ported without including it. Finally, another committee 
 was raised, at the head of which was Mr. Carrington, of 
 Virginia, and of which Mr. Dane was also a member. That 
 committee reported without including the amendment pre- 
 viously proposed by him. Mr. Dane moved his proposition, 
 which was adopted, and the report of the committee thus 
 amended became the Ordinance of 1787. 
 
 It may be inferred from this brief historical sketch, that 
 the ordinance was a compromise between the Southern and 
 Northern States, of which the terms were, that slavery 
 should be excluded from Territory upon condition that fugi- 
 tive slaves, who might take refuge in the Territory should 
 be delivered up to their owners, as stipulated in the proviso 
 of the 6th article of the Ordinance. It is manifest, from 
 what has been stated, that the South was unitedly and 
 obstinately opposed to the provision when first moved ; that 
 the proposition of Mr. King, without the proviso, was in 
 like manner resisted by the South, as may be inferred from 
 its entire want of success, and that it never could be brought 
 to agree fo it until the provision for the delivery up of 
 fugitive slaves was incorporated in it. But it is well under- 
 stood that a compromise involves not a surrender, but 
 simply a waiver of the right or power ; and hence, in the 
 case of individuals, it is a well established legal principle, 
 that an offer to settle by compromise a litigated claim, is 
 no evidence against the justice of the claim on the side of 
 
THE AGITATION IN 1847 — 50 . 
 
 863 
 
 the party making it. The South, to her honor, has ob- 
 served with fidelity her engagements under this compro- 
 mise ; in proof of which, I appeal to the precedents cited 
 by the Senator from New York, intended by him to estab- 
 lish the fact of her acquiescence in the Ordinance. I admit 
 that she has acquiesced in the several acts of Congress to 
 carry it into effect ; but the Senator is mistaken in sup- 
 posing that it is proof of a surrender, on her part, of the 
 power over the territories which he claims for Congress. 
 No, she never has, and I trust never will, make such a sur- 
 render. Instead of that, it is conclusive proof of her 
 fidelity to her engagements. She has never attempted to 
 set aside the ordinance, or to deprive the territory, and the 
 States erected within its limits, of any right or advantage 
 it was intended to confer. But I regret that as much can- 
 not be said in favor of the fidelity with which it has been 
 observed on their part. With the single exception of the 
 State of Illinois — be it said to her honor — every other 
 State erected within its limits has pursued a course, and 
 adopted measures, which have rendered the stipulations of 
 the proviso to deliver up fugitive slaves nugatory. Wis- 
 consin may also be an exception, as she has just entered 
 the Union, and has hardly had time to act on the subject. 
 They have gone further, and suffered individuals to form 
 combinations, without an effort to suppress them, for the 
 purpose of enticing and seducing the slaves to leave their 
 masters, and to run them into Canada beyond the reach of 
 our laws — in open violation, not only of the stipulations of 
 the ordinance, but of the Constitution itself. If I express 
 myself strongly, it is not for the purpose of producing 
 excitement, but to draw the attention of the Senate forcibly 
 to the subject. My object is to lay bare the subject under 
 consideration, jnst as a surgeon probes to the bottom and 
 lays open a wound, not to cause pain to his patient, but for 
 the purpose of healing it. 
 
 * * * * * * * 
 
364 
 
 THE AGITATION IN 1S47 — 50. 
 
 I come now to another precedent of a similar character, 
 but differing in this, that it took place under this govern- 
 ment, and not under that of the old confederation ; I refer 
 to what is known as the Missouri compromise. It is more 
 recent, and better known, and may be more readily des- 
 patched. 
 
 After an arduous struggle of more than a year, on the 
 question whether Missouri should come into the Union, 
 with or without restrictions prohibiting slavery, a compro- 
 mise line was adopted between the North and the South ; 
 but it was done under circumstances which made it nowise 
 obligatory upon the latter. It is true, it was moved by one 
 of her distinguished citizens, [Mr. Clay,] but it is equally 
 so, that it was carried by the almost united vote of the 
 North against the almost united vote of the South ; and 
 was thus imposed ou the latter by superior numbers, in 
 opposition to her strenuous efforts. The South has never 
 given her sanction to it, or assented to the power it asserted. 
 She was voted down, and has simply acquiesced iu an 
 arrangement which she has not had the power to reverse, 
 and which she could not attempt to do without disturbing 
 the peace and harmony of the Union — to which she has 
 ever been averse. Acting on this principle, she permitted 
 the Territory of Iowa to be formed, and the State to be 
 admitted into the Union, under the compromise, without 
 objection ; aud that is now quoted by the Senator from 
 New York to prove her surrender of the power he claims 
 for Congress. 
 
 To add to the strength of this claim, the advocates of 
 the power hold up the name of Jefferson in its favor, and 
 go so far as to call him the author of the so-called Wilmot 
 proviso, which is but a general expression of a power of 
 which the Missouri compromise is a case of its application. 
 If we may judge by his opinion of that case, what his 
 opinion was of the principle, instead of being the author of 
 
THE AGITATION" IN 1847 — 50 . 
 
 365 
 
 tie proviso, or being in its favor, no one could be more 
 deadly hostile to it. In a letter addressed to the elder 
 Adams, in 1819, in answer to one from him, he uses these 
 remarkable expressions in reference to the Missouri question : 
 
 “ The banks, bankrupt law, manufactures, Spanish treaty, 
 are nothing. These are occurrences which, like waves in a 
 storm, will pass nnder the ship. But the Missouri question 
 is a breaker on which we lose the Missouri country by 
 revolt, and what more, G-od only knows.” 
 
 To understand the full force of these expressions, it must 
 be borne in mind, that the questions enumerated were the 
 great and exciting political questions of the day on which 
 parties divided. The banks and bankrupt law had long 
 been so. Manufactures (or what has since been called the 
 protective tariff) was at the time a subject of great excite- 
 ment, as was the Spanish treaty; that is, the treaty by 
 which Florida was ceded to the Union, and by which the 
 western boundary between Mexico and the United States 
 was settled, from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific Ocean. 
 All these exciting party questions of the day, Mr. Jefferson 
 regarded as nothing compared with the Missouri question. 
 He looked on all of them as, in their nature, fugitive ; and, 
 to use his own forcible expression, “ would pass off under 
 the ship of state like waves in a storm.” Not so that fatal 
 question. It was a breaker on which it was destined to be 
 stranded ; and yet, his name is quoted by the incendiaries 
 of the present day in support of, and as the author of, a 
 proviso which would give indefinite and universal extension 
 of this fatal question to all the territories. It was compro- 
 mised the next year by the adoption of the line to which I 
 have referred. Mr. Holmes, of Maine, long a member of 
 this body, who voted for the measure, addressed a letter to 
 Mr. Jeffersou, enclosing a copy of his speech on the occa- 
 sion. It drew out an answer from him which ought to be 
 treasured up in the heart of every man who loves the coun- 
 
366 
 
 THE AGITATION IN 1847 - 50 . 
 
 try and its institutions. It is brief : I will send it to the 
 Secretary to be read. The time of the Senate cannot be 
 better occupied than in listening to it : 
 
 “ Monticello, April 22, 1820. 
 
 “ I thank you, dear sir, for the copy you have been so 
 kind as to send me of the letter to your constituents on the 
 Missouri question. It is a perfect justification to them. I 
 had for a long time ceased to read newspapers, or pay any 
 attention to public affairs, confident they were in good 
 hands, and content to be a passenger in our bark to the 
 shore from which I am not distant. But this momentous 
 question, like a fire-bell in the night, awakened and filled 
 me with terror. I considered it at once as the knell of the 
 Union. It is hushed, indeed, for the moment; but this is 
 a reprieve only, not a final sentence. A geographical line, 
 coinciding with a marked principle, moral and political, 
 once conceived and held up to the angry passions of men, 
 will never be obliterated ; and every new irritation will 
 mark it deeper and deeper. I can say, with conscious truth, 
 that there is not a man on earth who would sacrifice more 
 than I would to relieve us from this heavy reproach, in any 
 practicable way. The cession of that kind of property 
 (for so it is misnamed) is a bagatelle, which would not cost 
 me a second thought, if, in that way, a general emancipa- 
 tion and expatriation could be effected ; and gradually, and 
 with due sacrifices, I think it might be. But as it is, we 
 have the wolf by the ears, and we can neither hold him, nor 
 safely let him go. Justice is in one scale, and self-preserva- 
 tion in the other. Of one thing I am certain, that as the 
 free passage of slaves from one State to another would not 
 make a slave of a single human being who would not be so 
 without it, sc their diffusion over a greater surface would 
 make them individually happier, and proportionally facili- 
 tate the accomplishment of their emancipation, by dividing 
 the burden on a greater number of coadjutors. An absti 
 
THE AGITATION IN 1847 — 50. So7 
 
 nence, too, from this act of power, would remove the 
 jealousy excited by the undertaking of Congress to regu- 
 late the condition of the different descriptions of men com- 
 posing a State. This certainly is the exclusive right of 
 every State, which nothing in the Constitution has taken 
 from them, and given to the general government. Could 
 Congress, for example, say that the non-freemen of Con- 
 necticut shall be freemen, or that they shall not emigrate 
 into any other State ? 
 
 “I regret that I am now to die in the belief, that the use- 
 less sacrifice of themselves by the generation of 1776, to 
 acquire self-government and happiness to their country, is 
 to be thrown away by the unwise and unworthy passions of 
 their sons, and that my only consolation is to be, that I live 
 not, to weep over it. If they would but dispassionately 
 weigh the blessings they will throw away, against an abstract 
 principle, more likely to be effected by union than by seces- 
 sion, they would pause before they would perpetrate this act 
 of suicide on themselves, and of treason against the hopes 
 of the world. To yourself as the faithful advocate of the 
 Union, I tender the offering of my high esteem and re- 
 spect. “THOMAS JEFFERSON.” 
 
 “John Holmes, Esq.” 
 
 Mark his prophetic words ! Mark his profound reason- 
 ing! 
 
 “It [the question] is hushed for the moment. But this 
 is a reprieve only, not a final sentence. A geographical 
 line coinciding with a marked principle, moral a,nd political, 
 once conceived and held up to the angry passions of men, 
 will never he obliterated, and every new irritation will 
 mark it deeper and deeper .” 
 
 Twenty-eight years have passed since these remarkable 
 words were penned, and there is not a thought which time 
 has not thus far verified, and it is to be feared will continue 
 
368 
 
 THE AGITATION IN 1847 — 50 . 
 
 to verify until the whole will be fulfilled. Certain it is, 
 that he regarded the compromise line as utterly inadequate 
 to arrest that fatal course of events which his keen sagacity 
 anticipated from the question. It was but a “reprieve.” 
 Mark the deeply melancholy impression which it made on 
 his mind : 
 
 “ I regret that I am to die in the belief that the useless 
 sacrifice of themselves by the generation of 1176, to acquire 
 self-government and happiness for themselves, is to be thrown 
 away by the unwise aud unworthy passions of their sons, 
 and that my only consolation is to be, that I shall live not 
 to weep over it.” 
 
 Can any one believe, after listening to this letter, that 
 Jefferson is the author of the so-called Wilmot proviso, or 
 ever favored it ? And yet there are at this time strenuous 
 efforts making in the North to form a purely sectional party 
 on it, and that, too, under the sanction of those who profess 
 the highest veneration for his character and principles 1 
 ****** 
 
 I have now concluded the discussion, so far as it relates 
 v > the power ; and have, I trust, established, beyond con- 
 tioversy, that the Territories are free, and open to all of 
 the citizens of the United States, and that there is no power, 
 under any aspect the subject can be viewed in, by which 
 the citizens of the South can be excluded from emigrating 
 with their property into any of them. I have advanced no 
 argument which I do not believe to be true, nor pushed any 
 one beyond what truth would strictly warrant. But, if 
 mistaken, if my arguments, instead of being sound and true, 
 as I hold them beyond controversy to be, should turn out 
 to be a mere mass of sophisms ; and if, in consequence, the 
 barrier opposed by the want of power, should be sur- 
 mounted, there is another still in the way that cannot be. 
 The mere possession of power, is not, of itself, sufficient to 
 justify its exercise. It must be, in addition, shown, that in 
 
THE AGITATION IN 1847 — 50 . 369 
 
 the given case it can be rightfully and justly exercised. 
 Under our system, the first inquiry is, Does the Constitution 
 authorize the exercise of the power ? If that be decided 
 in the affirmative, the next is, Can it be rightfully and 
 justly exercised under the circumstances ? And it is not 
 until that, too, is decided in the affirmative, that the ques- 
 tion of the expediency of exercising it is presented for con- 
 sideration. 
 
 How, I put the question solemnly to the Senators from 
 the North : Can you rightly and justly exclude the South 
 from the territories of the United States, and monopolize 
 them for yourselves, even if, in your opinion, you should 
 have the power ? It is this question I wish to press on 
 your attention, with all due solemnity and decorum. The 
 North and the South stand in the relation of partners in a 
 common Union, with equal dignity and equal rights. We 
 of the South have contributed our full share of funds, and 
 shed our full share of blood, for the acquisition of our ter- 
 ritories. Can you, then, on any principle of equity and 
 justice, deprive us of our full share in their benefit and ad- 
 vantages ? Are you ready to affirm, that a majority of the 
 partners in a joint concern have the right to monopolize 
 Its benefits, to the exclusion of the minority, even in cases 
 tvhere they have contributed their full share to the concern ? 
 
 OPINIONS OP MESSRS. CASS, DICKINSON, AND 
 TOOMBS. 
 
 In the Senate, 1850, Mr. Cass said: We are all aware 
 that there are various clauses of the Constitution, and vari- 
 ous other sources, foreign and domestic, whence this right 
 of unlimited legislation over the territories is sought to be 
 deduced. One of these, at least, is an express constitutional 
 grant of power, and if it fairly includes the authority to 
 hind the territories in all cases whatsoever, then there is 
 an end of this question, and we may pass this proviso, and 
 24 
 
370 
 
 THE AGITATION IN 1847 — 50 . 
 
 regulate all their other concerns at our pleasure. But there 
 are other sources, accepted or rejected, as minds differently 
 constituted take part in this controversy, whence this right 
 is derived indirectly, as necessary to the exercise of some 
 power found in the Constitution, or of some other power 
 found out of the Constitution. It will hardly be denied— 
 the time for denial has not yet come, though appearances 
 indicate it as fast approaching — that these indirect or inci- 
 dental powers are to be employed no further than is neces- 
 sary to meet the occasion which calls them into action. 
 Derivative in their nature, they are limited in their exercise. 
 They cannot go beyond the legitimate object which is sought 
 to be attained. If the necessity for social order in the Ter- 
 ritories, as many, perhaps as most of the speakers contend, 
 is the true foundation of the right of Congress to legislate 
 over them, it is a right which extends no further than may 
 be necessary and proper to fulfill this first duty of society. 
 The means must be proper for the end, and proportioned 
 to it ; and if this end can be obtained by the establishment 
 of local governments, there ceases the constitutional action 
 of Congress, and the internal legislation should be com- 
 mitted to the people to be affected by it. It is essential, 
 therefore, to ascertain whence this power comes, that we 
 may ascertain how far it may go ; essential, that we may not 
 violate the Constitution ; essential, that we may not violate 
 a fundamental principle of freedom, the unalienable connec- 
 tion between representation and internal legislation ; and 
 essential, that the people of the Territories may conduct 
 their own concerns in their own way — the very cardinal 
 doctrine of American freedom. 
 ******** 
 
 There is no clause in the Constitution which gives to 
 Congress express power to pass any law respecting slavery 
 in the Territories. The authority is deduced from various 
 sources, which I propose to examine by and by. But every 
 
THE AGITATION IN 184:7 — 50. 371 
 
 construction which would give to a foreign legislature juris- 
 diction over this subject of slavery — by foreign I mean not 
 elected by the people to be affected by its acts, nor respon- 
 sible to them — would equally give it jurisdiction over every 
 other department of life, social and political, in the territo- 
 ries : over the relations of husband and wife, of parent and 
 child, of guardian and ward, as well as over the relations 
 of master and servant ; and embracing within the sphere of 
 its operations the whole circle of human rights, personal 
 and political — life, liberty, and property, in all their various 
 modes of enjoyment. I say “ the power of Congress over 
 slavery;” for, if we have. power to abolish it, or to exclude 
 it, we have power to institute it. We possess complete ju- 
 risdiction over the subject ; for there is no intellect, however 
 acute, which can so limit the legislative right of action, if it 
 exist at all, as to apply it to the exclusion of slavery, and 
 withhold it from its institution. If any one doubts this 
 proposition, let him turn to the Constitution and show the 
 limitation. Before I can believe that such a power was 
 granted, so remote from the objects of the government 
 which the framers of the Constitution sought to establish, 
 belonging exclusively to the local questions affecting the 
 different communities into which we are divided, I must 
 abandon many of the illusions I have cherished respecting 
 the wisdom of the statesmen who composed the Convention 
 of 1787. 
 
 ******** 
 Reverting to the proposition that Congress has unlimited 
 power of legislation over the territories, the first reflection 
 which strikes the inquirer is, that if this power were intended 
 to be granted, nothing was more easy than for the Conven- 
 tion to place the subject beyond doubt by a plain expression 
 of the object. 
 
372 
 
 THE AGITATION IN 1847 — 50 . 
 
 Extracts of Speech of Mr. Houston, of Texas, on Mr. 
 Clay’s compromise Resolutions, Feb. 8, 1830. 
 
 Mr. Houston said, the North contend that they have a 
 right to interfere with the subject of slavery, hence the Wil- 
 mot proviso. The South contend that the North has no 
 such right — no right to interfere with the subject of slavery 
 anywhere ; and hence the principle is contended for that 
 Congress does not possess this power as applicable to the 
 territories — no power arising from the terms of the union 
 between the North and the South — none growing out of 
 the Constitution by which they are bound together. Nor 
 do I believe that Congress has, under the Constitution, any 
 authority to impose upon States asking for admission into the 
 Union any condition whatever, other than that of having a 
 republican form of government. In this view I am sustained 
 by high authority — no less than that of a statesman of long 
 experience and distinguished reputation ; I allude to the 
 senator from South Carolina, who is now absent from his 
 seat [Mr. Calhoun] ; and in mentioning him, permit me to 
 express my sincere regret for the cause which has withheld 
 him from the discharge of his duties in this House. No one 
 feels more sympathy for his physical sufferings than myself. 
 That gentleman, in laying down his principles upon this 
 subject in 1847, declared them, in a resolution of that day, 
 almost in the terms of the resolution just read. I had not 
 the benefit of the light of that resolution when I drew the 
 one submitted by me ; but I believe, had I possessed it, I 
 could not have been more fortunate in the expression of the 
 very view which I entertained. 
 ******** 
 
 I regret that the disposition to interfere with the institu- 
 tion of slavery, to inhibit the exercise of their rights to the 
 Southern States and people ; rights which all free people 
 have to regulate their own domestic institutions — exists at 
 
THE AGITATION IN 1847 — 50 . 
 
 373 
 
 all at the North ; that any should wish to interfere with, or 
 obstruct, the rights of the people of the territories to adopt 
 such form of republican government as they may choose ; 
 for they would, subsequently to their admission to the Union 
 as States, have the obvious right to modify their constitution 
 so as to adopt or prohibit slavery according to their own 
 will and pleasure. But I do not charge this disposition 
 upon the people of the North, and to do so is, I think, to 
 discourage our friends there, and to misinform and mislead 
 the South. We ought to draw the line distinctly between 
 those who are disposed to support the Constitution by sus- 
 taining the rights of the South, and those who are willing 
 to carry on a crusade against rights pre-existent to the Con- 
 stitution of the Union itself. 
 
 If the power, Mr. President, is not clearly and definitely 
 given to the Congress of the United States to legislate upon 
 the subject of the territorial governments, it strikes me that 
 there is great force in the position, that to assume it would 
 be to violate a fundamental principle of our government, 
 which is, that the people (by which I understand the people 
 of the territories as well as the people of the States) have 
 the right of self-government under the Constitution. Con- 
 gress has the power to make needful rules and regulations 
 for the territories and other property of the United States ; 
 but these rules are temporary. They may apportion the 
 land, and they have a right to do whatever may be necessary 
 in order to dispose of it. They may provide for the bound- 
 aries of the territories, in order to give them compactness 
 and judicious dimensions, and they have power to authorize 
 the formation of territorial governments, to exist no longer 
 than until it may be convenient for the people to legislate 
 for themselves. Such are the powers necessarily resulting 
 from authority delegated by the Constitution to Congress, 
 but beyond this, I think, we cannot safely go. 
 
374 
 
 THE AGITATION IN 1847 — 50. 
 
 Extract from the Speech of Mr. R. Toombs, of Georgia, 
 in the House of Representatives, February 27th, 1850. 
 
 Mr. Toombs said : * * * * 
 
 Those who claim the power in Congress to exclude slavery 
 from the territories rely rather on authority than principle 
 to support it. They affirm, with singular ignorance of, or 
 want of fidelity to, the facts, that Congress has from the 
 beginning of the government uniformly claimed and re- 
 peatedly exercised the power to discourage slavery and to 
 exclude it from the territories. My investigation of the 
 subject has satisfied my own mind that neither position is 
 sustained by a single precedent. I exclude, of course, legis- 
 lation prohibiting the African slave trade ; and I hold the 
 ordinance of 1787 not to be within the principle asserted. 
 For the first thirty years of our history this general duty to 
 protect this great interest equally with every other, was 
 universally admitted and fairly performed by every depart- 
 ment of the government. The act of 1793 was passed to 
 secure the delivery up of fugitives from labor escaping to 
 the non-slaveholding States : your navigation laws autho- 
 rized their transportation on the high seas. The govern- 
 ment demanded and repeatedly received compensation for 
 the owners of slaves for injuries sustained in these lawful 
 voyages by the interference of foreign governments. It not 
 only protected us upon the high seas, but followed us to 
 foreign lands where we had been driven by the dangers of 
 the sea, and protected slave property when thus cast even 
 within the jurisdiction of hostile municipal laws. The slave 
 property of our people was protected against the incursions 
 of Indians by our military power and public treaties. The 
 citizens of Georgia have received hundreds of thousands of 
 dollars through your treaties for Indian depredations upon 
 this species of property. That clause of the treaty of Ghent, 
 which provided compensation for property destroyed or 
 taken by the British government, placed slavery precisely 
 
THE AGITATION IN 1847 — 50 . 
 
 375 
 
 upon tbe same ground with other property ; and a New 
 England man [Mr. Adams] ably and faithfully maintained 
 the rights of the slaveholder uuder it at the Court of St. 
 James. Then the government was administered according 
 to the Constitution, and not according to what is now called 
 “the spirit of the age.” Those legislators looked for political 
 powers and public duties in the organic law which political 
 communities had laid down for their guidance and govern- 
 ment. Humanity-mongers, atheistical socialists, who would 
 upturn the moral, social, and political foundations of society, 
 who would substitute the folly of men for the wisdom of 
 God, were then justly considered as the enemies of the 
 human race, and as deserving the contempt, if not the exe- 
 cration, of all mankind. 
 
 Until the year 1820 your territorial legislation was 
 marked by the same general spirit of fairness and justice. 
 Notwithstanding the constant assertions to the contrary by 
 gentlemen from the North, up to that period no act was 
 ever passed by Congress maintaining or asserting the pri- 
 mary constitutional power to prevent any citizen of the 
 United States owning slaves from removing with them to 
 our territories, and there receiving legal protection for this 
 property. Until that time such persons did so remove into 
 all the territories owned or acquired by the United States, 
 except the Northwest Territory, and were there adequately 
 protected. The action of Congress in reference to the ordi- 
 nance of 1187 does not contravene this principle. That 
 ordinance was passed on the 13th of July, 1787, before the 
 adoption of our present Constitution. It purported on its 
 face to be a perpetual compact between the State of Vir- 
 ginia, the people of the territory, and the then government 
 of the United States, and unalterable, except by the consent 
 of all the parties. When Congress met for the first time 
 under the new government, on the 4th of March, 1789, it 
 found the government thus established by virtue of this or- 
 
876 
 
 THE AGITATION IN 1847 — 50 . 
 
 dinance in actual operation; and on the 7tl of August, 
 
 1789, it passed a law making the offices of Governor and 
 Secretary of the Territory conform to the Constitution of 
 the new government. It did nothing more. It made no 
 reference to the sixth and last section of the ordinance which 
 inhibited slavery. The division of that territory was pro- 
 vided for in the ordinance ; at each division, the whole of 
 the ordinance was assigned by Congress to each of its parts. 
 This is the whole sum and substance of the free-soil claim 
 to legislative precedents. Congress did not assert the right 
 to alter a solemn compact entered into with the former 
 government, but gave its consent by its legislation to the 
 governments established and provided for in the compact. 
 If the original compact was void for want of power in the 
 old government to make it, as Mr. Madison supposed, Con- 
 gress may not have been bound to accept it — it certainly 
 had no power to alter it. From these facts and principles 
 it is clear that the legislation for the Northwest Territory 
 does not conflict with the principle which I assert, and does 
 not afford precedents for the hostile legislation of Congress 
 against slavery in the territories. That such was neither 
 the principle nor the policy upon which the act of the 7th 
 of August, 1789, was based, is further shown by the subse- 
 quent action of the same Congress. On the 2d of April, 
 
 1790, Congress, by a formal act, accepted the cession made 
 by North Carolina of her western lands (now the State of 
 Tennessee) with this clause in the deed of cession, “ That 
 no regulations made or to be made by Congress shall tend 
 to emancipate slaves” in the ceded territory ; and on the 
 26th of May, 1790, passed a territorial bill for the govern- 
 ment of all the territory claimed by the United States 
 south of the Ohio river. The description of this territory 
 included all the lands ceded by North Carolina, but it in- 
 cluded a great deal more. Its boundaries were left indefi- 
 nite, because there were conflicting claims to all the rest of 
 
THE AGITATION IN 1847 — 50 . 
 
 377 
 
 the territory. But this act put .he whole country claimed 
 by the TJuited States south of the Ohio under this pro- 
 slavery clause of the North Carolina deed. The whole 
 action of the first Congress in relation to slavery in the ter- 
 iitories of the TJuited States seems to have been this; It 
 acquiesced in a government for the Northwest Territory 
 based upon a pre-existing anti-slavery ordinance, created a 
 government for the country ceded by North Carolina in 
 conformity with the pro-slavery clause in her deed, and 
 extended this pro-slavery clause to all the rest of the terri- 
 tory claimed by the United States south of the Ohio river. 
 This legislation vindicates the first Congress from all impu- 
 tation of having established the precedent claimed by the 
 friends of legislative exclusion. 
 
 The next territorial act which was passed was that of the 
 1th of April, 1198. It was the first act of territorial legis- 
 lation which had to rest solely upon original, primary, con- 
 stitutional power over the subject. It established a govern- 
 ment over the territory included within the boundaries of a 
 line drawn due east from the mouth of the Yazoo river to 
 the Chattahoochee river, then down that river to the thirty- 
 first degree of north latitude, then west on that line to the 
 Mississippi river, then up the Mississippi to the beginning. 
 This territory was within the boundary of the United States 
 as defined by the treaty of Paris, and was not within the 
 boundary of any of the States. The charter of Georgia 
 limited her boundary on the south to the Altamaha river. 
 In 1163, after the surrender of her charter, her limits were 
 extended by the Crown to the St. Mary’s river, and west 
 on the thirty-first degree of north latitude to the Mississippi. 
 In 1164, on the recommendation of the Board of Trade, 
 her boundary was again altered, and that portion of terri- 
 tory within the boundaries which I have described was an- 
 nexed to West Florida, and thus it stood at the Revolution 
 and the treaty of peace. Therefore the United States 
 
378 
 
 THE AGITATION IN 1847 — 50 . 
 
 claimed it as common property, and, in 1798, passed the 
 act now under review for its government. In that act sho 
 neither claimed nor exerted any power to prohibit slavery 
 in it. And the question came directly before Congress, the 
 ordinance of 1787 in terms was applied to this territory, 
 expressly “excepting and excluding the last article of the 
 ordinance,” which is the article excluding slavery from the 
 Northwest Territory. This is a precedent directly in point, 
 and is against the exercise of the power now claimed. In 
 1802, Georgia ceded her western lands, she protected 
 slavery in her grant, and the Government complied with 
 her stipulations. 
 
 In 1803 the United States acquired Louisiana from 
 France by purchase. There is no special reference to 
 slavery in the treaty ; it was protected only under the 
 general term of property. This acquisition was soon after 
 the treaty divided into two Territories — the Orleans and 
 the Louisiana Territories — over both of which governments 
 were established. The law of slavery obtained in the whole 
 country at the time we acquired it. Congress prohibited 
 the foreign and domestic slave trade in these Territories, 
 but gave the protection of its laws to slave owners emi- 
 grating thither with their slaves. Upon the admission of 
 Louisiana into the Union, a new government was estab- 
 lished by Congress over the rest of the country under the 
 name of the Missouri Territory. This act also attempted 
 no exclusion ; slaveholders emigrated to the country with 
 their slaves, and were protected by their government. In 
 1819 Florida was acquired by purchase; its laws recog- 
 nized and protected slavery at the time of the acquisition. 
 The United States extended the same recognition and 
 protection. 
 
 I have thus briefly reviewed the whole territorial legis- 
 lation of Congress from the beginning of the government 
 until 1820, and it sustains my proposition, that within that 
 
THE AGITATION IN 1847 — 50 . 
 
 379 
 
 period there was no precedent where Congress had exer- 
 cised, or attempted to exercise, any primary constitutional 
 power to prevent slaveholders from emigrating, with their 
 slave property, to any portion of the public lands; and 
 that it had extended the protection of its laws and its arms 
 over such persons, in all cases except in the Northwest 
 Territory, where it was fettered and restrained by an or- 
 ganic law established before the formation of our present 
 Constitution. 
 
 Extract from a speech of Hon. Chester Butler, of Penn- 
 sylvania, in the House of Representatives, June 8, 1850 : 
 
 Mr. Butler said — Sir, I must be permitted to express my 
 dissent from each of these extravagant propositions. I do 
 not believe, that, to hold slaves is to be involved in moral 
 guilt, in sin. To believe this, would be a surrender of the 
 whole question, for no law or constitution should be per- 
 mitted to exist, creating or sustaining an unholy institution. 
 In my judgment, slavery is not an unmitigated evil, nor is 
 it an unalloyed good. Like most of the institutions of 
 men, it contains a mixture of the ingredients of good and 
 evil. It has its advantages, its comforts, its conveniences 
 and its benefits, to both of the parties, who stand to each 
 other in the relation of master and servant, as well the 
 opposites of these characteristics ; and, like other institu- 
 tions of this world, it depends in its practical working for 
 good or for evil, not upon any abstract principle of right or 
 wrong, freedom or bondage, but upon the character of those 
 among whom it exists, and the manner in which the power 
 and the duties of the superiors are exercised and discharged. 
 Theoretically, slavery may be wrong, as it is an invasion of 
 an absolute right of the enslaved. The original abstract 
 right of every human being, of every hue and complexion, 
 to personal liberty, is, I believe, denied by no one. To 
 deprive any human being of his personal liberty, except for 
 
380 
 
 THE AGITATTOIN IN 1847 — 50 . 
 
 crime, and by due course of law, and to reduce him to the 
 condition of a slave, is a grievous wrong. It by no means 
 follows, however, that this admitted right should, under all 
 circumstances, be at once vindicated by restoring the slave 
 to freedom ; nor is it true that the master, who refuses thus 
 to vindicate the right by setting free his bondsman, without 
 regard to surrounding circumstances and fitness of things, 
 or to obligations resting upon himself to society, and to the 
 slave himself, is guilty of a grievous wrong, or a wrong of 
 any kind. If there is an unyielding obligation upon one 
 master to free his slaves, because of this abstract right, it 
 must rest upon all slaveholders alike : no one need be told 
 of the disastrous consequences which would follow the prac- 
 tical application of this doctrine by immediate emancipa- 
 tion in our southern States. Such a course of proceeding 
 there, would be unjust and cruel to the slaves themselves; 
 it would destroy slavery by destroying the slaves. To use 
 a favorite illustration, it would be like plunging the knife 
 to the heart of the patient in attempting to remove a blem- 
 ish from the surface. 
 
 Slavery exists, and always has existed, among the differ- 
 ent nations of the earth, from the earliest period in the 
 history of man, among the uncivilized and barbarous, as 
 well as the uncultivated and refined ; and while, with the 
 former, the treatment of the slave is oppressive and cruel, 
 with the latter his condition is much meliorated and im- 
 proved, being modified by, and made to partake, in some 
 measure, of the civilization, if not the cultivation, of those 
 among whom his lot is cast. Compared with the slaves of 
 other countries, and, it is said, even with the free peasantry 
 of some, the condition of our southern slaves is greatly 
 superior, in all that constitute the substantial comforts and 
 happiness of life. And, sir, if slavery is to exist at all, it 
 can be in no better form, at least, no better has ever been 
 suggested, than that which prevails in our southern States ; 
 
THE AGITATION IN 1847 — 50 . 
 
 381 
 
 nor, in my judgment, is there any people, anywhere, in 
 whose character for intelligence, benevolence and humanity, 
 the most exacting friend of the negro race can hope to find 
 stronger pledges against the abuse of power over those 
 who are bound to their service, or surer guarantees that 
 their duties and obligations towards them would be faith- 
 fully performed, than are found in that of our southern 
 fellow-citizens. The relation of master and servant, im- 
 poses reciprocal duties and obligations upon the parties — 
 service and obedience being due from the servant, care and 
 protection from the master. When these mutual duties and 
 obligations are faithfully observed, philanthropy has little 
 to weep over in contemplating the condition of the servant. 
 ****** 
 
 Mr. Chairman, I cannot read the second section of the 
 fourth article of the Constitution without coming to the con- 
 clusion that it was intended the fugitives from service or 
 labor, that is slavery, there spoken of, were to be delivered 
 up promptly and summarily, and without the delay of a 
 formal trial by jury. This same section provides that fugi- 
 tives from justice shall, on demand of the executive autho- 
 rity of a State, “be delivered up, to be removed,” &c. 
 With regard to fugitives from service or labor, the provision 
 is, they shall not “ be discharged from such service or labor, 
 but shall be delivered up on claim of the party to whom 
 such service or labor may be due.” In neither case is it 
 said by whom or by what authority they shall be delivered 
 up. In the case of fugitives from justice, the delivery up 
 has always been done by the executive of one State upon 
 the demand of the executive of another State; but in the 
 case of fugitives from service, such has not been the prac- 
 tice, though the words are almost identical. The delivery 
 up is to be done by somebody. Clearly it is not the duty 
 of each individual citizen to do it. It must devolve on the 
 State authority, or on that of the United States, and it is 
 
382 
 
 THE AGITATION IN 1847 — 50 . 
 
 understood that it belongs exclusively to the latter. But 
 though a State cannot perform this duty devolved by the 
 Constitution somewhere, she has no right to interpose im- 
 proper and embarrassing obstacles in the way of such deli- 
 very up of a fugitive by proper authority. If she does so 
 she transcends her duty, and is liable to the charge of not 
 standing faithfully by the compromises of the Constitution. 
 
 St:******# 
 
 The duty to deliver up is clear, and can only be evaded 
 by a breach of the Constitution or by its alteration. As 
 long as it remains I am willing to acknowledge the obliga- 
 tion, and to vote for any feasible and judicious plan by 
 which this duty can be performed, and the constitutional 
 obligation be maintained and discharged. I am for the 
 Constitution as it stands, as long as it stands, and for the 
 Union as our fathers made it, and do not mean, by any act 
 of mine, either of commission or omission, to jeopard 
 either. My feelings of attachment to the Union are still 
 strong, but I must confess to some diminution of their in- 
 tensity during the agitation of this slavery question. I 
 much fear that if it were the object of gentlemen to produce 
 a like effect upon the minds of the people generally, they 
 may have accomplished their purpose. Still I would sacri- 
 fice much to maintain it, if sacrifice were necessary. I do 
 not, however, perceive any great danger, for the causes 
 alleged seem inadequate. Some, however, can snuff disso- 
 lution in every gale, and find evidences of its approach when 
 others cannot discover any signs of danger. The distin- 
 guished senator from South Carolina, now dead, could see 
 it ii. the action of the religious bodies of the country. 
 True, sir, there has been something of the kind in one of 
 the most numerous denominations in the country. Speak- 
 ing of the snapping of their religious cords, Mr. Calhoun 
 says, “that of the Presbyterian is not entirely snapped, but 
 gome of its strands have given away.” The correctness of 
 
THE AGITATION IN 1847 — 50 . 
 
 388 
 
 this statement with regard to the Presbyterian Church, I must 
 be permitted to question. This church has ever been dis- 
 tinguished for its devotion to freedom ; both political and 
 religious, and it will be one of the last to do anything tend- 
 ing towards a subversion of the institutions of the country, 
 to the formation of which their ancestors of the same faith 
 so largely contributed. I will cite the report and resolu- 
 tions of the General Assembly, adopted at Cincinnati, in 
 May, 1845, in support of the views I have advanced on 
 the moral aspect of slavery, and as evidence of the attach- 
 ment this church, north and south, bears to the Union of 
 the States. I can only refer to the report : the resolutions 
 adopted by a vote of 168 yeas to 13 nays, are as follows, 
 viz.: 
 
 “ Resolved, 1st, That the General Assembly of the Pres- 
 byterian Church in the United States was originally organ- 
 ized, and has since continued the bond of Union in the 
 church, upon the conceded principle that the existence of 
 domestic slavery, under the circumstances in which it is 
 found in the southern portion of the country, is no bar to 
 Christian communion. 
 
 11 Resolved, 2d, That the petitions that ask the Assembly 
 to make the holding of slaves itself a matter of discipline, 
 do virtually require this judicatory to dissolve itself, and 
 abandon the organization under which, by the Divine bles- 
 ing, it has so long prospered. The tendency is evidently to 
 separate the northern from the southern portion of the 
 Church ; a result which every good citizen must deplore, as 
 tending to the dissolution of the Union of our beloved 
 country, and which every enlightened Christian will oppose 
 as bringing about a ruinous and unnecessary schism between 
 brethren who maintain a common faith.” 
 
 These patriotic and Christian-like sentiments have never 
 been changed or withdrawn at any subsequent period, as I 
 am informed by the best authority ; and I am happy to add, 
 
884 
 
 THE AGITATION IN 1847 — 50 . 
 
 there is no fear that they ever will be. They are worthy the 
 church, and do honor to the heads and hearts of the mem- 
 bers of the Assembly by which they were so unanimously 
 adopted. There are no elements of political disunion in 
 this church ; no snapping of any strands, however delicate, 
 forming her religious cords, to draw forth from the patriot 
 Christian 
 
 “ Such tears as patriots shed for dying laws.” 
 
 In the preservation of the Union of these States lie all 
 our hopes of happiness as a people — of our peace, prospe- 
 rity, and strength, as a nation. What patriotism is to the 
 citizens of other countries, unionism should be to us — the 
 noblest passion that animates man in the character of a citi- 
 zen. Attachment and devotion to the Constitution and to 
 the Union is a deeply-seated feeling in the heart of every 
 American. It should be cherished and fostered with care, 
 as a vital principle, never to be surrendered until every sen- 
 timent of civil liberty shall be extinguished forever. 
 
 Extract from the speech of Mr. Thomas Ross, of Penn- 
 sylvania, in the House of Representatives, April 10, 1850. 
 
 Mr. Ross said : Congress has no constitutional power 
 either to establish or to prohibit slavery in the States or ter- 
 ritories. And I will further say, that even if Congress had 
 the constitutional power, it would be unwise, inexpedient, 
 and highly improper to exercise that power. 
 
 In justice to myself, I will, in a few words, give my rea- 
 sons for this opinion. Each State was an independent sove- 
 reignty when she entered the confederacy, so far, at least, 
 as regarded the objects of property, and the domestic and 
 social institutions of her people ; and she surrendered no 
 part of that sovereignty by becoming a member of the Union. 
 The general government was established for certain specified 
 objects, and its powers are limited by the constitutional 
 
THE AGITATION' IN 1847 — 50 . 
 
 385 
 
 grant which created it ; but to the States themselves belong 
 all powers not expressly delegated, or which, by necessary 
 implication, do not arise from some express grant. At the 
 time of the adoption of the Constitution, negro slavery, I 
 believe, existed in all the States but one, which then formed 
 the Union ; and no power was given to the general govern- 
 ment to control, regulate, prohibit, or establish slavery. 
 That power not being granted, was vested in the States 
 themselves. The Constitution, however, recognized slavery 
 as one of the institutions of the country, and made provision 
 for the protection of slave property. There was no grant, 
 therefore, of power of any kind on the subject of slavery 
 made by the States to the general government ; but there 
 was a binding obligation entered into by the free States, or 
 by such as might become free, that the general government 
 should protect slave property. It seems to me, therefore, 
 that as the States delegated to the general government no 
 power of any kind over the question of slavery, Congress, 
 which derives all its powers from the Constitution, possesses 
 no authority either to establish or prohibit slavery in the 
 States or territories. In regard to the territories, Mr. Chair- 
 man, the general government is but the trustee of the States ; 
 and it has no power to make any rule or regulation which 
 will throw open the territories to settlement by the people 
 of one section of the Union to the exclusion of the people 
 of another. The beneficiary interest of the territories is in 
 the people of all the States — slave States as well as free— 
 and the general government, as the trustee, is bound to exe- 
 cute the trust for the common benefit of all. Any legisla- 
 tion by Congress, prohibiting slavery in the territories, 
 would, therefore, be not only an assumption of power not 
 delegated, but would be a violation of the trust which the 
 Constitution vested in the general government. 
 
 But, sir, I further hold, that the general government has 
 no power to prohibit, by any legislative act, the iutroduc- 
 25 
 
S86 
 
 THE AGITATION IN 1847 — 50 . 
 
 tion into the territories of any species of property which the 
 Constitution of the United States has recognized as prop- 
 erty. Property in slaves is not only recognized by the Con- 
 stitution, but guarantees are given for its protection. The 
 power, therefore, which is given to Congress by the third 
 section of the fourth article, to make “all needful rules and 
 regulations respecting the territory or other property be- 
 longing to the United States,” is merely a right to regulate, 
 but not a power to abolish that which the Constitution has 
 recognized as property. An obligation to protect or regu- 
 late gives no power to prohibit or to destroy. And thus, 
 while we have the constitutional power to pass laws for the 
 protection and regulation of slave property in the territories, 
 we have no power to make any legislative enactment for its 
 prohibition, whether in the States or territories. In a word, 
 sir, the Constitution of the United States is the Constitution 
 of the territories, and as that Constitution recognizes the 
 right of property in slaves, any prohibition by Congress of 
 that right would be in violation of the Constitution, which 
 is the supreme law of the land. 
 
 Extract from the Southern Address published in 1830, 
 said to have been drawn by Mr. Calhoun : 
 
 We do not deem it necessary, looking to the object of 
 this address, to examine the question so fully discussed at 
 the last session, whether Congress has the right to exclude 
 the citizens of the South from immigrating with their pro- 
 perty into territories belonging to the confederated States 
 of the Union. What we propose in this connection is, to 
 make a few remarks on what the North alleges, erroneously, 
 to be the issue between us and them. 
 
 So far from maintaining the doctrine, which the issue 
 implies, we hold that the Federal Government has no right 
 to extend or restrict slavery, no more than to establish or 
 abolish it j nor has it any right whatever to distinguish be- 
 
THE AGITATION IN 1847 — 50 . 
 
 387 
 
 tween the domestic institutions of one State, or section, and 
 another, in order to favor the one and discourage the other. 
 As the federal representatives of each and all the States, it 
 is bound to deal out, within the sphere of its powers, equal 
 and exact justice and favor to all. To act otherwise, to 
 undertake to discriminate between the domestic institutions 
 of one and another, would be to act in total subversion of 
 the end for which it was established — to be the common 
 protector and guardian of all. Entertaining these opinions, 
 we ask not, as the North alleges we do, for the extension of 
 slavery. That would make a discrimination in our favor, 
 as unjust and unconstitutional as the discrimination they 
 ask against us in their favor. It is not for them nor for the 
 federal government to determine whether our domestic insti- 
 tution is good or bad, or whether it should be repressed 
 or preserved. It belongs to us, and us only, to deeide such 
 questions. What, then, we do insist on is, not to extend 
 slavery, but that we shall not be prohibited from immigra- 
 ting with our property into the territories of the United 
 States because we are slaveholders ; or, in other words, that 
 we shall not on that account be disfranchised of a privilege 
 possessed by all others, citizens and foreigners, without 
 discrimination as to character, profession, or color. All, 
 whether savage, barbarian, or civilized, may freely enter 
 and remain, we only being “excluded.” 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 THE DRED SCOTT CASE. 
 
 Extract from ‘.he opinion of the Court by Chief Justice 
 Taney ; also from the opinion of Judge Daniels; and 
 from a Pennsylvania case declaring a negro not a 
 citizen. 
 
 Taney, C. J. ***** The question is simply 
 this: Can a negro, whose ancestors were imported into this 
 country, and sold as slaves, become a member of the politi- 
 cal community formed and brought into existence by the 
 Constitution of the United States, and as such, become 
 entitled to all the rights, and privileges, and immunities, 
 guaranteed by that instrument to the citizen ? One of 
 which rights is the privilege of suing in a court of the 
 United States, in the cases specified in the Constitution. 
 
 It will be observed, that the plea applies to that class of 
 persons only whose ancestors were negroes of the African 
 race, and imported into this country, and sold and held as 
 slaves. The only matter in issue before the court, therefore, 
 is, whether the descendants of such slaves, when they shall 
 be emancipated, or who are born of parents who had be- 
 come free before their birth, are citizens of a State, in the 
 sense in which the word citizen is used in the Constitution 
 of the United States. And this being the only matter in 
 dispute on the pleadings, the court must be understood as 
 speaking, in this opinion, of that class only; that is, of 
 
THE DRED SCOTT CASE. 
 
 389 
 
 those persons who are the descendants of Africans who 
 were imported into this country and sold as slaves. 
 
 * * * * * * 
 
 The words “ people of the United States” and “ citizens” 
 are synonymous terms, and mean the same thing. They 
 both describe the political body who, according to our 
 republican institutions, form the sovereignty, and who hold 
 the power and conduct the government through their repre- 
 sentatives. They are what we familiarly call the “ sovereign 
 people,” and every citizen is one of this people, and a con- 
 stituent member of this sovereignty. The question before 
 us is, Whether the class of persons described in the plea in 
 abatement compose a portion of this people, and are con- 
 stituent members of this sovereignty ? We think they are 
 not, and that they are not included, and were not intended 
 to be included, under the word “citizens” in the Constitu- 
 tion, and can therefore claim none of the rights and privi- 
 leges which that instrument provides for and secures to 
 citizens of the United States. On the contrary, they were 
 at that time considered as a subordinate and inferior class 
 of beings, who had been subjugated by the dominant race, 
 and, whether emancipated or not, yet remain subject to 
 their authority, and had no rights or privileges but such as 
 those who held the power and the government might choose 
 to grant them. 
 
 It is not the province of the court to decide upon the 
 justice or injustice, the policy or impolicy, of these laws. 
 The decision of that question belonged to the political, or 
 law-making power; to those who formed the sovereignty 
 and framed the Constitution. The duty of the court is to 
 interpret the instrument they have framed, with the best 
 lights we can obtain on the subject, and to administer it as 
 we find it, according to its true intent and meaning when it 
 was adopted. 
 
 ****** 
 
390 
 
 THE DRED SCOTT CASE. 
 
 In the opinion of the court, the legislation and histories 
 of the times, and the language used in the Declaration of 
 Independence, show that neither the class of persons who had 
 been imported as slaves, nor their descendants, whether they 
 had become free or not, were then acknowledged as a part 
 of the people, nor intended to be included in the general 
 words used in that memorable instrument. 
 
 It is difficult at this day to realize the state of public 
 opinion in relation to that unfortunate race, which prevailed 
 in the civilized and enlightened portions of the world at the 
 time of the Declaration of Independence, and when the 
 Constitution of the United States was framed and adopted. 
 But the public history of every European nation displays 
 it in a manner too plain to be mistaken. 
 
 They had for more than a century before been regarded 
 as beings of an inferior order, and altogether unfit to asso- 
 ciate with the white race, either in social or political rela- 
 tions ; and so far inferior, that they had no rights which 
 the white man was bound to respect ; and that the negro 
 might justly and lawfully be reduced to slavery for his 
 benefit. He was bought and sold, and treated as an ordi- 
 nary article of merchandise and traffic, whenever a profit 
 could be made by it. This opinion was at that time fixed 
 and universal in the civilized portion of the white race. It 
 was regarded as an axiom in morals as well as in politics, 
 which no one thought of disputing, or supposed to be open 
 to dispute ; and men in every grade and position in society 
 daily and habitually acted upon it in their private pursuits, 
 as well as in matters of public concern, without doubting 
 for a moment the correctness of this opinion. 
 
 And in no nation was this opinion more firmly fixed or 
 more uniformly acted upon than by the English government 
 and English people. They not only seized them on the 
 coast of Africa, and sold them or held them in slavery 
 for their own use ; but they took them as ordinary articles 
 
THE DEED SCOTT CASE. 
 
 391 
 
 of merchandise to every country where they could make a 
 profit on them, and even far more extensively engaged in 
 this commerce than any other nation in the world. 
 
 The opinion thus entertained and acted upon in England 
 was naturally impressed upon the colonies they founded on 
 this side of the Atlantic. And accordingly, a negro of the 
 African race was regarded by them as an article of property, 
 and held, and bought, and sold as such in every one of the 
 thirteen colonies which united in the Declaration of Inde- 
 pendence, and afterwards formed the Constitution of the 
 United States. The slaves were more or less numerous in 
 the different colonies, as slave labor was found more or less 
 profitable. But no one seems to have doubted the correct- 
 ness of the prevailing opinion of the time. The legislation 
 of the different colonies furnished positive and indisputable 
 proof of this fact. 
 
 It would be tedious, in this opinion, to enumerate the va- 
 rious laws they passed upon this subject. It will be suffi- 
 cient, as a sample of the legislation which then generally 
 prevailed throughout the British colonies, to give the laws 
 of two of them, one being still a large 'slaveholding State, 
 and the other the first State in which slavery ceased to exist. 
 
 The Province of Maryland, in 1711, (ch. 13, s. 5,) passed 
 a law declaring “that if any free negro or mulatto inter- 
 marry with any white woman, or any white man shall inter- 
 marry with any negro or mulatto woman, such negro or mu- 
 latto shall become a slave during life, excepting mulattoes 
 born of white women, who, for such intermarriage, shall 
 only become servants for seven years, to be disposed of as 
 the justices of the county court, where such marriage so 
 happens, shall think fit, to be applied by them toward the 
 support of a public school within the said county. And 
 any white man or white woman, who shall intermarry as 
 aforesaid, with any negro or mulatto, such white man or 
 white woman shall become a servant for or during the term 
 
392 
 
 THE DRED SCOTT CASE. 
 
 of seven years, and shall be disposed of by the justices as 
 aforesaid, and be applied to the uses aforesaid.” 
 
 The other colonial law to which we refer, was passed by 
 Massachusetts, in 1105, (ch. 6.) It is entitled “An Act for 
 the better preventing of a spurious and mixed issue,” &c., 
 and it provides “that if any negro or mulatto shall presume 
 to strike or smite any person of the English or other Chris- 
 tian nation, such negro or mulatto shall be severely whipped, 
 at the discretion of the justice before whom the offender 
 shall be convicted.” 
 
 And “that none of her Majesty’s English or Scottish sub- 
 jects, uor of any other Christian nation within this province, 
 shall contract matrimony with any negro or mulatto ; nor 
 shall any person duly authorized to solemnize marriage, pre- 
 sume to join any such in marriage, on pain of forfeiting the 
 sum of fifty pounds, one moiety thereof to her Majesty, for 
 and toward the support of the government within this pro- 
 vince, and the other moiety to him or them who shall inform 
 and sue for the same, in any of her Majesty’s courts of record 
 within the province, by bill, plaint, or information.” 
 ****** 
 
 The language of the Declaration of Independence is 
 equally conclusive. It begins by declaring, that “ When, 
 in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one 
 people to dissolve the political bands which have connected 
 them with another, and to assume among the powers of the 
 earth the separate and equal station to which the laws of 
 nature, and nature’s God, entitled them, a decent respect 
 for the opinions of mankind require that they should de- 
 clare the causes which impel them to the separation.” 
 
 It then proceeds to say : “ We hold these truths to be 
 self-evident — That all men are created equal ; that they 
 are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; 
 that among them is life, liberty, and the pursuit of happi- 
 ness ; that, to secure these rights, governments are insti- 
 
THE DEED SCOTT CASE. 
 
 393 
 
 tuted, deriving their just powers from the consent of the 
 governed.” 
 
 The general words, above quoted, would seem to embrace 
 the whole human family ; and if they were used in a simi- 
 lar instrument at this day, would be so understood. But it 
 is too clear for dispute, that the enslaved African race were 
 not intended to be included, and formed no part of the 
 people who framed and adopted this Declaration ; for if the 
 language, as understood in that day, would embrace them, 
 the conduct of the distinguished men who framed the 
 Declaration of Independence would have been utterly and 
 flagrantly inconsistent with principles they asserted ; and 
 instead of the sympathy of mankind to which they so con- 
 fidently appealed, they would have deserved and received 
 universal rebuke and reprobation. 
 
 Yet, the men who framed this Declaration were great 
 men — high in literary acquirements — high in their sense of 
 honor, and incapable of asserting principles inconsistent 
 with those on which they were acting. They perfectly un- 
 derstood the meaning of the language they used, and how 
 it would be understood by others ; and they knew that it 
 would not, in any part of the civilized world, be supposed 
 to embrace the negro race, which, by common consent, had 
 been excluded from civilized government and the family of 
 nations, and doomed to slavery. They spoke and acted 
 according to the then established doctrine and principles, 
 and in the ordinary language of the day, and no one mis- 
 understood them. The unhappy black race were separated 
 from the white by indelible marks, and laws long before 
 established, and were never thought or spoken of except as 
 property, and when the claims of the owners, or the profit 
 of the trader, were supposed to need protection. 
 
 This state of public opinion had received or undergone 
 no change when the Constitution was adopted, as is equally 
 evident from its provisions and language. 
 ****** 
 
394 
 
 THE 1)RED SCOTT CASE. 
 
 And if we turn to the legislation of the States where 
 slavery had worn out, or measures taken for its speedy abo- 
 lition, we shall find the same opinions and principles, equally 
 fixed and equally acted upon. 
 
 Thus, Massachusetts, in 1786, passed a law similar to the 
 Colonial one, of which we have spoken. The law of 1786, 
 like the law of 1705, forbids the marriage of any white 
 person to any negro, Indian, or mulatto, and inflicts a pen- 
 alty of fifty pounds upon any one who shall join them in 
 marriage; and declares all such marriages absolutely null 
 and void, and degrades thus the unhappy issue of the mar- 
 riage, by fixing upon it the stain of bastardy. And this 
 mark of degradation was renewed, and again impressed 
 upon the race, in the careful and deliberate preparation of 
 their revised code, published in 1836. This code forbids 
 any person from joining in marriage any white person with 
 any Indian, negro, or mulatto, and subjects the party who 
 shall offend in this respect, to imprisonment, not exceeding 
 six months, in the common jail, or to hard labor, and to a 
 fine not less than fifty or more than two thousand dollars ; 
 and, like the law of 1786, it declares the marriages abso- 
 lutely null and void. It will be seen that the punishment 
 is increased by the code upon the person who shall marry 
 them, by adding imprisonment to a pecuniary penalty. 
 
 So, too, in Connecticut. We refer more particularly to 
 the legislation of this State, because it was not only among 
 the first to put an end to slavery within its own territory, 
 but was the first to fix a mark of reprobation upon the Afri- 
 can slave trade. The law last mentioned was passed in 
 October 1788, about nine months after the State had ratified 
 and adopted the present Constitution of the United States ; 
 and by that law it prohibited its own citizens, under severe 
 penalties, from engaging in the trade, and declared all 
 policies of insurance on the vessel or cargo made in the 
 State to be null and void. But, up to time of the adoption 
 
THE DRED SCOTT CASE. 
 
 395 
 
 of the Constitution, there is nothing in the legislation of the 
 State indicating any change of opinion as to the relative 
 rights and positions of the white and black races in this 
 country, or indicating that it meant to place the latter, when 
 free, upon a level with its citizens. And certainly nothing 
 which would have led the slaveholding States to suppose 
 that Connecticut designed to claim for them, under the new 
 Constitution, the equal rights and privileges, and rank of 
 citizens, in every other State. 
 
 The first step taken by Connecticut upon this subject was 
 as early as 1174, when it passed an act forbidding the 
 further importation of slaves into the State. But the sec- 
 tion containing the prohibition is introduced by the follow- 
 ing preamble : 
 
 “ And whereas the increase of slaves into this State is inju- 
 rious to the poor, and inconvenient.” 
 
 This recital would appear to have been carefully intro- 
 duced, in order to prevent any misunderstanding of the 
 motive which induced the legislature to pass the law, and 
 place it distinctly upon the interest and convenience of the 
 white population — excluding the inference that it might 
 have been intended, in any degree, for the benefit of the 
 other. 
 
 And in the act of 1184, by which the issue of slaves, born 
 after the time therein mentioned, were to be free at a certain 
 age, the section is again introduced by a preamble assigning 
 a similar motive for the act. It is in these words : 
 
 “ Whereas, sound policy requires that the abolition of 
 slavery should be effected as soon as may be consistent with 
 the rights of individuals and the public safety and welfare,” 
 — showing that the right of property in the master was to 
 be protected, and that the measure was one of policy, and 
 to prevent the injury and inconvenience to the whites, of a 
 a slave population in the State. 
 
 And still further pursuing its legislation, we find that in 
 
396 
 
 THK DEED SCOTT CASE. 
 
 the same statute passed in IT 14, which prohibited the fur- 
 ther importation of slaves into the State, there is also a pro- 
 vision by which any negro, Indian, or mulatto servant, who 
 was found wandering out of the town or place to which he 
 belonged, without a written pass such as therein described, 
 was made liable to be seized by any one, and taken before 
 the next authority, to be examined and delivered up to his 
 master, who was required to pay the charge which had ac- 
 crued thereby. And a subsequent section of the same law 
 provided, that if any free negro shall travel without such 
 pass, and shall be stopped, seized, or taken up, he shall pay 
 all charges arising thereby. And this law was in full opera- 
 tion when the Constitution of the United States was adopted, 
 and was not repealed till 1T9T. So that up to that time 
 free negroes and mulattoes were associated with servants 
 and slaves in the police regulations established by the laws 
 of the State. 
 
 And again, in 1S33, Connecticut passed another law 
 which made it penal to set up or establish any school in 
 that State for the instruction of persons of the African 
 race, not inhabitants of the State, or to instruct or teach in 
 any such school or institution, or board or harbor for that 
 purpose, any such person, without the previous consent in 
 writing of the civil authority of the town in which such 
 school or institution might be. 
 
 And it appears by the case of Crandell v. the State, 
 reported in 10 Conn. Rep., 340, that upon an information 
 filed against Prudence Crandell for a violation of this law, 
 one of the points raised in the defense was, that the law was 
 a violation of the Constitution of the United States; and 
 that the persons instructed, although of the African race, 
 were citizens of other States, and therefore entitled to the 
 rights and privileges of citizens in the State of Connecticut. 
 But Chief Justice Dagget, before whom the case was tried, 
 held, that persons of that description were not citizens of a 
 
THE DRED SCOTT CASE. 
 
 897 
 
 State within the meaning of the word citizen in the Consti- 
 tution of the United States, and were not therefore entitled 
 to the privileges and immunities of citizens in other States. 
 
 "We extract the following from the opinion of Judge 
 Daniels in the same case : 
 
 The power of Congress to impose the prohibition in the 
 eighth section of the act of 1820, has been advocated upon 
 an attempted construction of the second clause of the third 
 section of the fourth article of the Constitution, which de- 
 clares that “Congress shall have power to dispose of and to 
 make all needful rules and regulations respecting the terri- 
 tory and other property belonging to the United States,” 
 
 In the discussion in both houses of Congress, at the time 
 of adopting the eighth section of the act of 1820, great 
 weight was given to the peculiar language of this clause, 
 viz., territory and other property belonging to the United 
 States, as going to show that power of disposing of and 
 regulating, thereby vested in Congress, was restricted to a 
 proprietary interest in the territory of land comprised 
 therein, and did not extend to the personal or political 
 rights of citizens or settlers, inasmuch as this phrase in the 
 Constitution, “territory or other property ,” identified ter- 
 ritory with property, and inasmuch as citizens or persons 
 could not be property, and especially were not property be- 
 longing to the United States. And upon every principle 
 of reason or necessity, this power to dispose of and to regu- 
 late the territory of the nation could be designed to extend 
 no further to its preservation and appropriation to the uses 
 of those to whom it belonged, viz., the nation. Scarcely 
 anything more illogical or extravagant can be imagined 
 than the attempt to deduce from this provision in the Con- 
 stitution a power to destroy or in any wise to impair the 
 civil and political rights of the citizens of the United States, 
 and much more so the power to establish inequalities 
 
398 
 
 THE DRED SCOTT CASE. 
 
 amongst those citizens by creating privileges in one class 
 of those cit .ens, and by the disfranchisement of other por- 
 tions or classes by degrading them from the position they 
 previously occupied. 
 
 There can exist no rational or natural connection or affi- 
 nity between a pretension like this and the power vested by 
 the Constitution in Congress with regard to the territories ; 
 on the contrary, there is an absolute incongruity between 
 them. 
 
 But whatever the power vested by Congress, and what- 
 ever the precise subject to which that power extended, it is 
 clear that the power related to a subject appertaining to the 
 United States, and one to be disposed of and regulated for 
 the benefit and under the authority of the United Stales. 
 Congress was made simply the agent or trustee for the 
 United States, upon equal grounds, legal or equitable. 
 Congress could not appropriate that subject to any one 
 class or portion of the people to the exclusion of others 
 politically and constitutionally equals ; but every citizen 
 would, if any one could claim it, have the like rights of pur- 
 chase, settlement, occupation, or any other right in their 
 national territory. 
 
 Nothing can be more conclusive to show the equality of 
 this with every other right in all the citizens of the United 
 States, and the iniquity and absurdity of the pretensions to 
 exclude or to disfranchise a portion of them because they 
 are the owners of slaves, than the fact that the same instru- 
 ment, which imparts to Congress its very existence, and its 
 very functions, guarantees to the slaveholder the title to his 
 property, and gives him the right to reclaim his property 
 throughout the country ; and, further, that the only private 
 property which the Constitution has specifically recognized, 
 and has imposed it as a direct obligation both on the States 
 and the federal government to protect and enforce, is the 
 property of the master in his slave : no other right of 
 
THE DRED SCOTT CASE. 
 
 399 
 
 property is placed by the Constitution on the same high 
 ground, nor shielded by a similar guarantee. 
 
 Can there be imputed to the sages and patriots by whom 
 the Constitution was framed, or can there be detected in the 
 text of that Constitution, or in any rational construction or 
 implication deducible therefrom, a contradiction so palpable 
 as would exist between a pledge to the slaveholder of an 
 equality with his fellow-citizens, and of the formal and 
 solemn assurance for the security and enjoyment of his 
 property, and a warrant given as it were uno flatu to 
 another, to rob him of that property, or to subject him to 
 proscription and disfranchisement for possessing, or for 
 endeavoring to retain it? The injustice and extravagance 
 necessarily implied in a supposition like this, cannot be 
 rationally imputed to the patriotic or the honest, or to those 
 who were merely sane. 
 
 A conclusion in favor of the prohibitory power in Con 
 gress, as asserted in the eighth section of the act of 1820, 
 has been attempted, as deducible from the precedent of the 
 ordinance of the Convention of 1781, concerning the cession 
 by Virginia of the territory northwest of the Ohio : the 
 provision in which ordinance relative to slavery, it has been 
 attempted to impose upon other and subsequently acquired 
 territory. 
 
 The first circumstance which, in the consideration of thii 
 provision, impresses itself upon my mind, is its utter futility 
 and want of authority. This court has, in repeated instances, 
 ruled, that whatever may have been the force accorded to 
 this ordinance of 1787 at the period of its enactment, its 
 authority and effect ceased, and yielded to the paramount 
 authority of the Constitution, from the period of the adop- 
 tion of the latter. Such is the principle ruled in the cases 
 of Pollard’s Lessee v. Hagan, (3 How, 212) ; Parmoli v. 
 The First Municipality of Hew Orleans, (3 How, 589;) 
 Strader v. Graham, (16 How, 82). But apart from the 
 
400 
 
 THE DEED SCOTT CASE 
 
 superior control of the Constitution, and anterior to the 
 adoption of that instrument, it is obvious that the inhibition 
 in question never had and never could have any legitimate 
 and binding force. 
 
 We may seek in vain for any power in the Convention, 
 either to require or to accept a condition or restriction 
 upon the cession like that insisted on — a condition incon- 
 sistent with, and destructive of, the object of the grant. 
 The cession was, as recommended by the old Congress in 
 1780, made originally and completed in terms to the United 
 States, and for the benefit of the United States: i. e., for 
 the people, all the people, of the United States: the con- 
 dition subsequently sought to be annexed in 1787, (declared, 
 too, to be perpetual and immutable,) being contradictory 
 to the terms and destructive of the purposes of the cession, 
 and after the cession was consummated, and the powers of 
 the ceding party terminated, and the rights of the grantees, 
 the people of the United States, vested, must necessarily, 
 so far, have been ah initio void. 
 
 With respect to the powers of the Convention to impose 
 this inhibition, it seems to be pertinent in this place to 
 recur to the opinion of one cotemporary with the establish- 
 ment of the government, and whose distinguished services 
 in the formation and adoption of our national charter, point 
 him out as the artifex maximus of our federal system. 
 James Madison, in the year 1819, speaking with reference 
 to the prohibitory law claimed by Congress, then threaten- 
 ing the very existence of the Union, remarks of the language 
 of the second clause of the third section of article fourth 
 of the Constitution, “that it cannot be well extended be- 
 yond a power over the territory as properly, and the power 
 to make provisions really needful or necessary for the 
 government of settlers, until ripe for admission into the 
 Union.” 
 
 Again he says, “ with respect to what has taken place in 
 
THE DRED SCOTT CASE. 
 
 401 
 
 the Northwestern Territory, it may be observed, that the 
 ordinance giving it its distinctive character on the subject 
 of slaveholding proceeded from the old Congress, acting 
 with the best intentions, but under a charter which con- 
 tains no shadow of the authority exercised ; and it remains 
 to be decided how far the States formed in that territory, 
 and admitted into the Union, are on a different footing from 
 its other members as to their legislative sovereignty. As 
 to the power of admitting new States into the federal com- 
 pact, the questions offering themselves are, whether Con- 
 gress can attach conditions, or the new States concur in 
 conditions, which after admission would abridge or enlarge 
 the constitutional rights of legislation common to other 
 States : whether Congress can, by a compact with a new 
 State, take power to or from itself, or place the new mem- 
 ber above or below the equal rank and rights preserved 
 by the others ; whether all such stipulations, expressed or 
 implied, would not be nullities, and be so pronounced when 
 brought to a practical test. It falls within the scope of 
 our inquiry to state the fact, that there was a proposition 
 
 in the Convention to discriminate between the old and the 
 
 \ 
 
 new States by an article in the Constitution. The propo- 
 sition, happily, was rejected. The effect of such a dis- 
 crimination is sufficiently evident.” 
 
 In support of the ordinance of 1787, there may be ad- 
 luced the semblance, at least, of obligation deducible from 
 compact, the form of assent or agreement between the 
 grantor and grantee ; but this form, or similitude, as is 
 justly remarked by Mr. Madison, is rendered null by the 
 absence of power or authority in the contracting parties, 
 and by the more intrinsic and essential defect of incompati- 
 bility with the rights and avowed purposes of those parties, 
 and with their relative duties and obligations to others. If, 
 then, with the attendant formalities of assent, or compact, 
 the restrictive power claimed was void as to the immediate 
 26 
 
402 
 
 THE DEED SCOTT CASE. 
 
 subject of the ordinance, how much more unfounded must 
 be the pretensions of such a power as derived from that 
 source, (viz., the ordinance of 1787,) with respect to ter- 
 ritory acquired by purchase or conquest under the supreme 
 authority of the Constitution — territory not the subject of 
 mere donation, but obtained in the name of all, by the 
 combined efforts and resources of all, and with uo con- 
 dition annexed or pretended. 
 
 Synopsis of the case of Robbs and others, against Fogg, 
 in the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, in 1887, (6 Watts, 
 553.) 
 
 The plaintiff below, Fogg, was a colored man, or mu- 
 latto, and offered his vote at a general election in the town- 
 ship of Greenfield, Luzerne county, which was refused by 
 the Board of Election. He then brought his action to 
 recover damages against the Board, and “ to maintain his 
 rights as a citizen and freeman of the State.” The case 
 arose under the old Constitution, which declared that 
 “ every freeman, of the full age of twenty-one years,” &c., 
 “shall enjoy the rights of an elector.” The present Con- 
 stitution prefixes the word white to the word freeman. 
 
 The facts of the case were admitted, and the court below 
 directed judgment for the plaintiff. 
 
 In the Supreme Court, the case was argued by Hon. 
 John N. Conyngham and Hon. H. B. Wright, for plaintiffs 
 
 in error ; and by Hon. Luther Kidder and Greenough, 
 
 for defendant in error. The opinion of the Court was de- 
 livered by Chief Justice Gibson, from which we make the 
 following extract. It will be seen that it takes the same 
 ground, as to the citizenship of the negro, as does the Dred 
 Scott case. 
 
 Gibson C. J. * * * * But in addition to inter- 
 
 pretation from usage, this antecedent legislation furnishes 
 other proofs that no colored race was party to our social 
 
THE DRED SCOTT CASE. 
 
 403 
 
 compact. As was justly remarked by President Pox, in the 
 matter of the late contested election, our ancestors settled 
 the province as a community of white men, whence an un- 
 conquerable prejudice of caste, which has come down to our 
 day, insomuch that a suspicion of tint still has the unjust 
 effect of sinking the subject of it below the common level. 
 Consistently with this prejudice, is it to be credited that 
 parity of rank would be allowed to such a race ? Let the 
 question be answered by the statute of 1126, which denomi- 
 nated it an idle and a slothful people ; which directed the ma- 
 gistrates to bind out free negroes for laziness or vagrancy ; 
 which forbade them to harbor Indian or mulatto slaves, on 
 pain of stripes; which annexed to the interdict with a mar- 
 riage with white, the penalty of reduction to slavery; which 
 punished them for tippling, with stripes ; and even a white 
 person with servitude for intermarriage with a negro. If 
 freemen, in a political sense, were subjects of those cruel and 
 degrading oppressions, what must have been the lot of their 
 brethren in bondage ? It is also true, that degrading posi- 
 tions were sometimes assigned to white men, but never as 
 members of a caste. Insolvent debtors, to indicate the worst 
 of them, were compelled to make satisfaction by servitude ; 
 but that was borrowed from a kindred and still less rational 
 principle of the common law. This act of 1126, however, 
 remained in force until it was repealed by the emancipating 
 act of 1780 ; and it is irrational to believe that the progress 
 of liberal sentiments was so rapid in the next ten years, as 
 to produce a determination in the Convention of 1790, to 
 raise this depressed race to the level of the white one. If 
 such were its purpose, it is strange that the word chosen to 
 effect it should have been the very one chosen by the Con- 
 vention of 1776, to designate a white elector. “Every 
 freeman ,” it is said, chap, ii, sec. 6, “of the full age of 
 twenty-one years before the day of election, and having paid 
 taxes during that time, shall enjoy the rights of an elector.” 
 
404 
 
 THE DRED SCOTT CASE. 
 
 Now if the word freeman was not potent enough to ad- 
 mit a free negro to suffrage under the. first Constitution, it 
 is difficult to discern a degree of magic in the intervening 
 plan of emancipation, sufficient to give it adequate potency 
 in the apprehension of the Convention under the second. 
 
 The only thing in the history of the Convention which 
 casts a doubt upon the intent, is the fact, that the word 
 white was prefixed to the word freeman in the report of the 
 committee, and subsequently struck out ; probably because 
 it was thought superfluous, or still more probably, because 
 it was feared respectable men of dark complexion would be 
 often insulted at the polls, by objections to their color. I 
 have heard it said, that Mr. Gallatin sustained his motion 
 to strike out on the latter ground. Whatever the motion, 
 the disseverance is insufficient to warp the interpretation of 
 a word on such settled and determinate meaning as the one 
 which remained. A legislative body speaks to the judi- 
 ciary only through its final act, and expresses its will only 
 in the words of it ; and though their meaning may be influ- 
 enced by the sense in which they have usually been applied 
 to intrinsic matters, we cannot receive an explanation of 
 them from what has been moved or said in debate. Were 
 he even disposed to pry into the motives of the members, it 
 would be impossible for him to ascertain them ; and in at- 
 tempting to discover the ground on which the conclusion 
 was attained, it is not probable that a member of the ma- 
 jority could indicate anything that was common to all. 
 Previous propositions are merged in the act of consumma- 
 tion, and the interpreter of it must look to that alone. 
 
 I have thought it fair to treat the question as it stands, 
 affected by our own municipal regulations, without illustra- 
 tion from those of other States, where the condition of the 
 race has been still less favored. Yet it is proper to say that 
 the second section of the fourth article of the federal Con- 
 stitution presents an obstacle to the political freedom of the 
 
THE EKED SCOTT CASE. 
 
 405 
 
 negro, which seems to be insuperable. It is to be remem- 
 bered that citizenship as well as freedom is a constitutional 
 qualification ; and how it could be conferred so as to over- 
 bear the laws imposing countless disabilities on him in other 
 States, is a problem of difficult solution. In this aspect the 
 question becomes one not of intention, but of power; and 
 of power so doubtful as to forbid the exercise of it. Every 
 man must lament the necessity of these disabilities ; but 
 slavery is to be dealt with by those whose existence depends 
 on the skill with which it is treated. Considerations of 
 mere humanity, however, belong to a class with which, as 
 judges, we have nothing to do ; and, interpreting the Con- 
 stitution in the spirit of our institutions, we are bound ta 
 pronounce that men of color are destitute of title to the elec- 
 tive franchise. Their blood, however, may become so di- 
 luted in successive descents as to lose its distinctive charac- 
 ter, and then both policy and justice require that previous 
 disabilities should cease. By the amended Constitution of 
 North Carolina, no free negro, mulatto, or free person of 
 mixed blood, descended from negro ancestors,, to the fourth 
 generation inclusive, though one ancestor of each generation 
 may have been a white person, shall vote for members of the 
 legislature. 
 
 I regret to say, no similar regulation for practical pur- 
 poses has been attempted here, in consequence of which 
 every case of disputed color must be determined by no par- 
 ticular rule, but by the discretion of the judges, and thus » 
 great constitutional right, even under the proposed amend- 
 ments of the Constitution, will be left a sport of caprice. 
 In conclusion, we are of opinion the court erred in direct- 
 ing that the plaintiff could have his action against the de- 
 fendant for the rejection of his vote. 
 
 Judg ment reversed. 
 
 Extract from the opinion of Judge Story. 
 
406 
 
 THE DP. ED SCOTT CASE. 
 
 The Supreme Court of the United States in the case of 
 Prigg vs. the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, 16th Peters’ 
 Rep., wherein Judge Story, in delivering the opinion of 
 the court, says : 
 
 “ It is historically well known that the clause in the Con- 
 stitution of the United States, relating to persons owing 
 service and labor in one State escaping into other States, 
 was to secure to the citizens of the slaveholding States the 
 complete right and title of ownership in their slaves, as 
 property, in every State in the Union into which they might 
 escape from the State where they were held in servitude. 
 The full recognition of this right and title was indispensable 
 to the security of this species of property in all the slave- 
 holding States ; and, indeed, was so vital to the preservation 
 of their domestic interests and institutions, that it cannot be 
 doubted that it is constituted a fundamental article, without 
 die adoption of which the Union could not have been 
 formed. Its true design was to guard against the doctrines 
 and principles prevailing in the non-slaveholding States, by 
 preventing them from intermeddling with, or obstructing, or 
 abolishing the rights of the owners of slaves. 
 
 * * * * * * 
 
 “ The clause in the Constitution of the United States, 
 relating to fugitives from labor, manifestly contemplates the 
 existence of a positive, unqualified right on the part of the 
 owner of the slave, which no State law or regulation can in 
 any way qualify, regulate, control, or restrain. 
 
 * * * * * * * 
 
 “ The owner of a fugitive slave has the same right to 
 seize, and to take him in a State to which he has escaped 
 or fled that he had in the State from which he escaped ; and 
 it is well known that this right to seize or recapture is 
 universally acknowledged in all the slaveholding States. 
 The court have not the slightest hesitation in holding, that 
 under and in virtue of the Constitution, the owner of the 
 
THE HEED SCOTT CASE. 
 
 407 
 
 slave is clothed with authority in every State of the Union 
 to seize and recapture his slave, wherever he can do it with- 
 out any breach of the peace, or illegal violence. 
 ******** 
 
 “ The right to seize and retake fugitive slaves, and the 
 duty to deliver them up, in whatever State of the Union 
 they may be found, is, under the Constitution, recognized 
 as an absolute positive right and duty, pervading the whole 
 Union with an equal and supreme force; uncontrolled and 
 uncontrollable by State sovereignty or State legislation. 
 The right and duty are co-extensive and uniform in remedy 
 and operation throughout the whole Union. The owner 
 has the same security, and the same remedial justice, and 
 the same exemption from State regulations and control, 
 through however many States he may pass with the fugitive 
 slave in his possession, in transitu, to his domicile.” 
 
 Here the Supreme Court emphatically declare that this 
 clause in the Constitution manifestly contemplates the exist- 
 ence of a positive, unqualified right on the part of the 
 owner of a slave, which no State law or regulation can con- 
 trol, and without which the Union could not have been 
 formed, and, further, that the right to seize and retake fugi- 
 tive slaves, in whatever State of the Union they may be 
 found, is an absolute, positive right. But we are not left 
 simply with this constitutional provision, for Congress, in 
 1793, passed an act designed to put the provision into prac- 
 tical operation, the last two sections of which are as fol- 
 lows : 
 
 “ Sec. 3. And be it also enacted, That when a person 
 held to labor in any of the United States, or in either of 
 the territories on the northwest, or south of the river Ohio 
 
 * 
 
 under the laws thereof, shall escape into any other of the 
 said States or territories, the person to whom such labor or 
 service may be due, his agent or attorney is hereby empow- 
 ered to seize or arrest such fugitive from labor, and to take 
 
408 
 
 THE DEED SCOTT CASE. 
 
 him or her before any judge of the circuit or district courts 
 of the United States, residing or being within the State, or 
 before any magistrate of a county, city, or town corporate, 
 wherein such seizure or arrest shall be made, and upon 
 proof to the satisfaction of such judge or magistrate, either 
 by oral testimony or affidavit taken before and certified by 
 a magistrate of any such State or territory, that the person 
 so seized or arrested, doth, under the laws of the State or 
 territory from which she or he fled, owe service or labor to 
 the person claiming him or her, it shall be the duty of the 
 judge or magistrate to give a certificate thereof to such 
 claimant, his ageut or attorney, which shall be sufficient 
 warrant for removing the s£!id fugitive from labor to the 
 State or territory from which he or she fled. 
 
 “ Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That any person 
 who shall knowingly and willingly obstruct and hinder such 
 claimant, his agent or attorney, in so seizing or arresting 
 such fugitive from labor, or shall rescue such fugitive from 
 such claimant, his agent or attorney, when so arrested, pur- 
 suant to the authority herein given or declared, or shall har- 
 bor or conceal such person after notice that he or she was 
 a fugitive from labor as aforesaid, shall, for either of the 
 said offenses, forfeit and pay the sum of five hundred dol- 
 lars. Which penalty may be recovered by and for the 
 benefit of such claimant, by action of debt, in any court 
 proper to try the same ; saving, moreover, to the person 
 claiming such labor or service, his right of action for or on 
 account of the said injuries or either of them.” 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 INAUGURAL ADDRESSES OF WASHINGTON, ADAMS, JEFFERSON, 
 AND MADISON ; AND THE FAREWELL ADDRESSES OF WASH- 
 INGTON AND JACKSON. 
 
 The oath of office having, on Thursday, April 30, 1189, 
 been administered by the Chancellor of the State of New 
 York, in the presence of the Senate and House of Repre- 
 sentatives, to George Washington, President of the United 
 States, he then made the following Inaugural Address : 
 
 Fellow- Citizens of the Senate, and 
 
 of the House of Representatives : 
 
 Among the vicissitudes incident to life, no event could 
 have filled me with greater anxieties than that of which the 
 notification was transmitted by your order, and received on 
 the fourteenth day of the present month. On the one hand, 
 I was summoned by my country, whose voice I can never 
 hear but with veneration and love, from a retreat which I 
 had chosen with the fondest predilection, and, in my flatter- 
 ing hopes, with an immutable decision, as the asylum of my 
 declining years ; a retreat which was rendered every day 
 more necessary, as well as more dear to me, by the addition 
 of habit to inclination, and of frequent interruptions in my 
 health, to Ae gradual waste committed on it by time. On 
 the other hand, the magnitude and difficulty of the trust to 
 which the voice of my country called me, being sufficient to 
 awaken in the wisest and most experienced of her citizens a 
 distrustful scrutiny into his qualifications, conld not but 
 overwhelm with despondence one, who, inheriting inferior 
 
 (409) 
 
410 INAUGURAL AND FAREWELL ADDRESSES. 
 
 endowments from nature, and unpracticed in the duties of 
 civil administration, ought to be peculiarly conscious of his 
 own deficiencies. In this conflict of emotions, all I dare 
 aver, is, that it has been my faithful study to collect my 
 duty from a just appreciation of every circumstance by 
 which it might be affected. All I dare hope, is, that if, in 
 executing this task, I have been too much swayed by a 
 grateful remembrance of former instances, or by an affec- 
 tionate sensibility to this transcendent proof, of the confi- 
 dence of my fellow-citizens, and have thence too little con- 
 sulted my incapacity as well as disinclination for the weighty 
 and untried cares before me, my error will be palliated by 
 the motives which misled me, and its consequences be judged 
 by my country, with some share of the partiality in which 
 they originated. 
 
 Such being the impressions under which I have, in obe- 
 dience to the public summons, repaired to the present sta- 
 tion, it would be peculiarly improper to omit, in this first 
 official act, my fervent supplications to that Almighty Being 
 who rules over the universe — who presides in the councils 
 of nations, and whose providential aids can supply every 
 human defect — that his benediction may consecrate to the 
 liberties and happiness of the people of the United States, 
 a government instituted by themselves for these essential 
 purposes, and may enable every instrument employed in 
 its administration to execute with success the functions 
 allotted to his charge. In tendering this homage to the 
 Great Author of every public and private good, I assure 
 myself that it expresses your sentiments not less than my 
 own ; nor those of my fellow-citizens at large, less than 
 either. No people can be bound to acknowledge and 
 adore the invisible hand which conducts the affairs of men, 
 more than the people of the United States. Every step by 
 which they have advanced to the character of an indepen- 
 dent nation, seems to have been distinguished by some 
 
INAUGURAL AND FAREWELL ADDRESSES. 411 
 
 token of providential agency; and in the important revolu- 
 tion just accomplished in the system of their united govern- 
 ment, the tranquil deliberations, and voluntary consent of 
 so many distinct communities, from which the event has 
 resulted, cannot be compared with the means by which 
 most governments have been established, without some re- 
 turn of pious gratitude, along with an humble anticipation 
 of the future blessings which the past seem to presage. 
 These reflections, arising out of the present crisis, have 
 forced themselves too strongly on my mind to be sup- 
 pressed. You will join with me, I trust, in thinking that there 
 are none, under the influence of which the proceedings of a 
 new and free government can more auspiciously commence. 
 
 By the article establishing the executive department, it 
 is made the duty of the President “to recommend to your 
 consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary 
 and expedient.” The circumstances under which I now 
 meet you will acquit me from entering into that subject, 
 further than to refer to the great constitutional charter un- 
 der which yon are assembled ; and which, in defining your 
 powers, designates the objects to which your attention is 
 to be given. It will be more consistent with those circum- 
 stances, and far more congenial with the feelings which 
 actuate me, to substitute, in place of a recommendation of 
 particular measures, the tribute that is due to the talents, 
 the rectitude, and the patriotism, which adorn the charac- 
 ters selected to devise and adopt them. In these honorable 
 qualifications I behold the surest pledges that, as on one 
 side, no local prejudices or attachments, no separate views 
 or party animosities, will misdirect the comprehensive and 
 equal eye which ought to watch over this great assemblage 
 of communities and interests; so, on another, that the foun- 
 dations of our national policy will be laid in the pure and 
 immutable principles of private morality; and the pre- 
 eminence of free government be exemplified by all the attri- 
 
412 INAUGURAL AND FAREWELL ADDRESSES. 
 
 butes which can win the affections of its citizens, and com- 
 mand the respect of the world. I dwell on this prospect 
 with every satisfaction which an ardent love for my country 
 can inspire : since there is no truth more thoroughly estab- 
 lished, than that there exists in the economy and course of 
 nature an indissoluble uniou between virtue and happi- 
 ness — between duty and advantage — between the genuine 
 maxims of an honest and magnanimous policy, and the 
 solid rewards of public prosperity and felicity ; since we 
 ought to be no less persuaded that the propitious smiles of 
 Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards 
 the eternal rules of order and right, which Heaven itself 
 has ordained ; and since the preservation of the sacred fire 
 of liberty, and the destiny of the republican model of 
 government, are justly considered as deeply, perhaps as 
 finally, staked, on the experiment intrusted to the hands of 
 the American people. 
 
 Besides the ordinary objects submitted to your care, it 
 will remain with your judgment to decide how far an ex- 
 ercise of the occasional power delegated by the fifth article 
 of the Constitution, is rendered expedient at the present 
 juncture, by the nature of objections which have been urged 
 against the system, or by the degree of inquietude which 
 has given birth to them. Instead of undertaking particu- 
 lar recommendations on this subject, in which I could be 
 guided by no lights derived from official opportunities, I 
 shall again give way to my entire confidence in your dis- 
 cernment and pursuit of the public good ; for, I assure 
 myself, that whilst you carefully avoid every alteration 
 which might endanger the benefits of an united and effec- 
 tive government, or which ought to await the future lessons 
 of experience, a reverence for the characteristic rights of 
 freemen, and a regard for the public harmony, will suffi- 
 ciently influence your deliberations on the question, how 
 
Ilf AUGURAL AND FAREWELL ADDRESSES. 41 S 
 
 far the former can be more impregnably fortified, or the 
 latter be safely and advantageously promoted. 
 
 To the preceding observations I have one to add, which 
 will be most properly addressed to the House of Repre- 
 sentatives. It concerns myself, and will, therefore, be as 
 brief as possible. When I was first honored with a call 
 into the service of my country, then on the eve of an ardu- 
 ous struggle for its liberties, the light in which I contem- 
 plated my duty required that I should renounce every pe- 
 cuniary compensation. From this resolution I have in no 
 instance departed.; and being still under the impressions 
 which produced it, I must decline, as inapplicable to my- 
 self, any share iu the personal emoluments which may be 
 indispensably included in a permanent provision for the ex- 
 ecutive department ; and must accordingly pray that the 
 pecuniary estimates for the station in which I am placed, 
 may, during my continuance in it, be limited to such actual 
 expenditures as the public good may be thought to require. 
 
 Having thus imparted to you my sentiments, as they 
 have been awakened by the occasion which brings us to- 
 gether, I shall take my present leave ; but not without re- 
 sorting once more to the benign Parent of the human race 
 in humble supplication, that, since he has been pleased to 
 favor the American people with opportunities for delibe- 
 rating iu perfect tranquillity, and dispositions for deciding, 
 with unparalleled unanimity, on a form of government for 
 the security of their Union, and the advancement of their 
 happiness, so his Divine blessing may be equally conspicu- 
 ous in the enlarged views, the temperate consultations, and 
 the wise measures, on which the success of this government 
 must depend. G. WASHINGTON. 
 
 April 30, 1789 
 
414 INAUGURAL AND FAR LIVE L ADDRESSES. 
 
 INAUGURAL ADDRESS OF JOHN ADAMS, PRESIDENT 
 OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 March 4, IT 97. 
 
 When it was first perceived, in early times, that no middle 
 course for America remained between unlimited submission 
 to a foreign legislature and a total independence of its 
 claims, men of reflection were less apprehensive of dangei 
 from the formidable power of fleets and armies they must 
 determine to resist, than from those contests and dissensions 
 which would certainly arise concerning the forms of govern- 
 ment to be instituted over the whole and' over the parts of 
 this extensive country. Relying, however, on the purity of 
 their intentions, the justice of their cause, and the integrity 
 and intelligence of the people, under an overruling Provi- 
 dence, which had so signally protected this country from 
 the first, the representatives of this nation, then consisting 
 of little more than half its present number, not only broke 
 to pieces the chains which were forging, and the rod of 
 iron that was lifted up, but frankly cut asunder the ties 
 which had bound them, and launched into an ocean of un- 
 certainty. 
 
 The zeal and ardor of the people, during the revolutionary 
 war, supplying the place of government, commanded a de- 
 gree of order, sufficient at least for the temporary preserva- 
 tion of society. The Confederation, which was early felt 
 to be necessary, was prepared from the models of the 
 Batavian and Helvetic confederacies — the only examples 
 which remain, with any detail and precision, in history, and 
 certainly the only ones which the people at large had ever 
 considered. But, reflecting on the striking difference, in so 
 many particulars, between this country and those where a 
 courier may go from the seat of government to the frontier 
 in a single day, it was then certainly foreseen, by some who 
 assisted in Congress at the formation of it, that it could not 
 be durable. 
 
INAUGURAL AND FAREWELL ADDRESSES. 415 
 
 Negligence of its regulations, inattention to its recom- 
 mendations, if not disobedience to its authority, not only 
 in individuals, but in States, soon appeared, with their 
 melancholy consequences : universal languor ; jealousies and 
 rivalries of States; decline of navigation and commerce; 
 discouragement of necessary manufactures ; universal fall in 
 the value of lands and their produce ; contempt of public 
 and private faith ; loss of consideration and credit with 
 foreign nations; and, at length, in discontents, animosities, 
 combinations, partial conventions, and insurrection, threat- 
 ening some great national calamity. 
 
 In this dangerous crisis, the people of America were not 
 abandoned by their usual good sense, presence of mind, 
 resolution, or integrity. Measures were pursued to concert 
 a plan to form a more perfect union, establish justice, ensure 
 domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defense, pro- 
 mote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty, 
 The public disquisitions, discussions, and deliberations, 
 issued in the present happy constitution of government. 
 
 Employed in the service of my country abroad during 
 the whole course of these transactions, I first saw the Con- 
 stitution of the United States in a foreign country. Irri- 
 tated by no literary altercation, animated by no public 
 debate, heated by no party animosity, I read it with great 
 satisfaction, as the result of good heads, prompted by good 
 hearts — as an experiment, better adapted to the genius, 
 character, situation, and relations, of this nation and coun- 
 try, than any which had ever been proposed or suggested. 
 In its general principles and great outlines, it was con- 
 formable to such a system of government as I had ever most 
 esteemed, and in some States, my own native State in par- 
 ticular, had contributed to establish. Claiming a right of 
 suffrage, in common with my fellow- citizens, in the adoption 
 or rejection of a Constitution which was to rule me and my 
 posterity, as well as them and theirs; I did not hesitate to 
 
416 INAUGURAL AND FAREWELL ADDRESSES. 
 
 express my approbation of it, on all occasions, in public 
 and in private. It was not then, nor has been since, any 
 objection to it, in my mind, that the executive and Senate 
 were not more permanent. Nor have I ever entertained a 
 thought of promoting any alteration in it, but such as the 
 people themselves, in the course of their experience, should 
 see and feel to be necessary or expedient, and, by their 
 representatives in Congress and the State legislatures, 
 according to the Constitution itself, adopt and ordain. 
 
 Returning to the bosom of my country, after a painful 
 separation from it, for ten years, I had the honor to be 
 elected to a station under the new order of things, and I 
 have repeatedly laid myself under the most serious obliga- 
 tions to support the Constitution. The operation of it has 
 equalled the most sanguine expectations of its friends ; and, 
 from an habitual attention to it, satisfaction in its adminis- 
 tration, and delight in its effects upon the peace, order, 
 prosperity and happiness of the nation, I have acquired an 
 habitual attachment to it and veneration for it. 
 
 What other form of government, indeed, can so well 
 deserve our esteem and love ? 
 
 There may be little solidity in an ancient idea, that con- 
 gregations of men into cities and nations are the most 
 pleasing objects in the sight of superior intelligences ; but 
 this is very certain, that, to a benevolent human mind, there 
 can be no spectacle presented by any nation more pleasing, 
 more noble, majestic, or august, than an assembly like that 
 which has so often been seen in this and the other chamber 
 of Congress, of a government in which the executive 
 authority, as well as that of all the branches of the legisla- 
 ture, are exercised by citizens selected, at regular periods, 
 by their neighbors, to make and execute laws for the gene- 
 ral good. Can anything essential, anything more than 
 mere ornament and decoration, be added to this by robes 
 and diamonds ? Can authority be more amiable and 
 
INAUGURAL AND FAREWELL ADDRESSES. 417 
 
 respectable when it descends from accidents, or institutions 
 established in remote antiquity, than when it springs fresh 
 from the hearts and judgments of an honest and enlightened 
 people ? For it is the people ouly that are represented : 
 it is their power and majesty that is reflected, and only for 
 their good, in every legitimate government, under whatever 
 form it may appear. The existence of such a government 
 as ours, for auy length of time, is a full proof of a general 
 dissemination of knowledge and virtue throughout the 
 whole body of the people. And what object or considera- 
 tion more pleasiug than this can be presented to the human 
 mind? If national pride is ever justifiable, or excusable, it 
 is when it springs, not from power or riches, grandeur or 
 glory, but from conviction of national innocence, informa- 
 tion, and benevolence. 
 
 In the midst of these pleasing ideas, we should be un- 
 faithful to ourselves if we should ever lose sight of the 
 danger to our liberties — if anything partial or extraneous 
 should infect the purity of our free, fair, virtuous, and inde- 
 pendent elections. If an election is to be determined by a 
 majority of a single vote, and that can be secured by a 
 party, through artifice or corruption, the government may 
 be the choice of a party, for its own ends — not of the 
 nation, for the national good. If that solitary suffrage can 
 be obtained by foreign nations by flattery or menaces, by 
 fraud or violence, by terror, intrigue, or venality, the gov- 
 ernment may not be the choice of the American people, 
 but of foreign nations. It may be foreign nations who 
 govern us, and not we the people who govern ourselves. 
 Ana candid men will acknowledge, that, in such cases, choice 
 would have little advantage to boast of, over lot or chance. 
 
 Such is the amiable and interesting system of government 
 (and such are some of the abuses to which it may be exposed) 
 which the people of America have exhibited to the admira- 
 tion and anxiety of the wise and virtuous of all nations, for 
 27 
 
418 INAUGURAL AND FAREWELL ADDRESSES. 
 
 eight years, under the administration of a citizen, who, by 
 a long course of great actious, regulated by prudence, jus- 
 tice, temperance, and fortitude, conducting a people inspired 
 with the same virtues, and animated with the same ardent 
 patriotism and love of liberty, to independence and peace, 
 to increasing wealth and unexampled prosperity, has merited 
 the gratitude of his fellow-citizens, commanded the highest 
 praises of foreign nations, and secured immortal glory with 
 posterity. 
 
 In that retirement which is his voluntary choice, may he 
 long live to enjoy the delicious recollection of his services, 
 the gratitude of mankind, the happy fruits of them to him- 
 self and the world, which are daily increasing, and that 
 splendid prospect of the future fortunes of this country 
 which is opening from year to year. His name may be still 
 a rampart, and the knowledge that he lives a bulwark, 
 against all open or secret enemies of his country’s peace. 
 This example has been recommended to the imitation of his 
 successors, by both houses of Congress and by the voice of 
 the legislatures and the people throughout the nation. 
 
 On this subject it might become me better to be silent, or 
 to speak with diffidence ; but, as something may be expected, 
 the occasion, I hope, will be admitted as an apology, if I 
 venture to say, That — 
 
 If a preference, upon principle, of a free republican 
 government, formed upon long and serious reflection, after 
 a diligent and impartial inquiry after truth ; if an attach- 
 ment to the Constitution of the United States, and a con 
 scientious determination to support it, until it shall be 
 altered by the judgments and wishes of the people, expressed 
 in the mode prescribed in it ; if a respectable attention to the 
 constitutions of the individual States, and a constant caution 
 and delicacy towards the State governments ; if an equal 
 and impartial regard to the rights, interest, honor, and happi- 
 ness, of all the States in the Union, without preference or 
 
INAUGURAL AND FAREWELL ADDRESSES. 419 
 
 regard to a northern or southern, an eastern or western 
 position, their various political opinions on unessential 
 points, or their personal attachments; if a love of virtuous 
 men, of all parties and denominations ; if a love of science 
 and letters, and a wish to patronize every rational effort to 
 encourage schools, colleges, universities, academies, and 
 every institution for propagating knowledge, virtue, and re- 
 ligion, among all classes of the people, not only for their 
 benign influence on the happiness of life in all its stages 
 and classes, and of society in all its forms, but as the only 
 means of preserving our Constitution from its natural 
 enemies, the spirit of sophistry, the spirit of party, the spirit 
 of intrigue, the profligacy of corruption, and the pestilence 
 of foreign influence, which is the angel of destruction to 
 elective governments ; if a love of equal laws, of justice, 
 and humanity, in the interior administration ; if au inclina- 
 tion to improve agriculture, commerce, and manufactures 
 for necessity, convenience, and defense ; if a spirit of equity 
 and humanity towards the aboriginal nations of America, 
 and a disposition to meliorate their condition, by inclining 
 them to be more friendly to us, and our citizens to be more 
 friendly to them ; if an inflexible determination to maintain 
 peace and inviolable faith with all nations, and that system 
 of neutrality and impartiality among the belligerent powers 
 of Europe which has been adopted by this government, and 
 so solemnly sanctioned by both houses of Congress, and 
 applauded by the legislatures of the States and the public 
 opinion, until it shall be otherwise ordained by Congress ; 
 if a personal esteem for the French nation, formed in a resi- 
 dence of seven years chiefly among them, and a sincere de- 
 sire to preserve the friendship which has been so much for 
 the honor and interest of both nations ; if, while the con- 
 scious honor and integrity of the people of America, and 
 the internal sentiment of their own power and energies, 
 must be preserved, an earnest endeavor to investigate every 
 
£20 INAUGURAL AND FAREWELL ADDRESSES. 
 
 ,/ust cause, and remove every colorable pretense of complaint; 
 /{’ an intention to pursue, by amicable negotiation, a repara- 
 tion for the injuries that have been committed on the com- 
 merce of our fellow-citizens, by whatever nation, and if 
 success cannot be obtained, to lay the facts before the 
 legislature, that they may consider what further measures 
 the honor and interest of the government and its constitu- 
 ents demand ; if a resolution to do justice, as far as may 
 depend upon me, at all times and to all nations, and main- 
 tain peace, friendship, and benevolence, with all the world ; 
 if an unshaken confidence in the honor, spirit, and resources 
 of the American people, on which I have so often hazarded 
 my all, and never been deceived ; if elevated ideas of the 
 high destinies, of this country, and of my own duties toward 
 it, founded on a knowledge of the moral principles and in- 
 tellectual improvements of the people, deeply engraven on 
 my mind in early life, and not obscured, but exalted, by 
 experience and age ; and, with humble reverence, I feel it 
 to be my duty to add, if a veneration for the religion of a 
 people who profess and call themselves Christians, and a 
 ■fixed resolution to consider a decent respect for Christianity 
 among the best recommendations for the public service, — ■ 
 can enable me, in any degree, to comply with your wishes, 
 it shall be my strenuous endeavor that this sagacious injunc- 
 tion of the two houses shall not be without effect. 
 
 With this great example before me — with the sense and 
 spirit, the faith and honor, the duty and interest, of the 
 same American people, pledged to support the Constitution 
 of the United States, I entertain no doubt of its continuance 
 in all its energy, and my mind is prepared, without hesita- 
 tion, to lay myself under the most solemn obligations to 
 support it to the utmost of my power. 
 
 And may that Being who is supreme over all, the Patron 
 of order, the Fountain of justice, and the Protector, in all 
 ages of the world, of virtuous liberty, continue His bless- 
 
INAUGURAL AND FAREWELL ADDRESSES. 421 
 
 ing upon this nation and its government, and give it all 
 possible success and duration consistent with the ends of 
 His providence. 
 
 INAUGURAL ADDRESS OP THOMAS JEFFERSON, 
 PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, 
 
 At his first term of office, March 4, 1801. 
 
 Friends and fellow-citizens : — Called upon to undertake 
 the duties of the first executive office of our country, I 
 avail myself of the presence of that portion of my fellow 
 citizens which is here assembled, to express my grateful 
 thanks for the favor with which they have been pleased to 
 look towards me, to declare a sincere consciousness that the 
 task is above my talents, and that I approach it with those 
 anxious and awful presentiments which the greatness of the 
 charge, and the weakness of my powers, so justly inspire. 
 A rising nation, spread over a wide and fruitful land; 
 traversing all the seas with the rich productions of their 
 industry ; engaged in commerce with nations who feel 
 power, and forget right ; advancing rapidly to destinies be- 
 yond the reach of mortal eye — when I contemplate these 
 transcendent objects, and see the honor, the happiness, and 
 the hopes of this beloved country, committed to the issue 
 and the auspices of this day, I shrink from the contem- 
 plation, and humble myself before the magnitude of the 
 undertaking. Utterly, indeed, should I despair, did not 
 the presence of many whom I here see, remind me, that, in 
 the other high authorities provided by our Constitution, I 
 shall find resources of wisdom, of virtue, and of zeal, on 
 which to rely under all difficulties. To you, then, gentle- 
 men, who are charged with the sovereign functions of 
 legislation, and to those associated with you, I look with 
 encouragement for that guidance and support which may 
 enable us to steer with safety the vessel in which we are all 
 
422 INAUGURAL AND FAREWELL ADDRESSES. 
 
 embarked, amidst the conflicting elements of a troubled 
 world. 
 
 During the contest of opinion through which we have 
 passed, the animation of discussions and of exertions has 
 sometimes worn an aspect which might impose on strangers 
 unused to think freely, and to speak and to write what they 
 may think ; but, this being now decided by the voice of the 
 nation, announced, according to the rules of the Constitution, 
 all will, of course, arrange themselves under the will of the 
 law, and unite in common efforts for the common good. 
 All, too, will bear in mind this sacred principle, that, though 
 the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail, that will, 
 to be rightful, must be reasonable ; that the minority pos- 
 sess their equal rights, which equal laws must protect, and 
 to violate would be oppression. Let us, then, fellow- 
 citizens, unite, with one heart and one mind ; let us restore 
 to social intercourse, that harmony and affection, without 
 which liberty, and even life itself, are but dreary things. 
 And let us reflect, that, having banished from our land that 
 religious intolerance under which mankind so long bled and 
 'suffered, we have yet gained little, if we countenance a po- 
 litical intolerance as despotic, as wicked, and capable of 
 as bitter and bloody persecutions. During the throes and 
 convulsions of the ancient world ; during the agonizing 
 spasms of infuriated man, seeking, through blood and 
 slaughter, his long-lost liberty, it was not wonderful that 
 the agitation of the billows should reach even this distant 
 and peaceful shore ; that this should be more felt and 
 feared by some, and less by others, and should divide 
 opinions as to measures of safety ; but every difference of 
 opinion is not a difference of principle. We have called 
 by different names brethren of the same principle. We are 
 all republicans ; we are all federalists. If there be any 
 among us who would wish to dissolve this Union, or to 
 change its republican form, let them stand, undisturbed, as 
 
INAUGURAL AND FAREWELL ADDRESSES. 423 
 
 monuments of the safety with which error of opinion may 
 be tolerated, where reason is left free to combat it. I 
 know, indeed, that some honest men fear that a republican 
 government cannot be strong — that this government is not 
 strong enough. But would the honest patriot, in the full 
 tide of successful experiment, abandon a government which 
 has so far kept us free and firm, on the theoretic and vis- 
 ionary fear, that this government, the world’s best hope, 
 may, by possibility, want energy to preserve itself ? I trust 
 not. I believe this, on the contrary, the strongest govern- 
 ment on earth. I believe it the only one where every man, 
 at the call of the law, would fly to the standard of the law, 
 and would meet invasions of the public order as his own 
 personal concern. Sometimes, it is said, that man cannot 
 be trusted with the government of himself. Can he then 
 be trusted with the government of others ? Or, have we 
 found angels, in the form of kings, to govern him ? Let 
 history answer this question. 
 
 Let us, then, with courage and confidence pursue our own 
 federal and republican principles — our attachment to union 
 and representative government. Kindly separated by na- 
 ture and a wide ocean from the exterminating havoc of one 
 quarter of the globe ; too high-minded to endure the degra- 
 dations of the others ; possessing a chosen country, with 
 room enough for our descendants to the hundredth and 
 thousandth generation ; entertaining a due sense of our 
 equal right to the use of our own faculties, to the acquisi- 
 tions of our own industry, to honor and confidence from our 
 fellow-citizens, resulting, not from birth, but from our ac- 
 tions, and their sense of them ; enlightened by a benign re- 
 ligion, professed, indeed, and practiced in various forms, yet 
 all of them inculcating honesty, truth, temperance, gratitude, 
 and the love of man ; acknowledging and adoring an over- 
 ruling Providence, which, by all its dispensations, proves 
 that it delights in the happiness of man here, and his greater 
 
424 INAUGURAL AND FAREWELL ADDRESSES. 
 
 happiness hereafter — with all these blessings, what more is 
 necessary to make us a happy and prosperous people ? Still 
 one thing more, fellow-citizens : a wise and frugal govern- 
 ment, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, 
 shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pur- 
 suits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from 
 the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the 
 sum of good government, and this is necessary to close tho 
 circle of our felicities. 
 
 About to enter, fellow-citizens, on the exercise of duties 
 which comprehend everything dear and valuable to you, is 
 is proper you should understand what I deem the essential 
 principles of our government, and consequently, those which 
 ought to shape its administration. I will compress thetn 
 within the narrowest compass they will bear — stating the 
 general principle, but not all its limitations. Equal and 
 exact justice to all men, of whatever state or persuasion, re- 
 ligious or political; peace, commerce, and honest friendship 
 with all nations, entangling alliances with none ; the snpport 
 of the State governments in all their rights, as the most com- 
 .petent administrations for our domestic concerns, and the 
 surest bulwarks against anti-republican tendencies ; the pre- 
 servation of the general government in its whole constitu- 
 tional vigor, as the sheet-anchor of our peace at home and 
 safety abroad ; a jealous care of the right of election by the 
 people ; a mild and safe corrective of abuses which are 
 lopped by the sword of revolution, where peaceable remedies 
 are unprovided ; absolute acquiescence in the decisions of 
 the majority, the vital principle of republics, from which is 
 no appeal but to force, the vital principle and immediate 
 parent of despotism ; a well-disciplined militia, our best re- 
 liance in peace, and for the first moments of war, till regu- 
 lars may relieve them ; the supremacy of the civil over the 
 military authority ; economy in the public expense, that 
 labor may be lightly burdened ; the honest payment of our 
 
INAUGURAL AND FAREWELL ADDRESSES. 425 
 
 debts, and sacred preservation of tbe public faith ; encourage- 
 ment of agriculture, and of commerce as its handmaid ; the 
 diffusion of information, and arraignment of all abuses at the 
 bar of the public reason ; freedom of religion, freedom of the 
 press, and freedom of person, under the protection of the 
 habeas corpus ; and trial by juries impartially selected. 
 These principles form the bright constellation which has 
 gone before ns, and guided our steps through an age of revo- 
 lution and reformation. The wisdom of our sages and blood 
 of our heroes have been devoted to their attainment. They 
 should be the creed of our political faith, the text of civic 
 instruction, the touch-stone by which to try the services of 
 those we trust; and should we wander from them in mo- 
 ments of error or of alarm, let us hasten to retrace our steps, 
 and to regain the road which alone leads to peace, liberty, 
 and safety. 
 
 I repair, then, fellow-citizens, to the post you have assigned 
 me. With experience enough in subordinate offices to have 
 seen the difficulties of this, the greatest of all, I have learned 
 to expect that it will rarely fall to the lot of imperfect man 
 to retire from this station with the reputation and the favor 
 which brought him into it. Without pretensions to that 
 high confidence you reposed in our first and greatest revo- 
 lutionary character, whose pre-eminent services had entitled 
 him to the first place in his country’s love, and destined for 
 him the fairest page in the volume of faithful history, I ask 
 so much confidence only as may give firmness and effect to 
 the legal administration of your affairs. I shall often go 
 wrong, through defect of judgment. When right, I shall 
 often be thought wrong by those whose positions will not 
 command a view of the whole ground. I ask your indul- 
 gence for my own errors, which will never be intentional, 
 and your support against the errors of others, who may con- 
 demn what they would uot if seen in all its parts. The ap- 
 probation implied by your suffrage is a great consolation to 
 
426 INAUGURAL AND FAREWELL ADDRESSES. 
 
 me for the past; and my future solicitude will be, to retain 
 the good opinion of those who have bestowed it in advance, 
 to conciliate that of others by doing them all the good in 
 my power, and to be instrumental to the happiness and free- 
 dom of all. 
 
 Relying, then, on the patronage of your good will, I ad- 
 vance with obedience to the work, ready to retire from it 
 whenever you become sensible how much better choices it 
 is in your power to make. And may that Infinite Power 
 which rules the destinies of the universe, lead our councils 
 to what is best, and give them a favorable issue for your 
 peace and prosperity. 
 
 INAUGURAL ADDRESS OF THOMAS JEFFERSON, PRE- 
 SIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, 
 
 At his second term of office, March 4, 1805. 
 
 Proceeding, fellow-citizens, to that qualification which 
 the Constitution requires before my entrance on the charge 
 again conferred on me, it is my duty to express the deep 
 sense I entertain of this new proof af confidence from my 
 fellow-citizens at large, and the zeal with which it inspires 
 me so to conduct myself as may best satisfy their just ex- 
 pectations. 
 
 On taking this station, on a former occasion, I declared 
 the principles on which I believed it my duty to administer 
 the affairs of our commonwealth. My conscience tells me 
 I have, on every occasion, acted up to that declaration, ac- 
 cording to its obvious import, and to the understanding 
 of every candid mind. 
 
 In the transaction of your foreign affairs, we have endea- 
 vored to cultivate the friendship of all nations, and espe- 
 cially of those with which we have the most important rela- 
 tions. We have done them justice on all occasions, favor 
 where favor was lawful, and cherished mutual interests and 
 intercourse on fair and equal terms. We are firmly con- 
 
INAUGURAL AND FAREWELL ADDRESSES. 427 
 
 vinced, and we act on that conviction, that with nations as 
 with individuals, our interest, soundly calculated, will ever 
 be found inseparable from our moral duties ; and history 
 bears witness to the fact, that a just nation is trusted on its 
 word when recourse is had to armaments and wars to bridle 
 others. 
 
 At home, fellow-citizens, you best know whether we have 
 done well or ill. The suppression of unnecessary offices, of 
 useless establishments and expenses enabled us to discon- 
 tinue our internal taxes. These, covering our land with 
 officers, and opening our doors to their intrusions, had 
 already begun that process of domiciliary vexation which, 
 once entered, is scarcely to be restrained from reaching 
 successively, every article of property and produce. If, 
 among these taxes, some minor ones fell, which had not 
 been inconvenient, it was because their amount would not 
 have paid the officers who collected them, and because, if 
 they had any merit, the State authorities might adopt them 
 instead of others less approved. 
 
 The remaining revenue, on the consumption of foreign 
 articles, is paid chiefly by those who can afford to add 
 foreign luxuries to domestic comforts. Being collected on 
 our seaboard and frontiers only, and incorporated with the 
 transactions of our mercantile citizens, it may be the plea- 
 sure and the pride of an American to ask, what farmer, 
 what mechanic, what laborer, ever sees a tax-gatherer of the 
 United States ? These contributions enable us to support 
 the current expenses of the government; to fulfil contracts 
 with foreign nations ; to extinguish the native right of soil 
 within our limits; to extend those limits; and to apply such 
 a surplus to our public debts as places at a short day their 
 final redemption ; and that redemption once effected, the 
 revenue thereby liberated may, by a just repartition of it 
 among the States, and a corresponding amendment of the 
 Constitution, be applied, in time of peace, to rivers, canals, 
 
428 INAUGURAL AND FAREWELL ADI RESSE8. 
 
 roads, arts, manufactures, education, and other great ob- 
 jects, within each State. In time of war, if injustice by 
 ourselves or others must sometimes produce war, increased, 
 as the same revenue will be, by increased population and 
 consumption, and aided by other resources reserved for that 
 crisis, it may meet, within the year, all the expenses of the 
 year, without encroaching on the rights of future genera- 
 tions, by burdening them with the debts of the past. War 
 will then be but a suspension of useful works ; and a return 
 to a state of peace, a return to the progress of improve- 
 ment. 
 
 I have said, fellow-citizens, that the income reserved had 
 enabled us to extend our limits; but that extension may 
 possibly pay for itself before we are called on, and, in the 
 mean time, may keep down the accruing interest ; in all 
 events, it will replace the advances we shall have made. I 
 know that the acquisition of Louisiana has been disapproved 
 by some, from a candid apprehension that the enlargement 
 of our territory would endanger its union. But who can 
 limit the extent to which the federative principle may 
 operate effectively ? The larger our associations, the less 
 will it be shaken by local passions ; and, in any view, is it 
 not better that the opposite bank of the Mississippi should 
 be settled by our own brethren and children than by stran- 
 gers of another family ? With which should we be most 
 likely to live in harmony and friendly intercourse ? 
 
 In matters of religion, I have considered that its free 
 exercise is placed by the Constitution independent of the 
 powers of the general government. I have therefore under- 
 taken, on no occasion, to prescribe the religious exercises 
 suited to it, but have left them, as the Constitution found 
 them, under the direction and discipline of the church or 
 State authorities acknowledged by the several religious 
 societies. 
 
 The aboriginal inhabitants of these countries I have r?- 
 
INAUGURAL AND FAREWELL ADDRESSES. 429 
 
 garded with the commiseration their history inspires. En- 
 dowed with the faculties and the rights of men, breathing 
 an ardent love of liberty and independence, and occupying 
 a country which left them no desire but to be undisturbed, 
 the stream of overflowing population from other regions 
 directed itself on these shores. ' Without power to divert, 
 or habits to contend against it, they have been overwhelmed 
 by the current, or driven before it. Now reduced within 
 limits too narrow for the hunter state, humanity enjoins us 
 to teach them agriculture and the domestic arts, to encourage 
 them to that industry which alone can enable them to main- 
 tain their place in existence, and to prepare them, in time, 
 for that state of society which to bodily comforts adds the 
 improvement of the mind and morals. We have, therefore, 
 liberally furnished them with the implements of husbandry 
 and household use : we have placed among them instructors 
 in the arts of first necessity ; and they are covered with the 
 mgis of the law against aggressors from among ourselves. 
 
 But the endeavors to enlighten them on the fate which 
 awaits their present course of life, to induce them to exercise 
 their reason, follow its dictates, and change their pursuits 
 with the change of circumstances, have powerful obstacles 
 to encounter. They are combated by the habits of their 
 bodies, prejudices of their minds, ignorauce, pride, and the 
 influence of interested and crafty individuals among them, 
 who feel themselves something in the present order of things, 
 and fear to become nothing in any other. These persons 
 inculcate a sanctimonious reverence for the customs of their 
 ancestors ; that whatsoever they did must be done through 
 all time ; that reason is a false guide, and to advance under 
 its counsel in their physical, moral, or political condition, is 
 perilous innovation ; that their duty is to remain as the 
 Creator made them — ignorance being safety, and knowledge 
 full of danger. In short, my friends, among them, also, is 
 seen the action and counteraction of good sense and of 
 
4:30 INAUGURAL AND FAREWELL ADDRESSES. 
 
 bigotry. They, too, have their anti-philosophists, who find 
 an interest in keeping things in their present state, who 
 dread reformation, and exert all their faculties to maintain 
 the ascendency of habit over the duty of improving our 
 reason and obeying its mandates. 
 
 In giving these outliues, I do not mean, fellow-citizens, 
 to arrogate to myself the merit of the measures : that is 
 due, in the first place, to the reflecting character of our 
 citizens at large, who, by the weight of public opinion, 
 influence and strengthen the public measures. It is due to 
 the sound discretion with which they select from among 
 themselves those to whom they confide the legislative duties. 
 It is due to the zeal and wisdom of the characters thus 
 selected, who lay the foundations of public happiness in 
 wholesome laws, the execution of which alone remains for 
 others. And it is due to the able and faithful auxiliaries 
 whose patriotism has associated them with me in the execu- 
 tive functions. 
 
 During this course of administration, and in order to 
 disturb it, the artillery of the press has been leveled against 
 us, charged with whatsoever its licentiousness could devise 
 or dare. These abuses of an institution so important to 
 freedom and science are deeply to be regretted, inasmuch as 
 they tend to lessen its usefulness and to sap its safety. 
 They might, indeed, have been corrected by the wholesome 
 punishments reserved to and provided by the laws of the 
 several States against falsehood and defamation ; but public 
 duties, more urgent, press on the time of public servants, 
 and the offenders have therefore been left to find their 
 punishment in the public indignation. 
 
 Nor was it uninteresting to the world, that an experiment 
 should be fairly and fully made, whether freedom of dis- 
 cussion, unaided by power, is not sufficient for the propaga- 
 tion and protection of truth? Whether a government, 
 conducting itself in the true spirit of its constitution, with 
 
INAUGURAL AND FAREWELL ADDRESSES. 43 ? 
 
 zeal and purity, and doing no act which it would be nmvil- 
 ling the whole world should witness, can be written down 
 by falsehood and defamation ? The experiment has been 
 tried. You hare witnessed the scene. Our fellow-citizens 
 looked on cool and collected. They saw the latent source 
 from which these outrages proceeded. They gathered 
 around their public functionaries ; and, when the Constitu- 
 tion called them to the decision by suffrage, they pronounced 
 their verdict honorable to those who had served them, and 
 consolatory to the friend of man, who believes that he may 
 be trusted with the control of his own affairs. 
 
 No inference is here intended that the laws provided by 
 the States against false and defamatory publications should 
 not be enforced. He who has time, renders a service to 
 public morals and public tranquillity in reforming these 
 abuses by the salutary coercions of the law. But the 
 experiment is noted to prove that, since truth and reason 
 have maintained their ground against false opinions, in 
 league with false facts, the press, confined to truth, needs 
 no other legal restraint. The public judgment will correct 
 false reasonings and opinions, on a full hearing of all par- 
 ties ; and no other definite line can be drawn between the 
 inestimable liberty of the press and its demoralizing licen- 
 tiousness. If there be still improprieties which this rule 
 would not restrain, its supplement must be sought in the 
 censorship of public opinion. 
 
 Contemplating the union of sentiment now manifested so 
 generally, as auguring harmony and happiness to our future 
 course, I offer to our country sincere congratulations. With 
 those, too, not yet rallied to the same point, the disposition 
 to do so is gaining strength. Facts are piercing through 
 the veil drawn over them ; and our doubting brethren will 
 at length see that the mass of their fellow-citizens, with 
 whom they cannot yet resolve to act, as to principles and 
 measures, think as they think, and desire what they desire ; 
 
432 INAUGURAL AND FAREWELL ADDRESSES. 
 
 that our wish, as well as theirs, is, that the public efforts 
 may be directed honestly to the public good, that peace be 
 cultivated, civil and religious liberty unassailed, law and 
 order preserved, equality of rights maintained, and that 
 state of property, equal or unequal, which results to every 
 man from his own industry or that of his father’s. When 
 satisfied of these views, it is not in human nature that they 
 should not approve and support them. In the mean time, 
 let us cherish them with patient affection ; let us do 
 them justice, and more than justice, in all competitions 
 of interest — and we nfeed not doubt that truth, reason, 
 and their own interests, will at length prevail — will gather 
 them into the fold of their country, and will complete that 
 entire union of opinion which gives to a nation the blessing 
 of harmony, and the benefit of all its strength. 
 
 I shall now enter on the duties to which my fellow- 
 citizens have again called me, and shall proceed in the 
 spirit of those principles which they have approved. 1 fear 
 not that any motives of interest may lead me astray. I am 
 sensible of no passion which could seduce me, knowingly, 
 from the path of justice ; but the weaknesses of human na- 
 ture, and the limits of my own understanding, will produce 
 errors of judgment sometimes injurious to your interests. 
 I shall need, therefore, all the indulgence which I have 
 heretofore experienced from my constituents. The want 
 of it will certainly not lessen with increasing years. I shall 
 need, too, the favor of that Being in whose hands we are ; 
 who led our fathers, as Israel of old, from their native land, 
 and planted them in a country flowing with all the necessa- 
 ries and comforts of life ; who has covered our infancy with 
 his providence, and our riper years with his wisdom and 
 power ; and to whose goodness I ask you to join in suppli- 
 cations with me, that he will so enlighten the minds of your 
 servants, guide their councils, and prosper their measures, 
 that whatsoever they do shall result in your good, and shall 
 
INAUGURAL AND FAREWELL ADDRESSES. 433 
 
 secure to you the peace, friendship, and approbation of 
 all nations. 
 
 INAUGURAL ADDRESS OP JAMES MADISON, PRESI- 
 DENT OP THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 At his First Term of Office, March 4, 1809. 
 
 ' Gentlemen of the Senate, 
 
 and of the House of Representatives : 
 
 Unwilling to depart from examples of the most revered 
 authority, I avail myself of the occasion now presented, to 
 express the profound impression made on me, by the call 
 of my country, to the station, to the duties of which I am 
 about to pledge myself, by the most solemn of sanctions. 
 So distinguished a mark of confidence, proceeding from the 
 deliberate and tranquil suffrage of a free and virtuous na- 
 tion, wonld, under any circumstances, have commanded my 
 gratitude and devotion, as well as filled me with an awful 
 sense of the trust to be assumed. Under the various cir- 
 cumstances which give peculiar solemnity to the existing 
 period, I feel that both the honor and the responsibility 
 allotted to me, are inexpressibly enhanced. 
 
 The present situation of the world is, indeed, without a 
 parallel ; and that of our country full of difficulties. The 
 pressure of these two is the more severely felt, because they 
 have fallen upon us at a moment when national prosperity, 
 being at a height not before attained, the contrast resulting 
 from this change has been rendered the more striking. 
 Under the benign influence of our republican institutions, 
 and the maintenance of peace with all nations, whilst so 
 many of them were engaged in bloody and wasteful wars, 
 the fruits of a just policy were enjoyed in an unrivaled 
 growth of our faculties and resources. Proofs of this were 
 sjen in the improvements of agriculture ; in the successful 
 enterprises of commerce ; in the progress of manufactures 
 and useful arts ; in the increase of the public revenue, and 
 28 
 
434 INAUGURAL AND FAREWELL ADDRESSES. 
 
 the use made of it in reducing the public debt; and in the 
 valuable works and establishments everywhere multiplying 
 over the face of our land. 
 
 It is a precious reflection, that the transition from this 
 prosperous condition of our country, to the scene which has 
 for some time been distressing us, is not chargeable on any 
 unwarrantable views, nor, as I trust, on any involuntary 
 errors in the public councils. Indulging no passions which 
 trespass on the rights or the repose of other nations, it has 
 been the true glory of the United States to cultivate peace, 
 by observing justice, and to entitle themselves to the respect 
 of the nations at war, by fulfilling their neutral obligations 
 with the most scrupulous impartiality. If there be candor 
 in the world, the truth of these assertions will not be ques- 
 tioned. Posterity, at least, will do justice to them. 
 
 This unexceptionable course could not avail against the 
 injustice and violence of the belligerent powers. In their 
 rage against each other, or impelled by more direct motives, 
 principles of retaliation have been introduced, equally con- 
 trary to universal reason and acknowledged law. How 
 long their arbitrary edicts will be continued, in spite of the 
 demonstrations that not even a pretext for them has been 
 given by the United States, and of the fair and liberal 
 attempts to induce a revocation of them, cannot be antici- 
 pated. Assuring myself that, under every vicissitude, the 
 determined spirit and united councils of the nation will be 
 safeguards to its honor and its essential interests, I repair 
 to the post assigned me, with no other discouragement than 
 what springs from my own inadequacy to its high duties 
 If I do not sink under the weight of this deep conviction, 
 it is because I find some support in a consciousness of the 
 purposes, and a confidence in the principles which I bring 
 with me into this arduous service. 
 
 To cherish peace and friendly intercourse with all na- 
 tions, having correspondent dispositions ; to maintain sin- 
 
INAUGURAL AND FAREWELL ADDRESSES. 435 
 
 cere neutrality towards belligerent nations ; to prefer, in all 
 cases, amicable discussion and reasonable accommodation 
 of differences, to a decision of them by an appeal to arms ; 
 to exclude foreign intrigues and foreign partialities, so de- 
 grading to all countries, and so baneful to free ones ; to 
 foster a spirit of independence ; too just to invade the 
 rights of others ; too proud to surrender our own ; too 
 liberal to indulge unworthy prejudices ourselves, and too 
 elevated not to look down upon them in others ; to hold 
 the union of the States as the basis of their peace and hap- 
 piness ; to support the Constitution, which is the cement 
 of the Union, as well in its limitations as in its authorities; 
 to respect the rights and authorities reserved to the States 
 and to the people, as equally incorporated with, and essen- 
 tial to the success of the general system ; to avoid the 
 slightest interference with the rights of conscience, or the 
 functions of religion, so wisely exempted from civil juris- 
 diction ; to preserve, to their full energy, the other salutary 
 provisions in behalf of private and personal rights, and of 
 the freedom of the press ; to observe economy in public ex- 
 penditures ; to liberate the public resources by an honora- 
 ble discharge of the public debts ; to keep within the re- 
 quisite limits a standing military force, always remembering 
 that an armed and trained militia is the firmest bulwark of 
 republics ; that without standing armies their liberty can 
 never be in danger, nor, with large ones, safe ; to promote, 
 by authorized means, improvements friendly to agriculture, 
 to manufactures, and to external as well as internal com- 
 merce ; to favor, in like manner, the advancement of science 
 and the diffusion of information, as the best aliment to true 
 liberty ; to carry on the benevolent plans which have been 
 so meritoriously applied to the conversion of our aboriginal 
 neighbors, from the degradation and wretchedness of savage 
 life, to a participation of the improvements of which the 
 human mind and manners are susceptible in a civilized 
 
436 INAUGURAL AND FAREWELL ADDRESSES. 
 
 state : as far as sentiments and intentions such as these can 
 aid the fulfilment of my duty, they will be a resource which 
 cannot fail me. 
 
 It is my good fortune, moreover, to have the path in 
 which I am to tread, lighted by examples of illustrious ser- 
 vices, successfully rendered in the most trying difficulties, by 
 those who have marched before me. Of those of my imme- 
 diate predecessor, it might least become me here to speak — 
 I may, however, be pardoned for not suppressing the sympa- 
 thy with which my heart is full, in the rich reward he enjoys 
 in the benedictions of a beloved country, gratefully be- 
 stowed for exalted talents, zealously devoted through a long 
 career to the advancement of its highest interest and happi- 
 ness. But the source to which I look for the aids which 
 alone can supply my deficiencies, is in the well-tried intelli- 
 gence and virtue of my fellow-citizens, and in the councils 
 of those representing them in the other departments associ- 
 ated in the care of the national interests. In these my con- 
 fidence will, under every difficulty, be best placed ; next to 
 that which we have all been encouraged to feel in the guar- 
 dianship and guidance of that Almighty Being, whose 
 power regulates the destiny of nations, whose blessings have 
 been so conspicuously dispensed to this rising Republic, 
 and to whom we are bound to address our devout gratitude 
 for the past, as well as our fervent supplications and best 
 hopes for the future. 
 
 FAREWELL ADDRESS OF GEORGE WASHINGTON, 
 PRESIDENT, TO THE PEOPLE OF THE 
 UNITED STATES. 
 
 September 17, 1796. 
 
 Friends and Fellow-citizens: 
 
 The period for a new election of a citizen to administer 
 the executive government of the United States being not 
 far distant, and the time actually arrived when your thoughts 
 must be employed in designating the person who is to be 
 
INAUGURAL AND FAREWELL ADDRESSES. 437 
 
 clothed with that important trust, it appears to me proper, 
 especially as it may conduce to a more distinct expression 
 of the public voice, that I should now apprise you of the 
 resolution I have formed, to decline being considered among 
 the number of those out of whom a choice is to be made. 
 
 I beg you at the same time, to do me the justice to be 
 assured that this resolution has not been taken without a 
 strict regard to all the considerations appertaining to the 
 relation which binds a dutiful citizen to his country ; and 
 that, in withdrawing the tender of service which silence, in 
 my situation, might imply, I am influenced by no diminu- 
 tion of zeal for your future interests, no deficiency of grate- 
 ful respect for your past kindness, but am supported by a 
 full conviction that the step is compatible with both. 
 
 The acceptance of, and continuance hitherto in, the office 
 to which your suffrages have twice called me, have been a 
 uniform sacrifice of inclination to the opinion of duty, and 
 to a deference for what appeared to be your desire. I con- 
 stantly hoped that it would have been much earlier in my 
 power, consistently with motives which I was not at liberty 
 to disregard, to return to that retirement from which I have 
 been reluctantly drawn. The strength of my inclination to 
 do this, previous to the last election, had even led to the 
 preparation of an address to declare it to you ; but mature 
 reflection on the then perplexed and critical posture of out* 
 affairs with foreign nations, and the unanimous advice of 
 persons entitled to my confidence, impelled me to abandon 
 the idea. 
 
 I rejoice that the state of your concerns, external as well 
 as internal, no longer renders the pursuit of inclination in- 
 compatible with the sentiment of duty or propriety ; and 
 am persuaded, whatever partiality may be retained for my 
 services, that, in the present circumstances of our country, 
 you will not disapprove my determination to retire. 
 
 The impressions with which I first undertook the arduous 
 
138 INAUGURAL AND FAREWELL ADDRESSES. 
 
 trust were explained on the proper occasion. In the dis- 
 charge of this trust, I will only say, that I have with good 
 intentions contributed towards the organization and admin- 
 istration of the government the best exertions of which a 
 very fallible judgment was capable. Not unconscious in 
 the outset of the inferiority of my qualifications, experience, 
 in my own eyes — perhaps still more in the eyes of others — - 
 has strengthened the motives to diffidence of myself ; and 
 every day the increasing weight of years admonishes me, 
 more and more, that the shade of retirement is as necessary 
 to me as it will be welcome. Satisfied that if any circum- 
 stances have given peculiar value to my services, they were 
 temporary, I have the consolation to believe, that while 
 choice and prudence invite me to quit the political scene, 
 patriotism does not forbid it. 
 
 In looking forward to the moment which is intended to ter- 
 minate the career of my public life, my feelings do not permit 
 me to suspend the deep acknowledgment of that debt of grati- 
 tude which I owe to my beloved country for the many honors 
 it has conferred upon me ; still more for the steadfast confi- 
 dence with which it has supported me; and for the opportuni- 
 ties I have thence enjoyed of manifesting my inviolable attach- 
 ment, by services faithful and persevering, though in useful- 
 ness unequal to my zeal. If benefits have resulted to our 
 country from these services, let it always be remembered to 
 your praise, and as an instructive example in our annals, 
 that, under circumstances in which the passions, agitated in 
 every direction, were liable to mislead ; amidst appearances 
 sometimes dubious, vicissitudes of fortune often discou- 
 raging ; in situations in which, not unfrequently, want of 
 success has countenanced the spirit of criticism — the con- 
 stancy of your support was the essential prop of the efforts, 
 and a guarantee of the plans, by which they were effected. 
 Profoundly penetrated with this idea, I shall carry it with 
 me to my grave, as a strong incitement to unceasing vows, 
 
INAUGURAL AND FAREWELL ADDRESSES. 439 
 
 that Heaven may continue to you the choicest tokens of its 
 beneficence ; that your union and brotherly affection may 
 be perpetual ; that the free Constitution, which is the work 
 of your hands, may be sacredly maintained ; that its admin- 
 istration, in every department, maybe stamped with wisdom 
 and virtue ; that, in fine, the happiness of the people of these 
 States, under the auspices of liberty, maybe made complete, 
 by so careful a preservation and so prudent a use of this 
 blessing as will acquire to them the glory of recommending 
 it to the applause, the affection, and the adoption of every 
 nation which is yet a stranger to it. 
 
 Here,. perhaps, I ought to stop ; but a solicitude for your 
 welfare, which cannot end but with my life, and the appre- 
 hension of danger natural to that solicitude, urge me, on an 
 occasion like the present, to offer to your solemn contempla- 
 tion, and to recommend to your frequent review, some sen- 
 timents, which are the result of much reflection, of no in- 
 considerable observation, and which appear to me all-im- 
 portant to the permanency of your felicity as a people. 
 These will be afforded to you with the more freedom, as you 
 can only see in them the disinterested warnings of a parting 
 friend, who can possibly have no personal motive to bias his 
 counsel ; nor can I forget, as an encouragement to it, your 
 indulgent reception of my sentiments on a former and not 
 dissimilar occasion. 
 
 Interwoven as is the love of liberty with every ligament 
 of your hearts, no recommendation of mine is necessary to 
 fortify or confirm the attachment. 
 
 The unity of government, which constitutes you one 
 people, is also now dear to you. It is justly so ; for it is a 
 main pillar in the edifice of your real independence — the 
 support of your tranquillity at home, your peace abroad, of 
 your safety, of your prosperity, of that very liberty which 
 you so highly prize. But as it is easy to foresee, that from 
 different causes and from different quarters, much pains will 
 
440 INAUGURAL AND FAREWELL ADDRESSES. 
 
 be taken, many artifices employed, to weaken in your minds 
 the conviction of this truth ; as this is the point in your po- 
 litical fortress against which the batteries of internal and 
 external enemies will be most confidently and actively 
 (though often covertly and insidiously) directed' — it is of 
 infinite moment that you should properly estimate the im- 
 mense value of your national union to your collective and 
 individual happiness ; that you should cherish a cordial, 
 habitual, and immovable attachment to it ; accustoming 
 yourselves to think and speak of it as of the palladium of 
 your political safety and prosperity ; watching for its pre- 
 servation with jealous anxiety ; discountenancing whatever 
 may suggest even a suspicion that it can, in any event, be 
 abandoned ; and indignantly frowning upon the first dawn- 
 ing of every attempt to alienate any portion of our country 
 from the rest, or to enfeeble the sacred ties which now link 
 together the various parts. 
 
 For this you have every inducement of sympathy and in- 
 terest. Citizens by birth or choice, of a common country, 
 that country has a right to concentrate your affections. The 
 .name of American, which belongs to you in your national 
 capacity, must always exalt the just pride of patriotism, 
 more than any appellation derived from local discriminations. 
 With slight shades of difference, you have the same religion, 
 manners, habits, and political principles. You have, in a 
 common cause, fought and triumphed together; the inde- 
 pendence and liberty you possess are the work of joint coun- 
 sels and joint efforts, of common dangers, sufferings, and 
 successes. 
 
 But these considerations, however powerfully they address 
 themselves to your sensibility, are greatly outweighed by 
 those which apply more immediately to your interest; here 
 every portion of our country finds the most commanding mo- 
 tives for carefully guarding and preserving the union of the 
 whole. 
 
INAUGURAL AND FAREWELL ADDRESSES. 441 
 
 The North, in an unrestrained intercourse w : th the South, 
 protected by the equal laws of a common government, finds, 
 in the productions of the latter, great additional resources 
 of maritime and commercial enterprise, and precious mate- 
 rials of manufacturing industry. The South, in the same 
 intercourse, benefiting by the agency of the North, sees its 
 agriculture grow, and its commerce expand. Turning partly 
 into its own channels the seamen of the North, it finds its 
 particular navigation invigorated ; and while it contributes, 
 in different ways, to nourish and increase the general mass 
 of national navigation, it looks forward to the protection of 
 a maritime strength to which itself is unequally adapted. 
 The East, in like intercourse with the West, already finds, 
 and in the progressive improvement of interior communica- 
 tion. by land and water, will more and more find, a valuable 
 vent for the commodities which it brings from abroad, or 
 manufactures at home. The West derives from the East 
 supplies requisite to its growth and comfort ; and what is 
 perhaps of still greater consequence, it must, of necessity, 
 owe the secure enjoyment of indispensable outlets for its own 
 productions, to the weight, influence, and the future mari- 
 time strength of the Atlantic side of the Union, directed by 
 an indissoluble community of interest as one nation. Any 
 other tenure by which the West can hold this essential ad- 
 vantage, whether derived from its own separate strength, 
 or from an apostate and unnatural connection with any 
 foreign power, must be intrinsically precarious. 
 
 While, then, every part of our country thus feels an imme- 
 diate and particular interest in union, all the parts combined 
 cannot fail to find, in the united mass of means and efforts, 
 greater strength, greater resource, proportionably greater 
 security from external danger, a less frequent interruption 
 of their peace by foreign nations ; and what is of inestimable 
 value, they must derive from union an exemption from those 
 broils and wars between themselves, which so frequently 
 
442 INAUGURAL AND FAREWELL ADDRESSES. 
 
 afflict neighboring countries, not tied together by the same 
 government; which their own rivalships alone would be 
 sufficient to produce, but which opposite foreign alliances, 
 attachments, and intrigues, would stimulate and i inbitter 
 Hence, likewise, they will avoid the necessity of those over- 
 grown military establishments, which, under any form of 
 government, are inauspicious to liberty, and which are to 
 be regarded as particularly hostile to republican liberty ; in 
 this sense it is that your union ought to be considered as a 
 main prop of your liberty, and that the love of one ought to 
 endear to you the preservation of the other. 
 
 These considerations speak a persuasive language to 
 every reflecting and virtuous mind, and exhibit the continu- 
 ance of the Union as a primary object of patriotic desire. 
 Is there a doubt, whether a common government can embrace 
 so large a sphere ? Let experience solve it. To listen to 
 mere speculation, in such a case, were criminal. We are 
 authorized to hope, that a proper organization of the whole, 
 with the auxiliary agency of governments for the respective 
 subdivisions, will afford a happy issue to the experiment. 
 It is well worth a fair and full experiment. With such 
 powerful and obvious motives to Union, affecting all parts 
 of our country, while experience shall not have demonstrated 
 its impracticability, there will always be reason to distrust 
 the patriotism of those, who, in any quarter, may endeavor 
 to weaken its bands. 
 
 In contemplating the causes which may disturb our Union, 
 it occurs, as a matter of serious concern, that any ground 
 should have been furnished for characterizing parties by 
 geographical discriminations — Northern and Southern — 
 Atlantic and Western : whence designing men may endeavor 
 to excite a belief that there is a real difference of local in- 
 terests and views. One of the expedients of party to acquire 
 influence within particular districts, is to misrepresent the 
 opinions and aims of other districts. You cannot shield 
 
INAUGURAL AND FAREWELL ADDRESSES. 443 
 
 yourselves too much against the jealousies and heart-burn- 
 ings which spring from these misrepresentations ; they tend 
 to render alien to each other those who ought to be bound 
 together by fraternal affection. The inhabitants of our 
 western country have lately had a useful lesson on this 
 head ; they have seen in the negotiation by the Executive, 
 and in the unanimous ratification by the Senate, of the 
 treaty with Spain, and in the universal satisfaction at that 
 event throughout the United States, a decisive proof how 
 unfounded were the suspicions propagated among them, of 
 a policy in the general government, and in the Atlantic 
 States, unfriendly to their interests in regard to the Missis- 
 sippi : they have been witnesses to the formation of two 
 treaties — that with Great Britain, and that with Spain, 
 which secures to them everything they could desire in re- 
 spect to our foreign relations, towards confirming their 
 prosperity. Will it not be their wisdom to rely for the pre- 
 servation of these advantages on the Union by which they 
 were procured ? Will they not henceforth be deaf to those 
 advisers, if such there are, who would sever them from their 
 brethren, and connect them with aliens ? 
 
 To the efficacy and permanency of your Union, a gov- 
 ernment for the whole is indispensable. No alliance, how- 
 ever strict, between the parts, can be an adequate substitute ; 
 they must inevitably experience the infractions and inter- 
 ruptions which all alliances, in all time, have experienced. 
 Sensible of this momentous truth, you have improved upon 
 your first essay, by the adoption of a Constitution of gov- 
 ernment better calculated than your former for an intimate 
 Union, and for the efficacious management of your common 
 concerns. This government, the offspring of our own 
 choice, uninfluenced and unawed, adopted upon full inves- 
 tigation and mature deliberation, completely free in its 
 principles, in the distribution of its powers, uniting security 
 with energy, an 1 containing within itself a provision for its 
 
444 INAUGURAL AND FAREWELL ADDRESSES. 
 
 own amendment, has a just claim to your confidence and 
 your support Respect for its authority, compliance with 
 its laws, acquiescence in its measures, are duties enjoined 
 by the fundamental maxims of true liberty. The basis of 
 our political systems, is the right of the people to make and 
 to alter their constitutions of government; but the Consti- 
 tution, which at any time exists, till changed by an explicit 
 and authentic act of the whole people, is sacredly obligatory 
 upou all. The very idea of the power and the right of the 
 people to establish government, presupposes the duty of 
 every individual to obey the established government. 
 
 All obstructions to the execution of the laws, all combi- 
 nations and associations, under whatever plausible charac- 
 ter, with the real design to direct, control, counteract or 
 awe the regular deliberation and action of the constituted 
 authorities, are destructive to this fundamental principle, 
 and of fatal tendency. They serve to organize faction, to 
 give it an artificial and extraordinary force, to put, in the 
 place of the delegated will of the nation, the will of a 
 party, often a small but artful and enterprising minority of 
 the community ; and, according to the alternate triumphs 
 of different parties, to make the public administration the 
 mirror of the ill-concerted and incongruous projects of 
 faction, rather than the organ of consistent and wholesome 
 plans, digested by common counsels, and modified by mu- 
 tual interests. 
 
 However combinations or associations of the above de- 
 scription may now and then answer popular ends, they are 
 likely, in the course of time and things, to become potent 
 engines by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men 
 will be enabled to subvert the power of the people, and to 
 usurp for themselves the reins of government ; destroying, 
 afterwards, the very engines which had lifted them to unjust 
 dominion. 
 
 Towards the preservation of your government, and the 
 
INAUGURAL AND FAREWELL ADDRESSES. 445 
 
 permanency of your present happy state, it is reqnisite, not 
 only that you steadily discountenance irregular oppositions 
 to its acknowledged authority, but also that you resist with 
 care the spirit of innovation upon its principles, however 
 specious the pretexts. One method of assault may be to 
 effect, in the forms of the Constitution, alterations which 
 will impair the energy of the system, and thus to under- 
 mine what cannot be directly overthrown. In all the 
 changes to which you may be invited, remember that time 
 and habit are at least as necessary to fix the true character 
 of governments, as of other human institutions ; that ex- 
 perience is the surest standard by which to test the real ten- 
 dency of the existing Constitution of a country ; that fa- 
 cility in changes, upon the credit of mere hypothesis and 
 opinion, exposes to perpetual change, from the endless va- 
 riety of hypothesis and opinion ; and remember, especially, 
 that for the efficient management of your common interests, 
 in a country so extensive as ours, a government of as much 
 vigor as is consistent with the perfect security of liberty, 
 is indispensable. Liberty itself will find in such a govern- 
 ment, with powers properly distributed and adjusted, its 
 surest guardian. It is, indeed, little else than a name, 
 where the government is too feeble to withstand the en- 
 terprises of faction, to confine each member of the society 
 within the limits prescribed by the laws, and to maintain all 
 in the secure and tranquil enjoyment of the rights of person 
 and property. 
 
 I have already intimated to you the danger of parties in 
 the State, with particular reference to the founding of them 
 on geographical discriminations. Let me now take a more 
 comprehensive view, and warn you, in the most solemn 
 manner, against the baneful effects of the spirit of party 
 generally. 
 
 This spirit, unfortunately, is inseparable from our nature, 
 having its root in the strongest passions of the human mind. 
 
446 INAUGURAL AND FAREWELL ADDRESSES. 
 
 It exists under different shapes, in all governments, more or 
 less stifled, controlled, or repressed ; but in those of the 
 popular form it is seen in its greatest rankness, and is truly 
 their worst enemy. 
 
 The alternate domination of one faction over another, 
 sharpened by the spirit of revenge, natural to party dissen- 
 sion, which, in different ages and countries, has perpetrated 
 the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism. 
 But this leads, at length, to a more formal and permanent 
 despotism. The disorders and miseries which result, gradu- 
 ally incline the minds of men to seek security and repose in 
 the absolute power of an individual ; and, sooner or later 
 the chief of some prevailing faction, more able or more 
 fortunate than his competitors, turns this disposition to the 
 purposes of his own elevation on the ruins of public liberty. 
 
 Without looking forward, to an extremity of this kind, 
 (which, nevertheless, ought not to be entirely out of sight,) 
 the common and continual mischiefs of the spirit of party 
 are sufficient to make it the interest and duty of a wise 
 people to discourage and restrain it. 
 
 It tends always to distract the public councils, and enfeeble 
 the public administration. It agitates the commmunity 
 with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms ; kindles the 
 animosity of one part against another ; foments, occasion- 
 ally, riot and insurrection. It opens the door to foreign 
 influence and corruption, which find a facilitated access to 
 the government itself, through the channels of party pas- 
 sions. Thus the policy and the will of one country are sub- 
 jected to the policy and will of another. 
 
 There is an opinion that parties, in free countries, are 
 useful checks upon the administration of the government, 
 and serve to keep alive the spirit of liberty. This, within 
 certain limits, is probably true; and in governments of a 
 monarchical cast, patriotism may look with indulgence, if 
 not with favor, upon the spirit of party. But in those of 
 
INAUGURAL AND FAREWELL ADDRESSES. 447 
 
 the popular character, in governments purely elective, it is a 
 spirit not to be encouraged. From their natural tendency, 
 it is certain there will always be enough of that spirit for 
 every salutary purpose. And there being constant danger 
 of excess, the effort ought to be, by force of public opinion, 
 to mitigate and assuage it. A fire not to be quenched, it 
 demands a uniform vigilance to prevent its bursting into a 
 flame, lest, instead of warming, it should consume. 
 
 It is important, likewise, that the habits of thinking, in a 
 free country, should inspire caution in those intrusted with 
 its administration, to confine themselves within their respec- 
 tive constitutional spheres, avoiding, in the exercise of the 
 powers of one department, to encroach upon another. The 
 spirit of encroachment tends to consolidate the powers of 
 all the departments in one, and thus to create, whatever the 
 form of government, a real despotism. A just estimate of 
 that love of power, and proneness to abuse it, w'hich pre- 
 dominates in the human heart, is sufficient to satisfy us of 
 the truth of this position. The necessity of reciprocal 
 checks in the exercise of political power, by dividing and 
 distributing it into different depositaries, and constituting 
 each the guardian of the public weal, against invasions by 
 the others, has been evinced by experiments, ancient and 
 modern ; some of them in our own country, and under our 
 own eyes. To preserve them must be as necessary as to 
 institute them. If, in the opinion of the people, the distri- 
 bution or modification of the constitutional powers be, in 
 any particular, wrong, let it be corrected by an amendment 
 in the way which the Constitution designates. But let there 
 be no change by usurpation ; for though this, in one instance, 
 may be the instrument of good, it is the customary weapon 
 -by which free governments are destroyed. The precedent 
 must always greatly overbalance, in permanent evil, any 
 partial or transient benefit which the use can, at any time, 
 yield. 
 
448 INAUGURAL AND FAREWELL ADDRESSES. 
 
 Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political 
 prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. 
 In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism, 
 who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human 
 happiness, these firmest props of the duties of men and 
 citizens. The mere politician, equally with the pious man, 
 ought to respect and to cherish them. A volume could not 
 trace all their connections with private and public felicity. 
 Let it simply be asked, where is the security for property, 
 for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation 
 desert the oaths which are the instruments of investigation 
 in courts of justice ? And let us with caution indulge the 
 supposition, that morality can be maintained without reli- 
 gion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined 
 education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and expe- 
 rience both forbid us to expect that national morality car 
 prevail in exclusion of religious principles. 
 
 It is substantially true, that virtue or morality is a neces- 
 sary spring of popular government. The rule, indeed, 
 extends with more or less force to every species of free 
 ■government. Who, that is a sincere friend to it, can look 
 with indifference upon attempts to shake the foundation of 
 the fabric ? 
 
 Promote, then, as an object of primary importance, insti- 
 tutions for the general diffusion of knowledge. In propor- 
 tion as the structure of a government gives force to public 
 opinion, it is essential that public opinion should be en- 
 lightened. 
 
 As a very important source of strength and security, 
 cherish public credit. One method of preserving it is to 
 use it as sparingly as possible ; avoiding occasions of ex- 
 pense by cultivating peace, but remembering also that timely 
 disbursements to prepare for danger, frequently prevent 
 much greater disbursements to repel it ; avoiding, likewise, 
 the accumulation of debt, not only by shunning occasions 
 
INAUGURAL AND FAREWELL ADDRESSE8. 449 
 
 of expense, but by vigorous exertions in time of peace to 
 discharge the debts which unavoidable wars may have occa- 
 sioned ; not ungenerously throwing upon posterity the bur- 
 den which we ourselves ought to bear. The execution of 
 these maxims belongs to your representatives, but it is 
 necessary that public opinion should co-operate. To facili- 
 tate to them the performance of their duty, it is essential 
 that you should practically bear in mind, that towards the 
 payment of debts there must be revenue ; that to have reve- 
 nue there must be taxes; that no taxes can be devised, 
 which are not more or less inconvenient and unpleasant ; that 
 the intrinsic embarrassment inseparable from the selection 
 of the proper objects, (which is always a choice of difficul- 
 ties,) ought to be a decisive motive for a candid construction 
 of the conduct of the Government in making it, and for a 
 spirit of acquiescence in the measures for obtaining revenue, 
 which the public exigencies may at any time dictate. 
 
 Observe good faith and justice towards all nations ; cul- 
 tivate peace and harmony with all ; religion and morality 
 enjoin this conduct ; and can it be that good policy does 
 not equally enjoin it? It will be worthy of a free, enligh- 
 tened, and, at no distant period, a great nation, to give to 
 mankind the magnanimous and too novel example of a 
 people always guided by an exalted justice and benevolence. 
 Who can doubt that, in the course of time and things, the 
 fruits of such a plan would richly repay any temporary ad- 
 vantages which might be lost by a steady adherence to it ? 
 Can it be that Providence has not connected the permanent 
 felicity of a nation with its virtue ? The experiment, at 
 least, is recommended by every sentiment which ennobles 
 human nature. Alas I is it rendered impossible by its 
 vices ? 
 
 In the execution of such a plan, nothing is more essential 
 than that permanent inveterate antipathies against particular 
 nations, and passionate attachments for others, should be 
 29 
 
400 INAUGURAL AND FAREWELL ADDRESSES. 
 
 excluded ; and that, in place of them, just and amicable 
 feelings towards all should be cultivated. The nation which 
 indulges towards another an habitual hatred, or an habitual 
 fondness, is, in some degree, a slave. It is a slave to its 
 animosity or to its affection ; either of which is sufficient to 
 lead it astray from its duty and its interest. Antipathy in 
 one nation against another, disposes each more readily to 
 offer insult and injury, to lay hold of slight causes of 
 umbrage, and to be haughty and intractable, when acciden- 
 tal or trifling occasions of dispute occur. Hence frequent 
 collisions, obstinate, envenomed, and bloody contests. The 
 nation, prompted by ill-will and resentment, sometimes 
 impels to war the Government, contrary to the best calcula- 
 tions of policy. The Government sometimes participates 
 in the national propensity, and adopts, through passion, 
 what reason would reject ; at other times it makes the ani- 
 mosity of the nation, subservient to projects of hostility, 
 instigated by pride, ambition, and other sinister and per- 
 nicious motives. The peace often, sometimes perhaps the 
 liberty, of nations has been the victim. 
 
 So, likewise, a passionate attachment of one nation to 
 another produces a variety of evils. Sympathy for the fa- 
 vorite nation, facilitating the illusion of an imaginary com- 
 mon interest, in cases where no real common interest exists, 
 and infusing into one the enmities of the other, betrays the 
 former into a participation in the quarrels and wars of the 
 latter, without adequate inducement or justification. It 
 leads also to concessions to the favorite nation of privileges 
 denied to others, which is apt doubly to injure the nation 
 making the concessions; by unnecessarily parting with what 
 ought to have been retained, and by exciting jealousy, ill- 
 will, and a disposition to retaliate, in the parties from whom 
 equal privileges are withheld ; and it gives to ambitious, 
 corrupted, or deluded citizens (who devote themselves to 
 the favorite nation) facility to betray, or sacrifice the in- 
 
INAUGURAL AND FAREWELL ADDRESSES. 451 
 
 terest of their own country, without odium ; sometimes even 
 with popularity ; gilding with the appearance of a virtuous 
 sense of obligation, a commendable deference for public 
 opinion, or a laudable zeal for public good, the base or 
 foolish compliances of ambition, corruption, or infatuation. 
 
 As avenues to foreign influence in innumerable ways, such 
 attachments are particularly alarming to the truly enlight- 
 ened and independent patriot. How many opportunities 
 do they afford to tamper with domestic factions, to practice 
 the art of seduction, to mislead public opinion, to influence 
 or awe the public councils ? Such an attachment of a small 
 or weak, toward a great and powerful nation, dooms the 
 former to be the satellite of the latter. 
 
 Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence (I conjure 
 you to believe me, fellow-citizens) the jealousy of a free 
 people ought to be constantly awake ; since history and ex- 
 perience prove that foreign influence is one of the most bane- 
 ful foes of republican government. But that jealousy, to be 
 useful, must be impartial ; else it becomes the instrument 
 of the very influence to be avoided, instead of a defense 
 against it. Excessive partiality for one foreign nation, and 
 excessive dislike for another, cause those whom they actuate 
 to see danger only on one side, and serve to vail, and even 
 second, the arts of influence on the other. Heal patriots, 
 who may resist the intrigues of the favorite, are liable to 
 become suspected and odious ; while its tools and dupes 
 usurp the applause and confidence of the people, to surren- 
 der their interests. 
 
 The great rule of conduct for us, in regard to foreign na- 
 tions is, in extending our commercial relations, to have with 
 them as little political connection as possible. So far as w'e 
 have formed engagements, let them be fulfilled with perfect 
 good faith. Here let us stop. 
 
 Europe has a set of primary interests, which to us have 
 none, or a very remote relation. Hence she must be en- 
 
452 INAUGURAL AND FAREWELL ADDRESSES. 
 
 gaged in frequent controversies, the causes of which are es- 
 sentially foreign to our concerns. Hence, therefore, it must 
 be unwise in us to implicate ourselves, by artificial ties, in 
 the ordinary vicissitudes of politics, or the ordinary combi- 
 nations and collisions of her friendships or enmities. 
 
 Our detached and distant situation invites and enables us 
 to pursue a different course. If we remain one people, un- 
 der an efficient government, the period is not far off when 
 we may defy material injury from external annoyance ; when 
 we may take such an attitude as will cause the neutrality we 
 may at any time resolve upon, to be scrupulously respected ; 
 when belligerent nations, under the impossibility of making 
 acquisitions upon us, will not lightly hazard the giving us 
 provocation ; when we may choose peace or war, as our in- 
 terest, guided by justice, shall counsel. 
 
 Why forego the advantages of so peculiar a situation ? 
 Why quit our own to stand upon foreign ground ? Why, 
 by interweaving our destiny with that of any part of Europe, 
 entangle our peace and prosperity in the toils of European 
 ambition, rivalship, interest, humor, or caprice ? 
 
 It is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances 
 with any portion of the foreign world ; so far, I mean, as 
 we are now at liberty to do it ; for let me not be understood 
 as capable of patronizing infidelity to existing engagements. 
 I hold the maxim no less applicable to public than to private 
 affairs, that honesty is always the best policy. I repeat it, 
 therefore, let those engagements be observed in their genuine 
 sense. But in my opinion, it is unnecessary, aud would be 
 unwise, to extend them. 
 
 Taking care always to keep ourselves, by suitable estab- 
 lishments, in a respectable defensive posture, vre may safely 
 trust to temporary alliances for extraordinary emergencies. 
 
 Harmony, and a liberal intercourse with all nations, are 
 recommended by policy, humanity, and interest. But even 
 our commercial policy should hold an equal and impartial 
 
INAUGURAL AND FAREWELL ADDRESSES. 453 
 
 hand ; neither seeking nor granting exclusive favors or 
 preferences ; consulting the natural course of things ; dif 
 fusing and diversifying, by gentle means, the streams of 
 commerce, but forcing nothing; establishing, with powers 
 so disposed, in order to give trade a stable course, to define 
 the rights of our merchants, and to enable the government 
 to support them, conventional rules of intercourse, the best 
 that present circumstances and mutual opinions will permit, 
 but temporary, and liable to be, from time to time, aban 
 doned or varied, as experience and circumstances shall dic- 
 tate; constantly keeping in view, that it is folly in one 
 nation to look for disinterested favors from another; that 
 it must pay, with a portion of its independence, for whatever 
 it may accept under that character ; that by such acceptance 
 it may place itself in the condition of Having given equiva- 
 lents for nominal favors, and yet of being reproached with 
 ingratitude for not giving more. There can be no greater 
 error than to expect, or calculate upon, real favors, from 
 nation to nation. It is an illusion which experience must 
 cure, which a just pride ought to discard. 
 
 In offering to you, my countrymen, these counsels of an 
 old and affectionate friend, I dare not hope they will make 
 the strong and lasting impression I could wish ; that they 
 will control the usual current of the passions, or prevent 
 our nation from running the course which has hitherto 
 marked the destiny of nations ; but if I may even flatter 
 myself that they may be productive of some partial benefit, 
 some occasional good ; that they may now and then recur 
 to moderate the fury of party spirit, to warn against the 
 mischiefs of foreign intrigues, to guard against the impos- 
 tures of pretended patriotism ; this hope will be a full 
 recompense for the solicitude for your welfare by which 
 they have been dictated. 
 
 How far, in the discharge of my official duties, I have 
 been guided by the principles which have been delineated. 
 
454: INAUGURAL AND FAREWELL ADDRESSES. 
 
 the public records, and other evidences of my conduct, must 
 witness to you and the world. To myself, the assurance of 
 my own conscience is, that I have at least believed myself 
 to be guided by them. 
 
 In relation to the still subsisting war in Europe, my 
 proclamation of the 22d of April, 1193, is the index to my 
 plan. Sanctioned by your approving voice, and that of 
 your representatives in both houses of Congress, the spirit 
 of that measure has continually governed me, uninfluenced 
 by any attempts to deter or divert me from it. 
 
 After deliberate examination, with the aid of the best 
 lights I could obtain, I was well satisfied that our country, 
 under all the circumstances of the case, had a right to take, 
 and was bound in duty and interest to take, a neutral posi- 
 tion. Having taken it, I determined, as far as should 
 depend upon me, to maintain it with moderation, perse- 
 verance, and firmness. 
 
 The considerations which respect the right to hold this 
 conduct, it is not necessary on this occasion to detail. I 
 will only observe, that, according to my understanding of 
 the matter, that right, so far from being denied by any of 
 the belligerent powers, has been virtually admitted by all. 
 
 The duty of holding a neutral conduct may be inferred, 
 without anything more, from the obligation which justice 
 and humanity impose on every nation, in cases in which it 
 is free to act, to maintain inviolate the relations of peace 
 and amity towards other nations. 
 
 The inducements of interest, for observing that conduct, 
 will best be referred to your own reflections and experience. 
 With me, a predominant motive has been to endeavor to 
 gain time to our country to settle and mature its yet recent 
 institutions, and to progress, without interruption, to that 
 degree of strength and consistency which is necessary to 
 give it, humanly speaking, the command of its own for- 
 tunes. 
 
INAUGURAL AND FAREWELL ADDRESSES. 455 
 
 Though in reviewing the incidents of my administration, 
 I am unconscious of intentional error ; I am, nevertheless, 
 too sensible of my defects not to think it probable that I 
 may have committed many errors. Whatever they may be, 
 I fervently beseech the Almighty to avert or mitigate the 
 evils to which they may tend. I shall also carry with me 
 the hope, that my country will never cease to view them 
 with indulgence ; and that, after forty-five years of my life 
 dedicated to its service with an upright zeal, the faults of 
 incompetent abilities will be consigned to oblivion, as myself 
 must soon be to the mansions of rest. 
 
 Relying on its kindness in this, as in other things, and 
 actuated by that fervent love towards it which is so natural 
 to a man who views in it the native soil of himself and his 
 progenitors for several generations, I anticipate, with plea- 
 sing expectation, that retreat in which I promise myself to 
 realize, without alloy, the sweet enjoyment of partaking, in 
 the midst of my fellow-citizens, the benign influence of good 
 laws under a free Government — the ever favorite object of 
 my heart — and the happy reward, as I trust, of our mutual 
 cares, labors, and dangers. 
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON 
 
 United States, September 1 1th, 1196. 
 
 Following the example of Washington, General Jackson 
 issued a Farewell Address to the people of the United States, 
 at his retiring from the Presidency ; and, like that of Wash- 
 ington, it was principally devoted to the danger of disunion, 
 and to the preservation of harmony and good feeling be- 
 tween the different sections of the country. General Wash- 
 ington only had to contemplate the danger of disunion, as 
 a possibility, and as an event of future contingency ; General 
 Jackson had to confront it as a present, actual, subsisting 
 danger, and therefore published the following 
 
456 INAUGURAL AND FAREWELL ADDRESSES. 
 
 FAREWELL ADDRESS OF ANDREW JACKSON TO THE 
 PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 Fellow-citizens . — Being about to retire finally from 
 public life, I beg leave to offer you my grateful thanks for 
 the many proofs of kindness and confidence which I have re- 
 ceived at your hands. It has been my fortune, in the dis- 
 charge of public duties, civil and military, frequently to 
 have found myself in difficult and trying situations, where 
 prompt decision and energetic action were necessary, and 
 where the interest of the country required that high respon- 
 sibilities should be fearlessly encountered ; and it is with 
 the deepest emotions of gratitude that I acknowledge the 
 continued and unbroken confidence with which you have 
 sustained me in every trial. My public life has been a long 
 one, and I cannot hope that it has, at all times, been free 
 from errors. But I have the consolation of knowing that, 
 if mistakes have been committed, they have not seriously 
 injured the country I so anxiously endeavored to serve ; and 
 at the moment when I surrender my last public trust, I 
 I leave this great people prosperous and happy, in the full 
 enjoyment of liberty and peace, and honored and respected 
 by every nation of the world. 
 
 If my humble efforts have, in any degree, contributed to 
 preserve to you these blessings, I have b(en more than re- 
 warded by the honors you have heaped upon me, and, above 
 all, by the generous confidence with which you have sup- 
 ported me in every peril, and with which you have continued 
 to animate and cheer my path to the closing hour of my 
 political life. The time has now come, 'when advanced age 
 and a broken frame warn me to retire from public concerns ; 
 but the recollection of the many favors you have bestowed 
 upon me is engraven upon my heart, and I have felt that I 
 could not part from your service without making this publio 
 acknowledgment of the gratitude I owe you. And if I use 
 
INAUGURAL AND FAREWELL ADDRESSES. 457 
 
 the occasion to offer to you the counsels of age and expe- 
 rience, you will, I trust, receive them with the same indul- 
 gent kindness which you have so often extended to me; 
 and will, at least, see in them an earnest desire to perpetu- 
 ate, in this favored land, the blessings of liberty and equal 
 law. 
 
 We have now lived almost fifty years under the constitu- 
 tion framed by the sages and patriots of the Revolution. 
 The conflicts in which the nations of Europe were engaged 
 during a great part of this period, the spirit in which they 
 waged war against each other, and our intimate com- 
 mercial connections with every part of the civilized world, 
 rendered it a time of much difficulty for the Government of 
 the United States. We have had our seasons of peace and 
 of war, with all the evils which precede or follow a state of 
 hostility with powerful nations. We encountered these 
 trials with our constitution yet in its infancy, and under the 
 disadvantages which a new and untried government must 
 always feel when it is called upon to put forth its whole 
 strength, without the lights of experience to guide it, or the 
 weight of precedents to justify its measures. But we have 
 passed triumphantly through all these difficulties. Our 
 Constitution is uo longer a doubtful experiment; and, at 
 the end of nearly half a century, we find that it has pre- 
 served unimpaired the liberties of the people, secured the 
 rich's of property, and that our country has improved and 
 is flourishing beyond any former example in the history of 
 nations. 
 
 In our domestic concerns there is everything to encour- 
 age us ; and, if you are true to yourselves, nothing can 
 impede your march to the highest point of national pros 
 perity. The States which had so long been retarded in 
 their improvement by the Indian tribes residing in thn 
 midst of them, are at length relieved from the evil ; and 
 this unhappy race — the original dwellers in our land — a-e 
 
458 INAUGURAL AND FAREWELL ADDRESSES. 
 
 now placed in a situation where we may well hope that they 
 will share in the blessings of civilization, and be saved from 
 that degradation and destruction to which they were rapidly 
 hastening while they remained in the States ; and while 
 the safety and comfort of our own citizens have been greatly 
 promoted by their removal, the philanthropist will rejoice 
 that the remnant of that ill-fated race has been at length 
 placed beyond the reach of injury or oppression, and that 
 the paternal care of the general government will hereafter 
 watch over them and protect them. 
 
 If we turn to our relations with foreign powers, we find 
 our condition equally gratifying. Actuated by the sincere 
 desire to do justice to every nation, and to preserve the 
 blessings of peace, our intercourse with them has been con- 
 ducted on the part of this government in the spirit of frank- 
 ness, and I take pleasure in saying that it has generally 
 been met in a corresponding temper. Difficulties of old 
 standing have been surmounted by friendly discussion and 
 the mutual desire to be just; and the claims of our citi- 
 zens, which had been long withheld, have at length been 
 acknowledged and adjusted, and satisfactory arrangements 
 made for their final payment ; and, with a limited, and, I 
 trust, a temporary exception, our relations with every for- 
 eign power are now of the most friendly character — our 
 commerce continually expanding, and our flag respected in 
 every quarter of the world. 
 
 These cheering and grateful prospects, and these mul- 
 tiplied favors, we owe, under Providence, to the adoption 
 of the federal Constitution. It is no longer a question 
 whether this great country can remain happily united, and 
 flourish, under our present form of government. Experi- 
 ence, the unerring test of all human undertakings, has 
 shown the wisdom and foresight of those who formed it ; 
 and has proved, that, in the union of these States, there 
 is a sure foundation for the brightest hopes of freedom, and 
 
INAUGURAL AND FAREWELL ADDRESSES. 459 
 
 for the happiness of the people. At every hazard, and by 
 every sacrifice, this Union must be preserved. 
 
 The necessity of watching with jealous anxiety for the 
 preservation of the Un : on, was earnestly pressed upon his 
 fellow-citizens, by the Father of his Country, in his farewell 
 address. He has there told us, that, “ while experience 
 shall not have demonstrated its impracticability, there will 
 always be reason to distrust the patriotism of those who, in 
 any quarter, may endeavor to weaken its bands and he 
 has cautioned us, in the strongest terms, against the forma- 
 tion of parties on geographical discriminations, as one of 
 the means which might disturb our Union, and to which de- 
 signing men would be likely to resort. 
 
 The lessons contained in this invaluable legacy of Wash- 
 ington to his countrymen, should be cherished in the heart 
 of every citizen to the latest generation ; and, perhaps, at 
 no period of time could they be more usefully remembered 
 than at the present moment. For, when we look upon the 
 scenes that are passing around us, and dwell upon the 
 pages of his parting address, his paternal counsels would 
 seem to be not merely the offspring of wisdom and fore- 
 sight, but the voice of prophecy, foretelling events, and 
 warning us of the evil to come. Forty years have passed 
 since this imperishable document was given to his country- 
 men. The federal Constitution was then regarded by him 
 as an experiment, and he so speaks of it in his address, but 
 an experiment upon the success of which the best hopes of 
 his country depended ; and we all know that he was pre- 
 pared to lay down his life, if necessary, to secure to it a 
 full and a fair trial The trial has been made. It has suc- 
 ceeded beyond the proudest hopes of those who framed it. 
 Every quarter of this widely extended nation has felt its 
 blessings, and shared in the general prosperity produced by 
 its adoption. But, amid this general prosperity and splen- 
 did success, the dangers of which he warned us are becom- 
 
460 INAUGURAL AND FAREWELL ADDRESSES. 
 
 ing every day more evident, and the signs of evil are 
 sufficiently apparent to awaken the deepest anxiety in the 
 bosom of the patriot. We behold systematic efforts pub- 
 licly made to sow the seeds of discord between different 
 parts of the United States, and to place party divisions di- 
 rectly upon geographical distinctions ; to excite the South 
 against the North, and the North against the South, and to 
 force into the controversy the most delicate and exciting 
 topics — topics upon which it is impossible that a large por- 
 tion of the Union can ever speak without strong emotion. 
 Appeals, too, are constantly made to sectional interests, in 
 order to influence the election of the Chief Magistrate, as if 
 it were desired that he should favor a particular quarter of 
 the country, instead of fulfilling the duties of his station 
 with impartial justice to all ; and the possible dissolution 
 of the Union has at length become an ordinary and familiar 
 subject of discussion. Has the warning voice of Washing- 
 ton been forgotten ? or have designs already been formed 
 to sever the Union ? Let it not be supposed that I impute 
 to all of those who have taken an active part in these unwise 
 and unprofitable discussions a want of patriotism or of pub- 
 lic virtue. The honorable feeling of State pride, and local 
 attachments, find a place in the bosoms of the most enlight- 
 ened and pure. But while such men are conscious of their 
 own integrity and honesty of purpose, they ought never to 
 forget that the citizens of other States are their political 
 brethren; and that, however mistaken they may be in theii 
 views, the great body of them are equally honest and upright 
 with themselves. Mutual suspicious and reproaches may 
 in time create mutual hostility, and artful and designing 
 men will always be found, who are ready to foment these 
 fatal divisions, and to inflame the natural jealousies of diffe- 
 rent sections of the country. The history of the world ia 
 full of such examples, and especially the history of re 
 publics. 
 
INAUGURAL AND FAREWELL ADDRESSES. 461 
 
 What have yon to grain by division and dissension ? De- 
 lude not yourselves with the belief that a breach once made 
 may be afterwards repaired. If the Union is once severed, 
 the line of separation will grow wider and wider, and the 
 controversies which are now debated and settled in the halls 
 of legislation will then be tried in fields of battle, and deter- 
 mined by the sword. Neither should you deceive yourselves 
 with the hope that the first line of separation would be the 
 permanent one, and that nothing but harmony and concord 
 would be found in the new associations formed upon the 
 dissolution of this Union. Local interests would still be 
 found there, and unchastened ambition. And if the recol- 
 lection of common dangers, in which the people of these 
 United States stood side by side against the common foe; 
 the memory of victories w r on by their united valor; the 
 prosperity and happiness they have enjoyed under the 
 present Constitution ; the proud name they bear as citizens 
 of this great republic : if all these recollections and proofs 
 of common interest are not strong enough to bind us to- 
 gether as one people, what tie will hold united the new 
 divisions of empire, when these bonds have been broken and 
 this Union dissevered. The first line of separation w r ould 
 not last for a single generation ; new fragments would be 
 torn off; new leaders w'ould spring up ; and this great and 
 glorious republic would soon be broken into a multitude of 
 petty States, without commerce, without credit; jealous of 
 one another ; armed for mutual agression, loaded with taxes 
 to pay armies and leaders; seeking aid against each other 
 from foreign powers ; insulted and trampled upon by the 
 nations of Europe, until harassed with conflicts, and humbled 
 and debased in spirit, they would be ready to submit to the 
 absolute dominion of any military adventurer, and to sur- 
 render their liberty for the sake of repose. It is impossible 
 to look on the consequences that would inevitably follow 
 the destruction of this governmemt, and not feel indignant 
 
462 INAUGURAL AND FAREWELL ADDRESSES. 
 
 when we hear cold calculations about the value of the Union, 
 and have so constantly before us a line of conduct so well 
 calculated to weaken its ties. 
 
 There is too much at stake to allow pride or passion to 
 influence your decision. Never for a moment believe that 
 the great body of the citizens of any State or States can de- 
 liberately intend to do wrong. They may, under the influ- 
 ence of temporary excitement or misguided opinions, commit 
 mistakes ; they may be misled for a time by the suggestions 
 of self-interest; but, in a community so enlightened and 
 patriotic as the people of the United States, argument will 
 soon make them sensible of their errors ; and when convinced, 
 they will be ready to repair them. If they have no higher 
 or better motives to govern them, they will at least perceive 
 that their own interest requires them to be just to others, 
 as they hope to receive justice at their hands. 
 
 But, in order to maintain the Union unimpaired, it is 
 absolutely necessary that the laws passed by the constituted 
 authorities should be faithfully executed in every part of the 
 country, and that every good citizen should, at all times, 
 stand ready to put down, with the combined force of the 
 nation, every attempt at unlawful resistance, under whatever 
 pretext it may be made, or whatever shape it may assume. 
 Unconstitutional or oppressive laws may, no doubt, be 
 passed by Congress, either from erroneous views, or the 
 want of due consideration ; if they are within the reach of 
 judicial authority, the remedy is easy and peaceful ; and if, 
 from the character of the law, it is an abuse of power not 
 within the control of the judiciary, then free discussion and 
 calm appeals to reason and to the justice of the people will 
 not fail to redress the wrong. But until the law shall be 
 declared void by the courts, or repealed by Congress, no 
 individual, or combination of individuals, can be justified 
 in forcibly resisting its execution. It is impossible that 
 any government can continue to exist upon any other prin- 
 
INAUGURAL AN I) FAREWELL ADDRESSES. 463 
 
 ciples. It would cease to be a government, and be un- 
 worthy of the name, if it had not the power to enforce the 
 execution of its own laws within its own sphere of action. 
 
 It is true that cases may be imagined disclosing such a 
 settled purpose of usurpation and oppression, ou the part 
 of the government, as would justify an appeal to arms. 
 These, however, are extreme cases, which we have no reason 
 to apprehend in a government where the power is in the 
 hands of a patriotic people ; and no citizen who loves his 
 country would, in any case whatever, resort to forcible re- 
 sistance, unless he clearly saw that the time had comew'hen 
 a freeman should prefer death to submission ; for if such a 
 struggle is once begun, and the citizens of one section of 
 the country are arrayed in arms against those of another in 
 doubtful conflict, let the battle result as it may, there will 
 be an end of the Union, and with it an end to the hopes of 
 freedom. The victory of the injured would not secure to 
 them the blessings of liberty ; it would avenge their wrongs, 
 but they would themselves share in the common ruin. 
 
 But the Constitution cannot be maintained, nor the Union 
 preserved, in opposition to public feeling, by the mere ex- 
 ertion of the coercive powers confided to the general govern- 
 ment. The foundations must belaid in the affections of the 
 people ; in the security it gives to life, liberty, character, 
 and property, in every quarter of the country ; and in the 
 fraternal attachment which the citizens of the several States 
 bear to one another, as members of one political family, mu- 
 tually contributing to promote the happiness of each other. 
 Hence, the citizens of every State should studiously avoid 
 everything calculated to wound the sensibility or offend the 
 just pride of the people of other States ; and they should 
 frown upon any proceedings within their own borders likely 
 to disturb the tranquillity of their political brethren in other 
 portions of the Union. In a country so extensive as the 
 United States, and with pursuits so varied, the internal regu- 
 
i64 INAUGURAL AND FAREWELL ADDRESSES. 
 
 lations of the several States must frequently differ from one 
 another in important particulars ; and this difference is una- 
 voidably increased by the varying principles upon which the 
 American colonies were originally planted ; principles which 
 had taken deep root in their social relations before the Revo- 
 lution, and therefore of necessity influencing their policy since 
 they became free and independent States. But each State 
 has the unquestionable right to regulate its own internal 
 concerns according to its own pleasure; and while it does 
 not interfere with the rights of the people of other States, 
 or the rights of the Union, every State must be the sole judge 
 of the measures proper to secure the safety of its citizens, 
 and promote their happiness ; and all efforts on the part of 
 people of other States to cast odium upon their institutions, 
 and all measures calculated to disturb their rights of property 
 or to put in jeopardy their peace and internal tranquillity, 
 are in direct opposition to the spirit in which the Union was 
 formed, and must endanger its safety. Motives of philan- 
 thropy may' be assigned for this unwarrantable interference ; 
 and weak men may persuade themselves for a moment that 
 they are laboring in the cause of humanity, and asserting 
 the rights of the human race ; but every one, upon sober 
 reflection, will see that nothing but mischief can come from 
 these improper assaults upon the feelings and rights of 
 jtbers. Rest assured that the men found busy in this work 
 M discord are not worthy of your confidence, and deserve 
 your strongest reprobation. 
 
 In the legislation of Congress, also, and in every measure 
 of the general government, justice to every portion of the 
 Unii.ec Spates should be faithfully observed. No free gov- 
 ernment can stand without virtue in the people, and a lofty 
 spirit of patriotism ; and if the sordid feelings of mere sel- 
 fishness shall usurp the place which ought to be filled by 
 public spirit, the legislation of Congress will soon be con- 
 verted into a scramble for personal and sectional advantages. 
 
INAUGURAL AND FAREWELL ADDRESSES. 465 
 
 Under our free institutions, the citizens of every quarter of 
 our country are capable of attaining a high degree of 
 prosperity and happiness, without seeking to profit them- 
 selves at the expense of others; and every such attempt 
 must in the end fail to succeed, for the people in every part 
 of the United States are too enlightened not to understand 
 their own rights and interests, and to detect and defeat every 
 effort to gain undue advantages over them ; and when such 
 designs are discovered, it naturally provokes resentments 
 which cannot always be easily allayed. Justice, full and 
 ample justice, to every portion of the United States, should 
 be the ruling principle of every freeman, and should guide 
 the deliberations of every public body, whether it be State 
 or national. 
 
 It is well known that there have always been those 
 amongst us who wish to enlarge the powers of the general 
 government; and experience would seem to indicate that 
 there is a tendency on the part of this government to over- 
 step the boundaries marked out for it by the Constitution. 
 Its legitimate authority is abundantly sufficient for all the 
 purposes for which it was created ; and its powers being 
 expressly enumerated, there can be no justification for 
 claiming anything beyond them. Every attempt to exercise 
 power beyond these limits should be promptly and firmly 
 opposed. For one evil example will lead to other measures 
 still more mischievous ; and if the principle of constructive 
 powers, or supposed advantages, or temporary circum- 
 stances, shall ever be permitted to justify the assumption of 
 a power not given by the Constitution, the general govern- 
 ment will before long absorb all the powers of legislation, 
 and you will have, in effect, but one consolidated govern- 
 ment. From the extent of our country, its diversified 
 interests, different pursuits, and different habits, it is too 
 obvious for argument, that a single consolidated govern- 
 ment would be wholly inadequate to watch over and protect 
 30 
 
466 INAUGURAL AND FAREWELL ADDRESSES. 
 
 its interests; and every friend of our free institutions should 
 be always prepared to maintain unimpaired and in full vigor 
 the rights and sovereignty of the States, and to confine the 
 action of the general government strictly to the sphere of 
 its appropriate duties. 
 
 There is, perhaps, no one of the powers conferred on the 
 federal government so liable to abuse as the taxing power. 
 The most productive and convenient sources of revenue 
 were necessarily given to it, that it might be able to per- 
 form the important duties imposed upon it; and the taxes 
 which it lays upon commerce being concealed from the real 
 payer in the price of the article, they do not so readily 
 attract the attention of the people as smaller sums demanded 
 from them directly by the tax-gatherer. But the tax im- 
 posed on goods enhances by so much the price of the com- 
 modity to the consumer; and, as many of these duties are 
 imposed on articles of necessity, which are daily used by 
 the great body of the people, the money raised by these 
 imposts is drawn from their pockets. Congress has no 
 right, under the Constitution, to take money from the peo- 
 ple, unless it is required to execute some one of the specific 
 powers intrusted to the government ; and if they raise more 
 than is necessary for such purposes, it is an abuse of the 
 power of taxation, and unjust and oppressive. It may, 
 indeed, happen that the revenue will sometimes exceed the 
 amount anticipated when the taxes were laid. When, how- 
 ever, this is ascertained, it is easy to reduce them, and, in 
 such a case, it is unquestionably the duty of the govern- 
 ment to reduce them ; for no circumstances can justify it in 
 assuming a power not given to it by the Constitution, nor 
 in taking away the money of the people w’hen it is not 
 needed for the legitimate wants of the government. 
 
 Plain as these principles appear to be, you will yet find 
 there is a constant effort to induce the general government 
 to go beyond the limits of its taxing power, and to impose 
 
INAUGURAL AND FAREWELL ADDRESSES. 467 
 
 unnecessary burdens upon the people. Many powerful 
 interests are continually at work to procure heavy duties on 
 commerce, and to swell the revenue beyond the real necessi- 
 ties of the public service ; and the country has already felt 
 the injurious effects of their combined influence. They 
 succeeded in obtaining a tariff of duties bearing most op- 
 pressively on the agricultural and laboring classes of society, 
 and producing a revenue that could not be usefully employed 
 within the range of the powers conferred upon Congress ; 
 and, in order to fasten upon the people this unjust and 
 unequal system of taxation, extravagant schemes of inter- 
 nal improvements were got up in various quarters, to squan- 
 der the money and to purchase support. Thus one uncon- 
 stitutional measure was intended to be upheld by another, 
 and the abuse of the power of taxation was to be main- 
 tained by usurping the power of expending the money in 
 internal improvements. You cannot have forgotten the 
 severe and doubtful struggle through which we passed, 
 when the executive department of the government, by its 
 veto, endeavored to arrest this prodigal scheme of injustice, 
 and to bring back the legislation of Congress to the boun- 
 daries prescribed by the Constitution. The good sense 
 and practical judgment of the people, when the subject was 
 brought before them, sustained the course of the executive ; 
 and this plan of unconstitutional expenditures for the pur- 
 poses of corrupt influence is, I trust, finally overthrown. 
 
 The result of this decision has been felt in the rapid 
 extinguishment of the public debt, and the large accumu- 
 lation of a surplus in the treasury, notwithstanding the 
 tariff was reduced, and is now very far below the amount 
 originally contemplated by its advocates. But, rely upon 
 it, the design to collect an extravagant revenue, and to 
 burden you with taxes beyond the economical wants of the 
 government, is not yet abandoned. The various interests 
 which have combined together to impose a heavy tariff, and 
 
468 INAUGURAL AND FAREWELL ADDRESSES. 
 
 to produce an overflowing treasury, are too strong, and 
 have too much at stake, to surrender the contest. The 
 corporations and wealthy individuals who are engaged in 
 large manufacturing establishments desire a high tariff to 
 increase their gains. Designing politicians will support it 
 to conciliate their favor, and to obtain the means of profuse 
 expenditure, for the purpose of purchasing influence in other 
 quarters ; and, since the people have decided that the fede- 
 ral government cannot be permitted to employ its income 
 in internal improvements, efforts will be made to seduce and 
 mislead the citizens of the several States, by holding out to 
 them the deceitful prospect of benefits to be derived from a 
 surplus revenue collected by the general government, and 
 annually divided among the States ; and if, encouraged by 
 these fallacious hopes, the States should disregard the prin- 
 ciples of economy which ought to characterize every repub- 
 lican government, and should indulge in lavish expenditures, 
 exceeding their resources, they will, before long, find them- 
 selves oppressed with debts which they are unable to pay, 
 and the temptation will become irresistible to support a 
 high tariff in order to obtain a surplus for distribution. 
 Do not allow yourselves, my fellow-citizens, to be misled 
 on this subject. The federal government cannot collect a 
 surplus for such purposes, without violating the principles 
 of the Constitution, and assuming powers which have not 
 been granted. It is, moreover, a system of injustice, and, 
 if persisted in, will inevitably lead to corruption, and must 
 end in ruin. The surplus revenue will be drawn from the 
 pockets of the people, from the farmer, the mechanic, and 
 the laboring classes of society; but who will receive it 
 when distributed among the States, where it is to be dis- 
 posed of by leading State politicians, who have friends to 
 favor and political partisans to gratify ? It will certainly 
 not be returned to those who paid it, and who have most 
 need of it, and are honestly entitled to it. There is but one 
 
INAUGURAL AND FAREWELL ADDRESSES. 469 
 
 safe rule ; and that is, to confine the general government 
 rigidly within the sphere of its appropriate duties. It has 
 no power to raise a revenue or impose taxes except for the 
 purposes enumerated in the Constitution ; and if its income 
 is found to exceed these wants, it should be forthwith re- 
 duced, and the burden of the people so far lightened. 
 
 In reviewing the conflicts which have taken place between 
 different interests in the United States, and the policy pur- 
 sued since the adoption of our present form of government, 
 we find nothing that has produced such deep-seated evil as 
 the course of legislation in relation to the currency. The 
 Constitution of the United States unquestionably intended 
 to secure to the people a circulating medium of gold and 
 silver. But the establishment of a national bank by Con- 
 gress, with the privilege of issuing paper money receivable 
 in the payment of the public dues, and the unfortunate 
 course of legislation in the several States upon the same 
 subject, drove from circulation the constitutional currency, 
 and substituted one of paper in its place. 
 
 It was not easy for men engaged in the ordinary pursuits 
 of business, whose attention had not been particularly drawn 
 to the subject, to foresee all the consequences of a currency 
 exclusively of paper; and we ought not, on that account, 
 to be surprised at the facility with which laws were obtained 
 to carry into effect the paper system. Honest and even 
 enlightened meu are sometimes misled by the specious and 
 plausible statements of the designing. But experience has 
 now proved the mischiefs and dangers of a paper currency ; 
 and it rests with you to determine whether the proper 
 remedy shall be applied. 
 
 The paper system being founded on public confidence, 
 and having of itself no intrinsic value, it is liable to great 
 and sudden fluctuations ; thereby rendering property inse- 
 cure, and the wages of labor unsteady and uncertain. The 
 corporations which create the paper money cannot be relies 
 
470 INAUGURAL AND FAREWELL ADDRESSES. 
 
 upon to keep the circulating medium uniform in amount. 
 In times of prosperity, when confidence is high, they are 
 tempted, by the prospect of gain, or by the influence of 
 those who hope to profit by it, to extend their issues of 
 paper beyond the bounds of discretion and the reasonable 
 demands of business. And when these issues have been 
 pushed on, from day to day, until public confidence is at 
 length shaken, then a reaction takes place, and they imme- 
 diately withdraw the credits they have given, suddenly cur- 
 tail their issues, and produce an unexpected and ruinous 
 contraction of the circulating medium, which is felt by the 
 whole community. The banks, by this means, save them- 
 selves, and the mischievous consequences of their impru- 
 dence or cupidity are visited upon the public. Nor does 
 the evil stop here. These ebbs and flows in the currency, 
 and these indiscreet extensions of credit, naturally engender 
 a spirit of speculation injurious to the habits and character 
 of the people. We have already seen its effects in the wild 
 spirit of speculation in the public lands and various kinds 
 of stock, which within the last year or two seized upon such 
 a multitude of our citizens, and threatened to pervade all 
 classes of society, and to withdraw their attention from the 
 sober pursuits of honest industry. It is not by encouraging 
 this spirit that we shall best preserve public virtue and 
 promote the true interests of our country. But if your 
 currency continues as exclusively paper as it now is, it will 
 foster this eager desire to amass wealth without labor ; it 
 will multiply the number of dependents on bank accommo- 
 dations and bank favors ; the temptation to obtain money 
 at any sacrifice will become stronger and stronger, and 
 inevitably lead to corruption, which will find its way into 
 your public councils, and destroy, at no distant day, the 
 purity of your government. Some of the evils which arise 
 from this system of paper, press with peculiar hardship upon 
 the class of society least able to bear it. A portion of this 
 
INAUGURAL AND FAREWELL ADDRESSES. 471 
 
 currency frequently becomes depreciated or worthless, and 
 all of it is easily counterfeited in such a manner as to re- 
 quire peculiar skill and much experience to distinguish the 
 counterfeit from the genuine note. These frauds are most 
 generally perpetrated in the smaller notes, which are used 
 in the daily transactions of ordinary business ; and the 
 losses occasioned by them are commonly thrown upon the 
 laboring classes of society, whose situation and pursuits 
 put it out of their power to guard themselves from these 
 impositions, and whose daily wages are necessary for their 
 subsistence. It is the duty of every government so to regu- 
 late its currency as to protect this numerous class, as far as 
 practicable, from the impositions of avarice and fraud. It 
 is more especially the duty of the United States, where the 
 government is emphatically the government of the people, 
 and where this respectable portion of our citizens are so 
 proudly distinguished from the laboring classes of all other 
 nations, by their independent spirit, their love of liberty, 
 their intelligence, and their high tone of moral character. 
 Their industry, in peace, is the source of our wealth ; and 
 their bravery, in war, has covered us with glory ; and the 
 government of the United States will but ill discharge its 
 duties, if it leaves them a prey to such dishonest imposi- 
 tions. Yet it is evident that their interests cannot be 
 effectually protected, unless silver and gold are restored to 
 circulation. 
 
 These views alone, of the paper currency, are sufficient to 
 call for immediate reform ; but there is another considera- 
 tion which should still more strongly press it upon your 
 attention. 
 
 Recent events have proved that the paper-money system 
 of this country may be used as an engine to undermine your 
 free institutions; and that those who desire to engross ail 
 power in the hands of the few, and to govern by corruption 
 or force, are aware of its power, and prepared to employ it. 
 
472 INAUGURAL AND FAREWELL ADDRESSES. 
 
 Yonr banks now furnish jour only circulating medium, and 
 money is plenty or scarce, according to the quantity of notes 
 issued by them. While they have capitals not greatly dis- 
 proportioned to each other, they are competitors in busi- 
 ness, and no one of them can exercise dominion over the 
 rest ; and although, in the present state of the currency, 
 these banks may and do operate injuriously upon the habits 
 of business, the pecuniary concerns, and the moral tone of 
 society, yet, from their number arid dispersed situation, they 
 cannot combine for the purposes of political influence; and, 
 whatever may be the dispositions of some of them, their 
 power of mischief must necessarily be confined to a narrow 
 space, and felt only in their immediate neighborhoods. 
 
 But when the charter for the Bank of the United States 
 was obtained from Congress, it perfected the schemes of the 
 paper system, and gave to its advocates the position they 
 have struggled to obtain, from the commencement of the 
 federal government to the present hour. The immense 
 capital and peculiar privileges bestowed upon it enabled it 
 to exercise despotic sway over the other banks, in every 
 part of the country. From its superior strength, it could 
 seriously injure, if not destroy, the business of any one of 
 them which might incur its resentment; and it openly 
 claimed for itself the power of regulating the currency 
 throughout the United States. In other words, it asserted 
 (and it undoubtedly possessed) the power to make money 
 plenty or scarce, at its pleasure, at any time, and in any 
 quarter of the Union, by controlling the issues of other 
 banks, and permitting an expansion, or compelling a gene- 
 ral contraction, of the circulating medium, according to its 
 own will. The other banking institutions were sensible of 
 its strength, and they soon generally became its obedient 
 instruments, ready at all times to execute its mandates ; 
 and with the banks necessarily went, also, that numerous 
 class of persons in our commercial cities who depend alto- 
 
INAUGURAL AND FAREWELL ADDRESSES. 478 
 
 gether on bank credits for their solvency and means of busi- 
 ness ; and who are therefore obliged, for their own safety, 
 to propitiate the favor of the money power by distinguished 
 zeal and devotion in its service. The result of the ill- 
 advised legislation which established this great monopoly 
 was, to concentrate the whole moneyed power of the Union, 
 with its boundless means of corruption and its numerous 
 dependents, under the direction and command of one ac- 
 knowledged head : thus organizing this particular interest 
 as one body ; and securing to it unity and concert of action 
 throughout the United States, and enabling it to bring for- 
 ward, upon any occasion, its entire and undivided strength, 
 to support or defeat any measure of the Government. In 
 the hands of this formidable power, thus perfectly organized, 
 was also placed unlimited dominion over the amount of the 
 circulating medium, giving it the power to regulate the 
 value of property and the fruits of labor in every quarter 
 of the Union ; and to bestow prosperity or bring ruin upon 
 any city or section of the country, as might best comport 
 with its own interest or policy. 
 
 We are not left to conjecture how the moneyed power, 
 thus organized, and with such a weapon in its hands, would 
 be likely to use it. The distress and alarm which pervaded 
 and agitated the whole country when the Bank of the 
 United States waged war upon the people, in order to 
 compel them to submit to its demands, cannot yet be for- 
 gotten. The ruthless and unsparing temper with which 
 whole cities and communities were oppressed, individuals 
 impoverished and ruined, and a scene of cheerful prosperity 
 suddenly changed into one of gloom and despondency, 
 ought to be indelibly impressed on the memory of the 
 people of the United States. If such was its power in a 
 time of peace, what would it not have been in a season of 
 war, with an enemy at your doors? No nation but the 
 freemen of the United States could have come out vie- 
 
474 INAUGURAL AND FAREWELL ADDRESSES. 
 
 torious from such a contest; yet, if you had not conquered, 
 the government would have passed from the hands of the 
 many to the hands of the few ; and this organized money 
 power, from its secret conclave, would have dictated the 
 choice of your highest offices, and compelled you to make 
 peace or war, as best suited their own wishes. The forms 
 of your government might, for a time, have remained, but 
 its living spirit would have departed from it. 
 
 The distress and sufferings inflicted on the people by the 
 bank are some of the fruits of that system of policy which is 
 continually striving to enlarge the authority of the federal 
 government beyond the limits fixed by the Constitution. 
 The powers enumerated in that instrument do not confer 
 on Congress the right to establish such a corporation as 
 the Bank of the United States, and the evil consequences 
 which followed may warn us of the danger of departing 
 from the true rule of construction, and of permitting tem- 
 porary circumstances, or the hope of better promoting the 
 public welfare, to influence, in any degree, our decisions 
 upon the extent of the authority of the general government. 
 Let us abide by the Constitution as it is written, or amend 
 it, in the constitutional mode, if it is found to be defective. 
 
 The severe lessons of experience will, I doubt not, be 
 sufficient to prevent Congress from again chartering such a 
 monopoly, even if the Constitution did not present an insu- 
 perable objection to it. But you must remember, my fellow- 
 citizens, that eternal vigilance by the people is the price of 
 liberty ; and that you must pay the price if you wish to 
 secure the blessing. It behooves you, therefore, to be 
 watchful in your States, as well as in the federal govern- 
 ment. The power which the moneyed interest can exer- 
 cise, when concentrated under a single head, and with our 
 present system of currency, was sufficiently demonstrated in 
 the struggle made by the Bank of the United States. 
 Defeated in the general government, the same class of in- 
 
INAUGURAL AND FAREWELL ADDRESSES. 475 
 
 triguers and politicians will now resort to the States, and 
 endeavor to obtain there the same organization which they 
 failed to perpetuate in the Union ; and with specious and 
 deceitful plans of public advantages, and State interests, 
 and State pride, they will endeavor to establish, in the 
 different States, one moneyed institution, with overgrown 
 capital, and exclusive privileges, sufficient to enable it to 
 control the operations of the other banks. Such an insti- 
 tution will be pregnant with the same evils produced by the 
 Bank of the United States, although its sphere of action is 
 more confined ; and, in the State in which it is chartered, 
 the money power will be able to embody its whole strength, 
 and to move together with undivided force to accomplish 
 any object it may wish to attain. You have already had 
 abundant evidence of its power to inflict injury upon the 
 agricultural, mechanical, and laboring classes of society ; 
 and over those whose engagements in trade or speculation 
 render them dependent on bank facilities, the dominion of 
 the State monopoly will be absolute, and their obedience 
 unlimited. With such a bank and a paper currency, the 
 money power would, in a few years, govern the State and 
 control its measures ; and, if a sufficient number of States 
 can be induced to create such establishments, the time will 
 soon come when it will again take the field against the 
 United States, and succeed in perfecting and perpetuating 
 its organization by a charter from Congress. 
 
 It is one of the serious evils of our present system of 
 banking, that it enables one class of society, and that by 
 no means a numerous one, by its control over the currency, 
 to act injuriously upon the interests of all the others, and 
 to exercise more than its just proportion of influence in po- 
 litical affairs. The agricultural, the mechanical, and the 
 laboring classes, have little or no share in the direction of 
 the great moneyed corporations ; and, from their habits, 
 and the nature of their pursuits, they are incapable of form- 
 
476 INAUGURAL AND FAREWELL ADDRESSES. 
 
 ing extensive combinations to act together with united 
 force. Such concert of action may sometimes be produced 
 in a single city, or in a small district of country, by means 
 of personal communications with each other; but they have 
 no regular or active correspondence with those who are en- 
 gaged in similar pursuits in distant places ; they have but 
 little patronage to give to the press, and exercise but a 
 small share of influence over it; they have no crowd of de- 
 pendents about them, who hope to grow rich without labor, 
 by their countenance and favor, and who are, therefore, 
 always ready to execute their wishes. The planter, the 
 farmer, the mechanic, and the laborer, all know that their 
 success depends upon their own industry and economy, and 
 that they must not expect to become suddenly rich by the 
 fruits of their toil. Yet these classes of society form the 
 great body of the people of the United States; they are 
 the bone and sinew of the country ; men who love liberty, 
 and desire nothing but equal rights and equal laws ; 
 and who, moreover, hold the great mass of our national 
 wealth, although it is distributed in moderate amounts 
 among the millions of freemen who possess it. But, with 
 overwhelming numbers and wealth on their side, they are 
 in constant danger of losing their fair influence in the 
 government, and with difficulty maintain their just rights 
 against the incessant efforts daily made to encroach upon 
 them. The mischief springs from the power which the 
 moneyed interest derives from a paper currency, which they 
 are able to control ; from the multitude of corporations, 
 with exclusive privileges, which they have succeeded in 
 obtaining in the different States, and which are employed 
 altogether for their benefit ; and, unless you become more 
 watchful in your States, and check this spirit of monopoly 
 and thirst for exclusive privileges, you will, in the end, find 
 that the most important powers of government have beeu 
 
INAUGURAL AND FAREWELL ADDRESSES. 477 
 
 given or bartered away, and the control over your dearest 
 interests has passed into the hands of these corporations. 
 
 The paper-money system and its natural associations — 
 monopoly and exclusive privileges — have already struck their 
 roots too deep in the soil ; and it will require all your efforts 
 to check its further growth, and to eradicate the evil. The 
 men who profit by the abuses, and desire to perpetuate 
 them, will continue to besiege the halls of legislation in the 
 general government as well as in the States, and will seek, 
 by every artifice, to mislead and deceive the public servants. 
 It is to yourselves that you must look for safety, and the 
 means of guarding and perpetuating your free institutions. 
 In your hands is rightfully placed the sovereignty of the 
 country, and to you every one placed in authority is ulti- 
 mately responsible. It is always in your power to see that 
 the wishes of the people are carried into faithful execution, 
 and their will, when once made known, must, sooner or later, 
 be obeyed. And while the people remain, as I trust they 
 ever will, uncorrupted and incorruptible, and continue 
 watchful and jealous of their rights, the government is safe, 
 and the cause of freedom will continue to triumph over all 
 its enemies. 
 
 But it will require steady and persevering exertions on 
 your part to rid yourselves of the iniquities and mischiefs of 
 the paper system, and to check the spirit of mouoply and 
 other abuses which have sprung up with it, and of which it 
 is the main support. So many interests are united to resist 
 all reform on this subject, that you must not hope the con- 
 i’ ict will be a short one, nor success easy. My humble 
 efforts have not been spared, during ray administration of 
 the government, to restore the constitutional currency of 
 gold and silver ; and something, I trust, has been done to- 
 wards the accomplishment of this most desirable object. 
 But enough yet remains to require all your energy and per- 
 severance. The power, however, is in your hands, and 
 
478 INAUGURAL AND FAREWELL ADDRESSES. 
 
 the remedy must and will be applied, if you determine upon 
 it. 
 
 While I am thus endeavoring to press upon your attention 
 the principles which I deem of vital importance in the do- 
 mestic concerns of the country, I ought not to pass over, 
 without notice, the important considerations which should 
 govern your policy towards foreign powers. It is unques- 
 tionably, our true interest to cultivate the most friendly 
 understanding with every nation, and to avoid, by every 
 honorable means, the calamities of war; and we shall best 
 attain this object by frankness and sincerity in our foreign 
 intercourse, by the prompt and faithful execution of treaties, 
 and by justice and impartiality in our conduct to all. But 
 no nation, however desirous of peace, can hope to escape 
 occasional collisions with other powers ; and the soundest 
 dictates of policy require that we should place ourselves in 
 a condition to assert our rights, if a resort to force should 
 ever become necessary. Our local situation, our long line 
 of sea-coast, indented by numerous bays, with deep rivers 
 opening into the interior, as well as our extended and still 
 increasing commerce, point to the navy as our natural means 
 of defense. It will, in the end, be found to be the cheapest 
 and most effectual ; and now is the time, in a season of 
 peace, and with an overflowing revenue, that we can, year 
 after year, add to its strength, without increasing the burdens 
 of the people. It is your true policy. For your navy will 
 not only protect your rich and flourishing commerce in dis- 
 tant seas, but will enable you to reach and annoy the enemy, 
 and will give to defense its greatest efficiency, by meeting 
 danger at a distance from home. It is impossible, by any 
 line of fortifications, to guard every point from attack against 
 a hostile force advancing from the ocean and selecting its 
 object ; but they are indispensable to protect cities from 
 bombardment, dock yards and naval arsenals from destruc- 
 tion ; to give shelter to merchant vessels in time of war, 
 
INAUGURAL AND FAREWELL ADDRESSES. 479 
 
 nncl to single ships or weaker squadrons when pressed by 
 superior force. Fortifications of this description cannot be 
 too soon completed and armed, and placed in a condition of 
 the most perfect preparation. The abundant means we 
 now possess cannot be applied in any manner more useful 
 to the country ; and when this is done, and our naval force 
 sufficiently strengthened, and our militia armed, we need 
 not fear that any nation will wantonly insult us, or needlessly 
 provoke hostilities. We shall more certainly preserve peace, 
 when it is well understood that we are prepared for war. 
 
 In presenting to you, my fellow-citizens, these parting 
 counsels, I have brought before you the leading principles 
 upon which I endeavored to administer the government in 
 the high office with which you twice honored me. Know- 
 ing that the path of freedom is continually beset by ene- 
 mies, who often assume the disguise of friends, I have 
 devoted the last hours of my public life to warn you of the 
 dangers. The progress of the United States, under our 
 free and happy institutions, has surpassed the most sanguine 
 hopes of the founders of the republic. Our growth has 
 been rapid beyond all former example, in numbers, in 
 wealth, in knowledge, and all the useful arts which con- 
 tribute to the comforts and conveniences of man ; and from 
 the earliest ages of history to the present day, there never 
 have been thirteen millions of people associated in one po- 
 litical body, who enjoyed so much freedom aud happiness 
 as the people of these United States. You have no longer 
 any cause to fear danger from abroad ; your strength and 
 power are well known throughout the civilized world, as 
 well as the high and gallant bearing of your sons. It is 
 from within, among yourselves, from cupidity, from corrup- 
 tion, from disappointed ambition, and inordinate thirst for 
 power, that factions will be formed, and liberty endangered. 
 It is agaiust such designs, whatever disguise the actors may 
 assume, that you have especially to guard yourselves. You 
 
4S0 INAUGURAL AND FAREWELL ADDRESSES. 
 
 have the highest of human trusts committed to your care. 
 Providence has showered on this favored land blessings 
 without number, and has chosen you, as the guardians of 
 freedom, to preserve it for the benefit of the human race. 
 May He who holds in his hands the destinies of nations, 
 make you worthy of the favors he has bestowed, and enable 
 you, with pure hearts and pure hands, and sleepless vigi- 
 lance, to guard and defend, to the end of time, the great 
 charge he has committed to your keeping. 
 
 My own race is nearly run ; advanced age and failing 
 health warn me that before long I must pass beyond the 
 reach of human events, and cease to feel the vicissitudes of 
 human affairs. I thauk God that my life has been spent in 
 a land of liberty, and that he has given me a heart to love 
 my country with the affection of a son. And, filled with 
 gratitude for your constant and unwavering kindness, I 
 bid you a last and affectionate farewell. 
 
 ANDREW JACKSON. 
 
 March 4, 1837 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 THE KANSAS-NEBRASKA BILL. 
 
 Soon after the organization of Congress in December, 
 
 1853, a Bill for the organization of the Territories of Kan- 
 sas and Nebraska, was introduced in the Senate, and referred 
 to the Committee on Territories, of which Senator Douglas, 
 of Illinois, was chairman. On the 4th day of January, 
 
 1854, the committee reported a substitute for the entire Bill, 
 together with a report, which, after reviewing the various 
 provisions of the Bill, concluded as follows: 
 
 “ From these provisions it is apparent that the compro- 
 mise measures of 1850 affirm and rest upon the following 
 propositions : 
 
 “ First. That all questions pertaining to slavery in the 
 territories, and in the new States to be formed therefrom, 
 are to be left to the decision of the people residing therein, 
 by their appropriate representatives, to be chosen by them 
 for that purpose. 
 
 “ Second. That all cases involving title to slaves and 
 questions of personal freedom, are referred to the adjudica- 
 tion of the local tribunals, with the right of appeal to the 
 Supreme Court of the United States. 
 
 “ Third. That the provision of the Constitution of the 
 United States, in respect to fugitives from service, is to be 
 carried into faithful execution in all the organized territo- 
 ries, the same as in the States. The substitute for the Bill 
 which your committee have prepared, and which is com- 
 mended to the favorable action of the Senate, proposes to 
 carry these propositions and principles into practical ope- 
 31 (481) 
 
482 
 
 THE KANSAS-R'EBRASKA BILL. 
 
 ration, in the precise language of the compromise measures 
 of 1850.” 
 
 It will thus be seen that the report based the Bill upon 
 the compromise of 1850, so far as the question of slavery 
 was concerned, and hence it becomes necessary to refer to 
 those measures, to determine what principle was settled by 
 them. 
 
 On the 29th of January, 1850, while the slavery agitation 
 was raging with great violence, threatening, indeed, the very 
 existence of the government, Mr. Clay introduced into the 
 Senate several resolutions upon the subject of slavery, in- 
 tended to form a basis of settlement upon that subject. 
 "While these resolutions were pending, the Committee on 
 Territories reported a Bill for the admission of California as 
 a State, and one for the organization of the Territories of 
 Utah and New Mexico, and the adjustment of the Texas 
 boundary. On the 19th of April a select committee of 
 thirteen was appointed, of which Mr. Clay was chairman, 
 and to that committee was referred the various propositions 
 before the Senate. On the 8th of May, Mr. Clay, from the 
 committee of thirteen, submitted to the Senate a report, ac- 
 companied by a bill, containing the essential features of the 
 two bills previously submitted by the Committee on Terri- 
 tories, excepting as to the powers of the territorial legisla- 
 ture over slavery. The tenth section of the bill reported 
 by the Committee on Territories read as follows : 
 
 “And be it further enacted, That the legislative power 
 of the territory shall extend to all rightful subjects of legis- 
 lation consistent with the Constitution of the United States 
 and the provisions of this act ; but no law shall be passed 
 interfering with the primary disposition of the soil.” 
 
 To which Mr. Clay’s committee added these words : 
 “ nor in respect to African slavery .” 
 
 On the 31st of July, the above clause added by Mr. Clay, 
 was struck out by the Senate, thus conferring on the Terri- 
 
1HS KANSAS-NEBRASKA BILL. 
 
 48 
 
 tonal Legislature power over “all rightful subjects of legisla- 
 tion consistent with the Constitution of the United States.” 
 
 We have thus arrived at the meaning of the report, accom- 
 panying the Kansas-Nebraska Bill, from the committee to 
 the Senate, ou the 4th of January, 1854, when they say that 
 the Bill “proposes to carry these propositions and principles 
 into practical operation in the precise language of the com- 
 promise measures of 1850.” It is proper here to say, that 
 when the compromise of 1850 was before the Senate, an at- 
 tempt was made to engraft upon it an amendment, declaring 
 in substance, that the territorial legislature could not pro- 
 hibit the introduction of slaves — that slaves were recognized 
 as property by the Constitution of the United States, and 
 hence were entitled to the same protection as other property. 
 Many Southern Senators took this view of the question ; 
 while, upon the other hand, Messrs. Seward, Chase, and 
 others from the North, advocated the power of Congress to 
 prohibit slavery in the territories, and offered amendments 
 to that import. The Bill passed the Senate, however, in 
 the shape already referred to, by a vote of 82 to 19. 
 
 When the Kansas-Nebraska bill came before the Senate 
 for discussion, it was contended by some, that, in the shape 
 it then was, it could not be carried into practical operation, 
 inasmuch as it did not, in terms, repeal the act of Congress 
 of March 6th, 1820, prohibiting slavery north of 36° 30', 
 commonly, but mistakenly, called the Missouri compromise. 
 We say, mistakenly called the Missouri compromise, be- 
 cause the compromise under which that State was admitted 
 into the Union was passed in 1821, while the section pro- 
 hibiting slavery north of 36° 30' was a part of an enabling 
 act for the admission of Missouri, passed in 1820, but 
 which really had nothing to do with its final admission. 
 This fact, however, is immaterial, in point of principle, and 
 we allude to it only to correct a popular error. 
 
 The question having thus arisen as to the prohibition of 
 
484 
 
 THE KANSAS-NEBRASKA BILL. 
 
 slavery north of 36° 30', Mr. Douglas, chairman of the 
 committee on Territories, proposed an amendment, which 
 was incorporated into the bill, as follows — the proviso at the 
 close of the section being adopted on motion of Mr. 
 Badger, of North Carolina: 
 
 “ That the Constitution, and all laws of the United States 
 which are not locally inapplicable, shall have the same force 
 and effect within the said Territory of Nebraska as else- 
 where in the United States, except the eighth section of 
 the act preparatory to the admission of Missouri into the 
 Un ion, approved March sixth, eighteen hundred and twenty, 
 which, being inconsistent with the principle of non-interven- 
 tion by Congress with slavery in the States and Territories, 
 as recognized by the legislation of eighteen hundred and 
 fifty, commonly called the compromise measures, is hereby 
 declared inoperative and void ; it being the true intent and 
 meaning of this act, not to legislate slavery into any Terri- 
 tory or State, nor to exclude it therefrom, but to leave the 
 people thereof perfectly free to form and regulate their do- 
 mestic institutions in their own way, subject only to the 
 Constitution of the United States: Provided, That nothing 
 herein contained shall be construed to revive or put in force 
 any law or regulation which may have existed prior to the 
 act of sixth March, eighteen hundred and twenty, either 
 protecting, establishing, prohibiting or abolishing slavery.” 
 
 When this amendment was presented to the Senate it be- 
 came the signal for opening anew the slavery agitation with 
 redoubled fury. It was opposed by the anti-slavery senti- 
 ment of the North as a violation of a solemn compact ; — as 
 an attempt to tear down a sacred barrier between freedom 
 and slavery for the purpose of spreading that institution 
 over the virgin soil of the country. On the other hand it 
 was contended that it was necessary in order to give full 
 effect to the compromise of 1850; the spirit and intent of 
 which was to withdraw from Congress all control over the 
 
THE KAXSAS-XEB BASK A BILL. 
 
 485 
 
 question of slavery in the territories, and leave the people 
 therein free to act as they pleased. We give no debates 
 upon the bill for the reason that they are now, in extenso, 
 within the reach and remembrance of all who take any in- 
 terest in the matter. The bill passed the Senate on the 3d 
 day of March, 1854, by the following vote : 
 
 Yeas — Messrs. Adams, Atchison, Badger, Bayard, Ben- 
 jamin, Brodhead, Brown, Butler, Cass, Clay, Dawson, 
 Dixon, Dodge of Iowa, Douglas, Evans, Fitzpatrick, 
 G-eyer, Gwin, Hunter, Johnson, Jones of Iowa, Jones of 
 Tennessee, Mason, Morton, Norris, Pettit, Pratt, Rusk, 
 Sebastian, Shields, Slidell, Stuart, Thompson of Kentucky, 
 Thompson of New Jersey, Toucey, Weller, and Williams, 
 —37. 
 
 Nays — Messrs. Bell, Chase, Dodge of Wisconsin, Fes- 
 senden, Fish, Foot, Hamlin, Houston, James, Seward, 
 Smith, Sumner, Wade, and Walker, — 14. 
 
 It was delayed in the House till the 23d day of May, 
 when it passed that body, striking out what was called the 
 Clayton amendment, restricting the rights of aliens so far us 
 suffrage was concerned. 
 
 The following is the vote in the House 
 
 
 Yeas. 
 
 Nays. 
 
 Democrats from Slave States 
 
 53 
 
 4 
 
 “ “ Free “ 
 
 43 
 
 46 
 
 Whigs from Slave States 
 
 13 
 
 5 
 
 “ “ Free “ 
 
 — 
 
 41 
 
 Total, 
 
 109 
 
 100 
 
 It was returned to the Senate, and on the 25th of May, 
 the House amendment was concurred in by a vote of 36 to 
 13. On the 30th of May, it was signed by the President, 
 and thus became the law under which those territories were 
 organized. 
 
 It would seem that both the North and the South construed 
 
186 
 
 THE KANSAS-NEBBASKA BILL. 
 
 the Kansas-Ncbraska Bill alike, so far as the slavery ques- 
 tion was concerned, at the time of its passage, — that the 
 intention of Congress was to give to the people of the ter- 
 ritories full power to dispose of this as well as other ques- 
 tions. It is now, however, contended by many, especially 
 in the South, that such power cannot be exercised by a 
 territorial legislature — that slavery may exist in the territo- 
 ries, under the protection of the Constitution of the United 
 States, which recognizes it as property and is bound to 
 protect all species of property alike. For this they rely 
 upon the following points in the decision of the Court in 
 the Dred Scott case. 
 
 “1. Congress can exercise no power over the rights of 
 persons or property of a citizen in the Territory which is 
 prohibited by the Constitution. The government and the 
 citizen, whenever the Territory is open to settlement, both 
 enter it with their respective rights defined and limited by 
 the Constitution. 
 
 “ 2. Congress have no right to prohibit the citizens of any 
 particular State or States from taking up their home there, 
 while it permits citizens of other States to do so. Nor has 
 it a right to give privileges to one class of citizens which it 
 refuses to another. The Territory is acquired for their 
 equal and common benefit — and if open to any, it must be 
 open to all upon equal and the same terms. 
 
 “ 3. Every citizen has a right to take with him into the 
 Tenitory any article of property which the Constitution of 
 the United States recognizes as property. 
 
 “ 4. The Constitution of the United States recognizes 
 slaves as property, and pledges the federal government to 
 protect it. And Congress cannot exercise any more autho- 
 rity over property of that description than it may constitu- 
 tionally exercise over property of any other kind. 
 
 “ 5. The act of Congress, therefore, prohibiting a citizen 
 of the United States from taking with him his slaves when he 
 
THE KANSAS -NEB RASE A BILL. 
 
 487 
 
 removes to the Territory in question to reside, is an exercise 
 of authority over private property which is not warranted 
 by the Constitution.” 
 
 To this it is replied, that while it is true that the owner 
 of slaves may take them to a Territory as property, still he 
 must submit to the local law of the Territory when he gets 
 them there, be it friendly or otherwise. 
 
 Thus is the sentiment of the country divided into three 
 great partfes, which may be properly designated the Prohi- 
 bitionists, the Protectionists and the Non-interventionists. 
 The prospect for a speedy and peaceful settlement of the 
 vexed question is by no means encouraging. Would that 
 it were; for we presume no one will deny that the continued 
 agitation of this delicate and disturbing question is a great 
 public misfortune. It destroys fraternal relations between 
 the States and embitters the minds of the people. It creates 
 sectional discords and divisions, disturbs the national coun- 
 cils, and is gradually but surely alienating the affections of 
 the citizens from their government. The political energies 
 of the country, that should be spent in building up those 
 great commercial, industrial, moral, and social institutions 
 which constitute the monuments of national greatness and 
 power, are exhausted in the business of engendering internal 
 hatred, contentions and strife. Let it be the effort of every 
 patriot to do away with this deplorable state of things, — to 
 settle this question by the safe and wise principles our fathers 
 established, there to rest forever undisturbed. Only thus 
 will peace and harmony again be restored to the country — 
 only thus shall we present to the world the spectacle of a 
 great, free, and happy people, united as one family in in- 
 terest, in affection, and aim ; ever moving onward in the 
 pathway of prosperity and progress, as well as in all that 
 contitutes national greatness, glory, and renown. 
 
CHAPTER XYI. 
 
 NATIONAL CONVENTIONS. 
 
 The first National Conventions of delegates elected by 
 the people to nominate candidates for President and Vice- 
 President, were held in 1840. Both the Whig and Demo- 
 cratic parties nominated in that way for that campaign. 
 Previous to that period nominations were made by caucuses 
 called by the members of Congress, in which they only were 
 admitted to vote. Alleged abuses and intrigues led to the 
 change of nominating, by delegates chosen from each con- 
 gressional district. Up to 1848, no issue in reference to 
 slavery seems to have been raised between the parties in 
 their platforms ; or, rather, up to that time no necessity 
 seems to have arisen for the conventions to take particular 
 notice of the subject. In the midst of the slavery agitation 
 of that year, the two parties held their conventions. The 
 Whig party nominated Gen. Zachary Taylor for President, 
 and Millard Fillmore for Vice-President, and adjourned 
 without laying down any platform. The Democratic con- 
 vention nominated General Lewis Cass for President, and 
 General William 0. Butler for Vice-President, and passed 
 the following resolution on the question of slavery : 
 
 “ Resolved, That Congress has no power under the Con- 
 stitution to interfere with or control the domestic institu- 
 tions of the several States, and that such States are the sole 
 and proper judges of everything appertaining to their own 
 affairs, not prohibited by the Constitution ; that all efforts 
 of the abolitionists, or others, made to induce Congress 
 to interfere with questions of slavery, or to take incipient 
 (4881 
 
NATIONAL CONVENTIONS. 
 
 489 
 
 steps in relation thereto, are calculated to lead to the most 
 alarming and dangerous consequences ; and that all such 
 efforts have an inevitable tendency to diminish the happi- 
 ness of the people, and endanger the stability and perma- 
 nency of the Union, and ought not to be countenanced by 
 any friend of our political institutions.” 
 
 In 1852, the Democratic convention at Baltimore nom- 
 inated General Franklin Pierce for President, and William 
 R. King for Yice-President, and adopted the following 
 resolutions referring to slavery : 
 
 “ Resolved, That Congress has no power under the Con- 
 stitution to interfere with or control the domestic institu- 
 tions of the several States, and that such States are the sole 
 and proper judges of everything appertaining to their own 
 affairs, not prohibited by the Constitution ; that all efforts 
 of the abolitionists, or others, made to induce Congress to 
 interfere with questions of slavery, or to take incipient steps 
 in relation thereto, are calculated to lead to the most alarm- 
 ing and dangerous consequences ; and that all such efforts 
 have an inevitable tendency to diminish the happiness of 
 the people, and endanger the stability and permanency of 
 the Union, and ought not to be countenanced by any friend 
 of our public institutions. 
 
 “ Resolved, That the foregoing proposition covers, and 
 was intended to embrace, the whole subject of slavery agi- 
 tation in Congress, and therefore the Democratic party of 
 the Union, standing on this national platform, will abide 
 by, and adhere to, a faithful execution of the acts known as 
 the compromise measures, settled by the last Congress — the 
 act for reclaiming fugitives from service or labor included ; 
 which, being designed to carry out an express provision of 
 the Constitution, cannot with fidelity thereto be repealed, 
 or so changed as to destroy or impair its efficiency.” 
 
 The Whig convention, at Baltimore, soon after, nomi- 
 nated General Winfield Scott for President, and William 
 
490 
 
 NATIONAL CONVENTIONS. 
 
 R. Granam for Vice President, and adopted the following 
 as their views. This was the last national convention ever 
 held by that party : 
 
 “ Resolved, That the series of resolutions known as the 
 compromise, including the fugitive slave law, are received 
 and acquiesced in by the Whig party of the United States 
 as a settlement in principle and substance — a final settle- 
 ment — of the dangerous and exciting subjects which they 
 embrace ; and so far as the fugitive slave law is concerned, 
 we will maintain the same, and insist on its strict enforce- 
 ment until time and experience shall demonstrate the neces- 
 sity of further legislation against evasion or abuses, but not 
 impairing its efficacy ; and we deprecate all future agitation 
 of the slavery question as dangerous to the peace, and we 
 will discountenance all efforts at the renewal or continuance 
 of such agitation in Congress, or out of it, whenever, wher- 
 ever, or howsoever the attempt may be made, and will main- 
 tain this system of measures as policy essential to the nation- 
 ality of the Whig party and the integrity of the Union.” 
 
 In 1856, the Democratic convention at Cincinnati nomi- 
 nated James Buchanan for President, and John C. Brecken- 
 ridge for Vice-President, and adopted the following resolu- 
 tion on the slavery question : 
 
 “ Resolved , That the American Democracy recognize and 
 adopt the principles contained in the organic laws estab- 
 lishing the Territories of Kansas and Nebraska as embody- 
 ing the only sound and safe solution of the ‘slavery ques- 
 tion,’ upon which the great national idea of the people of 
 this whole country can repose in its determined conservatism 
 of the Union, — non-interference by Congress with slavery in 
 State and Territory, or in the District of Columbia 
 
 “That this was the basis of the Compromises of 1850, 
 confirmed by both the Democratic and Whig parties in 
 national conventions, — ratified by the people in the electiou 
 of 1852, — and rightly applied to the organization of the 
 
NATIONAL CONVENTIONS. 
 
 491 
 
 Territories in 1854 ; That by the uniform application of this 
 democratic principle to the organization of Territories and to 
 the admission of new States, with or without domestic slavery 
 as they may elect, the equal rights of all will be preserved 
 intact, — the original compacts of the Constitution main- 
 tained inviolate, — and the perpetuity and expansion of this 
 Union insured to its utmost capacity of embracing in peace 
 and harmony any future American State that may be con- 
 stituted or annexed with a republican form of government.” 
 
 The same year the Republican convention at Philadel- 
 phia nominated John C. Fremont for President, and William 
 L. Dayton for Vice-President, and adopted the following 
 as its platform on slavery. 
 
 “ Resolved, That, with our republican fathers, who, when 
 they had abolished slavery in all our national territory, 
 ordained that no person shall be deprived of life, liberty, 
 or property, without due process of law, it becomes our 
 duty to maintain this provision of the Constitution against 
 all attempts to violate it, for the purpose of establishing 
 slavery in the United States, by positive legislation pro- 
 hibiting its existence or extension therein. 
 
 “ Resolved, That we deny the authority of Congress, of a 
 territorial legislature, or any individual or association of 
 individuals, to give legal existence to slavery in any terri- 
 tory of the United States, while the present Constitution 
 shall be maintained. 
 
 Resolved, That the Constitution confers upon Congress 
 sovereign power over the territories of the United States, 
 for their government; and that, in the exercise of this 
 power, it is both the duty and right of Congress to prohibit 
 in the territories those twin relies of barbarism — polygamy 
 and slavery.” 
 
 The American convention nominated Millard Fillmore 
 for President, and Andrew J. Donelson for Vice-President, 
 
492 
 
 NATIONAL CONVENTIONS. 
 
 and adopted, in substance, the principles of the compro- 
 mise measures of 1850, as their platform on slavery. 
 
 In 1860, the Constitutional Union party, at Baltimore, 
 nominated John Bell for President, and Edward Everett 
 for Vice-President, adopting “ the Constitution and en- 
 forcement of the laws” as a platform. 
 
 The Republican convention, at Chicago, nominated 
 Abraham Lincoln for President, and Hannibal Hamlin for 
 Vice-President, and adopted the following resolutions on 
 slavery : 
 
 “ Resolved, That the new dogma that the Constitution, 
 of its own force, carries slavery into any or all the terri- 
 tories of the United States, is a dangerous political heresy, 
 at variance with the explicit provisions of that instrument 
 itself, with contemporaneous exposition, and with legislative 
 and judicial precedent, is revolutionary in its tendency, and 
 subversive of the peace and harmony of the country. 
 
 “Resolved, That the normal condition of all the territory 
 of the United States is that of freedom ; that as our repub- 
 lican fathers, when they had abolished slavery in all our 
 national territory, ordained that no person should be de- 
 prived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of 
 law, it becomes our duty, by legislation, whenever sue! 
 legislation is necessary, to maintain this provision of the 
 Constitution against all attempts to violate it ; and we 
 deny the authority of Congress, of a territorial legislature, 
 or of any individuals, to give legal existence to slavery ip 
 any territory of the United States. 
 
 “Resolved, That we brand the recent re-opening of th< 
 African slave trade, under the cover of our national flag 
 aided by perversions of judicial power, as a crime agains* 
 humanity, a burning shame to our country and age, and wa 
 call upon Congress to take prompt and efficient measures 
 for the total and final suppression of that execrable traffic." 
 
NATIONAL CONVENTIONS. 
 
 493 
 
 The Democratic convention met at Charleston on the 
 18th of April. After a session of nearly two weeks, 
 toward the close of which most of the delegates from 
 eight southern States left the convention, an adjournment 
 to meet at Baltimore, on the 18th of June, was agreed 
 upon. The convention met, pursuant to adjournment, at 
 Baltimore, and on the 23d of June, Stephen A. Douglas, 
 of Illinois, was nominated for President, and Benjamin 
 Fitzpatrick, of Alabama, for Yice-President. The follow- 
 ing resolutions were adopted. Excepting the last one, 
 these resolutions were passed at Charleston : 
 
 “Besolved, That we, the Democracy of the Dnion, in 
 convention assembled, hereby declare our affirmation of the 
 resolutions unanimously adopted and declared as a plat- 
 form of principles by the Democratic convention at Cincin 
 nati, in the year 1856, believing that Democratic principles 
 are unchangeable in their nature when applied to the same 
 subject matter, and we recommend as our only further reso- 
 lutions, the following : 
 
 “Besolved, That it is in accordance with the interpreta- 
 tion of the Cincinnati platform, that during the existence 
 of Territorial governmeut, the measure of restriction, what- 
 ever it may be, imposed by the federal Constitution, or the 
 power of the Territorial legislature, over the subject of the 
 domestic relations, (as the same has been or shall hereafter 
 be finally determined by the Supreme Court of the United 
 States,) should be respected by all good citizens, and en- 
 forced with promptness and fidelity by every branch of the 
 general government. 
 
 “ Besolved , That it is the duty of the United States to 
 afford ample and complete protection to all its citizens, at 
 home or abroad, and whether native or foreign born. 
 
 “ Besolved , That one of the necessities of the age, in a 
 military, commercial and postal point of view, is speedy 
 communication between the Atlantic and Pacific States, 
 
494 
 
 NATIONAL CONVENTIONS. 
 
 and the Democratic party pledge such constitutional enact- 
 ment as will insure the construction of a railroad to the 
 Pacific coast at the earliest practicable period. 
 
 “ Resolved , That the Democratic party are in favor of the 
 acquisition of the island of Cuba, on such terms as shall be 
 honorable to ourselves and just to Spain. 
 
 “ Resolved , That the enactments of State legislatures to 
 defeat the faithful execution of the fugitive slave law, are 
 hostile in character, subversive of the Constitution, and 
 revolutionary in their effect. 
 
 Previous to the nomination of Mr. Douglas, a secession 
 of about one hundred, both of Northern and Southern 
 delegates, took place, who immediately met in Convention, 
 and nominated John C. Breckenridge, of Kentucky, for 
 President, and Joseph Lane, of Oregon, for Vice-President. 
 This convention adopted the following platform, which 
 is the same as adopted by the seceding delegates at 
 Charleston : 
 
 “Resolved, That the platform adopted by the Demo- 
 cratic party at Cincinnati be affirmed, with the following 
 explanatory resolutions : 
 
 “ First — That the government of a Territory organized by 
 an act of Congress, is provisional and temporary, and dur- 
 ing its existence all citizens of the United States have an 
 equal right to settle with their property in the Territory, 
 without their rights, either of person or property, being de- 
 stroyed or injured by congressional or territorial legis- 
 lation. 
 
 “ Second — That it is the duty of the federal government, 
 in all its departments, to protect the rights of persons and 
 property in the Territories, and wherever else its constitu- 
 tional authority extends. 
 
 “ Third — That when the settlers in a Territory having an 
 adequate population, form a State Constitution, the right 
 of sovereignty commences, and, being consummated by 
 
NATIONAL CONVENTIONS. 
 
 495 
 
 their admission into the Union, they stand on an equality 
 with the people of other States, and a State thus organized 
 ought to be admitted into the federal Union, whether its 
 constitution prohibits or recognizes the institution of 
 slavery. 
 
 Resolved, That the Democratic party are in favor of the 
 acquisition of the island of Cuba, on such terms as shall 
 be honorable to ourselves and just to Spain, at the earliest 
 practicable moment. 
 
 “Unsolved, That the enactments of State legislatures to 
 defeat the faithful execution of the fugitive slave law, are 
 hostile in character, subversive of the Constitutor, and 
 revolutionary in their effect. 
 
 “Resolved, That the Democracy of the United States 
 recognize it as the imperative duty of this government to 
 protect the naturalized citizen in all his right3, whether at 
 home or in foreign lands, to the same extent as its native 
 born citizens. 
 
 “ Whereas, One of the greatest necessities of the age, 
 in a political, commercial, postal and military point of view, 
 is a speedy communication between the Pacific and Atlantic 
 coasts ; therefore, be it 
 
 “ Resolved , That the national Demociatic party do hereby 
 pledge themselves to use every means in their power to se- 
 cure the passage of some bill, to the extent of their consti- 
 tutional authority, by Congress, for the construction of a 
 Pacific railroad from the Mississippi river to the Pacific 
 ocean, at the earliest practicable moment. 
 
 Mr. Fitzpatrick refusing to accept the nomination for 
 Vice-President with Mr. Douglas, the National Committee 
 placed the name of Herschel V. Johnson, of Georgia, upon 
 the ticket in his stead. 
 
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