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 ill t ; 
 
 GEEAT AMERICAN QUESTION, 
 
 DEMOCRACY *. DOUIXXKACY: 
 
 OR, 
 
 FREE SOIL, FREE LABOR, FREE MEN/& FREE BPEECH, 
 
 AOA1NS1 HIE 
 
 EXTENSION AND DOMINATION 
 
 or Tiis 
 
 SLAVEIIOLDIM INTIBEST. 
 
 A LETTER ADDRESSED TO EACH FREEMAN OF'THE UNITED STATES, WITH 
 SPECIAL REFERENCE TO HIS ITl'V AT THE AEPROa 
 
 BY WILLIAM WILSON, A. M . 
 
 PASTOR OF THE CHURCH OF THE COVENANTERS, AND CHANCELLOR Or THE FROTESTAKT 
 UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 " Have we not all one father ? hath not one God created us ? why do we deal treacherous . 
 man against his brother p**— Mai.achi. 
 
 '• Hi' that ateeleth a man, and selleth him, or if he be found in his hand, he shall surely be put to 
 death."— .Moses. 
 
 "They baAed 'he persons of men, and vessels of brass in thy [Tyre] market."— E/t 
 •"The merchandise of [Babylon] wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and bones, and chariots, and 
 
 SLAVES, AND SOl'I.S OF MEN.''— JOHN. 
 
 " He hath given the earth to the children of men."— David. 
 
 " Let him that stole steal no more : but rather let him lvuor, working with HIS Hands (lie thing 
 which i> good, that he may have to give to him that needeth."— 1'aul. 
 
 "The laborer is worthy of his hire."— .Messiah. 
 
 -um, et nihil humanum a me alienum puto ; which, being freely translated, i«, "Forasmuch 
 as [ am rayielf a Man, I reckon nothing which affects or pertains to a human una foreign from, 
 or aninteresting to me.''— Ovid. 
 
 " We hold these truths to be self-evident : that all men are created equal ; that I H by 
 
 reator with certain unalienable rights ; thai among thtse are life, liberty, and the pm I • 
 ness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men," etc.— Uti la«a I I 
 American [ndependi 
 
 " We, the People of the United States, in order to ESI LB1 I8H ItraTIl ■, promote the u 
 FARE, and set-lire the blessings of LIBERTY TO OUSSRLVSS UiDOOR POSTKRH ■ 
 tin- I 'institution for the United Stales of America."— I'reamiii.e TO n 
 
 " Be it ordained, by t he United States m »'.' led, that the I 
 
 poses of— extending the fundamental principles of civil and religions liberty, which I 
 on these republic*, their laws and constitutions, are erected ; of fixing an 
 plea as the basis of all laws, constitutions, and governments, which I 
 in said territory, etc. There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in the I. 
 etc.— Ordinance ok l>T. 
 
 '• <ii\e me the liberty to know, to ntter, and to argue freely, according to my ,il>ov# 
 
 all liberties."— Milton. 
 
 CINCINNATI: 
 E. SIIEPARD'S STEAM PRt> 
 
 MUCCCXiVIlI. 
 
9<\ 
 
V/V 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 T)ie right of free discussion, as it is inalienable to man, is happily 
 stitutional Law to every citizen of the United States. Of course, the a 
 
 in .11 • of ii ought tn be at once decorous, and for the promoti ii the prh I 
 
 l>u!ilir welfare. \Vit!i this object in view, and am ition, it m 
 
 exercised upon the present occasion. 
 
 The Author of the brief and hasty hints contained in the followii 
 subject which might wejl command and occupy several volum< 
 owes it to himself to state, that he does nol view the Gju \ i Q on which is bow 
 pending before the independent freemen of our country, nor writ- in relation t 
 a partizan. He has over believed, and acted in correspondence therewith, that 
 ought to be held in abeyance to principh : and this conviction ninish, bat 
 
 increase, by the progress of time, and by the acquisition of experience. Ili^ in) 
 and cherished friends have always been found, indifferently, iu both of the two 
 parties of Democrats and Whigs, which have formerly divided our i ii 
 now, when these parties are rapidly undergoing the pr< a and 
 
 dissolution, he numbers among their remains, nothwithslanding they are still cli 
 to, and battling for, Doulocract, individuals, nol a few, whoai 
 and regard, as well as in the swelling ranks of the redeemed, and renov ited, and liv- 
 ing Democracy of our age. " Principles, and nol men;" and "men as the repri 
 lives, and in order to the success, of principles," have been, and still are, ! 
 ing maxims. Po, he thinks, it ought to he with all. This the present crisis em- 
 phatically demands. 
 
 He also feels himself uninfluenced by any geographical prejudice s, as fir as he can 
 know himself and his motives. lie loves tie these States, both as 
 
 whole, and IN each of its particular constituent parts; of it he has been 
 to form no disparaging estimate, and to augur great and glorious things for it in the 
 future; and for its welfare and prosperity, he would derm it his honor and pr . 
 'to labor and pray, lie, as a matter of course, is altogether uninflneni 
 loaves and fishes" of political office. Selfish ends he does not seek I He 
 
 knows nothing of North. South, Mast, or West, which would influence him t 
 part with the wrong, or shrink from the maintenance of the right Love, and not 
 hate or indifference, requires that " we do not suffer sin upon our brother," hut. by 
 all means, reprove and counteract him in his pernicious ways. If any section of our 
 land continues to prosper, or the integrity of the Union be preserved, and it- 
 tence and operations be blessed, it must be by the prevention ol the extension • 
 very to Territories now free v( the evil; and hy the marked rebuke, through the 
 medium of the polls, of the spirit which would, at this day, Bet up the unba 
 and unconstitutional claim: for, by a different course of action, we should incur the 
 wrath of God Almighty, from whom all national, as well as individual pro 
 and happiness emanate. 
 
 This Question being now, in the providence of God, distinctly before the An* 
 People, so simplified, and so separated from every other issue as that he 
 may read, and he who reads may understand, viz. : -.-IIM. I. LIBERTY OR BLA- 
 VERY, DEMOCRACY OR DOULOCRACY, TRIUMPH IN REPUB1 
 AMERICA ?" is about to be answered by every Freeman at the approaching 
 tion, according to the vote which he deposits in the ballot-box it we much mis- 
 take the spirit and sense of our citizens, as well as their lively regard for Liberty, and 
 jealousy of everything which would even seem to interfere with it, if t 
 speak, in tones of thunder, in favor of the former, 
 
 office, from the highest to the lowest, who is ■ professed Doulocrat. or who is on- 
 committed upon mis Great Question, which ws and completely ubsorbs 
 
IV PREFACE. 
 
 every other topic of difference at present existing among us. This Patriotism ex- 
 pects and requires. "He that is not for us, is against us." 
 
 Tins Question merits serious, religious consideration. Prejudice, and party-spirit 
 and aims ought to be dismissed, or else the verdict of the mind in relation to" it will 
 be erroneous. The character and the fruits of Doulocracy are to be tested in the 
 light of the law of God, and of the experience of our country. In order to this, these 
 pages may contribute something. Their aim is to enlighten, solemnize, elevate, 
 and direct the minds of those, especially, who shall use the Elective Franchise at the 
 coming election, as well as of any others into whose hands they may fall. They 
 may hereafter be augmented to a much larger work, as was the original design, by 
 the full discussion and illustration of their contents. But at present, all that it is 
 practicable, or that would be subservient to the specific end intended, is this synop- 
 sis, which the friend of Freedom may use as his vade vieettm, or pocket-companion. 
 
 The author deems it proper also to state, that, in what he has written, he has en- 
 deavored not to be heedless of the language of Eliliu, nor of the weighty instruction 
 which it conveys to its readers : "Let me not, I pray you, accept any man's person; 
 neither let me give flattering titles unto man. For 1 know not to give flattering ti- 
 tles; in so doing my Maker would soon take me away." He has likewise sought 
 carefully to avoid the opposite of flattery, which is defamation. There are no spec- 
 ial relations subsisting between him and Mr. Van Buren; neither have they held any 
 correspondence upon the great topic which causes at present such an unusual com- 
 motion throughout our country. He has never been one of his active supporters; 
 although he has always been compelled to hold him in high estimation, both as a 
 Man, and as a Statesman. Viewing him now as raised up by the Supreme Ruler of 
 nations, to perform an important service for his country, and his age, he has spoken 
 of him, not only without panegyric or exaggeration, but much within the limits of 
 what he conceives to be the truth: partly, because he judged it not to be necessary; 
 and partly, because of a conviction that prolixity, as his time would not allow of it, 
 would be unsuitable to the occasion and its exigencies. And with regard to the other 
 distinguished candidates, he would not desire to pluck a laurel from their brows. 
 But, however worthy they may be as men, and in their own place, they are not fit 
 for the Presidency, in this critical juncture of our national affairs. 
 
 Farther, and finally, he would state, that, in thus undertaking to show his opinion 
 upon this the greatest Question of our history, since we became a nation, he has had 
 prominently in view the promotion of the glory of his God, and the good of his fel- 
 low-men — especially of the American People. For his mind is deeply impressed with 
 the conviction, that upon the decision of this Great Question in such a manneras to 
 prevent the extension of slavery, our future prosperity, peace, happiness, and honor, 
 if not our very existence as a united people, depend. Thus believing, he has spoken. 
 And his earnest desire is to contribute something which may induce Freemen, of alF 
 parties, so to forget, at least for the moment, their personalities, prejudices, and mi- 
 nor, although they may regard them important, differences, as to stand up, and act 
 unitedly, shoulder to shoulder, for their country and freedom, in this the hour of 
 their peril. When the house is on fire, it is no time to contend about culinary mat- 
 ters; or about the manner in which the duties of the domestic economy were former- 
 ly discharged, or shall be discharged in the future; or about the persons of men, or 
 the views which they may have entertained of these. The action then demanded, is 
 the joint efforts of all for the extinction of the flames. This being accomplished, 
 subordinate matters may be adjusted afterwards. The application of this will be 
 obvious to all. And with these observations, he cheerfully commits the work to the 
 blessing of God, and to the unbiassed attention of American Citizens. 
 Cincinnati, September 13</t, 1848. 
 
Tin: 
 
 GREAT AMERICAN QUESTION 
 
 Dear Sir: Allow me, as your friend and fellow-citizen, with all 
 
 freedom, and sincerity, and earnestness, to confer with you in rela- 
 tion to the momentous issue now before the American People, a 
 your duty with regard to it at the approaching Presidential election. 
 In doing so, under a sense of duty to God, to cur country, to our 
 age, and to our world, I shall, as one who must give account .'it 
 tint Judgment Seat from which there lies no appeal, and who has 
 no personal feeling to gratify, nor selfish object to accomplish, stu- 
 diously avoid speaking- evil of any party or man ; and endeavor to 
 treat this grave Question, at once with brevity, and with thi 
 racity, the dignity, and the solemnity, which are its own. and 
 which it rightfully claims from all who consider or attempt to 
 answer it. 
 
 You are already aware, and, I doubt not, that you cherish the 
 feelings of a patriot upon the subject, that the greatest crisis in 
 our national history has come upon us, which must be met by our 
 citizens at the polls in the course of a few weeks; and which if 
 met and decided in a manner worthy of freemen, will be the occa- 
 sion of permanent and unutterable advantage to every section and 
 interest of our beloved country, and, through her, to the world at 
 large: but which if met and decided either with neutrality, or 
 direct or indirect subserviency to the empire of Slavery, or Dou- 
 locracy, will entail upon our Republic, and her Territories, a last- 
 ing and deep curse and disgrace; as well as do much to realize 
 the fears of the friends, and the wishes of the enemies, ol 
 government, and of our happy and distinguished nation, t<» the 
 extremities of our globe. Your influence and your vote, al Buch 
 a time, may save or destroy. Give them cheerfully. 1 conjure you, 
 irrespective of the trammels of party, as a Man. a Freeman, and a 
 Christian, according to the dictates of the law of Nature, of Hu- 
 manity, of the Constitution, and of the God of Nations. 
 
 As to how this crisis has reached us, you need not, I am - 
 suaded, to be informed. It is generally admitted that it has I 
 hastened and matured by the zeal and aggression of our South- 
 em brethren, who have recently become distinguished as die pro- 
 pagandists of slavery, by the power, and undei the banner <>i the 
 government, of Republican America. Here all may concur, ac- 
 cording to my judgment, whatever may be their \ iewa "i th< 
 
O THE GREAT AMERICAN QUESTION. 
 
 parties which are now dissolved, or of the measures of the present 
 or past administrations. Vast territories are annexed to the empire, 
 as the result of negotiation with Great Britain, and of the war with 
 Mexico. Oregon has been always free. The others come to us 
 free of slavery — even the Popish and unenlightened government 
 of Mexico, having, in accordance widi the spirit of the age, abol- 
 ished it a considerable time before their cession. Over these 
 extended and free domains our doulocrats would have the 
 General Government to extend the empire of slavery; or at least 
 to take the ground, that the ordinance of 1787, excluding slave- 
 ry from the North-Western territory, was unconstitutional, and 
 to do nothing toward its prohibition from our possessions along 
 the shores of the Pacific. The claim arouses the nation ; and 
 the exciting question is now to be decided at the polls. Dou- 
 locracy, * under which this land has too long been injured and 
 
 * The term Doulocracy signifies, the government of servants, or, as the South, and 
 the apologists of slavery translate the word 8ov%o$, of slaves. It is composed, as the 
 learned reader is aware, of uouXoj, a servant or slave, and xpa-t (u, to govern. It is 
 most directly opposed to Democracy, which signifies, the government of the people, 
 and is compounded of fi'/j/uoj, the people, and xpatsco, to govern. The former is not 
 found in our English dictionaries, because, until lately, and in our own free country, 
 no people ever professed, or were willing, to be under the government of slave's, 
 properly so denominated; and, therefore, there was no use for the word. It will be 
 seen, however, from this, that it is as pure English as the latter, and as directly de- 
 rived from the Greek language, the common origin of both. 
 
 Our national government is democratic — a Representative Democracy. Of this, slav- 
 ery is the direct and inexorable antagonist. For it would be as easy to conceive, and as 
 proper to speak, of white black, or of holy sin, as of democratic slavery ! They cannot 
 both long co-exist upon the same soil; but the one must conquer and annihilate the 
 other. It was merely tolerated within the States where it existed, as a domestic insti- 
 tution, and the foreign traffic in it forever abolished, under the penalties of piracy, from 
 and after the year 1808, under the notion of a hereditary evi! entailed upon those involved 
 in it by past generations, who had very erroneous conceptions of the principles of civil 
 and religious liberty, and by the British government, which it was evidently expected 
 by our worthy fathers would soon die out or be abolished, through the progress of so- 
 ciety, and the influence of our free institutions, when the Constitution of the United 
 Stales was adopted, and in that very remarkable instrument. Contrary to this just and 
 enlightened expectation, however, this sore evil has been rapidly on the increase ever 
 since that day, in the Southern section of the Union, while the States lying North of 
 Mason and Dixon's line have spontaneously abolished it; and the slaveholders, or 
 doulocrats, although but a small fraction of the population, have governed the coun- 
 try, by the tame and shameful acquiescence and connivance of the Free Sfates, and 
 have actually furnished our Presidents, all but twelve years, up from the foundation 
 of the Federal Government; and they now, having grown insolent and audacious by 
 the power which they have been thus allowed, not from their own special merits, but 
 exclusively from the sufferance of their brethren, seem disposed to claim this as a 
 matter of right, and to make submission to their will, in this respect, an indispensa- 
 ble condition of the continuance of the Union. Hence the nomination of (ass and 
 Taylor at her dictation, by the [ate National Conventions of Baltimore and Phila- 
 delphia, on the avowed ground of " availability" or expediency alone ; because the 
 South would vote for no candidate who was not bound to slavery, either by his own 
 pledge, as the former, or by the guarantee furnished by his residence within her geo- 
 graphical boundaries, the infected district, and his being personally deeply involved 
 in the sin and misery of practical slave-holding, as the latter. Opposed to this stand 
 Van Buren and Adams, the nominees of Freedom. Old parties and issues are nosy 
 
mi: t.nr.vr amit.k.w hi i • 
 
 disgraced, — that is, the government of servants or elm 
 250,000 slaveholders being governed, through the medium <>i their 
 fears, their avarice, and their ambition, by their slaves, and l 
 controlling the Republic by the influence of part} piril 
 threats of- secession from the Union if they should not be allowed 
 to rule, — had so impregnated the old parties of Whigs and I' 
 crats, and was so politic and overbearing, thai Bhe dictated hei 
 terms to the Baltimore and Philadelphia Conventions ; and 
 nominated, as candidates for the Presidency, in the person 
 Generals Cass and Taylor, such as would undoubtedly give the 
 whole influence of their high office in favor of the views and thi 
 interests of the Doulocrats. Justly indignant at this, the freemen 
 of our land, nobly bursting the bonds of taction, and determined 
 to sink or swim in the Ark of Liberty-, and on the side of the < 'in- 
 stitution, and the acts of our fathers under it, assembled in that 
 ever-memorable convention at Buffalo; and united, as one man, 
 and with religious and enlightened enthusiasm, in nominating 
 for your suffrage, two distinguished civilians, Martin Van Buren 
 and Charles Francis Adams, as the representatives of Liberty and 
 Freemen, in opposition to the modern pretensions and the insuffer- 
 able aggressions of Doulocracy and Doulocrats. These candi- 
 dates, planted upon a platform of principles which commends it 
 self to the cordial approbation of every intelligent citizen, stand 
 fully and publickly pledged to employ the influence of their sta- 
 tions, if elected, against the extension of slavery: while leaving it 
 as it exists in several States, to be regulated by themselves, as 
 as they may find themselves able to bear its crushing weight, and 
 its blighting calamity. This is noble ground. The men who 
 have, in existing circumstances, assumed it, are moral he 
 You, my friend, will cordially sustain them. The unfurlii 
 the banner of a regenerated Democracy, is hailed by our citizens 
 with peculiar delight, who amazingly rally around it. The old 
 
 out of the question. Liberty and Slavery, or Democracy and Doulo 
 
 the onlv combatants, ami must continue to be so until the question la hi 
 
 which of them shall reign on this continent. Every man among as is thi 
 
 either a democrat, discharging nobly the duties of a freeman nndei the banu 
 
 Van Buren and Adams, in this campaign, or a douloorat. doing Ben . 
 
 the banner of Cass or Taylor. There is truly no other alternative. I his invests I 
 
 contest with peculiar importance, dignity and grandeur. And . '»-™ 
 
 never was a case in which namrs were more emphatically thmgt, it appears tome 
 
 that it would eminently prevent confusion, simplify, ami set the on , 
 
 fore the public mind in a clear and impressive light, a. well a. secure other r 
 
 decided advantages to the cause of oonsietenl Liberty and her rapidly swelling i 
 
 if the onlv parties at present existing were habitually designated by the 
 
 Free Soil.' as Democrats and Doulocrats. Ami tie state of the ,, . 
 
 tually a. it is here represented, it is desirable that the whole North woul 
 
 round into the lines of Freedom,— which it is also most reason ible to expeel th . arte 
 
 will— for her own honor, the rood of the whole country 10 general, ana parUCUlSJlJ 
 
 for the salvation of the South herself. 
 
b THE GREAT AMERICAN QUESTION. 
 
 parties are shattered, as if smitten by " the little stone cut out of 
 the mountain without hands." 
 
 The merits of slavery and doulocracy being now fully and 
 fairly before the public, and the view taken of them being calcu- 
 lated potentially to influence the decision of the Great Question 
 op the Age at the polls, let me say a few words to you about 
 these, as they are discovered when tested by every sound, political, 
 moral and religious standard. What is the character of that 
 thing which our Southern friends, and Cass and Taylor, with 
 their partisans in the Free States,— if indeed they have many, or 
 any, here at the election, considering the detestable ground which 
 they occupy, and the insult which is offered to every Northern 
 man in asking for them his vote, — would have you and me to ex- 
 tend over territories which are now free of it ? Is it good, or use- 
 ful, or becoming, or tolerable at all in the light of the nineteenth 
 century, and in a land so favored by God with light, with free insti- 
 tutions, and with unexampled prosperity, and so proud and jealous 
 of her liberties? And here we must glance at general principles 
 and facts, which the mind may reflect upon, and reason out at leisure; 
 for I have not time to argue them, were it necessary, which is happi- 
 ly not the case, nor have you to read anything prolix, on an occa- 
 sion of high and laudable excitement, when freemen are called to 
 prompt and decisive action. I ask you then attentively to consider, 
 The Sinfulness of Slavery; which, in order to pre- 
 vent misapprehension, I define to be, the holding of un- 
 offending MEN IN INVOLUNTARY BONDAGE. 
 
 It is diametrically at war ivith the unity of the origin of 
 the human race. You believe, I presume, that all mankind have 
 descended from a single pair. This is most orthodox. Adam and 
 Eve were the progenitors " of all living ." To them the command- 
 ment was given by the Creator, "Be fruitful, and multiply, and re- 
 plenish the earth ." " Have we not all one Father ?" " God hath 
 made of one blood all the nations of men, for to dwell upon all 
 the face of the earth." To these oracles, both of the Old and 
 the New Testaments, enlightened Philosophy adds her consist- 
 ent testimony. All human beings have the same physical, in- 
 tellectual and moral constitutions. The [enslaved and the en- 
 slaver are radically here alike. The differences are only of 
 degrees and circumstances. This lays the foundation for mutual 
 sympathy; and for the discharge of the offices of righteousness, 
 kindness and love, among men of every nation and description. 
 With all this, you know, slavery is irreconcilably at war. She 
 first brutifies the man, and then affirms for her justification, that he 
 is of a race inferior to that of those who have degraded and en- 
 slaved him.* And it is this brutal system which unblushingly 
 
 * The tone of the doulocrats, whether in the Free or Slave States, upon the sub- 
 ject of slavery, has, of late years, become much more in favor of it than it formerly 
 
GEE IT AME1UC VN i t i l&TI«*N. 
 
 asks our governmenl to propagate it in its territories, which 
 
 are al pre enl free of its unhallowed foot, and ol h 
 
 and polluting influence. ^> ou w ill not, l>> 3 our \ ote, 1 \c\ ■■ 
 
 man to office who La not distinctl) pledged i<> limil this evil and 
 
 to rebuke this pretension. 5fou, a Northern Freeman, surely 
 
 cannot. 
 
 It is at war with tee wage of God /'// which man was created. 
 It is this, and not the mere killing, or taking awaj of the ani- 
 mal life, of a human being, which makes murder a capital crime 
 in the sighl of Heaven. " Whoso sheddeth man's blood, bj man 
 shall his blood be Bhed: for in the image of God made he 
 man." This mysterious being, this microcosm, who ' 
 a close relation to all existenoe, whether abo\ e or beneath him 
 in its extended scale ; in his inferior nature, t<» the inanimate, 
 the animate and the irrational creation, and in his superior na- 
 ture, to angels, and to God himself, is indeed fallen into ruin by 
 his sin; but still the wreck is noble. He is placed under a 
 pensation of grace by Jesus Christ our Lord ; and for him t Jod 
 has a special care. And although he were a Cain, ill shall pur- 
 sue those who do him wrong. It is this being, however, in 
 which slavery trades as a chattel! You will, by your vote do 
 all in your power to arrest this. 
 
 It is at war with the law of Nature. No man is born a alt 
 or a slaveholder, a hov-kos or a doulocrat. Such unnatural and 
 false relations only exist, by might usurping the prerogatives of 
 right. Every man is born free of every other being bu1 God. 
 Hence, he has a right to dispose of himself, and his talent-, and 
 his movements, while his deportment is good, under accounta- 
 bility to God alone. With every attribute of this freedom, and 
 with every line of the law of nature, slavery is irreconcilably at 
 war. And it is this which asks, or commands freemen to 
 
 was; instead of diminishing by the progress of light ami liberty. As a - 
 this, I cite the following from the Ll36th page of tin 1st Volume of the 4thSei 
 
 "American Archives," which gives an account of *he i>r<>< dings, in I 
 
 "Darien Committee, ' whose object was to put an end to the foreign and don 
 slave trade in the clony of Georgia: 
 
 " We, therefore, the representatives of the extensive district of Darien, in th< 
 ny of Georgia, having now assembled in Congress, by authority ai 
 the inhabitants of the said district, now freed from their fetter 
 
 "To show the world that we are not influ my contrai I 
 
 motives, bul a g< neral philanthropy for all mankind, of whal 
 or complexion, we hereby declare our disapprobation and abhorrent natu- 
 
 ral practice of slavery in America— however the uncultivate 
 or other specious arguments, may plead for it— a practice f< 
 crueltv, and highly dangerous to our liberties, as well as lives, 
 fellow-creatures below men, and corropting the virtue and n i 
 laying the basis of that liberty we contend for [and which we pi Hy to 
 
 continue to the latest posteritj upon a very wrong foundation. '•• 
 solve at all times to use our utmost - for the manumit 
 
 Ibis colony, upon the most safe and equitable footing for ' 
 
10 THE GREAT AMERICAN QUESTION. 
 
 extend its dark domain, commensurate with the expanding 
 wings of the American Eagle ! , You. my friend, will unhesita- 
 tingly and firmly say, no. See that, by your vote, you contri- 
 bute your influence to humble its towering, black, unnatural 
 and hideous crest. 
 
 ft is at war with the written law of God. This, the Holy Bi- 
 ble, discovers to man his proper rank in the scale of being, with 
 his relations and duties toward his God, and his fellow-creatures. 
 It is the Magna Charta of the rights and liberties of the human 
 race, over all the nations of the earth, as well as of the immuni- 
 ties and privileges of " the children of God by faith in Christ Je- 
 sus." It is not more opposed to sin than to slavery. It is not 
 less a fountain of liberty than of light. It is the grand instru- 
 mentality, provided by God, for the emancipation of the race from 
 ignorance, and from social and political bondage. Shame on 
 those lips which, in the name of Christianity and its Holy Minis- 
 try, have ever, for any consideration, attempted to vindicate or 
 palliate slavery from the Book of God ! Posterity will justly hold 
 this in the deepest abhorrence. As well charge darkness upon 
 the cloudless, meridian sun ! Slavery sanctioned by, or consistent 
 with, the Scriptures ! How monstrous the allegation ! But no. 
 Their contemplated, just application, as none can rationally de- 
 ny, will -give liberty and happiness to all people and nations. 
 They condemn and denounce the system of slavery, as a whole, 
 and each of its constituent elements. It is radically at variance 
 with every duty which they enjoin, and with every delineation 
 which they give of what is well-pleasing in the sight of God ; of 
 true religion ; and of the glory of the latter days, when Christian- 
 ity shall have taken her full effect upon the heart and upon soci- 
 ety. It is no creation or institution of God, but solely the child of 
 human cupidity, depravity and abuse of power. The preva- 
 lence of the Written Law will eradicate it from our world. For 
 it is the genius and design of the Kingdom of Christ to root 
 out, and " pluck up every plant which our Heavenly Father 
 hath not planted." The face of God is set against it: and it 
 were altogether unworthy of him, and inconsistent with the 
 mode of his revelations, to be more explicit against this parent 
 sin. in the Sacred Oracles. And it is this child / of perdition 
 which seeks that you, a freeman, shall extend it, or at least 
 wink at its growing influence, and rapid strides toward the 
 shores of the Pacific Ocean! You will teach it another, and 
 a very salutary lesson, by your vote, at the approaching elec- 
 tion. 
 
 // is at war with the grant of the earth given by Jehovah to 
 the children of men. Consult here, as evidence of this, Gen. i, 
 2(»-.'{(), which my limits will not allow me to transcribe into this 
 communication. You will clearly perceive from this, that the 
 
Tin: GREAT AMEBIC Uf dUSSITOir. 1 I 
 
 grant "was made by the Possessor of heaven and earth, m »t l 
 class or caste, but to Man. as man : which gem ric term i 
 the whole human race. Earth was given to man, and oot to 
 doulocrats or despots, as the place <'i" his abode; as the empire 
 over which he exercises bis nobler pow ers, In the government of 
 the inferior creatures ; and as the theatre of his action, w here he 
 sows to reap, both now and forever, according a he occu] 
 bis talents, and meets his responsibilities. This grant, how< 
 er, necessarily presupposes, as well as its acceptance, and the 
 exercise of the rights which it confers, on the pari of the j - « - - - i § > - 
 ient, that he is not a slave, but a fbeem w ha\ ing the entire con- 
 trol of his own movements, under responsibility to God, and in 
 conformity with the requisitions of wholesome law. All this 
 slavery reverses. The doulocrats would take possession of our 
 territories, with their long and black retinue id' human chattels ! 
 Theypresume to ask our free Republic to aid, oral least to let 
 them alone, in doing this ! For this they solicit your vote. I 
 is the very point now to be decided by yon. as far as your act 
 can go. Keep it distinctly before you, and separate from it all 
 extraneous and minor questions. You will then fire your Re- 
 publican bullet, the ballot. against the extension of " the accursed 
 thing," and in favor of Free Soil. 
 
 It is at war with the law of justice or righteousni 
 This requires that we should "render to every man his due." It 
 is, you arc persuaded, I trust, perpetually binding upon all men 
 and communities. By it all are commanded, under the sanction 
 of the blessing or the curse of the Almighty, to do DO thing but 
 what is right to the person — the property— the character— the rep- 
 utation — and the prosperity and happiness of their fellow-man. 
 But this law slavery entirely subverts. It robs the slave of him- 
 self—of his property; for it' takes himself, and his time, and his 
 labors, without his consent, and without any pro] er equivalent — 
 of his character; for it sinks htm to a level with the beasts i>( the 
 field, or any other property of the slaveholder— of his reputation j 
 for he is affirmed to be so inferior as that he il^rrv,^ no better 
 treatment, and is prone to esteem himself, and to be taken by ol 
 as being no more worthy than the law of th-' State pronounces 
 bun to be— and of all his prosperity and bis manly happil 
 And shall this "vine of Sodom" be planted, with your coi 
 under the scsis of the Republic, in California and New Wei 
 The fact that you are a freeman, and worthy of the iron.: 
 tinction and title, furnishes an ample guarantee that yon will oot; 
 but. on the contrary, unhesitatingly rebuke, by your vote, the can- 
 didate who is favorable or indifferent to the extension of thi 
 of doulocracv. 
 
 It is at war with the law of benevolence. This law is. that 
 we shall love our neighbor as ourselves. On ibis commando 
 
12 THE GREAT AMERICAN QUESTION. 
 
 with that requiring supreme love to God, we are assured by the 
 best of expositors, Jesus Christ himself, "hang all the law and the 
 prophets." And the apostle Paul reasons that, because "love 
 worketh no ill to his neighbor ; therefore, love is the fulfilling of 
 the law." Now, how stands slavery in the light of this law of 
 God, whether as it respects the person, the property, the character, 
 the reputation, or the interests of the poor slave? Alas, the scene 
 of moral turpitude and heartless villainy which here rises up, is 
 most loathsome, shocking and heart-rending ! How has such a 
 system withstood the influence of civilization, liberty and Christi- 
 anity, so long? Can it be that even doulocrats would desire that 
 this, which they know to be such a dreadful evil, should be ex- 
 tended to the waters of the Pacific, or over another foot of the 
 free soil of God's green earth, by the direct influence, or the con- 
 nivance of our government? You will vote, my dear sir, so that 
 this thing which, like the Devil, cannot love, shall not at least be 
 propagated by your influence ; and that any candidate who is 
 either neutral or friendly toward it, shall have leave to stay at 
 home, and not be allowed to occupy and dishonor "the White 
 House." 
 
 It is at war with the law of reciprocity. That law is as fol- 
 lows : " Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should 
 do to you, do ye even so to them : for this is the law and the 
 prophets." Comment here is unnecessary. It is obvious that 
 slavery, either in whole or in part, can never even apparently be 
 reconciled with this law. Would the slaveholder or his apolo- 
 gist be willing that his slaves should do to his reputation, charac- 
 ter, property, person, or welfare and happiness, even as he does to 
 them? "This is wickedness." And shall we, by our apathy or 
 our action, extend such an immoral relation, and such an unnatu- 
 ral and accursed state of society over the territories of the Repub- 
 lic? Her free children will come up at this crisis to her rescue, 
 and by their use of the Elective Franchise, at the coming election, 
 prevent such a perversion of her principles and her powers ; and 
 do much to terminate her inconsistency, and to wipe away her 
 reproach among the nations. 
 
 It is at war with the law of holiness, in general; but especial///, 
 with the institution of marriage, which is to be between one man 
 and one woman, who have a right thus to dispose of themselves, 
 and to continue for life, except incases of notorious infidelity, or 
 such wilful I desertion as admits not of a remedy ; and even then a 
 divorce can only take place by the intervention of the competent 
 public authority: in opposition to all polygamy, concubinage 
 and iiuiliaiutess. 
 
 What has been already advanced in these pages, is sufficient to 
 show thai this is a most unholy system and practice. Upon this 
 i need not, therefore, now directly insist. A sense of delicacy and 
 
Tin: CHEAT AMERICAN Ql BOTOX. || 
 
 propriety, too, forbids that I should here enter into a particular 
 exposureof the licentiousness of slavery. To him \\li<> has l 
 elled through the Slave States of oui I nion, the copious " mixture 
 of colors ■" which he everywhere meets, furnishes such con vii 
 and melancholy proof of this as could oot be supplied bj 
 nmos. Suffice it to say, — and this is what I ask you particularly 
 and attentively to consider,— that there is not, neither can il 
 be, any marriage among the slaves, according to the lav 
 By the law of Slave States, thej are not persons who may con- 
 tract marriage, but only chattels, the property of iheii n asters. 
 No regular civil or ecclesiastical officer either could or would u 
 them in marriage. They elect 'squires of th< ir own numl 
 perform the ceremony, which is but a mockery of the I >ivine < Ordi- 
 nance. Then the cruel and wanton separations of those who an 
 so united, and of parents and children! And yet Iheir number 
 has increased, since the adoption of the present ( lonstitution of th< 
 United States, from 60,000 to 3,000,000 and upwards ! What m 
 fernal pollution docs all this inter! How olten have the heart- 
 strings of affection been torn up and rent assunder, of these i 
 children of Africa, during this rapid increase! And that the si 
 have warm and spirited hearts most poignantly t»> feel the separa- 
 tion of their families, the fact that, in the city of Covington, l\y. ; 
 this very season, a male and a female slave, "with their children. 
 being on their way from Virginia, under the whip of the si: 
 driver, to a more Southern market, where they would sell better, 
 formed the desperate resolution, rather than be separated, to kill 
 their children, and then to murder themselves, which they well- 
 nigh accomplished, abundantly demonstrates. This system and 
 traffic cannot be Christianized, nor made compatible with liberty. 
 Attempts so- to exhibit it, only succeed in "making vice pleas 
 and damnation shine." It is high time that this mother of all 
 abominations were arrested and rebuked. The South, as if by in- 
 fatuation, has pressed the present issue upon us, and the frei men 
 of the North will meet the great question, while adhering to all the 
 compromises of the Constitution, in such a manner as to settle it 
 in favor of freedom forever. Let your vote be only for those who 
 have boldly declared themselves leaders to this result, and this 
 glorious victory. No more Slavk States ; no more Slave I 
 tension ! But look again, for a moment, at 
 
 The Injubiousness of Slavery. 
 
 This is in direct proportion to its sinfulness. "The wages of 
 sin is death/' The violation of the law of God most seriously 
 injures all who are guilty of it, or who are affected by it, whether 
 they be individuals or communities. Slavery is sinful, and th< 
 fore it is a curse. Here I might stop, but it may be well enough 
 to consider the subject a little more in detail. 
 
i THE GREAT AMERICAN QUESTION. 
 
 Slavery is injuri(/us to the individual,* whether he be master or 
 slave, who is unhappily a parly to it. 1. To the soul ; by cherish- 
 h)ix evil passions, on the one hand ; and by preventing proper in- 
 tellectual development and spiritual culture, on the other, in the 
 case of the master : and by almost entirely sinking and annihila- 
 ting the man, in the case of the slave, so that he seems nearly a 
 walking caricature of humanity. 2. To the body; by cherishing 
 indolence, dependence, luxury and effeminacy, in the master; 
 and by laziness, carelessness, apathy, filthiness, want of responsi- 
 bility, and cruel treatment, in the case of the slave; as well as by 
 the effects of the badly educated soul upon both ; so as that the 
 latter, in his lowest states, exhibits but a sorry and painful speci- 
 men of "the creature looking upwards," or of "the human face 
 Divine." 3. To the usefulness and the happiness of both. This 
 results from the relation itself, and from all its attributes and ac- 
 cidents. 4. To the outward estate of both. This also grows out 
 of the relation, and its circumstances. Unlawful possessions are 
 not riches. The slaveholder is the worse for his slaves. A sound 
 political economy discards the unblessed relation and commerce as 
 a means of wealth, and brands it as a cause of poverty. As for 
 the slave, work as he may, and live as long as he may, he never 
 has any thing ! He does not even own himself, nor his wife, nor 
 his children ! Why then should doulocrats ask our government, 
 to extend such a withering evil to every interest of individual 
 man? You, sir, will not be a party to such iniquity; but, by 
 your vote, at once rebuke its perpetrators and their parasites. 
 
 It is injurious to society. And here I ask you, 1. To examine 
 and reflect seriously upon its unnaturalness, and the injury which 
 it thus inflicts upon the social state, where it exists. Does it not 
 put everything, more or less, into a false position ? What is the 
 great disturbing, counteracting and dividing influence in our 
 country and government at the present day, and for a series of 
 years past? Is it not slavery? 2. Its caste. How inconsistent 
 with the true democratic idea of a model for the desirable state of 
 society over the world ; and with the simplicity of our free institu- 
 tions, and domestic and social habits ! Both the master who is 
 fanned, and the slave who fans him are thereby degraded. 
 Caste alwavs injures society, but especially in a country like ours. 
 '3. Its false relations, and the undue ejevation of one class, and de- 
 pression of the other. That these features prominently belong to 
 it, cannot be doubted. And it is equally clear that they injure 
 every department of society. Surely such a hideous system 
 has already spread far enough on our continent. Let "no far- 
 ther "! be the watchword in the camp of freemen. 4. The ob- 
 stacles which it presents to social progress. These are not acci- 
 dental, but natural and essential to it. This, were it necessary, 
 might be demonstrated. But you have only to compare the Slave 
 
nil. GBEAT AMJEBS w 01 i STUM. 
 
 States with the Free States <>f our Confedt ra sy, in order to be 
 satisfied upon this point. 4 And I feel satisfied that, when 1 1 1 « - 
 election arrives, you, m\ dear Bir, will deposit your ballot in 
 favor of the avowed and acknov* ledged Btandar^-bcarers <>f the 
 friends of individual and social man. For tips, you have a glo- 
 rious opportunity . 
 
 It IS injurious to HUMAN END) BTE1 . Y<>n will be sal 
 
 this, if you duly ponder the following facts : L. It maket tabor 
 :'n a lawful calling, disreputable and unprofitable to th< 
 arc not bondmen ; and makes comparisons humiliating to the 
 free white laborer, between him and the slave.! This Is most 
 
 • The following facts in the census of the United States will illustrate thi 
 the repulsion of the free white laborer, by slavery, from settling within it s '■■ 
 In 17:H>, the free white popul ition ol the States of Marj land, Virginia, the two l 
 Unas, ;m,i Georgia, was 1,160,015. In the same States in 1840, it was 2,200,234. 
 
 Thus ii appears that tin- increase in fifty years was 1,050,219, it less ll 
 
 In l?t-'4, the North-Western Territory was ceded by Virginia. Its freedom from 
 
 slavery was forever secured by the ordinance of 17s;. in 1790, it contained only a 
 
 rerj lew inhabitants; and in 1846, the States which have I n formed out of it, 
 
 viz. : Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, ami Wisconsin, bad a p ipulation of '.'.- - 
 
 These facts speak volumes. They are also a go 'il index 01 the C< mparafiv 
 parity of the Free ami Slave States, in all other resp 
 
 t The colonial history of Virginia, the Carolinas, Georgia, ami the Oih< I 
 in 1774 and 177"), &c., abundantly demonstrates the degradation to which si 
 subjects the free laborer, as well as his exclusion by it from places where j( . 
 At that time a general protest was entered against it. as ■• a social, moral and politi- 
 cal evil," not only by the people in their popular assemblies, hut by their legislative 
 enactments. In the original draft of the J declaration of Independence, .Mr. Jefferson, 
 the writer, says: "He (the King of Great Britain) has prostituted his prerogative for 
 suppressing any legislative attempt to restrain this execrable traffic." And in the 
 "American Archives," volume I., page 4!h'f, 4th series, the following extract is found : 
 
 "June, 1774 — At a general meeting of the freeholders and inhabitants of Prince 
 George's County, Virginia, the following resolves were unanimously agreed to a 
 others : 
 
 "Resolved, That the African trade is injurious to thi6 colony, obstructs the popu- 
 lation of it by freemen, prevents manufacturers and other useful emigrants from Eu- 
 rope from settling amongst us, and occasions an annual increase oi the balas 
 trade against, this colony. 1 ' 
 
 Again, on page 600, is an account of a public meeting held at the court-house ia 
 the town of Alexandria, County of Fairfax, Virginia, July 18, I774, over which 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON presided, by which th .viz.: 
 
 "Resolved, That it is the opinion of this meeting that, during our present Difficul- 
 ties and distress, no slaves ought to be imported into any of the British 
 this continent; and we take this opportunity of declaring our most earnest wii 
 Bee an entire stop forever put to such a wicked, cruel and unnatural trade. 
 
 '•Resolved, That it is the opinion of this meeting that a solera t and 
 
 agreement should be entered into by all the colonies,* ,\ i . \r 
 
 And in the same volume we find the following resolutions, pages 593 an 
 &,c, of other similar meetings in Virginia: 
 
 "July 16, 1774, Surry county, Virginia: 
 
 " R< solved, That as the population uf this colony, with freemen and useful manu- 
 facturers, is greatly obstructed by the importation of slaves and convict servant 
 will not purchase any such slaves or servants hereafter to be imporl 
 
 "At a meeting of the freeholders and other inhabitants of the county of Culpep- 
 per, in Virginia, assembled on due notice, at the court-house of the Baid county, on 
 
IG THE GREAT AMERICAN QUESTION". 
 
 paralysing to honest industry, and debasing to the individual 
 and to the State. 2. It makes the master too proud to labor, 
 and thus renders him comparatively useless to himself, and to 
 society. 3. It renders the slave unskillful, listless, feeble, indo- 
 lent, leasing, truculent and perfidious. For he feels that lie. is 
 wronged, without any hope of being righted; and that he has 
 no interest in his labors, but that the proceeds must go to pam- 
 per and enrich the man who has robbed him of his liberty. 
 4. It thus cuts the sinews of energy and enterprize. Of this 
 the States where it exists contain the amplest, but no gratify- 
 ing, evidence. And I am sure, sir, you will do all you can to 
 keep an evil of such collossal magnitude, at least within its 
 present boundaries. Remember, your chief influence lies in 
 your vote. 
 
 It is injurious to sound morality. This may easily be gath- 
 ered from what has already been stated. It is not improper, 
 however, to give it, in passing, a distinct consideration. And 
 this is one of the weightiest charges which can be brought 
 against it. It goes far, practically, to efface the Decalogue. 
 The slaveholder usurps the place of God, in claiming and ex- 
 ercising the right of property in man. The slave is his obse- 
 quious and hypocritical follower and imitator, even apart from 
 any coercion which he may employ. Look at this point in the 
 light of the first table ; and then with regard to the second, it 
 is not hard to perceive that it virtually obliterates each of its 
 precepts. It is one system of irreligion and immorality through- 
 out. As we pity the parties to it, and the soil that is defiled by 
 it, let us be sure* that we employ our influence to prevent its 
 farther extension. To the man who is favorable or indifferent 
 to this, you, my friend, cannot, without sin, give your vote. 
 
 It is injurious to religion and the church. It renders the 
 moral soil very stony, weedy and barren, as well as " turns," 
 in a literal sense, " fat land to barrenness." It darkens the 
 understandings, and hardens and corrupts the hearts, of both 
 master and slave. It defiles and sears the conscience. V>\ it 
 the will is made perverse and obstinate. It renders the judg- 
 ment unsound. Light and education find in it a most formida- 
 
 Thnrsday, the 7th day of July, 1771, to consider of the most effectual method to 
 preserve the rights and liberties of America: 
 
 ''Resolved, That the importing of slaves and convict servants is injurious to this 
 colony, as il the population of it with freemen and useful manufacturers; 
 
 and that we will not buy any such slave or convict servant hereafter to be imported." 
 
 How, then, can any working man, or any other, in this enlightened age, be favora- 
 
 ble to t!)i- extension of tin-', blight upon population and industry, by the action or the 
 
 sion of the General Government, to any portion of our territories; or vote for 
 
 any Candida ' ! testion is now stated, although he were an u angel 
 
 from heaven," who is not unequivocally pledged against it? 
 
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