44-1 
 
 G^9 
 
 i 
 
Qass_£-J-ijL 
 Book 
 
HISTORY OF THE STRUGGLE 
 
 FOR 
 
 SLAVER! mmmi or restrictioi 
 
 UlSriTED STA.TES, 
 
 FROM THE 
 
 DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 
 
 TO THE PRESENT DAY. 
 
 / 
 
 ,? 
 
 MAINLT 
 
 COMPILED AND CONDENSED FROM THE JOURNALS OF CONGRESS AND 
 
 OTHER OFFICIAL RECORDS, AND SHOWING THE VOTE BY 
 
 YEAS AND NAYS ON THE MOST IMPORTANT 
 
 DIVISIONS IN EITHER HOUSE. 
 
 BY HORACE GREELEY. 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 
 DIX. EDWARDS & CO., 321 BROADWAY. 
 
 1S56. 
 
■Qff 
 
 Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1856, by 
 
 DIX, EDWARDS & CO., 
 
 In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Southern District of Ne^r York. 
 
 m 
 
 MILLKR & IIOLMAN', 
 Prinh'.rs and St.ereotypcrs, N. Y. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Page. 
 
 I. Slavery in the Colonies - -__.._-- i 
 
 Origin in 1G20— Virginia tho first Slave colony— Prohibited in Georgia— Adjudged illegal 
 in Massachusetts— Slave Importation prohibited in Virginia and other colonies— Lord 
 Mansfield's Decision. • - - - - • - - -lto3 
 
 11. Slavery under the Confederation _ . _ . .3 
 
 state cessions of Public Lands— Mr. Jefferson's Blavery Restriction in 1784— Defeated in 
 Continental Congress by a minority vote— Mr. Dane's modified Bcstriction (1787)— 
 Carried - - - . - - - . . . -3to4 
 
 III. Under the Federal Constitution ...... 4. 
 
 Constitutional provisions affecting Slavery — History thereof— Amendments - - 4 to 5 
 
 IV. Cessions of Southern Territory - - . - _ . 5 
 
 Kentucky formed from Virginia — Tennessee from North Carolina — Alabama from Geor- 
 gia—Congress forbidden by terms of cession to abolish or prohibit Slavery - • 6 
 
 V. Early attempts to override the Ordinance of '87 - -,- 5 
 
 Ohio— Indiana — John Randolph's Report — Ca;sar Rodney's— Mr. Qarnett's — Mr. Parke's 
 — Jesse Franklin's - - - • - -- - : -5 to 7 
 
 VI. The First Missouri Struggle ... ... 8 
 
 Purchase of Louisiana— Missouri Territory — Applies for Admission as a State— Gen. Tall- 
 madge's Restriction on Slavery — Yeas and Nays thereon — Debate by Hon. Messrs. T. 
 Fuller of Mass , James Tallmadge of N. Y., Scott of Mo., Cobb of Ga., and Livermore 
 of N. U.— Vote in the Senate— Bill fails by disagreement - - - - 8 to 21 
 
 VII. The Second Missouri Struggle 21 
 
 Missouri Question Revived—Memorial of Daniel Webster ... - 22 
 
 Resolves of the Legislatures of New- York, New-Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and 
 
 Kentucky • - • - - - - - - - -25 to 27 
 
 Mr. Thomas's Amendment — Votes in the Senate - - - - ' - 27 to 28 
 
 Votes in the House— Compromise Bill passed - - - • • - 33 to 39 
 
 VIII. The Third Missouri Struggle 30 
 
 Missouri Constitution respecting negroes— Mr. Clay's second Compromise adopted. - - 30 to 31 
 
 IX. Extension of Missouri -- - - - - - -31 
 
 Mr. Clayton's Report— Adopted without division. 31 
 
iv CONTENTS. 
 
 Page. 
 
 X. The Annexation of Texas - - - - - _ -31 
 
 Early History of Texas — Her Independence, 31 to 32 
 
 Anti-Annexation Address of J. Q. Adams, Seth M. Gates, and others, to the People of 
 
 the United States, -- -. 32 
 
 Northern opposition — The Secret Circular, 36 
 
 Mr. Calhoun's Annexation Dispatch to W. R. King, Emhassador at Paris, ... 37 
 
 Polk and Dallas elected — Propositions in Congress respecting Annexation — Votes there- 
 on — Measure Carried — The Joint Resolves, - - - - - - - - -40 to 44 
 
 XI. The Wilmot Proviso 44 
 
 Proceedingsand Votes in Congress thereon, • . - 44 to 46 
 
 Gen. Cass's letter to A. 0. P. Nicholson, - . 47 
 
 Congress resumed— Mr. I. P. Walker's proposition — Mr. R. W. Thompson's amend- 
 ment — Failure in the Senate, - - . -48 to 52 
 
 XII, Oregon (Bill to organize as a Territory) - - - - 52 
 
 Ordinance of '87 applied — Mr. Douglas moves to extend Missouri Compromise Line to 
 the Pacific— Senate approves— House rejects— Senate recedes— Bill passed, - - 52 to 54 
 
 XIII. The Compromise of 1850 54 
 
 President Taylor's Message— Gen. Houston's Resolves— Mr. Clay's— Mr. John Bell's— 
 Mr. Clay's plan discussed hy Messrs. Foote of Miss., Mason of Va., Jeff. Davis— Mr. 
 Clay— Mr. Wm. R. King— Mr. Downs of La.— Mr. Butler of S. C. - - - - 54 to 59 
 
 Select Committee raised by the Senate — Mr. Clay's Report, -.-... 60 
 
 Proceedings and votes in Congress thereon, - - - - - - - . -60 to 69 
 
 The Acts of 1850 concerning California, Texas, New-Mesdco, and Utah, ... - 70 
 
 XIV. The Kansas-Nebraska Struggle - - - - - -71 
 
 Atchison in '53 — Pierce's Inaugural and First Message, .... - 72 
 
 Mr. Douglas's Report introducing the Nebraska Bill, - - - - - - 73 
 
 Proceedings and Votes in Senate, ....... -74 
 
 Gov. Seward's closing Speech against the bill, • - - - . --77 
 
 Proceedings and Votes in the House, ....... -82 
 
 The Kansas-Nebraska Bill, - - .......85 
 
 President Pierce's Special Kansas Message, - ..... -89 
 
 Mr. Douglas's Senate Report thereon, - - - - - ---93 
 
 Mr. Collamer's Minority Report, ....... . jjg 
 
 The Kansas Investigation — Mr. Dunn's proposition — Yeas and Nays thereon, . - 118 
 
 Report of the Investigating Committee, - - - - - - -119 
 
 The House on Free Kansas Constitution — Mr. Dunn's Substitute — Votes — Bill passed, 146 
 
 The Topcka Constitution, ......... 143 
 
 The Senate on Kansas — Douglas's new proposition — Various amendments rejected — 
 
 Bill passed, ............ 155 
 
 The Toombs-Douglas bill, - • - - - - - • - - 158 
 
 Mr. Dunn's bill to recognize Kansas, ....... I6I 
 
 Mr. Matteson's preamble and resolves based on Annexation of Texas, - • . . 163 
 House vote on receding from Proviso to the Army bill, - 163 
 
THE 
 
 HISTORY OF THE QUESTION 
 
 SLAVERY EXTENSION OR RESTRICTION. 
 
 MAINLY BY DOCUMENTS. 
 
 SLAVERY IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 Human Slavery, as it existed in the pa- 
 gan world, and especially in the inftincy, vig- 
 or, and decline of Greek and Roman civiliza- 
 tion, gradually died out in the advancing 
 light of Christianity. When Columbus open- 
 ed the New World to European enterprise 
 .and settlement, the serfdom of Russia and 
 Hungary, and the mild bondage of Turkey 
 — each rather an Asiatic or Scythian than a 
 European power — were the last remaining 
 vestiges of a system which had pervaded, and 
 mastered, and ruined, the vast empires of Al- 
 exander and the Caisars. The few ignorant 
 and feeble dependents elsewhere held in vir- 
 tual bondage by force rather of custom than 
 of positive law, serve rather to establish than 
 I disprove this general statement. 
 
 Lust of gold and power was the main im- 
 bulse of Spanish migration to the marvelous 
 regions beyond the Atlantic. And the soft 
 and timid Aborigines of tropical America, 
 especially of its islands, were first compelled 
 to surrender whatever they possessed of the 
 precious metals to the imperious and grasp- 
 ing strangers ; next forced to disclose to those 
 strangers the sources whence they were most 
 readily obtained ; and finally driven to toil 
 and delve for more, wherever power and greed 
 supposed they might most readily be obtained. 
 From this point, the transition to general en- 
 slavement was ready and rapid. The gentle 
 and indolent natives, unaccustomed to rug- 
 ged, persistent toil, and revolting at the harsh 
 and brutal severity of their Christian mas- 
 ters, had but one unfailing resource — death. 
 Through privation, hardship, exposure, 
 fati^-ue and despair, they drooped and died, 
 until millions were reduced to a few miser- 
 able thousands within the first century of 
 Spanish rule in America. 
 
 A humane and observant prie^st (Las Casas,) 
 witnessing these cruelties and sufferings, was 
 moved by pity to devise a plan for their ter- 
 mination, lie suggested and urged the poli- 
 cy of substituting for these feel)le and perish- 
 ing " Lidians" the hardier natives of 'SW^steru 
 
 Africa, whom then" eternal wars and maraud- 
 ing invasions were constantly exposing to 
 captivity and sale as prisoners of war, and 
 who, as a race, might be said to be inured to 
 the hardships and degradations of Slavery 
 by an immemorial experience. The sugges- 
 tion was unhappily approved, and the wo&s 
 and miseries of the few remaining Aborigines 
 of the islands known to us as " West Indies," 
 were inconsiderably prolonged by exposing 
 the whole continent for unnumbered genera- 
 tions to the evils and horrors of African slave- 
 ry. The author lived to perceive and deplore 
 the consequences of his expedient. 
 
 The sanction of the Pope having been ob- 
 tained for the African slave-trade by repre- 
 sentations which invested it with a look of 
 philanthropy, Spanish and Portuguese mer- 
 cantile avarice was readily enlisted in its 
 prosecution, and the whole continent, north 
 and south of the tropics, became a slave-mart 
 before the close of the sixteenth century. 
 
 Holland, a comparatively new and Pro- 
 testant state, unable to shelter itself from the 
 reproaches of conscience and humanity be- 
 hind a Papal bull, entered upon the new traf- 
 fic more tardily ; but its profits soon overbore 
 all scruples, and British merchants were not 
 proof against the glittering evidences of their 
 success. But the first slave-ship that ever 
 entered a North American port for the sale 
 of its human merchandise, was a Dutch trad- 
 ing-vessel which landed twenty negro bond- 
 men at Jamestown, the nucleus of V^irginia, 
 almost simultaneously with the landing of the 
 Pilgrims of the Mavtlower on Plymouth rock, 
 Dec. 22d, 1G20. 
 
 The Dutch slaver had chosen his market 
 with sagacity. Virginia was settled by Ca- 
 valiers— gentlemen-adventurers aspiring to 
 live by their own wits and otlier men's labor 
 — with the necessary complejiient of follow- 
 ers and servitors. Few of her pioneers cher- 
 ished any earnest liking for downright, per- 
 sistent, muscular exertion ; yet some ex- 
 ertion was urgently required to clear away 
 the heavy forest which all but covered the 
 soil of the infant colony, and grow the To- 
 bacco which easily became its staple export, 
 
THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 
 
 by means of which nearly everything required i had them set at liberty. The first Continent- 
 
 by its people but food was to be paid for 
 
 in England. The slaves, therefore, found 
 
 ready "purchasers at satisfactory prices, and 
 
 the success of the first venture induced others ; 
 
 until not only Virginia but every part of 
 
 British America was supplied with African 
 
 slaves. 
 
 This traffic, with the bondage it involved, 
 had no justification in British nor in the early 
 colonial laws ; but it proceeded nevertheless, 
 much as an importation of dromedaries to i-e- 
 place with presumed economy our horses 
 and oxen might now do. Georgia was the 
 first among the colonies to resist and remand 
 it in her original charter under the lead of 
 her noble founder-Governor, General Ogle- 
 thorpe ; but the evil was too formidable and 
 inveterate for local extirpation, and a few 
 years saw it established, even in Georgia ; 
 first evading or defying, and at length mold- 
 ing and transforming the law. 
 
 It is very common at this day to speak of 
 our revolutionary struggle as commenced and 
 hurried forward by a union of free and slave 
 colonics ; but sucli is not the fact. However 
 slender and dubious its legal basis. Slavery ex- 
 isted in each and all of the colonies that unit- 
 ed to declare and maintain their independ- 
 ence. Slaves were proportionately more nu- 
 merous in certain portions of the South ; but 
 they were held with impunity throughout 
 the North, advertised like dogs or horses, and 
 sold at auction, or otherwise, as chattels. Ver- 
 mont, tlien a territory in dispute between New- 
 Hampsliire and New- York, and wath very 
 few civilized inhabitants, mainly on its south- 
 ern and eastern borders, is probably the only 
 portion of the revolutionary confederation 
 never polluted by the tread of a slave. 
 
 The spirit of liberty, aroused or intensi- 
 fied_Jjy^\hg_pr 6fi^ tel t ' btiug g le o f -the colo- 
 nists _aganisrusurjre'a~an3'~atrnsed power in 
 the mother country ,~s6oiiTduhd~1tselt' engaged 
 in naFural antagonism against the current 
 
 form of domestic despotism. " How shall- -unkuawjutajtha 
 
 we complain of arbitrary or unlimited power 
 exerted over us, while wc exert a still more 
 despotic and niexcnsable power over a de- 
 pendent and benighted race ?" was very fair- 
 ly asked. Several suits were brought in 
 Massachusetts — where the fires of liberty 
 burnt earliest and l)rightest — to test the legal 
 right ofslaveholding ; and the leading Whigs 
 gave their money and their legal services to 
 support these actions, which were generally, 
 on one ground or aliother, successful. Efibrts 
 for an express law of emancipation, however, 
 failed even in Massachusctt*; ; the Legislature, 
 doubtless, apprehending that such a measure, 
 by alienating the slaveholders, would increase 
 the number and power of the Tories ; but in 
 1777, a privateer having brought a lot of 
 captured .slaves into Jamaica, and advertised 
 them for sale, the General Court, as the leg- 
 islative assembly was called, interfered and 
 
 al Congress which resolved to resist the 
 usurpations and oppressions of Great Britain 
 by I'orce, had already declared that our strug- 
 gle would bo " for the cause of human na- 
 ture," which the Congress of 1776, under 
 the lead of Thomas Jefferson, expanded into 
 the noble affirmation of the right of " all men 
 to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" 
 contained in the immortal preamble to the 
 Declaration of Independence. A like aver- 
 ment that ' all men are born free and equal,' 
 was in 1780 inserted in the Massachusetts Bill 
 of Rights ; and the Supreme Court of that 
 State, in 1783, on an indictment of a master 
 for assault and battery, held this declaration 
 a bar to slaveholding henceforth in the state. 
 A similar clause in the second Constitution 
 of New-Hampshire, was held by the courts 
 of that State to secure freedom to every child, 
 born therein after its adoption. Pennsylvania, 
 in 1780, passed an act prohibiting the further 
 introduction of slaves and securing freedom 
 to all persons born in that State thereafter. 
 Connecticut and Ehode Island passed similar 
 acts in 1784. Virginia, 1778, on motion 
 of Mr. Jefferson, prohibited the further 
 importation of slaves ; and in 1782, re- 
 moved all legal restrictions on emancipa- 
 tion : Maryland adopted both of these in 1783. 
 North Carolina, in 1786, declared the intro- 
 duction of Slaves into that state " of evil con- 
 sequences and highly impolitic," and imposed 
 a duty of £5 per head thereon. New- York 
 and New-Jersey followed the example of 
 Virginia and Maryland, including the domes- 
 tic in the same interdict with the foreign slave 
 trade. Neither of these States, however, de- 
 clared a general emancipation until many 
 years thereafter, and Slavery did not wholly 
 cease in New-York until about 1830, nor in 
 New-Jersey till a much later date. ^The 
 distinction of.free and slave States^ with tlie 
 kindred assumption oT a natural antagonism 
 between the North and South, was utterly 
 
 Before the Declaration of Independence, 
 but during the intense ferment which preced- 
 ed it, and distracted public attention from 
 everything else, Lord Mansfield had rendered 
 his judgment from the King's Bench, which 
 expelled Slavery from England, and ought to 
 have destroyed it in the colonies as well. 
 The plaintiff in this famous case was 
 James Somerset, a native of Africa, car- 
 ried to Virginia as a slave, taken thence 
 by his master to England, and there in- 
 cited to resist the claim of his master to 
 his services, and assert his right to liberty. 
 In the first recorded case, involving the 
 legality of modern slavery in England, it 
 was held (1697) that negroes, "being usual- 
 ly bought and sold among merchants as mer- 
 chandise, and also being infidels, there might 
 be a property in them sufficient to maintain 
 trover. " But this was overruled by Chief Jus- 
 
SLAVERY UNDER THE CONFEDERATION. 
 
 ticc Holt from the Kinp's IJench (1697,) rul- 
 ing that " Sio soon as a negro hinds in England 
 he is free ;" and again. (1 TO'2) that '• there is no 
 snch thing as a slave by the law of England." 
 This judgment proving exceedingly trouble- 
 someto planters and merchants from slave- 
 holding cnlonies visiting the mother country 
 with their servants, the merchants concerned 
 in the American trade, in 1720, procured fr(jm 
 Yorke and Talbot, the Attorney General and 
 Solicitor (Jeneral of the Crown, a written 
 0]>inion that negroes, legally enslaved elsc- 
 wliere, might be held as slav&s in Kngland, 
 and that oven baptism was no bar to the mius- 
 ters claim. This o])inion was. in 1741). held 
 to be sound law Ijy Yorke (now Lord Ifard- 
 wicke), sitting as Judge, on the ground that, 
 if the contrary ruling of I^ord Holt were up- 
 held, it would abolish slavery in Jamaica or 
 Virginia as well as in Englaud ; British law 
 being paramount in each. Thus the law 
 stood until Lord Mansfield, in Somerset's 
 case, reversed it with evident reluctance, and 
 after having vainly endeavored to bring about 
 an acconuuodation between the parties. 
 When delay would serve no louger, and a 
 judgment must be rendered, Mansfield declar- 
 ed it in these memorable words : 
 
 " We cannot direct the law ; the law must di- 
 rect us. »* » The stnte of Slnvery is of such a 
 nature that it 18 incnpnlile of being- introduced on 
 any reasons, moral or political, but only by posi- 
 tive law. which preserves its force long after tlio 
 reasons, occasion, and time itself whence it was 
 created, is erased from tlie memory. It is so odi- 
 ous that nothing can be suflicient to support it 
 but positive law. Whatever inconveniences, 
 therefore, may follow from the decision, I cannot 
 Bay this case is allowed or approved by the law 
 of England, and therefore the black must be dis- 
 charged." 
 
 The natural, if not necessary, effect of this 
 decision on Slavery in these colonies, had their 
 connection with the mother country been 
 continued, is sufficiently obvious. 
 
 II. 
 
 SLAVERY UN'DER THE CONFEDERATION. 
 
 The disposition or management of un- 
 peopled territories, pertaining to the thirteen 
 recent colonies now confederated as inde- 
 pendent States, early became a subject of 
 solicitude and of bickering among those 
 States, and in Congress. By the terms of 
 their charters, some of the colonies had an in- 
 definite extension westwardly, and were only 
 limited by the power of the grantor. Many 
 of these charters conflicted with each other — 
 the same territory being included within the 
 limits of two or more totally distinct colonies. 
 As the expeusesof the Revo'lutionary struggle 
 began to bear heavily on the resources of the 
 States, it was keenly felt by some that their 
 share in the advantages of the expected 
 triumph, would be less than that of others. 
 Massachusetts. Connecticut, New-York, A^ir- 
 giuia, North Carolina, and Georgia, laid 
 
 claim to spacious dominions outside of their 
 proix-r boiiii(larie.s ; while Xew-ifampshire 
 (save in V^ermont), Rhode Island, Ni'w-Jer- 
 sey, Maryland, Delaware, and South Caro- 
 lina, po.sse.s-sed no such boasted res(uirees to 
 meet the war-debis constantly augmenting. 
 'I'hey urged, therefore, with obvious justice, 
 that these uiUMjiial advantages ought to be 
 surreiKlered. and all the lands included within 
 the territorial limits of the rnion, l)ut out- 
 side of the proper and natural boundaries of 
 the several States, respectively, should be 
 ceded to. and lieid by, Congress, in trust for 
 the conmion benefit of all the States, and 
 their proceeds employed in satisfaction of the 
 debts and liabilitiesof the (Jonfe/leration.'I'his 
 reasonable requisition was ultimately, but 
 with some reservations, responded to. Vir- 
 ginia reserved a sufliciency lieyond the Ohio 
 to furnish the bounties promised to her re- 
 volutionary oflicfTS and soldiers, ('onnecti- 
 cut, a western reserve, since largely settled 
 from the parent State. Massachusetts re- 
 .scrved five millions of acres, located in West- 
 ern New York, which she claimed to be 
 entitled by her charter to own. In either of 
 these cases, the fee only was reserved, the 
 sovereignty being surrendered. 
 
 The cessions were severally made during, 
 or directly after, the close of the Revolution- 
 ary War. And one of the most obvious du- 
 ties devolved on the Continental Congress, 
 which held its sessions in Philadelphia di- 
 rectly after the close of that exhau-sting strug- 
 gle, was the framing of an act or ordinance 
 for the government of the vast domain thua 
 committed to its care and disposal. 
 
 The responsible duty of framing this ordi- 
 nance was devolved by Congress on a Select 
 Committee, consisting of INIr. Jefferson of 
 Va. (Chairman), Chase of Md., and Ilowell 
 of R. I. ; who in due time reported a plan for 
 the government_oftheWestern Territory, con- 
 tcmplating the whole region included withia 
 our boundaries west of the old thirteen States, 
 and as far south as our 31st degree of North 
 latitude ; territory as yet partially ceded to the 
 Confederation, but which was expected to be 
 so, and embracing several of our present Slave 
 States. This plan contemplated the ultimate 
 division of this territory into seventeen States, 
 eight of them situated below the parallel of 
 the Falls of the Ohio Cnow Louisville), and 
 nine above it. Among other rules reported 
 from this Committee by Mr. Jefferson, for 
 the government of this vast region, was the 
 following : •^ 
 
 " That after the year 1800, of the Christian era, ( 
 there shall be neither Shivery nor involuntary \ 
 servitude in any of the said Stafr.i, otherwise V^ 
 than in ])unishnient of crimes, whereof the paiiy ( 
 shall have been convicted to be personally I 
 guihy." "^ '^^ 
 
 April l^tlt, 1784. — Congress having the 
 aforesaid Report under consideration, Mr. 
 Spaight, of N. C, moved the striking out of 
 
THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 
 
 the above paragraph. Mr. Read, of S. C, 
 seconded the motion. The ayes and nays, 
 being required by Mr. Howell, were ordered, 
 and put in this form — " Shall the words 
 moved to be stricken out stand ?" — and de- 
 cided as follows : 
 
 N. -Hampshire .Mr. Foster .... ay S j 
 
 " Blenvelt . . . ay ? ^•^• 
 Massachusetts . " Gerry '^X ^ 4 
 
 " Partridge . . . ay\- ^' 
 Rhobe Island . . " Ellerv ^Y l a 
 
 " Howell .... ay S ^^■ 
 CoN.VECTicuT ..." Shcnnan . . . ay > . 
 
 " Wadsworth . ay \ "' 
 NewTokk . . . . " De Witt • • • ay ^ d„ 
 
 " Perine ay ^ ^' 
 
 NewJf.rsky ..." Dick f^y }■* 
 
 Pennsylvania . . " Miflflin a'y^ 
 
 " Montci;omery . ay > Ai/. 
 
 " Hand ay ) 
 
 Maryland ;| McHenry ... no P j^-^-^^a. 
 
 " Stone • .... no ^ 
 Virginia " Jefferson ... ay ^ at 
 
 " Hardy no S '^ 
 
 " Mercer .... no ? »r^ 
 N. Carolina ..." Williamson . ay ^ 
 
 " Spaight .... no ^ 
 S. Carolina ..." Read no > Ko. 
 
 " Beresford ... no} 
 
 So the question was lost, and the words 
 were struck out. 
 
 Lost — although six States voted aye to 
 only three nay ; and though of the members 
 present, fifteen voted for, to six against, Mr. 
 Jefferson's proposition. But the Articles of 
 Confederation required a vote of nine States 
 to cany a proposition ; and, failing to re- 
 ceive so many, this comprehensive exclusion 
 of Slavery from the Federal Territories was 
 defeated. 
 
 The Ordinance, thus depleted, after under- 
 going some further amendments, was finally 
 approved April '23rd — all the delegates, but 
 those from South Carolina, voting in the 
 affirmative. 
 
 In 1787 the last Continental Congress, 
 sitting in New York simultaneously with 
 the Convention at Philadelphia which 
 framed our Federal Constitution, took up 
 the subject of the government of the West- 
 ern Territory, raising a Committee thereon, 
 of which Nathan Dane, of Massachusetts, 
 was Chairman. That Committee reported 
 (July 11th), "An Ordinance for the gov- 
 ernment of the Territory of the United 
 States, Northwest of the Ohio" — the larger 
 area contemplated by Mr. Jefferson's bill 
 not having been ceded by the Southern 
 States claiming dominion over it. This bill 
 embodied many of the provisions originally 
 drafted and reported by Mr. Jefferson, but 
 witli some modifications, and concludes with 
 six unalterable articles of perpetual compact, 
 the last of them as follows : 
 
 " There shall be neither slavery nor involun- 
 tary servitude, in the said territory, otherwise 
 than in puiiisliniont of crimes, whereof the parties 
 shall be duly convicted.'' 
 
 To this was added, prior to its passage, 
 .the stipulation for the delivery of fugi- 
 
 tives from labor or service, soon after embo- 
 died in the Federal Constitution ; and in 
 this shape, the entire ordinance was adopted 
 (July 13th) by a unanimous vote, Georgia 
 and the Carolinas concurring. 
 
 III. 
 
 UNDER THE CONSTITUTION. 
 
 The old Articles of Confederation having 
 proved inadequate to the creation and main- 
 tenance of a capable and efficient national or 
 central authority, a Convention of Delegates 
 from the several States, was legally assem- 
 bled in Philadelphia, in 1787 — George AVash- 
 ington President ; and the result of its labors 
 was our present Federal Constitution, though 
 some amendments, mainly of the nature of 
 restrictions on Federal power, w-ere proposed 
 by the several State Conventions assembled, 
 to pass upon that Constitution, and adopted] 
 The following are all the provisions of tha' 
 instrument, which are presumed to relate 
 the subject of Slavery : 
 
 (Preamble) ; " 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 ge- 
 neral welfare, and eecure the blessings of liberty 
 to ourselves and our posterity do ordain and 
 establish this Constitution for the United States 
 of America. 
 
 " Art. I. § 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 Representatives. 
 
 " § 2, * * * Representatives and direct taxes 
 shall be apportioned among the several States 
 which may be included within this Union, accord- 
 ing to their respective numbers, which shall be 
 determined, by adding to the whole number of 
 free persons, including those bound to servitude 
 for a term of years, and excluding Indians not 
 taxed, threetifths of all other persons. 
 
 " § 9. 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, not exceeding ten dollars 
 on each person. 
 
 " The privilege of the writ of habeas ccn-pus 
 shall not be suspended, unless when, in cases of 
 rebellion or invasion, the public safety may re- 
 quire it. 
 
 " No bill of attainder, or ex post facto laws 
 shall be passed. 
 
 " Art. III. § 3. Treason against the United 
 States, shall consist only in levying war against 
 them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving 
 them aid and comfort. 
 
 " Art. IV. $ 2. The citizens of each State shall 
 be entitled to all the privileges of citizens, in the 
 several States. 
 
 " No person held to service or labor in ono 
 State, under the laws thereof, escaping into 
 another, shall, in consequence of any law or regu- 
 lation tlierein, be discharged from such service or 
 labor, but shall be delivered up on claim of tha 
 l)arty to whom such service or labor may be 
 due. 
 
 ''$3. New Slates may be admitted by the 
 Congress into this Union ; but no new State shall 
 be foi-med or 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, 
 
 1/^ 
 
EARLY ATTEMPTS TO OVERRIDE THE ORDINANCE. 
 
 without the consent of tlio lo;jiRlntuiC8 of the j 
 States coni'ci lied, as well iih of llie Congress. 
 
 •' The C«.M;;ress kIiiiII have power to tlwposo 
 of, and make all needful rulen and refjnlalionH re- 
 speitin'.'liielei-ritiiry or oilier nniiM-rty, belon^^ing 
 to the United States : and iiotliin;,' in this Consti- 
 tution shall bo no construed as to prejudice any 
 claims of the United States, or of any particular 
 State. 
 
 '• $ -1 Tlio United States shall i;ninnnleo to 
 overv State in this Union, a repuhlicaii form of 
 government, and shall protect each of tliein 
 n^jiiinst invasion ; and on application of the h-;,'is- 
 lature, or of the executive wlien the lej^'isl.ituro 
 cannot be convened, against, domestic violence. 
 
 •' Art. VI. This Con.slilulion, and the laws of 
 tlio United States, wliicli shall be made in pnr- 
 Bunneo thereof, and all the treati<s made, or 
 which shall be made, under the authority of the 
 United States, shall be the supreme law id' the 
 land; and tli<! judj^es in every State shall be 
 bound thereby,' anything,' in the Ctnistitution or 
 laws of any State to the contrary notwithstand- 
 ing." 
 
 The above arc all— and perhaps more than 
 all— the clauses of the Constitution, that 
 have been (luoted on one side or the other as 
 beariuLi: upon the subject of Slavery. 
 \ It will be noted that the word "slave," or 
 •^slavery" does not appear therein. Mr. 
 Madison, who was a leading and observant 
 member of the Convention, and who took 
 notes of its daily proceedings, affirms that 
 this silence was desigtied — the Convention 
 being unwilling that the Constitution of the 
 United States should recognize property in 
 human beings. In passages where slaves 
 are presumed to be contemplated, they are 
 uniformly designated as '• persons," never as 
 property. Contemporary history proves 
 that it was the belief of at least a large por- 
 tion of the delegates that Slavery could not 
 long survive the final stoppage of the slave- 
 trade, -which was expected to (and did) occur 
 in 1808. And, were Slavery this day bani.shed 
 forever from the country, there might, indeed, 
 be some superfluous stipulations in the 
 Federal compact or charter ; but there are 
 none which need be repealed, or essentially 
 modified. 
 
 A direct provision for the restoration of 
 fugitive slaves to their masters was, at least 
 once, voted down by the Convention. 
 Finally, the clau.se respecting persons " held 
 at service or labor," was proposed by 
 Mr. Butler, of South Carolina, and adopted, 
 •with little or no opposition. 
 
 The following, among the amendments 
 to the Constitution proposed by the 
 ratifying conventions of one or more States, 
 and adopted, are supposed by some to bear 
 on the questions now agitated relative to 
 Slavery : 
 
 ■' Art. I. Congress shall make no law respect- 
 ing an establishment of religion, or prohibiting 
 the free exercise thereof; or abridging the free- 
 dom of speech, or of the press ; or of the rights 
 of the people peacefully to assemble, and to 
 petition the Govenimeut for a redress of griev- 
 au«.e& 
 
 "Art. II. A well-regulated militia being neces- 
 
 sary to the security of a free State, the right of 
 the iieople to keep and bear arms shall not be 
 infringed. 
 
 "Art. V. No person shall be * ••deprived of 
 life, liberty, or jiropeity, without due procuxs of 
 law ; nor shall private |)roperty be taken for pub- 
 lic use without JuKt couipuusatiou." 
 
 IV. 
 
 CESSIONS OF SOUTH KUX TKUIUTOKV. 
 
 TiiK State of Kentucky wa.s .set olf from 
 the State of Virginia in 1790, by mutual 
 agreement, and admitted into the Union ijy 
 act of Congres.s, pas,sed Feliruary 4tli. 1 791 ; 
 to take effect June 1st, 1792. It was never 
 ii territory of the United States, nor under 
 Fedci-al jurisdiction, e.vcept as a State, and 
 inherited Slavery from the ' Old Dominion.' 
 
 The State of S'orth Carolina, like several 
 others, claimed, during and after the Revolu- 
 tion, that her territory extended westward to 
 the Mississippi. The settlers west of the 
 Aileganies resisted this claim, and a portion 
 of them assumed to establish (1784-.')) the 
 State of Frankland, in what is now East 
 Tennessee ; but North Carolina forcibly re- 
 sisted and subverted this, and a considerable 
 portion of the people of the embryo State de- 
 rided its authority, and continued to act iind 
 vote as citizens of North Carolina. A dele- 
 gate (William Cocke) was sent from Frank- 
 land to the Continental Congress, but was 
 not received by that body. On the 22nd of 
 December, 1789, however — one month after 
 her ratification of the Federal ('oiistitution — 
 North Carolina passed an act, ceding, on 
 certain conditions, all her territory west of 
 her present limits to the United States. 
 Among the conditions exacted by her, and 
 agreed to, by Congress, (Act approver! April 
 2nd, 1790) is the following : y 
 
 "Provided alwai/s, that uo regulations made, or*^ 
 to be made, by Congress shall tend to em;iiicipate 
 slaves." 
 
 Georgia, in like manner, ceded (April 2nd, 
 1802) the territories lying west of her pro- 
 sent limits, now forming the States of Ala- 
 bama and Mississippi. Among the con- 
 ditions exacted by her, and accepted by the 
 United States, is the following : 
 
 '• Fifthly. That the territory thus ceded shall be- 
 come a State, and be admitted into the Union as 
 soon as it shall contain sixty thousand free inhabit- 
 ants, or, at an earlier period, if Conjo'css shall 
 think it expedient, on the same conditions luid 
 restrictions, with the same privileges, and in the 
 fiamo manner, as is provided in the ordinance of 
 Congress of the 13th day of July, 1787, for the 
 government of the Western territory of the United 
 States ; which ordinance shall, in all its parts, ex- 
 tend to the territory contained in the present act 
 of Cession, the article only excepted which forbids 
 slavery." 
 
 EARLY ATTEMPTS TO OVERRIDE THE 
 ORDINAXOE. 
 
 When Ohio (1802-3) was made a 
 State, the residue of the vast regions, 
 
6 
 
 THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 
 
 originally convoyed by the ordiniuice of 
 '87, \v;is' continued under Federal pupilag-e, 
 by the name of - Indiana Territory," whereof 
 "\Vni. JIciH-y Harrison (since President) wa^ 
 appointed Governor.. An earnest though 
 quiet effort was made by the Virginia ele- 
 ment, which the location of her military 
 bounty warrants on the soil of Ohio had in- 
 fused into that embryo State, to have 
 Slavery for a limited term authorized in her 
 first CiMistitntion ; but it was stremiously re- 
 sisted by the New England element, which 
 was far more considerable, and defeated. The 
 Virginians either had or professed to have the 
 countenance of President Jefferson, though 
 his hostility to Slavery, as a permanent social 
 state, was undoubted.' It was quite commonly 
 argued that, though Slavery was injurious in 
 the long run, yet, as an expedient while 
 clearing away the heavy forests, opening 
 settlements in the wilderness, and surmounting 
 the inevitable hardships and privations of 
 border life, it might be tolerated, and even 
 regarded with favor. Accordingly, the new- 
 Territory of Indiana made repeated efforts to 
 procure a relaxation in her favor of the re- 
 strictive clause of the Ordinance of '87, one of 
 them through the instrumentality of a Con- 
 vention assembled in 1802-3, and presided 
 over by the Territorial Governor ; so he, 
 with the great body of his fellow-delegates, 
 memorialized Congress, among other things, 
 to suspend temporarily the operation of the 
 sixth article of the Ordinance aforesaid. 
 This memorial was referred iu the House to 
 & select committee of three, two of them 
 from Slave States, with the since celebrated 
 John Randolph as chairman. On the 2nd of 
 March, 1803, Mr. Randolph made what ap- 
 pears to have been a unanimous report from 
 this Committee, of which we give so much as 
 relates to Slavery — as follows : 
 
 " The rapid population of the State of Ohio 
 suflficiently evinces, in the opinion of your com- 
 mittee, that the liibor of slaves is not necessary 
 to promote the growth and settlement of colonies 
 ill that region. That this labor — demonstrably 
 the dearest of any — can only be employed in the 
 cultivation of products more valuable than any 
 known to that quarter of the United States ; that 
 the Committee deem it highly dangerous and in- 
 expedient to impair a provision wisely calculated 
 to promote the happiness and prosperity of the 
 northwestern country, and to give strength and 
 Becurity to that extensive frontier. In the salutary 
 operation of this sagacious and benevolent re- 
 Btraiiit, it ia believed that the inhabitants of In- 
 diana will, at no very distant day, find ample re- 
 muneration for a temporary privation of labor, 
 and ot' emigration." 
 
 The Committee proceed to discuss other 
 sulijects set forth in the prayer of the memo- 
 rial, ami conclude with eight resolves, whereof 
 the only one relating to Slavery is as fol- 
 lows : 
 
 " lirxolved, That it is inexpedient to suspend, for 
 a limited time, the operation of the sixth article of 
 the compact between the original States and the 
 people and States west of the river Ohio." 
 
 This Report, having been made at the close 
 of the Session, was referred at the next to a 
 new Committee, whereof Caesar Rodney, a 
 new Representative from Delaware, was 
 Chairman. Mr. Rodney from this Commit- 
 tee reported (February 17th, 1804), 
 
 " That, taking into their consideration the fact8 
 stated in the said memorial and petition, they are 
 iiidu<-ed to believe that a qualified suspension, for 
 a limited time, of the sixth article of compact be- 
 tween the original States and the people and 
 States west of the river Ohio, might be produc- 
 tive of benefit and advantage to said Territory.', 
 
 The Report goes on to discuss the other 
 topics embraced in the Indiana memorial, and 
 concludes with eight resolves, of which the 
 first (and only one relative to Slavery) is as 
 follows : 
 
 '^Resolved, That the si.xth article of the Or- 
 dinance of 1787, which prohibited Slavery 
 within the said TeiTitory, be suspended in a 
 qualified manner, for ten years, so as to pemiit 
 the introduction of slaves, born within the United 
 States, from any of the individual States ; pro- 
 vided, that such "individual State does not permit 
 the importation of slaves from foreign countries : 
 and provided, further, that the descendants of 
 all such slaves shall, if males, be free at the age 
 of twenty-five years, and, if females, at the age 
 of twenty-one years." 
 
 The House took no action on this Report. 
 The original memorial from Indiana, with 
 several additional memorials of like purport, 
 was again, in 1805-6, referred by the House 
 to a select committee, whereof iSlr. Garnett 
 of Virginia was chairman, who, on the 14tli 
 of February, 1806, made a report in favor of 
 the prayer of the petitioners — as follows : 
 
 That, having attentively considered the facts 
 stated in the said petitions and memorials, they 
 are of opinion that a qualified suspension, for a 
 limited time, of the sixth article of compact be- 
 tween the original States, and the people and 
 States west of the river Ohio, would be beneficial 
 to the people of the Indiana Territory. The sus- 
 pension of this article is an object almost univer- 
 sally desired in that Territory. 
 
 It appears to your committee to be a question 
 entirely difierent from that between Slavery and 
 Freedom ; inasmuch as it would merely occasion 
 the removal of persons, already slaves, from one 
 part of the country to another. The good effects 
 of this suspension, in the present instance, would 
 be to accelerate tlie population of that Territory, 
 hitlierto retarded by the operation of that article 
 of compact, as slave-holders emigrating into the 
 Western country might then indulge any prefer- 
 ence which they might feel for a settlement in 
 the Indiana Territory, instead of seeking, as they 
 are now compelled to do, settlements in other 
 States or countries permitting the introduction of 
 slaves. The condition of the slaves themselves 
 would be much ameliorated by it, as it is evident, 
 from experience, that the more they are separated 
 and diffused, the more care and attention are be 
 stowed on them by their masters — each proprietor 
 having it in his power to increase their comforts 
 and conveniences, iu proportion to the smallness 
 of their numbers. The dangers, too, (if any are 
 to be apprehended) from too largo a black popu- 
 lation existing in any one section of country, 
 would certainly bo very much diminished, if not 
 entirely removed. But, whether dangers are to 
 be feared from this source or not, it is certainly an 
 obvious dictate of sound policy to guard against 
 
EARLY ATTEMPTS TO OVERRIDE THE ORDINANCE. 
 
 them, ns far hb possible. If lliiB tlnnnor docs ex- 
 ist, or thcic is iiiiy caiiso to ni)i)n-li<>ii(l it, and our 
 ^Vt'steiii l>i(tliic"ii aiv not Only willing' but desi 
 rous to aid um in taking' piccaulioiis at;aiiiHl it. 
 would it not be wist^ to ncc(<i>t tticir assistaiico ? 
 
 We tliould iRMicfil ourselves, without injunup 
 thciii, as their i)0|ndalioii must always so far ex 
 coed any blaek poiiulation whieli eaii ever exist in 
 that eoiintry, as to render the idea of danger from 
 tlmt sourco'chiinerieal. 
 
 Al'ter cli.'^cii.ssin<; otluT sul)ji'('ts embodied 
 in the liuliana iiu'iiiorial, tlie foiiiniittee close 
 witli a series of Ke-solves, whieh they eoiii- 
 liKMul to the adoption of the House. The 
 first and only one g-erinane to our sulyect 
 is as follows : 
 
 lifso/rt-d. That, tlio sixth nrtielo of the Ordi- 
 nnnco of 1787, which prohibits Slavery within 
 tbc Indiana Territory, bo suspended for ten 
 years, so as to permit the introduetion of sl.nves, 
 born within tho United States, from any of the 
 individual States. 
 
 This report and resolve were committed 
 and made a special order on the Monday 
 following, but were never taken into consid- 
 eration. 
 
 At the next session, a fresh letter from 
 Gov. "William Henry Harrison, inclosing re- 
 solves of the Legislative Council and House 
 of Representatives in favor of suspending, for 
 a limited period, the sixth article of compact 
 aforesaid, was received (Jan. 21st, 1807) and 
 referred to a .Select Committee, whereof Mr. 
 B. Farke. delegate from said Territory, was 
 made chairman. The entire Committee (Mr. 
 Nathaniel Macon of N. C. being now Speak- 
 er) consisted of 
 
 Messrs. Alston of N. C. Rhea of Tcnn. 
 
 Miisters of N. Y. Sandford of Ky. 
 
 Morrow of Ohio. Trigg of Va. 
 
 Parke of Ind. 
 
 Mr. Parke, from this Committee, made 
 (Feb. 12th,) a third Report to the House in 
 favor of granting the prayer of the memo- 
 rialists. It is as follows : 
 
 " The resolutions of tho Legislative Council 
 and House of Representatives of the Indiana Ter- 
 ritory, relate to a suspension, for the term of ten 
 years, ot the sixth article of compact between the 
 United States and the Territories and Stute.s nortli- 
 westof the river Ohio, passed the 13th July, 1787. 
 That article declares that there shall be neither 
 Slavery nor involuntary servitude in the said 
 Territory. 
 
 "The suspension of the said article would ope- 
 rate an immediate and essential benetit to the Ter- 
 ritory, as emigration to it will be inconsiderable for 
 many years, except from those States where Sla- 
 very is tolerated. 
 
 " And although it is not considered expedient to 
 force the population of tho Territory, yet it is de- 
 sirable to connect its scattered settlements, and, in 
 admitted political rights, to place it on an equal 
 footing with the difl'erent States. Krou'. the inte- 
 rior situation of the Territory, it is not believed 
 tliat .slaves could ever become so numerous as to 
 endanger the internal peace or future prosperity 
 of the country. The cun-ent of emigration flow- 
 ing to the Western country, the Territories should 
 all be opened to their introduction. The abstr;u;t 
 question of Liberty and Slavery is not involved in 
 the proposed measure, as Slavery now exists to a 
 considerable extent in different parts of the Union ; 
 
 it woulil not augment the number of slaves, but 
 merely aulhori/c the removid to Indiana of such 
 as are held in bondage in the Uniteil States, If 
 Slavery is an evil, means ought to be devised to 
 rentier it least dangerous to the community, and 
 by which the hapless situation of the slaves would 
 be most ami liorated ; anci to accomplish tlnse ob- 
 jects, no measure would be so effectuid as the 
 one proposed. The C'onnnittee, iherefore, ro- 
 spectfully submit to the House tho followinR reso- 
 lution : 
 
 " Rcstilrfd, That it is e.^jiedient to susnoiid, 
 from and after tht^ 1st day of .laimary, IHOR, lliti 
 sixtli article of coni|)act bel ween the I'niled Statej 
 and the Territories and States northwest of the 
 Ohio, passed the i;{th day of July, 1787, for the 
 term often years." 
 
 This report, with its predecessors, was 
 committed, and made a special order, but 
 never taken into consideration. 
 
 The same letter of Gen. Harrison, and re- 
 solves of the Indiana Legislature, were sub- 
 mitted to the Senate, Jan. 21st, 1807. They 
 were laid on the table " for consideration," 
 and do not appear to have even been referred 
 at that session ; but at the next, or first scs^ 
 sion of the fourth Congress, whicli convened 
 Oct. 2Gth, 1807, the President (Nov. 7th) 
 submitted a letter from Gen. 1 larrison and his 
 Legislature — whether a new or the old one 
 does not appear — and it was now referred to 
 a select committee, consisting of Messrs. J. 
 Franklin of N. C, Kitchel of N. J., and 
 Tiffin of Ohio. 
 
 Nov. loth, Mr. Franklin, from said com- 
 mittee, reported as follows : 
 
 " The Legislative Council and House of Rep- 
 resentatives, in their resolutions, express their 
 sense of the propriety of introducing Slavery into 
 their Territory, and solicit the Congress of th» 
 United States to suspend, for a given number of 
 years, the sixth article of compact, in the ordi- 
 nance for the government of the Territory north- 
 west of the Oliio, passed the VMh day of July, 
 1787. That article declares : ' There .^hnll bo nei 
 ther Slavery nor involuntary servitude within tho 
 said Territory.' 
 
 " The citizens of Clark County, in their remon- 
 strance, express their sense of the impropriety of 
 the measure, and solicit the Congress of th« 
 United States not to act on the subject, so as to 
 permit tho introduction of slaves into the Terri- 
 tory; at lea.et, until their population shall entitla 
 them to form a constitution and State govern- 
 ment. 
 
 " Your Committee, after duly considering the 
 matter, respectfully submit the following resolu- 
 tion : 
 
 " Resolved, That it is not expedient at this time 
 to suspend the sixth article of compact for tho 
 government of the Territory of the United States 
 northwest of the River Ohio." 
 
 And here ended, so far as we have been 
 able to discover, the effort, so long and earn- 
 estly persisted in, to procure a suspension of 
 the restriction in the Ordinance of 1787. so as 
 to admit Slavery, for a limited term, into the 
 Terrritory lying between the Ohio and Mis- 
 sissippi rivers, now forming the States of 
 Ohio. Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and "Wis- 
 consin. 
 
THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 
 
 / 
 
 VI. 
 
 THE FIRST MISSOURI STRUGGLE. 
 
 The vast aud iudefiiiitc territory known 
 as Louisiana, wa.s ceded by France to the 
 United States in the year 1803, for the sum 
 of §15,000,000, of which ,^3,750,000 was de- 
 voted to the paj'meut of American claims on 
 France. This t<'rritory had just before been 
 ceded by Spain^to France witliout pecuniary 
 consideration. Slaveholding had long been 
 legal therein, alike under Spanish and French 
 rule, and the Treaty of Cession contained 
 the following stipulation : 
 
 " Art. III. The inhabitants of the ceded terri- 
 tory shall be incorporated into the Union of the 
 United States, and admitted as soon as possible, 
 according to the principles of the Federal Consti- 
 tution, to the enjoyment of all the rights, advan- 
 tages and immunities of citizens of the United 
 States ; and in the mean time they shall be main- 
 tained and protected in the free enjoyment of 
 tlieir liberty, property, and the religion which 
 they profess." 
 
 The State of Louisiana, embodying the 
 southern portion of this acquired territory, 
 was recognized by Congress in 1811, aud 
 fully admitted in 1812, with a State Consti- 
 tution. Those who chose to dwell among 
 the inhabitants of the residue of the Lou- 
 isiana purchase, henceforth called Missouri 
 Territory, continued to hold slaves in its 
 sparse and small, but increasing settlements, 
 mainly in its southeastern quarter, and a 
 pro-slavery court — perhaps any court — 
 would undoubtedly have pronounced Sla- 
 very legal anywhere on its vast expanse, 
 from the Mississippi to the crests of the 
 Rocky Mountains, if not beyond them, and 
 from the lied River of Louisiana to the Lake 
 of the Woods. 
 
 llie XVth Congress assembled at Wash- 
 ington, on Monday, Dec. 1st, 1817. Henry 
 Clay was chosen Speaker of the House. Mr. 
 John Scott appeared on the 8th, as delegate 
 from Missouri Territory, aud was admitted 
 to a seat as such. On the 16th of March fol- 
 lowing, he presented petitions of sundry in- 
 habitants of Missouri, in addition to similar 
 petitions already presented by him, praying for 
 the admission of Missouri into the Union as 
 a State, which were, on motion, referred to a 
 Select Committee, consisting of 
 
 Messrs. Scott of Mo. Poindexter of Misa. Ro- 
 bertson of Ky. Hendricks of Ind. Livermore 
 ofN. H. Mills of Mass. Baldwin of Pa. 
 
 April ,3rd, Mr. Scott, from this Commit- 
 tee, reported a bill to authorize the People 
 of Missouri Territory to form a Constitution 
 and State Government, and for the admission 
 of such State into the Union on an equal 
 footmg with the original States ; which bill 
 wa.s reatl the first and second time, and sent 
 to the Committee of the Whole, where it 
 slept for the remainder of the session. 
 
 That Congress convened at Washington 
 
 for its second session, on the 16th of Novem- 
 ber, 1818. Feb. 13th, the House went into 
 Committee of the Whole — Gen. Smith, of 
 Md., in the chair — and took up the Missouri 
 bill aforesaid, which was considered through 
 that sitting, as also that of the 1,5th, when 
 several amendments were adopted, the most 
 important of which was the following, moved 
 in Committee by Gcu. James Tallmadge, of 
 Dutchess County, New York, (lately de- 
 ceased :) 
 
 "And provided also, That the further introduc- 
 tion of Slavery or involuntary servitude be pro- 
 hibited, except for the punishment of crimes, 
 whereof the party shall be duly convicted : and 
 that all children of slaves, bom within the said 
 State, after the admission thereof into the Union , 
 shall be free, but may be held to service until the 
 age of twenty-five years." 
 
 On coming out of Committee, the Yeas and 
 Nays were called on the question of agreeing 
 to this amendment, which was sustained by 
 the following vote : [taken first on agreeing 
 to so much of it as precedes aud includes the 
 word " convicted."] 
 
 YEAS— For the Restriction : 
 
 New Hampshire. — Clifton Clagett, Samuel 
 Halo, Arthur Livermore, Nathaniel Upham — 4. 
 
 Massachusetts— (then including Maine). — 
 Benjamin Adams, Samuel C. Allen, Walter Fol- 
 ger, jr., Timothy Fuller, Joshua Gage, Enoch 
 Lincoln, Elijah H. Mills, Marcus Morton, Jere- 
 miah Nelson, Benjamin Orr, Thomas Kice, Na- 
 thaniel Ituggles, Zabdiel Sampson, Nathaniel 
 Silsbee, John Wilson — 15. 
 
 Khode Island. — James B.Mason — 1. 
 
 Connecticut. — Sylvester Gilbert, Ebenezer 
 Huntington, Jonathan O. Moseley, Timothy Pit- 
 kin, Samuel B. Sherwood, Nathaniel Terry, Tho- 
 mns S. Williams — 7. 
 
 Vermont. — Samuel C. Crafts, William Hunter, 
 Orsamus C. Merrill, Charles Rich, Mark Rich- 
 ards — 5. 
 
 New-York, — Oliver C. Comstock, John P. 
 Cushman, John R. Drake, Benjamin Ellicott Jo- 
 siah Hasbrouck, John Herkimer, Thomas H. 
 Hubbard, William Irving, Dorrance Kirtland, 
 Thomas Lawyer, John Palmer, John Savage, 
 Philip J. Schuyler, John C. Spencer, Treadwell 
 Scudder, James Tallmadge, JohnW. Taylor, Ca- 
 leb Tompkins, Geo. Townsend, Peter H. Wen- 
 dover, Rensselaer Westerlo, James W. Wilkin, 
 Isaac Williams — 23. 
 
 New-Jersey. — Ephraim Bateman, Benjamin 
 Bennett, Charles Kinsey, John Lmn, Henry 
 Southard — 5. 
 
 Pennsylvania. — William Anderson, Andrew 
 Bodcn, Isaac Darlington, Joseph Heister, Joseph 
 Hopkinson, Jacob llostetter, William Maclay, 
 William P. Maclay, David Marchand, Robert 
 Moore, Samuel Moore, John Murray, Ale.xiuider 
 Ogle, Thomas Patterson, Levi Pawling, Thomas 
 J. Rogers, John Sergeant, James M. Wallace, 
 John Whiteside, William Wilson — i20. 
 
 Ohio. — Levi Barber, Philemon Beecher, John 
 W. Campbell, Samuel Herrick, Peter Hitchcock 
 — 5. 
 
 Indiana. — William Hendricks — 1. 
 
 Delaware.— Willard Hall— 1. 
 
 Total Yeas 87 — only one (the last named) 
 
 from a Slave State. 
 
 NAYS — Against the Restriction: 
 
 Massachusetts. — John Holmes, Jonathan 
 Mason, Henry Shaw — 3. 
 
THE FIRST MISSOURI STRUGGLE. 
 
 New York. — Dnnicl Crugcr, David A. Oj?dcn, 
 Hoiiry K. Slorrs — 'A. 
 
 New J i:ksky. — .losopli Hlooinfield— 1, 
 
 NewIIami'siiihk— JkImi F. I'urrott— 1. 
 
 Ohio.— Willinin llcinv IliiiriMnn— 1. 
 
 Illinois— John MoU-iiii— 1. [10 from Free 
 States.] 
 
 Dklavvauk. — Louis McLanc — 1. 
 
 Makyi.am).— Ardiibiild AtL-Atin/nioinafl IJayly; 
 Thuuias (;ulbrotli, IVtcr Little, (tci)it;o IVtiT, 
 l'hiri|( Kccd, SdiiiuL'l Kini,';,'old, Siiinuel Smitii, 
 riiiliiiSiuiirt— !♦. 
 
 ViiuiiNiA.— Willinm Lee Unll, Philip P. Unr 
 boar, Huiwull Hiissclt, William A. IJunvcU, Ed- 
 ward Colston, Ivobert S. (jiiriiett, Jimuti JoliiiMou, 
 William .). Lewis, William McCoy, Hugh NelHoii, 
 Thoma.s M. N'elsoii, John Pot^ram, James I'iikIhII. 
 JaiiKs Pleasants, IJalhird Smith. Alexander 
 Smvth, Henry St. Geor;,'c Tucker, John Tyler— 
 18.' 
 
 NoKTH Carolina.— Joseph IT. Urynii, William 
 Davidson, Weldon N. Edwards, Charles Fisher, 
 Thomas 11. Hall, Jame.s Owen. Lemuel Sawyer, 
 Thomas Little, Jesse Slocumb, James O. Smith, 
 James Stewart. Felix Walker, Lewis Williams— 
 13. 
 
 8oCTH Carolina.— James Ervin, William 
 Lowndes, Henry iMiddleton, Wilsou Nesbitt, El- 
 bert Simkins, Sterlintr Tucker- 6. 
 
 Georuia.— Joel Abbot, Thomas W. Cobb, Za- 
 doc Cook, William Terrell — 4. 
 
 Kk.ntuckv.— Richard C. Anderson, jr., Joseph 
 Desha, Kichard M. Johnson, Anthony New, 
 Thomas Newton, George liobertson, Thomas 
 Speed, David Trimble, David Walker— 9. 
 
 Ten.n'ksske.— William G. lilount, Francis 
 Jones, George W. L Marr, John Uhea — 1. 
 
 Mississippi. — George Poindexter — L 
 
 Louisiana.— Thomas Butler — I. 
 
 Totiil Naj'S, 7G— 10 from Free States, 66 
 from Slave States. 
 
 The House now proceeded to vot€ on the 
 residue of tlie reported aineiidinent [from the 
 word "convicted"' above], which was like- 
 wise sustained. — Yeas 8'2 ; Nays 78. 
 
 Messrs. Barber and Campbell of Ohio, Linn of 
 N. J., and Mason of R. L, who on the former divi- 
 sion voted Yea, now voted Nay. 
 
 Messrs. Schuyler and Wcsterlo of N. Y. (Yeas 
 before) did not vote now. Gen. Smith of Md. 
 changed from Nay before to Yea now. 
 
 So the whole amendment — as moved by 
 Gen. Tallmadge in Committee of the Whole, 
 and there carried — was sustained when report- 
 ed to the House. 
 
 Mr. Storrs of New-York (opposed to 
 the Restriction), now moved the striking out 
 of so much of the bill as provides that the 
 new State shall be admitted into the Union 
 " on an equal footing with the original 
 States" — which, he contended, was nullified 
 by the votes just taken. The House nega- 
 tived the motion. 
 
 Me.ssrs Desha of Ky., Cobb of Ga., and 
 Rhea of Tenn., declared against the bill as 
 amended. 
 
 Messrs. Scott of Mo., and Anderson of 
 Ky., preferred the bill as amended to nunc. 
 
 The House ordered the bill, as amended, 
 to a third reading ; Yeas 98 ; Nays 56. The 
 bill thus pas.sed the House next day, and was 
 sent to the Senate. 
 
 The following sketch of the debate on this 
 
 question (Feb. 15th) appears in the Appen- 
 di.\ to Nilcs's Register, vul. .xvi. 
 
 HOUSE OK REPUE.SENTATIVES, FEB. 15, 181'J. 
 
 Mr. Tallmadge, of New York, having 
 moved the following amendment, on tlic Saturday 
 preceding — 
 
 ''Anil provided that, llic iiilrodiictioa of Slavery, 
 or iiivoluiiliiri/ .lert'itudc, 6c prohi/ii/i'd, except 
 for the punish nwnt of cri7nci>, wlu-rvof lUr. pnrly 
 has been duly convicted, and that all rhi/drcH, 
 horn within the said State, after thi\ admifsion 
 thereof into the Union, shall be declared free at 
 the a({c of '23 years." 
 
 Mr. Fi'i.r.i^R, of Mafisachu.sett.'J, said, that 
 in llu! ailmission of new States into the I'ninn lio 
 consider<Ml that Congress had a (liscrttinnary 
 power. By the 4tli article and :<d section of tho 
 Constitution, Congress arc authorized to ailmit 
 them ; but nothing in that section, or in any part 
 of the Constitution, enjoins tho admission as im- 
 perative, under any circumstances. If it were 
 otherwise, he would reipiest gentlemen to point 
 out what were the circumstances or conditions 
 precedent, which being found to exist, Congresa 
 must admit the new State. All discrelinn would, 
 in such case, be taken from Congress, Mr. F. said, 
 and deliberation would bo useless. The lion, 
 speaker (Mr. Clay) has said that Congress has no 
 right to prescribe any condition whatever to tho 
 newly-organized States, but must admit them by a 
 siiniiie act, leaving their sovcniguty unrestricted. 
 [Here the speaker e.xplaiucil — lie did nit intend 
 to be understood in so broad a sense as Mr. F. 
 stated.] With the explanation of tho honorable 
 gentleman, Mr. F. said, 1 still think his ground aa 
 untenable as before. We certainly have u right, 
 and our duly to the nation requires, that we should 
 examine tho actual state of things in the proposed 
 State; and, above all, the Constitution expre.-isly 
 makes a kepublica.s form of s^overnntrn/ in tho 
 several States a fundamental principle, to be pro- 
 served under the sacred guarantee of the national 
 legislature.— [Art. 4, sec. 4.] It clearly, therefore, 
 is the duty of Congress, before admitting a new 
 sister into the Union, to ascertain that her consti- 
 tution or form of government is republican. Now, 
 sir, the amendment proposed by the gentleman 
 from New York, Mr. Tallmadge, merely requiree 
 that Slavery shall be probibited in Missouri. Does 
 this imjjly anything more than that its constitu- 
 tion shall be republican .' The existence of Slavery 
 in any State is, so far, a departure from rejiubii- 
 can priiHiiples. The Declaration of Independence, 
 penned by the illustrious statesman then, and at 
 this time, a citizen of a State which admits Slave- 
 ry, defines the principle on which our naticinal 
 and state constitutions are all professedly founded. 
 The second paragraph of that instrument begins 
 thus : " We hold these truths to be self evident — 
 that all men arc created equal — that they arc en- 
 dowed by their Creator with certain unalienable 
 rights; that among these are life, LinEUTY, and 
 the pursuit of happiness.'' Since, then, it cannot 
 be denied that slaves are men, it follows that they 
 are, in a purely republican government, born//-c<;, 
 and are entitled to liberty and the pursuit of hap- 
 piness. [Mr. Fuller was hen; interrupted by seve- 
 ral gentlemen, who thought it improper to ques- 
 tion in debate the republican character of the 
 slave-holding States, which had also a tendency, 
 as one gentleman (Mr. Colston, of Virginia) said, 
 to deprive those States of the right to hold slaves 
 as property, and he adverted to the probability 
 that there might be slaves in the gallery, listening 
 to the debate.] Mr. F. assured the gentleman 
 that nothing Wius farther from his thoughts, than 
 to question on that floor, the right of Virginia and 
 other States, which held slaves when tho Cousti- 
 
10 
 
 THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 
 
 tutioa was established, to continue to hold them. 
 S\'ith tliat subject the National LeKis<latuie could 
 not iutirfere, and ought not to attempt it. But, 
 Mr. t'. continued, if gentlemen will be patient, 
 they will see that my remarks will neithcT dero- 
 gate from the constitutional righls of the States, 
 nor from a due respect to their several forma of 
 government. Sir, it is my wish to a/lai/, and not 
 to excite local animosities, but I shall never re- 
 frain from advancing such arguments in debate as 
 my duty requires, nor do I believe that the read- 
 ing of our Declaration of Independence, or a dis- 
 cussion of republican principles on any occasion, 
 can endanger the rights, or merit the disapproba- 
 tion of any porton of the Union. 
 
 My reason, Mr. Chairman, for recurring to the 
 Declaration of our Independence, was to draw 
 from an authority admitted in all parts of the 
 Union, a delinition of the basis of republican 
 government. If, then, all men have equal rights, 
 it can no more comport with the principles of a 
 free government to exclude men of a certain color 
 from the enjoj'ment of " liberty and the pursuit 
 of happiness," than to exclude those who have 
 not attained a certain portion of wealth, or a cer- 
 tain stature of body, or to found the exclusion ou 
 any other capricious or accidental circumstance. 
 Suppose Missouri, before her admission as a 
 State, were to submit to us her Constitution, by 
 "which no person could elect, or be elected to any 
 office, unless he possessed a clear annual income 
 of twenty thousand dollars ; and suppose we had 
 ascertained that only Jive, or a very small num- 
 ber of persons had such an estate, would this be 
 anything more or less than a 7-eal aristocracy , 
 under a form nominally republican ? Election 
 and representation, which some contend are the 
 only essential principles of republics, would exist 
 only in name — a shadow without substance, a 
 body without a soul. But if all the other inhabit- 
 ants were to be made slaves, and mere property 
 of the favored few, the outrage ou principle would 
 be still more palpable. Yet, sir, it is demonstra- 
 ble, that the exclusion of the black population 
 from all political freedom, and making them the 
 property of the whites, is an equally i)alpable in- 
 vasion of 1 ight, and abandonment of principle. If 
 we do this in the admission of new l^^tatcs, we vio- 
 late the Constitution, and we have not now the 
 excuse which existed when our National Constitu- 
 tion was established. Then, to effect a concert 
 of interests, it was proper to make concessions. 
 The Stales where Slavery existed not only claimed 
 the right to continue it, but it was manifest that a 
 general emancipation of slaves could not be asked 
 of them. Their political existence would have 
 been in jeopardy ; both masters and slaves must 
 have been involved in the most fatal conse- 
 quences. 
 
 To guard against such intolerable evils, it is 
 proviiied in the Constitution, "that the migration 
 or imjjortation of such j>ersons, as any of the ex- 
 ■istiiii,' States think proper to admit, shall not be 
 prohibited till 1808."— Art. 1, sec. 9. And it is 
 provided elsewhere, that persons held to service 
 by the laws of any State, shall be given up by 
 other Stales, to which they may have escaped, 
 etc. — Art. 4, sec. 2. 
 
 These provisions effectually recognized the 
 right in the States, which, at the time of framing 
 the Constitution, held the blacks in Slavery, to 
 continue so to hold them until they should think 
 proper to meliorate their condition. The Consti- 
 tution is a compact among all the States then ex- 
 isting, by which certjiin principles of government 
 are established for tlie whole, and for each indi- 
 vidual State. Tlw predomiiinnt principle in both 
 rcs[)ects is, that .\li. mkn are fkke, and have an 
 EQUAL lUGHT TOLiuKinr, and all other privi- 
 leges; or, in other words, the predominant princi- 
 ple is UEi'UBLiCA.sisM, iu its largest sense. But, 
 
 then, the same compact contains certain excep- 
 tions. The States then holding slaves are per- 
 mitted, from the necessity of the case, and for the 
 sake of union, to exclude the republican principle 
 so far, and o/i/y so far, as to retain their slaves in 
 servitude, and also their progeny, as had been the 
 usage, until they should think it proper or safe to 
 conform to the pure principle, by abolishing Sla- 
 very. The compact contains on its face the 
 general principle and the exceptions. But the 
 attempt to extend Slavery to the new States, is in 
 direct violation of the clause, which guarantees 
 a republican form of government to all the States. 
 This clause, indeed, must be construed iu connec- 
 tion with the exceptions before mentioned ; but it 
 cannot, without violence, be applied to any other 
 States than those in which Slavery was allowed 
 at the formation of the Constitution. 
 
 The honorable speaker cites the first clause in 
 the 'id section of the 4th article—" The citizens of 
 each State shall bo entitled to all the privileges 
 and immunities of citizens of the several States," 
 which he thinks would be violated by the condi- 
 tion proposed in the Constitution of Missouri. To 
 keep slaves — to make one portion of the popula- 
 tion the property of another, hardly deserves to 
 be called a privilege, since what is gained by the 
 masters must be lost by the slaves. But, inde- 
 pendently of this consideration, I think the ob- 
 servations already offered to the committee, show- 
 ing that holding the black population in servitude 
 is an exception to the general principles of the 
 Constitution, and cannot be allowed to extend be- 
 yond the fair import of the terms by which that 
 exception is provided, are a sufficient answer to 
 the objection. The gentleman proceeds iu the 
 same train of reasoning, and asks, if Congress can 
 require one condition, how many more can be re- 
 quired, and where these conditions will end .' With 
 regard to a republican constitution, Congress are 
 obliged to require that condition, and that ia 
 enough for the present question ; but I contend, 
 further, that Congress has a right, at their discre- 
 tion, to require any other reasonable condition. 
 Several others were required of Ohio, Indiana, 
 Illinois and Mississippi. The State of Louisiana, 
 which was a part of the territory ceded to us at 
 the same time with Missouri, was required to pro- 
 vide in her Constitution for trials by jury, the writ 
 of habeas corpus, the principles of civil and reli- 
 gious liberty, with several others, peculiar to that 
 State. These, certainly, are none of them more 
 indispensable ingredients in a republican form of 
 government than the equality of privileges of all 
 the population ; yet these have not been denied to 
 be reasonable, and warranted by the National 
 Constitution in the admission of new States. Nor 
 need gentlemen apprehend that Congress will set 
 no reasonable limits to the conditions of admis- 
 sion. In the exercise of their constitutional dis- 
 cretion on this subject, they are, as in all other 
 cases, responsible to the people. Their power to 
 levy direct taxes is not limited by the Couslitn- 
 tion. They may lay a tax of one million of dollars, 
 or of a hundred millions, without violating the 
 letter of the Constitution; but if the latter enor- 
 mous and unreasonable sum were levied, or oven 
 the former, without evident necessity, the people 
 have the power in their own hands — a speedy 
 corrective is found in the return of the elections. 
 Tliis remedy is so certain, that the representatives 
 of Ihc people can never lose sight of it ; and, con- 
 setiuently, an abuse of their powers to any con- 
 siderable extent can never be apprehended. The 
 same reasoning applies to the exercise of all the 
 powers entrusted to Congress, and the admission 
 of new States into the Union is in no respect an 
 exception. 
 
 One gentleman, however, has contended against 
 the amendment, because it abridges the rights of 
 the slaveholding States to transport theii- slaves 
 
THE FIRST MISSOURI STRUGGLE. 
 
 11 
 
 to the new States, for bmIo or otliorwiso. This nr- 
 gumont i« iilttMiiiitfil to ho enforced in viirious 
 •ways, niul imrticuliirlv by tlio cliuii-e in the Con 
 Btit'ntiun Inst ciled. It ndniit-s, however, ot u very 
 flenr iinswtr, hv reeiirrinf,' to the Itlii section ol 
 arlicle \M, wliiJli provides that " tlie mif;ralii>n 
 or iinportutioii of such i.ersons us any ol the States 
 ♦hon existini; shall admit, shall not he i.rnhihiled 
 ■ by Con-ress till I80S.' This (dearly iiniihes that 
 tlio mi-^nntiommiX importation may he prohibited 
 aper that year. The importation has been pro- 
 liil)iled, but thenii;,'iation has not liilherto been re- 
 etrained ; (.^ouiiress, however, may restrain it, when 
 it mav 1)0 jiuh^'ed expedient. It is, indee<l, con- 
 tended l)y ^loIne^'elltlemt•n, that nri','ration is either 
 Bvnonvmous with importation, or tliat it means 
 someliiini; ditVereiit from the traiisportatioii ot 
 Blnves from one State to another. It eeriamly is 
 not aynonyinous with imimrtalion, and would not 
 bnve been used if it had been so. It cannot mean 
 export lit ion, which is also a delinite and precise 
 toim. It cannot mean the reception of/m- blacks 
 from forei^'ii conntriis, as is ulleu'ed by some, be- 
 cause no jiossiblo reason existed for regulatinj; 
 their admission by the Constitution; no free 
 blacks over came from Africa, or any other couii- 
 trv, to tliis; and to introduce the provision by the 
 Bide of that for the importation of slaves, would 
 have been absurd in the highest degree, \yhat 
 alternative remains but to ujiply the term " uii;,'ra 
 tion" to the Li-ansportation of slaves from those 
 States, where they arc admitted to be held, to 
 other States. Such a provision might have in 
 view a very natural object. The price of slaves 
 might be ntleetod so fa'r by a sudden prohibition 
 to iransjiort slaves from State to State, tliat it was 
 as reasonable to guard against that inconvenience 
 ns against the sudden interdiction of the importa- 
 tion. Hitherto it has not been found necessjiry 
 for Congress to prohibit migration or transport- 
 ation from State to State. But now it becomes the 
 right and duty of Congress to guard against the 
 further extension of the intolerable evil and the 
 crving enormity of Slavery. 
 
 The expediency of this measure is very appa- 
 rent. The oi)ening of m\ extensive slave market 
 will tempt the cupidity of those who, otherwise, 
 perhaps, might gradually emancipate their slaves. 
 We have heard much, Mr. Chairman, of the Colo- 
 nization Society ; an institution which is the fa- 
 vorite of the humane gentlemen in the slavehold- 
 ing States. They have long been lamenting the 
 miseries of Slavery, and earnestly seeking for a 
 remedy compatible with their own safety, and the 
 happiness ot their slaves. At last the great deside- 
 ratum is found — a colony in Africa for the eman- 
 cipated blacks. How will the generous intentions 
 of these humane persons be frustrated, if the price 
 of slaves is to be doubled by anew and boundless 
 market! Instead of emancipation of the slaves, 
 it is much to be leared, that unprincipled wretches 
 will be found kidnapping those who are already 
 free, and transporting and selling tlio hapless vic- 
 tims into hopeless bondage. Sir, I really hope 
 tliat Coiifjress will not contribute to discounte- 
 nance and render abortive the generous and phi- 
 lanthropic views of this most worthy and laudable 
 society. Kather let us hope, that the time is not 
 very remote, when the shores of Africa, which 
 h;ivo so long been a scene of barbarous rapacity 
 and savage cruelty, shall exhibit a race of free 
 and enlightened people — the offspring, indeed, of 
 cannibals or of slaves; but displaying the virtues 
 of civilization and the energies of independent 
 freemen. America may then hope to see the de- 
 velopement of a germ, now scarcely visible, cher- 
 ished and matured under the genial warmth of 
 our country's protection, till the fruit shall ai)pear 
 in the regeneration and happiness of a boundless 
 continent. 
 One argument still remains to be noticed. It is 
 
 said, that wo are bound, by tlio treaty of cession 
 with France, to admit the ceded territory into the 
 Union, "as roon as ijossible." It is obvious 
 that tlie I'lesidcnt and Senate, the treaty making 
 power, cannot make u stipulation with any tor- 
 eign nation in derogation of the constitutional 
 powers and iluties of this Houso, by making it 
 imperative on us to admit the new territory uc- 
 eoriling to lh<- literal lem.r of the plira.se; but tllO 
 additional words in the trculy, "according to tho 
 principles ot' the Constitution," put it beyond all 
 doubt that no such compulsory ailmission wu» 
 intended, and that the republican i>riiic,i)les of our 
 Coiislitulion are to govern us in IJie admission of 
 this, as well as all the new Slates, in tho national 
 fiunily. 
 
 Mr. T.vi.LMADGE, of New York, rose — 
 
 Sir, said he, it lins been my desire and my inten- 
 tion to avoid any debate on the present painful 
 and unpleasant subject. When I had the honor 
 to submit to this House the amendinenl now under 
 consideration. I accomnanied it with a declara- 
 tion that it was intendea to conline its operation 
 to the newly ac(iuired territory across the Missis- 
 sippi ; and i then expressly d(;(dared, (hal I would 
 in no nKiiiner intermeddle with the slaviholding 
 States, nor attempt manumission in any one of the 
 original States in the Union. Sir, 1 even went 
 further, and stated that I was aware of the deli- 
 cacy of the subject— and, that I had learned from 
 southern gentlemen the difficulties and the dan- 
 gers of having free blacks intermingling with 
 slaves; and, on that account, and with a view to 
 the safety of the white population of the iidjoining 
 States, i would not even advocate the prohibition 
 of Slavery in the Alabama territory; because, 
 surrounded as it wius by slaveholding States, and 
 with only imaginary lines of division, the inter- 
 course between slaves and free blacks could not 
 be prevented, and a servile war might be the re- 
 sult. Wliile we deprecate and mourn over the 
 evil of Slavery, humanity and good morals reqiuro 
 us to wish its abolition, under circumstances con- 
 sistent with the safety of the white popuhitiou. 
 VVillingly, therefore, will I submit to an evil 
 which we cannot safely remedy. I a<lmilted all 
 that had been said of the danger of having free 
 blacks visible to slaves, and, therefore, tlid not 
 hesitate to pledge myself that I would neither ad- 
 vise nor attempt coercive manumission, liut, sir, 
 all these reasons cea.se when we cross the banks 
 of the Mississippi, into a territory separated by a 
 natural boundary — a newly acquired territory, 
 never contemplated in the formation of our gov- 
 ernment, not included within the compromise or 
 mutual pledge in the adoption of our Constitu- 
 tion—a new territory acquired by our common 
 fund, and ought justly to be subject to our com- 
 mon legislation. 
 
 Sir, when 1 submitted the amendment now 
 under consideration, accompanied with these 
 explanations, and with these avowals of my in- 
 tentions and of my motives— I did expect that 
 gentlemen who might differ from me in opinion 
 would appreciate the liberality of my views, and 
 would meet me with moderation, as upon a fair 
 subject for general legislation. I did expect, at 
 least, that the frank declaration of my views 
 would protect me from harsh expressions, and 
 from the unfriendly imputations wnicli have been 
 cast out on this occasion. liui, sir, such hji3 
 been the character and the violence of this de- 
 bate, and expressions of so much intemperance, 
 and of an aspect so threatening have been used, 
 that continued silence on my part would ill 1)0- 
 come me, who had submitted to this house tho 
 original proposition. While this subject was 
 under debate before the Committee ot llie whole, 
 I did not take the floor, and 1 avail myself of 
 this occasion to acknowledge my obligalious to 
 
12 
 
 THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 
 
 mj' friends (Mr. Taylor and Jlr. Mills) for tho 
 manner in which (hey supported my amendment, 
 at a time when I was unable to partake in the 
 debate. I had only on that day returned from a 
 journey, ioug in its extent and painful in its oc- 
 ca-iion ; and from an affection of my breast I 
 eiiiild not then speak. I cannot yet hope to do 
 ju>tiec to (he subject; but I do hope to say 
 en(mi,'h to assure my friends that I have not left 
 them in the controversy, and to convince the 
 opponents of the measure, that their violence has 
 not driven me from the debate. 
 
 8ir, the hon. gentleman from Missouri (Mr. 
 Scott, who has just resumed his seat, has told us of 
 the ides of March, and has cautioned us to " be- 
 ware of the fate o( C;esar and of Rome." Another 
 gentleman (Mr. Cobb) from Georgia, in addition 
 to other expressions of great warmth, has said, 
 that if we persist, tho Union will be dissolved ; and 
 with a look tixed on me, has told us, '' we have 
 kindled a fire which all the waters of the ocean 
 cannot put out, which seas of blood can only ex- 
 tinguish." 
 
 Language of this sort has no effect on me ; my 
 purpose is fixed, it is interwoven with my ex- 
 istence ; its durability is limited with my life ; it 
 is a great and glorious cause, setting bounds to a 
 slavery the most cruel and debusing the world 
 has ever witnessed ; it is the freedom of man ; it 
 is the cause of unredeemed and uuregenerated 
 human beings. 
 
 If a dissolution of the Union must take place, 
 let it be so ! If civil war, which gentlemen so 
 much threaten, must come, I can only say, let it 
 come ! My hold on life is probably as frail as 
 that of any man who now hears me ; but while 
 that hold lasts, it shall be devoted to the service 
 of my country — to the freedom of man. If blood 
 is necessary to extinguish any fire which I have 
 assisted to kindle, I can assure gentlemen, while 
 I regret the necessity, I shall not forbear to con- 
 tribute my mite. Sir, the violence to which gen- 
 tlemen have resorted on this subject will not 
 inove my purpose, nor drive me from my place. 
 I have the fortune and the honor to stand here as 
 the representative of freemen, who possess in- 
 telligence to know their rights ; who have the 
 spirit to maintain them. Whatever might be my 
 own private sentiments on this subject, standing 
 here as the representative of others, no choice is 
 left me. I know the will of my constituents, and, 
 regardless of consequences, 1 will avow it — as 
 their representative, I will proclaim their hatred 
 to Slavery in every shape — as their representative 
 here will I hold my stand, till this tloor, with the 
 Con.^titutiou of my country which supports it, 
 shall sink beneath me — if I am doomed to fall, I 
 shall, at least, have the painful consolation to be- 
 lieve that I fall, as a fragment, in the ruins of my 
 country. 
 
 Sir, the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Colston) 
 has accused my honorable friend from New 
 Hampshire (Mr. Livermore) of "speaking to the 
 galleries," and by his " language endeavoring to 
 excite a servile war;" and has ended by saying, 
 " he is no better than Arbuthnot and Ainbrister, 
 and deserves no better fate." When I hear such 
 language uttered upon this floor, and within this 
 house, I am constrained to consider it as hasty 
 and unintended language, resulting from the 
 vehemence of debate, and not really intending the 
 personal indecorum the expressions would seem 
 to indicate. [Mr. Colston asked to explain, and 
 Faid ho had not distinctly understood Mr. T. 
 Mr. Livermore called on Mr. C. to state the ex- 
 pressions he had used. Mr. C. then said he had 
 no explanation to give.] Mr. T. said ho had none 
 to ask— he continued to say, he would not be- 
 lieve any gentlenuin on this floor would commit 
 80 great an indecorum against any member, or 
 against tho dignity of this house, as to use such 
 
 expressions, really intending the meaning which 
 the words seem to import, and which had been 
 uttered against the gentleman from New Hamp- 
 shire. [Mr. Nelson, of Virginia, in the Chair, 
 called to order, and said no personal remarks 
 would be allowed.] Mr. T. said he rejoiced the 
 Chair was at length aroused to a sense of its 
 duties. The debate had, for several days, pro- " 
 grossed with uncqualed violence, and all was in 
 order ; but now, when at length this violence on 
 one side is to be resisted, the Chair discovered it 
 is out of order. I rejoice, said Mr. T., at the dis- 
 covery, I approve of the admonition, while I am 
 proud to say it has no relevancy to me. It is 
 my boast that I have never uttered an unfriendly 
 personal remark on this floor; but I wish it dis- 
 tinctly understood, that the immutable laws of 
 self defense will justify going to great lengths, 
 and that, in the "future process of this debate, 
 the rights of defense would be regarded. 
 
 Sir, has it already come to this: that in the 
 Congress of the United States— that, in the legis- 
 lative councils of republican America, the subject 
 of Slavery has become a subject of so much 
 feeling — of such delicacy — of such danger, that it 
 cannot safely be discussed ? Arc members who 
 venture to express their sentiments on this sub- 
 ject, to be accused of talking to the galleries, 
 with intention to excite a servile war ; and of 
 meriting the fate of Arbuthnot and Ambrister? 
 Are we to be told of the dissolution of the Union, 
 of civil war and of seas of blood ? And yet, 
 with such awful threatenings before us, do gen- 
 tlemen, in the same breath, insist upon the en- 
 couragement of this evil ; upon the extension of 
 this monstrous scourge of the human race ? An 
 evil so fraught with such dire calamities to us 
 as individuals, and to our nation, and threaten- 
 ing, in its progress, to overwhelm tho civil and 
 religious institutions of the country, with the 
 liberties of the nation, ought at once to be met, 
 and to be controlled. If its power, its influence, 
 and its impending dangers, have already arrived 
 at such a point, tliat it is not safe to discuss it on 
 this floor, and it cannot now pass under considera- 
 tion as a proper subject for general legislation, 
 what will be the result when it is spread through 
 your widely-extended domain ? Its present 
 threatening aspect, and the violence of its sup- 
 porters, so far from inducing me to yield to its 
 l)rogress, prompt me to resist its march. Now is 
 the time. It must now be met, and the extension 
 of the evil must now be prevented, or the occa- 
 sion is irrecoverably lost, and the evil can never 
 bo controlled. 
 
 Sir, extend your view across the Mississippi, 
 over your newly-acquired territory — a territory 
 so far surpassing, in extent, the limits of your 
 present country, that that country which gave 
 birth to your nation — which achieved your Revo- 
 lution — consolidated your Union — formed your 
 Constitution, and has subsequently acquired so 
 much glory, hangs but as an appendage to the 
 extended empire over which your republican 
 government is now called to bear sway. Look 
 down the long vista of futurity ; see your 
 empire, in extent uncqualed, in advantageous 
 situation without a parallel, and occupying all the 
 valuable part of one continent. Behold this ex- 
 tended empire, inhabited by the hardy sons of 
 American freemen, knowing their rights, and in- 
 heriting the will to protect them — owners of tho 
 soil on which they live, and interested in the in- 
 stitutions which they labor to defend ; with two 
 oceans laving your shores, and tributary to your 
 purposes, bearing on their bosoms the commerce 
 of our people ; compared to yours, the govern- 
 ments of Europe dwindle into insignificance, and 
 the whole world is without a parallel. But, sir, 
 reverse this scene ; people this fair domain with 
 the slaves of your planters ; extend tSlavery, this 
 
THE FIRST MISSOURI STRUGGLE. 
 
 18 
 
 bnno of man, (liin nboiniiintiDii of hfiiveii, over 
 yourcxteiuled einj/iR', iiiiil ymi i.rcpiiro itc diswUn- 
 tioii ; you turn itn iiciuinulukMl KtnMi^'th into 
 
 Eositivo wcnkni^Hs; you clicriisli ii fiinkcr in your 
 roast ; you i)ut poison in your l)os(un ; you piaco 
 a vulture prcyini; on your licart— nay, you wlut 
 tho ilaj:t;fr aii'.l place it in the hands of a portion 
 of youHJopulation, stimulated to use it, by every 
 tie, human and divine. The envious contrast 
 between your happiness and tlieir misery, be- 
 tween your lilierly and their slavery, must con- 
 stantly prompt them to accomplish your destruc- 
 tion. 'Your onomios will Icaru tho source and 
 tlio cause of your weaknes.s. As ot'ten as external 
 (lan},'ers shall threaten, or inlertial commotions 
 awnityou, you will then reali/.c, that by your own 
 procurement, you liavo jdaced amidst your 
 families, and in tho bosom of your country, a 
 population producing; at once tlu^ j^Tcatrst cause 
 of individual dnn;;er, and of national weakness. 
 With this defect, your p)vornment must crumble 
 to pieces, aud your people become tho scoff of 
 tho world. 
 C .Sir, wo have been told, with apparent confi- 
 fA dence, that wo have no ris^ht to amie.x conditions 
 to a State, on its admission into the Union ; and 
 it has been uriccd that the proposed amendment, 
 prohibitinur the further introduction of Slavery, is 
 Vjinconslitutional. This position, asserted with 
 80 much conlidence, rcmams nnsupported by any 
 argument, or by any authority derived from tho 
 Constitution itself. The Constitution stroni,dy in- 
 dicates an opposite conclusion, and seems to con- 
 temi)lato a difference between the old and tho 
 new Slates. The i)ractice of tho government 
 "las sanctioned this difTerence in many respects. 
 
 The third section of the fourth article of the 
 Constitution says, " new Stafex may he odmitfed 
 by the Comjrexs into this Union," and it is silent 
 as to the terms and conditions upon which tho 
 new States may bo so admitted. The fair infer- 
 
 ''encefrom tliis'is, tliat the Congress whicli might 
 admit, should prescribe tho time and the terms 
 of such admission. The tenth section of the first 
 article of tho Constitution says, " tlu; migration 
 or importation of such persons as any of the 
 States NOW KXISTING shall think proper to ad- 
 mit, shall not he prohibited by the Congress prior 
 to the year 1808." The words " now existing" 
 clearly show the distinction for which wo con- 
 tend. The word slave is nowhere mentioned in 
 tho Constitution; but this section has always 
 been considered as applicable to them, and un- 
 questionably reserved tho right to prevent their 
 imjiortation into any iicw State before the year 
 1S08. 
 
 Congress, therefore, have power over the 
 
 subject, probably as a matter of legislation, but 
 
 0^ more ccrtaiidy as a right, to prescribe tho time 
 
 and the comlition upon which any new State 
 
 may bo admitted into the family of the Union. 
 
 ■Sir, the bill now before us proves tho correctness 
 of my argument. It is filled with conditions and 
 limitations. Tho territory is required to take a 
 census, and is to bo admitted only on condition 
 that it have 40,000 inhabitants. 1 have already 
 submitted amondnients preventing tho State from 
 taxing the lands ot the llnited States, and declar- 
 ing that all navigable waters shall remain open 
 to the other States, and bo exempt from any tolls 
 or duties. And my friend (i\Ir. Taylor) has also 
 submitted ainendmonts prohibiting tho State 
 from taxing soldiers' lands for tho period of five 
 years. AikI to ail these amenilineiita wo have 
 lieard no otijeetioii — they have jjassod unani- 
 mously. Hut now, when an amendment, pro- 
 hibiting tho further introduction of Slavery is 
 proposed, tho whole house is put iu agitation, 
 and wo are confidently told it is unconstitutional 
 to annex conditions to tho adniissi(ui of a new 
 State into tho Uiiiou. Tho result of all this is, 
 
 that nil nmendmonts and conditions arc proper, 
 wliich suit a certain classof gentlemen, but wtiat- 
 ever ani« ndnieut is projiowed, which does not 
 comport with their iiilei(!htM or their views, i.s un- 
 ciinstitutional, and a llagrant violation of this 
 sacred charier of our rights. In ordi.-r to be con- 
 sistent, genllenu-n must go back and strike out 
 tho various amenclmentH to which they liavo 
 already agreed. The Constitution applies equally 
 to all, or to none. 
 
 Sir, we have been told thnt this is a new prin- 
 ciple for which we contend, never befiu'o ado|>tod. 
 or thought of So far from this being correct, it 
 is due to the memory of our ancestors to say, it 
 is an old principhi, adooteil by them, as tho 
 jiolicy of onr country. Whenever the United 
 States have had the right and tho power, they 
 have heretofore jircvented tho extension of 
 Slavery. The States of Kentucky (iiid Tennossco 
 wei'e taken off from other States, and were ad- 
 niitl<(l into the Union without condition, because 
 their lands were never owned by tin; United 
 Stales. The Territory northwest of the Ohio is all 
 tin; land which ever belonged to them. Shortly 
 after tho cession of those lands to the Union, 
 Congress passed, in 1787, a compact, whii-h was 
 declared to be unalterable, the sixth article of 
 which provides that " th<:re shall be wither 
 Slavery nor involuntary servitude in the said 
 Territory, otherwise than in the punishment for 
 crimes, whereof tlie parties shall have been duly 
 convicted." In pursuance of this compact, all 
 the States formed from that Territory have been 
 a<lniitfed into the Union upon various conditions, 
 and, amongst which, tho sixth article of this 
 compact is included as one. 
 
 Let gentlemen also advert to the law for tho 
 admission of the State of Louisiana into tho 
 ■4^Jnion : they will find it filled with conditions. It 
 was required not only to form a Constitution upon 
 the i)rinciple8 of a republican government, but 
 it was required to contain tho •' fundamental prin- 
 cipka of civil and religious liberty. ' It was oven 
 reiiuired as a condition of its admission, to keep 
 its records, and its judicial and its legislative 
 procedings in the English language ; and also to 
 secure the trial by jury, and to surrender all 
 claim to unappropriated lands in the Territory, 
 with the prohibition to tax any of tho United 
 States' lands. 
 
 After this long practice and constant usage to 
 annex conditions to the admission of a State into 
 tho Uni(m. will gentlemen yet tell us it is uncon- 
 stitutional, and talk of our principles being novel 
 and extraordinary ? It has been said, that, if this 
 amendment prevails, we shall have an union of 
 States possessing unequal rights. And we havo 
 been asked, whether wo wished to see such a 
 " chequered union ?" Sir, wc have such a union 
 already. If tho prohibition of Slavery is the de- 
 nial ot a right, and constitutes a chequered union, 
 gladly would I behold such rights denied, and 
 such a chequer spread over every State in tho 
 Union. It is now spread over the States north- 
 west of tho Ohio, and forms tho glory and tho 
 strength of those States. I hope it will be ex- 
 tended from tho Mississippi to the Pacific Ocean.' 
 
 Sir, we have been told that tho proposed 
 amendment cannot be received, because it iii 
 contrary to the treaty and cession of Louisiana, 
 " Article ;i Tho inhabitants of tho ceded terri- 
 tory shall bo incorporated in tho Union of the 
 United States, and admitted as soon as possible, 
 ai-iording to the principles of the Federal Con- 
 stitution, to the enjoyment of all the rights ad- 
 vantages, and immunities of citizens of tho 
 United States, and in tho mean time they shall 
 bo maintained and protected in the free enjoy- 
 ment of their liberty, their property, and the re- 
 ligion which they profess.'' I find nothing, said 
 Mr. T., iu this article of tho treaty, iucompatiblo 
 
u 
 
 THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 
 
 with the proposed amendment. The rights, ad- 
 vantages, and immunities of citizens of the 
 United States are guaranteed to the inhabitants 
 of Louisiana. If one of them should choose to 
 remove into Virginia, he could take his slaves 
 with him: but if he removes to Indiana, or any 
 of the States northwest of the Ohio, he cannot 
 take his slaves with him. If the proposed 
 amendment prevail, the inhabitants of Lou- 
 isiana, or the citizens of the United States, can 
 neither of them take slaves into the State of 
 Missouri. All, tlierefore, may enjoy equal privi- 
 leges. It is a disability, or what I call a blessing, 
 annexed to the particular district of country, 
 and in no manner attached to the individual. 
 But, while I have no doubt that the treaty con- 
 tains no solid objection against the proposed 
 amendment, if it did, it would not alter my de- 
 termination on the subject. The Senate, or the 
 ti'caty-making power of our government, have 
 neither the right, nor the power to stipulate by a 
 treaty, the terms upon which a people shall be 
 admitted into the Union. This House have a 
 right to be heard on the subject. The admission 
 of a State into the Union is a Legislative act, 
 which requires the concurrence of all the depart- 
 ments of Legislative power. It is an important 
 prerogative of this House, which I hope will 
 never be surrendered. 
 
 The zeal and the ardor of gentlemen, in the 
 course of this debate, have induced them to an- 
 nounce to this house, that, if we persist and force 
 the state of Missouri to accede to the proposed 
 amendment, as the condition of her admission 
 into the Union, she will not regard it, and, as 
 Boon as admitted, will alter her constitution, and 
 introduce Slavery into her territory. Sir, I am 
 not prepared, nor is it necessary to determine, 
 what would be the consequence of such a viola- 
 tion of faith — of such a departure from the funda- 
 mental condition of her admission into the 
 Union. I would not cast upon a people so foul 
 an imputation, as to believe they would be guilty 
 of such fraudulent duplicity. The States north- 
 west of the Ohio have all regarded the faith and 
 the conditions of their admission : and there is no 
 reason to believe the people of Missouri will not 
 also regard theirs. But, sir, whenever a State 
 admitted into the Union shall disregard and set 
 at naught the fundamental conditions of its ad- 
 mission, and shall, in violation of all faith, un- 
 dertake to levy a tax upon lands of the United 
 States, or a toll upon their navigable waters, or 
 introduce Slavery, where Congress have prohi- 
 bited it, then it will be in time to determine the 
 consequence. But, if the threatened consequence 
 were known to be the certain result, yet would I 
 insist iipon the proposed amendment. The de- 
 claration of this house, the declared will of the 
 nation to prohibit Slavery, would produce its 
 moral efi'ect, and stand as one of the brightest 
 ornaments of our country. 
 
 Sir, it has been urged with great plausibility, 
 that we should spread the slaves now in our 
 country, and thus spread the evil, rather than 
 confine it to its present districts. It has been 
 said, we should thereby diminish the dangers 
 from them, while we increase the means of their 
 living, and augment their comforts. But, you 
 may rest assured, that this reasoning is fallacious, 
 and that, while Slavery is admitted, the market 
 will be supplied. Our coast, and its contiguity 
 to the West Indies and the Spanish possessions, 
 render easy the introduction of slaves into our 
 country. Our laws are already highly penal 
 against their introduction, and yet it is a well- 
 known fact, that about fourteen thousand slaves 
 have been brought into our country this last 
 year. 
 
 Since we have been engaged in this debate, we 
 bavo witnessed an olucidution of this argument, 
 
 of bettering the conditions of slaves, by spread- 
 ing them over the country. A slave-driver, a 
 trafBcker in human flesh, as if sent by Provi- 
 dence, has passed the door of your capilol, on his 
 way to the West, driving before him about fif- 
 teen of these wretched victims of his power col- 
 lected in the couise of his trafSo, and by their 
 removal, torn from every relation and from every 
 tie which the human heart can hold dear. The 
 males, who might raise the arm of vengeance, 
 and retaliate for their wrongs, were hand-cufled 
 and chained to each other, while the females and 
 children were marched in their rear, under the 
 guidance of the driver's whip ! Yes, sir, such 
 has been the scene witnessed from the windows 
 of Congress Hall, and viewed by members who 
 compose the legislative councils of republican 
 America ! 
 
 In the course of the debate on this subject, we 
 have been told that, from the long habit of the 
 southern and western people, the possession of 
 slaves has become necessary to them, and an es- 
 sential requisite in their living. It has been 
 urged, from the nature of the chmate and soil of 
 the southern countries, that the lands cannot be 
 occupied or cultivated without slavt s. It has 
 been said that the slaves prosper in those places, 
 and that they are much better off there than in 
 their own native country. We have ever been 
 told that if we succeed and prevent Slavery across 
 the Mississippi, we shall greatly lessen the value 
 of property there, and shall retard, for a long 
 series of years, the settlement of that country. 
 
 Sir, said Mr. T., if the western country camiot 
 be settled without slaves, gladly would 1 prevent 
 its settlement till time shall be no more. If this 
 class of arguments is to prevail, it sets all morals 
 at defiance, and we are called to legislate on this 
 subject as a matter of mere personal interest. If 
 this is to be the case, repeal all your laws prohi- 
 biting the slave-trade ; throw open this trafhc to 
 the commercial States of the East ; and if it bet- 
 ter the condition of these wretched beings, invite 
 the dark population of benighted Africa to be 
 translated to the shores of republican America. 
 But I will not cast upon this or upon that gentle- 
 man an imputation so ungracious as the conclu- 
 sion to which their arguments would necessarily 
 tend. I do not believe any gentleman on this 
 floor would here advocate the slave-trade ; or 
 maintain in the absti'act the principles of Slave- 
 ry. I will not outrage the decorum, nor insult 
 the dignity of this house, by attempting to ai-gue 
 in this place, as an abstract proposition, the 
 moral right of Slavery. How gladly would the 
 " legitimates of Europe chuckle," to find an 
 American Congress in debate on such a ques- 
 tion ! 
 
 As an evil brought upon us without our own 
 fault, before the formation of our government, 
 and as one of the sins of that nation from wliich 
 we have revolted, we must of necessity legislate 
 upon this subject. It is our business so to legis- 
 late as never to encourage, but always to con- 
 trol, this evil ; and, while we strive to eradicate 
 it, we ought to fix its limits, and render it subor- 
 dinate to the safety of the white population, and 
 the good order of civil society. 
 
 Sir, on this subject the eyes of Europe are 
 turned upon you. You boast of the freedom of 
 your constitution and your laws, you have pro- 
 claimed, in the Declaration of Indepeudence, 
 " That all men are created equal ; tliuL tkci/ are 
 endowed by their Creator with certain nnalicna- 
 ble rights — that amongst these are life, liberty, 
 and the pursuit of happiness ;" and yet yon have 
 slaves in your country. The enemies of your 
 government, find the legitimates of Europe, point 
 to your iuconsistencies, and blazon your supposed 
 defects. If you allow Slavery to pass into terri- 
 tories where you have the lawful power to ex- 
 
THE FIRST MISSOURI STRUGGLE. 
 
 IS 
 
 elude it, you will justly tnko upon youifclf nil 
 thechnrges of iiiconsiHtoncy ; but confiuo itto tlio 
 ori};inttl Kliivt-lioldinj,' Stiitca, wlierc you found it j 
 at the foniiiitiou of your (foyonuneut, and you i 
 6fiiti(l (ic(|uitti!d of niriuiputiitiou. 
 
 This 18 11 8ul))cct upon which I have ^roit f'^fl- 
 ing for tho h.Inor of my country. In n former 
 debate upon the Illinois conHliluiion, I menlion- 
 ed tlmt our ouiniies hiul driiwn ii picture of our 
 country, us liolilinj; in one li'ind the Declanition 
 of Indcpeiidenee, and witli the other brandisliin;; 
 a whiji over our alVrif^lited shives. I then made 
 it my boast that wo could east back upon Kn;;- 
 land the acousalion— tliat she had ciuumitted the 
 ori!;iiuil sin of bringfinf; slaves into our country. 
 I have since received, throntjh the post (illice, a 
 letter post marked in South Carolina, and aifjned 
 "yl Hdlivc of En«;l(tnil," dv^'mw^ that, when I 
 had occasion to rci)eat my boast against England, 
 I would also state that she had atoned for lier 
 original sin. by establishing in her slave-colonies 
 a system of humane laws, meliorating their con- 
 dition, and providing for their safety, while 
 America had counnilted the secondary sin of dis- 
 regarding their condition, and had even provided 
 laws, by which it was not murder to kill a slave. 
 Sir, I felt the severity of the reproof; I felt for 
 my country. I have inquired on the subject, 
 and I tind such were formerly the laws iu some 
 of the slavoholding States ; and that even now, 
 in the State of South Carolina, by law, the pen- 
 alty of death is provided for stealing a slave, 
 ■wliih< the murder of a slave is punished with a 
 trivial fine. Such is the contrast and tho relative 
 value which is placed, in the opinion of a slave- 
 holding State, between tho property of the mas- 
 ter and the life of a slave. 
 
 Sir, gentlemen have undertaken to criminate, 
 and to draw odious contrasts between different 
 sections of our country — I shall not combat such 
 arguments ; I have made no pretense to exclusive 
 morality on this subject, cither for myself or my 
 constituents; nor have I cast any imi)utations 
 on others. On the contrary, I hold that msm- 
 kind under like circumstances are alike, the 
 world over. The vicious and unprincipled are 
 contined to no district of country and it is for 
 this portion of the community wo are bound to 
 legislate. When honorable gentlemen inform us 
 we overrate tho cruelty and the dangers of 
 Slavery, and tell us that their slaves arc happy, 
 and contented, and would even contribute to 
 their safety, ihey tell us but very little ; they do 
 not tell us, that, while their slaves are happy, 
 the slaves of some depraved and cruel wretch in 
 their neighborhood may not be stimulated to re- 
 venge, and thus involve the country in ruin. If 
 we had to legislate only for such gentlemen as 
 are now embraced within my view, a law against 
 robbing tho mail would be a disgrace upon the 
 nation ; and, as useless, I would tear it from the 
 
 Eages of your statute book ; yet sad experience 
 as taught us the necessity of such laws — and 
 honor, justice, and policy teach us the wisdom 
 of legislating to limit the extension of Slavery. 
 
 In the zeal to draw sectional contrasts, we have 
 bceu told by one gentleman, that gentlemen from 
 one district of country talk of their morality, 
 while those of another practice it. And the su- 
 perior liberality has been asserted of Southern 
 gentlemen over those of tho North, iu all contribu- 
 tions to moral institutions, for bible and mission- 
 arj' societies. Sir, I understand too well the pur 
 suit of my purpose, to be decoyed and drawn off 
 info the discu.ssion of a collateral subject. I 
 have no inclination to controvert these assertions 
 of comparative liberality. Although I have no 
 idea they are founded in fact, yet, because it bet- 
 ter suits the object of my present argument, I 
 will, on this occasion, admit them to tlie fullest 
 eitent. Aud what is the result? Southern geu- 
 
 tlomcn, by their supcror liberality in contribu- 
 tions to moral institutions, justly stand in the 
 first rank, and hold tho first place in the brightest 
 page in the history of our country. IJut, turn 
 over this page. an<l what do you behold ? You 
 behold them eontributiiig to "teach the doctrines 
 of ("hrislianity in every (lu)n'ter of the globe. 
 You behold tliciM legislating to secure tlie ig- 
 norance and stui)i<lily of their own slave.') ! You 
 beh(dd them, prescribing, by law, penalties 
 against the man that dares teacli a ni'gro to rend. 
 Such is the statute law of the State of Virginia. 
 [Mr. Hassett and Mr. Tyler said that tljere was 
 no such law in Virginia. 1 
 
 No, said Mr. T., I have mis spoken myself; I 
 ought to have said, such is tho statute law of Iho 
 State of (leorgia. Yes, while wo hear of a 
 liberality which civilizes tho savages of all 
 countries, and carries tho gospel alike to tho 
 Hottentot and the Hindoo, it has been reserved 
 for tho republican State of Georgia, not content 
 with the care of its overseers, to legislate to bo- 
 eure tho oppression and tho ignorance of their 
 slaves. The man who there teaches a negro to 
 read, is liabli^ to a criininal prosecution. Tho 
 dark, benighted beings of all creation profit by 
 our liberality — save those of our own plantations. 
 Where is tho missionary who possesses suflicicnt 
 hardihood to venture a residence to teach the 
 slaves of a plantation ? Here is the stain \ Hero 
 is the stigma ! which fastens upon tho character 
 of our country ; and which, iu tho appropriate 
 language of tho gentleman from Georgia, (Mr. 
 Cobb.) all the icaters of the ocean cannot wash, 
 out ; ivhich seas of blood can only take away. 
 
 Sir, there is yet another, and an important 
 point of view, in which this subject ought to be 
 considered. Wo have been told by those who 
 advocate the extension of Slavery into the Mis- 
 souri, that any attempt to control this subject by 
 legislation, is a violation id' that faith and mu- 
 tual confidence upon which our Union was 
 formed, and our Constitution adopted. This ar- / 
 gument might be considered plausible, if the / 
 restriction was attempted to be enforced against 
 any of the slavoholding States, which had been a 
 party in the adoption of the Constitution. But 
 it can have no reference or application to a new 
 district of country recently acquired, and never 
 contemplated in the formation of government, 
 and not embraced in the mutual concessions and 
 declared faith upon which the Constitution waa 
 adopted. The Constitution provides, that the 
 liepresentativea of tho several States to this 
 House shall be according to their number, in- 
 eluding threcfifths of the slaves in the respective 
 Slates. This is an impoi'tant benefit yielded to 
 the slavoholding States, as one of the mutual 
 sacrifices for tho Union. On this subject, I con- 
 sider the faith of the Union pledged, and I never 
 would attempt coercive manumission iu a slave- 
 holding State. 
 
 But none of the causes which induced the 
 sacrifice of this principle, and which now produce 
 such an unequal representation on this floor, of 
 the free population of the country, exist as be- 
 tween us and the iiewlyacquirod Territory 
 across tho Mississippi. That portion of country 
 has no claims to such an unequal rejireseutation, 
 unjust in its results upon tho other States. Are 
 the numerous slaves iu extensive countries, which 
 we may acquire by purchase, and admit as States 
 into the Union, at once to bo represented on this 
 floor, under a clause of tho Constitution, granted 
 ixn a compromiso and a benefit to the southern 
 States which had borne part in tho lievoUition ? 
 Such an extension of that clause in the Constitu- 
 tion would bo unjust in its operations, unequal in 
 its results, and a violation of its original intention. 
 Abstract from the moral effects of Slavery, ita 
 political consequence in the represeutation under 
 
16 
 
 THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 
 
 this clause of the Constitution, demonstrate the 
 importance of the proposed amendment. 
 
 Sir, I shall bow in silence to the will of the 
 majority, on whichever side it shall be expressed : 
 yet I confidently hope that majority will be 
 found on the side of an amendment, so replete 
 with moral consequences, so prcguaut with im- 
 portant political results. 
 
 Mr. Scott, of Missouri, said, he trusted 
 that his conduct, durin|2f the whole of the time 
 in which he had the honor of a scat in the House, 
 had convinced gentlemen of his disposition not 
 to obtrude his sentiments on any other subjects 
 than those on which the intercut of his consti- 
 tuents, and of tiie Territory he represented, were 
 immediately concerned. I3ut when a question 
 such as the amendmeufs proposed by the gentle- 
 men from Now York (Messrs. Tailmadge and 
 Taylor), was presented for consideration, in- 
 volving constitutional principles to a vast 
 amount, pregnant with the future fate of the 
 Territory, portending destruction to the liberties 
 of that people, directly bearing on their rights of 
 property, their state rights, their all, he should 
 consider it as a dereliction of his duty, as retreat- 
 ing from his post, nay, double criminality, did 
 he not raise his voice against their adoption. 
 After the many able and luminous views that 
 had been taken of this subject, by the speaker of 
 the House, and other honorable gentlemen, he 
 had not the vanity to suppose that any additional 
 views which he could offer or any new dress in 
 ■which he could clothe those already advanced, 
 would have the happy tendency of inducing any 
 gentleman to change his vote. But, if he stood 
 single on the question, and there was no man to 
 help him, yet, while the laws of the laud and the 
 rules of the House guaranteed to him the privi- 
 lege of speech, he would redeem his conscience 
 from the imputation of having silently witnessed 
 a violation of the Constitution of his country, 
 and an infringement on the liberties of the 
 people who had intrusted to his feeble abilities 
 the advocation of their rights. He desired, at 
 this early stage of his remarks, in the name of 
 the citizens of Missouri Territory, whose rights 
 on other subjects had been too long neglected 
 and shamefully disregarded, to enter his solemn 
 protest against the introduction, under the in- 
 sidious form of amendment, of any principle in 
 this bill, the obvious tendency ot which would 
 be to sow the seeds of discord in, and perhaps 
 
 /f eventually endanger the Union. 
 
 I Mr. S. entertained the opinion, that, under the 
 Constitution, Congress had not the power to im- 
 pose this, or any other restriction, or to require 
 of the people of Missouri their assent to this con- 
 dition, as a pre requisite to their admission into 
 the Union. Ho contended this from the language 
 of the Constitution itself, from the practice in the 
 admission of new States under that instrument, 
 and from the express terms of the treaty of ces- 
 sion. The short view he intended to take of 
 th6se points would, ho trusted, be satisfactory to 
 all those who wore not so anxious to usurp power 
 as to sacrifice to its attainment the principles of 
 our government, or who were not desirous of 
 prostrating the rights and independence of a 
 State to chimerical views of policy or expediency. 
 The authority to admit new States into the Union 
 was granted in the third section of the fourth ar- 
 ticle of tlio Constitution, which declared that 
 I' new States my be admitted by the Congress 
 into the Union." ',Pb©~aulj power given to the 
 Congress by this section appoareJ to_ him to 
 be, that of passing a law for the admission of 
 the new State, leaving it in possession of all the 
 rights, privileges, and immunities, enjoyed by 
 the other States ; the most valuable' and promi- 
 nent of which was that of forming and modifying 
 
 their own State Constitution, and over which 
 Congress had no superintending control, other 
 than that expressly given in the fourth section of 
 the same article, which read, " the United States 
 shall guarantee to every State in this Union a 
 republican form of government." This end ac- 
 complished, the guardianship of the United 
 States over the Constitutions of the several States 
 was fulfilled ; and all restrictions, limitations and 
 conditions beyond this, was so much power un- 
 warrantably assumed. In illustration of this 
 position, he would read an extract from one of 
 the essays written by the late President Madison, 
 contemporaneously with the Constitution of the 
 United States, and from a very celebrated work : 
 "In a confederacy founded on republican prin- 
 ciples, and composed of republican members, 
 the superintending government ought clearly to 
 possess authority to defend the system against 
 aristocratic or monarchical innovations. The 
 more intimate the nature of such an Union may 
 be, the greater interest have the members in the 
 political institutions of each other, and the greater 
 right to insist that the foims of government un- 
 der which the compact was entered into, should 
 be substantially maintained. But this authority 
 extends no further than to a guarantee of a re- 
 publican form of government, which supposes a 
 pre-existing government of the form which is to 
 be guaranteed. As long, therefore, as the ex- 
 isting republican forms are continued by the 
 States, they are guaranteed by the Federal Con- 
 stitution. Whenever the States may choose to 
 substitute other republican forms, they have a 
 right to do so, and to claim the Federal guarantee 
 for the latter. The only restriction imposed on 
 them is, that they shall not exchange republican 
 for anti-republican Constitutions; a restriction 
 which, it is presumed, will hardly be considered 
 as a grievance." 
 
 Mr. S. thought that those two clauses, when 
 supported by such high authority, had they been 
 the only ones in the Constitution which related 
 to the powers of the general government over 
 the States, and particularly at their formation and 
 adoption into the Union, could not but be deemed 
 satisfactory to a reasonable extent ; but there 
 were other provisions in the Constitution, to 
 which he would refer, that beyond all doubt, to 
 his mind, settled the question. One of those was 
 the tenth article in tho amendments, which said 
 that " the powers not delegated to the United 
 States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it 
 to the States, are reserved to the States respec- 
 tively or to the people." He believed that, by 
 common law, and common usage, all grants giv- 
 ing certain defined and specific privileges, or 
 powers, were to be so construed as that no others 
 should be intended to be given but such as were 
 particularly enumerated in the instruments them- 
 selves, or indispensably necessary to carry into 
 effect those designated. In no part of the Consti-"? 
 tution was the power proposed to be exercised, of i 
 imposing conditions on anew State, given, either / 
 in so many words, or by any justifiable or fair ( 
 inference ; nor in any portion of the Constitution ' 
 was tho right prohibited to the respective States, 
 to regulate their own internal police, of admitting 
 such citizens as they pleased, or of introducing 
 any description of property, that they should con- 
 sider as essential or necessary to their prosperity; 
 and the framers of that instrument seem to have 
 been zealous lest, by implication or by inference, 
 powers might be assumed by the general govern- 
 ment over the states and people, other than those 
 expressly given : hence they reserve in so many 
 terms to the states, and the people, all powers not 
 delegated to the federal government. The ninth 
 article of the amendments to the Constitution 
 still furtlier illustrated the position he had taken ; 
 it read, that " the emimoratiou in the Constitution 
 
THE FlUST MISSOURI STUUCJCiLE. 
 
 17 
 
 offorta'm ri;;litrt bIiiiII not ho construotl todonyor 
 di«imrii';o nilici-x retained \>y llie jieoplo." Mr. 
 S. beliuved il to hu a Jiint ri'ilo of interi>retiiti(in, 
 that tlie eimineralinii of powers dele;,'iited to Con 
 gross wcakenud their mithority in all cases not 
 eiunnorated ; and that boyond llioso jiowerw enu- 
 merated iliey had none, except tliey were essen- 
 tially necessary to carry into efVecl tiiose that 
 were j,'iven. Tho second se(^lioM of tlio fourth 
 [ nrti<'le of the (Nmslitulion, wijicli declared that 
 I " the cilizt-ns of each Si ale i^liall he ciititlc(i to all 
 \ the priv.le^'cs and ininimiilies of citizens in the 
 isuver.d Stales," was saiistactory, to his judf;ment, 
 that it was intended tho citizens of each Stale, 
 forniin;; a part u( one harmonious whole, should 
 Lave, in all lUuiii:i,f</iiti/ pi iri/ii,'rx ; the necessary 
 constcim-nces of which was, that every man, in 
 his own Slate, should have the same ri;,dits, privi 
 Jei,'cs, and powers, that any other cilizeii of the 
 United Stales had in his own Slate ; otherwise dis- 
 1 content and inunnurings would prevail nfrainst 
 , the general government who hail dejjrived him 
 of this equality. 
 
 '. For example, if the citizens of Pennsylvania, 
 /'or Virginia, enjoyed tho right, in their own Slate, 
 ', to decide the question whether they would have 
 I Slavery or noi, the citizens of Missouri, to give 
 ; them (he same privileges, must have the same 
 / right to decide whether they would or would not 
 /^tolerate Slavery in their State; if it were other- 
 wise, then the citizens of Pennsylvania and 
 Virginia would have more rights, privileges, 
 and powers in their respective States, than 
 tho citizens of Missouri would have in theirs. 
 Mr. S. said he would make another quolatmn 
 from I lie same work he had before been indebted 
 to, which ho believed had considerable bearing 
 on liiis question. "Tho powers delegated 
 by the proposed constitution, to the federal gov- 
 ernmcui, are few and delined ; those which are to 
 remain in the State Governments, are numerous 
 and indetiniie ; the former will be exercised prin- 
 cipally on external objects, as war, jwace, nego- 
 liaiion, and foreign commerce, with which last 
 tho powers of ta.xation will, for the most part, be 
 connected. The powers reserved to the several 
 Stales Will extend to all the objects, which in the 
 ordinary course of afi'airs concern the lives, liber- 
 ties, and properties of the people, and the internal 
 order, improvement, and prosperity of the State.'' 
 Tiic apid.cabilily of this doctrine to the question 
 under consideration was so obvious, that he 
 woulil not detain the House to give examples, 
 but leave it for gentlemen to make the applica- 
 tion. He would, however, make one other refer- 
 ence to the Constitution, before he proceeded to 
 speak of the practice under it; in the second sec- 
 tion of tliat instrument it was provide<l, that 
 " rei)reseiitatives, and direct taxes, shall be ap- 
 
 Corlioiied among the several States which may 
 e included wiihin this Union, according to their 
 respective numbers, which shall be determined 
 by addmg 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." This provision was 
 not restricted to the States then formed, and about 
 to adopt the Constitution ; but to all those States 
 whicli in/;,'kl be included within this Union, 
 clearly contemplating the admission of new States 
 thereafler, and i)roviding. that to them, also, 
 shmild tlii8 principle of representation and taxa- 
 tion equally apply. Nor could he sub.scribo to 
 the construction, that as this )iart of the Constitu- 
 tion was matter of compromise, it was to be lim- 
 ited ill its application to the original States only, 
 and not to bo extended to all those States that 
 might alter its adoption become members of the 
 Federal Union ; and a practical exposition had 
 been made by Congress of this ))art of the Consti- 
 tution, in the admission of Kentucky, Louisiana, 
 
 ■ and MissisBippi Stntes, nil of whom were slavo- 
 l holding Stales, and to oatdi of them this principle 
 hail been e.xleiidod. 
 
 Mr. S. believ<-d, that tho practice un<ler the 
 Coiistitnlion had been dilVerenl from that now 
 contended I'or by gentlemen ; he was unai)|>rised 
 (d' any similar provision liaving ever been made, 
 or atlemiited to be made, in ndation to any olhiT 
 new Slate heretofore admilled. The argument 
 drawn from the Slates I'canied out of the 'I'errilory 
 northwest of the river Ohio, he diil not consider 
 as analogous ; that restriction, if any, was im- 
 posed in pursuance of a conipaci, and only, bo 
 tar as Congress coulii do, carried into ellect the 
 disposition of Virginia in reference to a pail oi 
 her own original Territory, and was, in ev«-ry 
 respect, more just, because that provision waH 
 made and published to the worM al a time when 
 bill ffW, il any, sellleiiieiits were formed wiihin 
 that Iracl of coiinlry ; and the children of those 
 jieople of cohu' belonging to the iiiliabilaiils then 
 there have been, ami still were, held in bondage, 
 and were not free at a given age, as was contem- 
 plated by the anicndnunit under consiih'ration, 
 nor did he doubt but that it was comiietent for 
 any of those States admitted in pursuance of llie 
 ordinance of '87, to call a convention, and so to 
 alter their constitution as to idlow the introduc- 
 tion of Slaves, if they thought proiier to do so. 
 To those geiillemen who had in their argunnnt, 
 in support of the amendments, adverte<l to the 
 instance wiure Con^rress had, by the law author- 
 izing the people of Louisiana to form a constitu- 
 tion and Slate government, exercised the power 
 of imposing the terms and conditions on which 
 tiny slnmld be permitted to do so, he would re- 
 commend a careful examination and (-omparisoii 
 of those terms with the Coiislilution of the 
 UniliMi States, when, he doubled not, they would 
 be convinced that these restrictions were only 
 such as were in express and positive language 
 detined in the latter instrument, and would have 
 been (.'(puilly binding on the peoi)le of ].iuuisiana 
 had they not been enumerated in the law giving 
 them authority to form a coustitulion for them- 
 selves. 
 
 Mr. S. said, he considered the contemplated 
 conditions and restrictions, contained in the pro- 
 posed amendments, to bo unconstitutional and 
 unwarrantable, from the jirovisions of the treaty 
 of cession, by tlie third article of which it was 
 stipulated, that " the inhabitants of the ceded 
 Territory shall be incorporated in llic Union of 
 the United States, and aduiitled, as soon as jios- 
 sible, according to the principles of the Federal 
 Constitution, to the enjoyment of all the rights, 
 advantages, and immunities of citizens ol tlie 
 United States, and, in the mean time, they shall 
 be maintained aiul protected in the free enjoy 
 iiieiit of ttieir liberty, property, and the religion 
 which they jirofess." 
 
 This treaty having been made by the compe- 
 tent authority of government, ratified by the JSeii- 
 ate, and emphatically sanctioned by Congress in 
 the acts making appropriations to carry it into 
 etl'ect, became a part of the supreme law of the 
 land, and its bearings on the riglits of the people 
 had received a practical exposition by tlie ad- 
 missicni of the Stale of Louisiana, jiart of tlic 
 same Territory, and acquired by the same treaty 
 of cession, into the Union. It was in vain for 
 gentlemeu to fell him that, by tlie terms of tho 
 treaty of cession, the UniteU Slates were not 
 bound to admit any part of tho ceded Territory 
 into the Union as a State ; the evidence of the 
 (d)ligation Congress considered they were under, 
 to adopt Stales funned out of that Territory, is 
 clearly deducibio Iroin the fact, that they had 
 done so in tho instance of Louisiana. iJut, had 
 no Stale been admitted, formed of a part of the 
 Territory acquired by that treaty, the obligation 
 
18 
 
 THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 
 
 of the government to do so would not be tlie less 
 njipnreiit to him. " The inlinbitants of tlio ceded 
 Territory sliiill be incorpor.-itcd in the Union of 
 the United Stntes." Tlie people were not left to 
 tlie wayward discretion of this, or any other gov- 
 ernment, by saying that they viay he incorporaled 
 ill the Union. The language was diflferent and 
 imperative: '■' thiy ahnll be incorporaled." Islv. 
 Scott understood by the term incorporated^ that 
 they were to form a constituent part of this re- 
 public; that th((y were to become joint partners 
 in the character and councils of the country, and 
 in the national losses and national gains ; as a 
 Territory they were not an essential part of the 
 government ; they were a mere province, subject 
 to the acts and regulations of the general govern- 
 ment in all cases whatsoever. As a Territory 
 they had not all the ris;htsi, advantages and im- 
 wnniiiex, of citizens of the United States. Mr. 
 S. himself furnished an example, that, in their 
 present condition, they had not all the rights of 
 the other citizens of the Union. Had he a vote 
 in this House ? and yet these people were, during 
 tlie war, subject to certain taxes imposed by Con- 
 gress. Had those people any voice to give in the 
 imposition of taxes to which they were subject, 
 or in the disposition of the funds of the nation, 
 and jiarticularly those arising from the sales of 
 the i)ublic lands to whii^h they already had, and 
 still would largely contribute? Had they a 
 voice to give in selecting the officers of this gov- 
 ernment, or many of their own ? In short, in 
 what had they equal rishts, advantages, and. im- 
 miinities with the other citizens of the United 
 States, but in the privilege to submit to a pro- 
 crastination of then- right's, and in the advantage 
 to subscribe to your laws, your rules, your taxes, 
 and your powers, even without ahearing ? Those 
 people were also " to be admitted into the Union 
 as soon as possible." Mr. Scott would infer from 
 this expression, that it was the understanding of 
 the parties, that so soon as any portion of the 
 Territory, of sufficient extent to form a State, 
 should contain the number of inhabitants requir- 
 ed by law to entitle them to a representative on 
 the floor of this House, that they then had the 
 right to make the call for admission, and this ad- 
 mission, when made, was to be, not on conditions 
 that gentlemen might deem expedient, not on 
 conditions referable to future political views, not 
 on conditions that the constitution the people 
 should form should contain a clause that would 
 particularly open the door for emigration from 
 tlio North or from the South, not on condition that 
 tlie future population of the State should come 
 from a slaveholding or nou-slaveholding State, 
 " biit according to the principles of the Federal 
 Constitution," and none other. The people of 
 Missouri were, by solemn treaty stipulation, when 
 admitted, to enjoy all the rights, advantages, and 
 immunities of citizens of the United States. Can 
 any gentleman contend, that, laboring under the 
 propii.sed restriction, the citizens of Missouri 
 would have all the rights, advantages, and im- 
 munities of other citizens of the Union ? Have 
 not other new States, in their admission, and 
 have not all the States in the Union, now, privi 
 leges and rights beyond what was contemplated 
 to he allowed to the citizens of Missouri ? Have 
 not all other States in this government the right 
 to alter, modify, amend, and change their state 
 «onstituti(nis, having regard alone to a republican 
 form.' And was there any existing law, or any 
 clau.-^e in the Federal Constitution, that prohibit- 
 ed a totid change from a slaveholding to a non- 
 ftlaveholdiiig State, or from a non-slaveholdingto 
 a slaveholding State / Mr. Scott thought, that if 
 this provision was proper, or within the powers 
 of Congress, they also had the correlative right 
 to say, that the people of Missouri should not be 
 admitted as a state, unless they provided, in the 
 
 formation of their state constitution, that Slavery 
 should be tolerated. Would not those (conscien- 
 tious giMitlenien startle at this, and exclaun, irhat, 
 impose on those people slaves, when they do not 
 want them ? This would be said to be a direct 
 attack on the State indejiendence. Was it in the 
 powei- of Congress to annex the present condi- 
 tion. Mr. Scott deemed it equally within the scope 
 of their authority to say, what color the inhabit- 
 ants of the jiropdsetl state should be, what de- 
 scription of jiroperfv, other than slaves, those 
 people should or should not possess, and the 
 quantity of projjerty each man should retain, 
 going upon the agrarian principle. He would 
 even go further, and say, that Congress had an 
 equal power to enact to what religion the people 
 should subscribe ; that none other should be pro- 
 fessed, and to pnjvide for the e.xcommuuication 
 of all those who did not submit. 
 
 The people of Missouri were, if admitted into 
 the Union, to come in on an equal footing with 
 the original States. That the jieople of the other 
 States had the right to regulate their own internal 
 police, to prescribe the i ules of their own conduct, 
 and, in the formation of their constitutions, to 
 say whether Slavery was or was not admissible, 
 he believed was a point conceded by all. How, 
 then, were the citizens of Missouri idaced on an 
 equal footing with the other members of the 
 Union ? Equal in some respects — a shameful- 
 discrimination in others. A discrimination not 
 warranted by the Constitution, nor justified by 
 the treaty of cession, but founded on mistaken 
 zeal, or erroneous policy. They were to be 
 bound down by onerous conditions, limitations, 
 and restrictions to which he knew they would 
 not submit. That people were brave and inde- 
 pendent in spirit, they were intelligent, and knew 
 their own rights ; tliey were competent to self- 
 government, and willing to risk their own happi- 
 ness and future prosperity on the legitimate exer- 
 cise of their own judgment and free will. Mr. 
 Scott protested against such a guardianship as 
 was contemplated now to bo assumed over his 
 constituents. The spirit of freedom burned in 
 the bosoms of the freemen of Missouri, and if 
 admitted into the national family, they would be 
 equal, or not come in al all. With what an anxi- 
 ous eye have they looked to the east, since the 
 commencement of this session of Congress, for 
 the good tidings, that on them you had conferred 
 the glorious privilege of self-government, and 
 independence. What seeds of discord will you 
 sow, when they read this suspicious, shameful, 
 unconstitutional inhibition in their charter? 
 Will they not compare it with the terms of the 
 treaty of cession, that bill of their rights, emphatic- 
 ally their magna cliarta ? And will not the re- 
 sult of that comparison be a stigma on the faith 
 of this government ? It had been admitted by 
 some gentlemen, in debate, that, were the jieople 
 of Missouri to form a constitution conforming to 
 this provision, so soon as they were adopted into 
 the Union it would be competent for them to call 
 a convention and alter their constitution on this 
 subject. Why, then, he would ask gentlemen, 
 would they legislate, when they could produce 
 no permanent, practical efiect .' Why expose 
 the imbecility of the general government, to tie 
 up the hands of the State, and induce the people 
 to an act of chicanery, which he knew from prin- 
 ciple they abhorred, to get clear of an odious re- 
 striction on their rights? Mr. Scott had trusted 
 that gentlemen who professed to be actuated by 
 motives of humanity and jirinciple would not en- 
 courage a course of dissimulation, or, by any 
 vote of tlieirs, render it necessary for the citizens 
 of Missouri to act equivocally to obtain their 
 rights. He was unwilling to believe, that politi- 
 cal views alono led gentlemen on this or any 
 other occasion ; but, from the language of the 
 
THE FllWT MISSOURI STRUGGLE. 
 
 If 
 
 member fioin New-York (Mr. Tnylor), lio wns 
 coiniielledti) susi.eft tliat llicylnui ll.<'ir iiilliieii<e 
 upon him. That Keiilkuiau hn.H lohl iin, that it 
 ever he kit hin present resiileiieo, it woiiUl he lor 
 lUiuoir* or lMi^M.Ul•i; ut nil cvfiilH, ho wishe.l to 
 send out liiw bvothors niid liix foiiK. Mr. Scott 
 be"Ketl ll>»t tiei.tleiiuin to relieve hnn lioiu the 
 nwful ai.prihei.siou e.xeiled by the i,io:<i)eet ot 
 this ae.o.sion of iiopulatioii. lie hoped lie 
 llouso woiihl excuse him while he i^tatcd, that lie 
 did not drsiro that >;ciitleiiiaii, hi.s sons, j.r his 
 brothers, in thiit land of brave, noble, and imo 
 ijtiidvnt freemon. The uieniher says that the 
 iiililiiilo is loo far north to admit of Slavery tliiMo. 
 Would the t,'entlenian east his eye on the map 
 before him, lie would there see, that ft pnrt ol 
 Kentuekv, Virf,'inia, and Maryland, were as tar 
 north as ihe northern boundary of the proi.osed 
 Slate of Missouri. Mr. Seotl would thank the 
 gcnlleinan if he would eoiidesceiid to tell him 
 what pieeiso line of latitude siiixd hi-s ennseienee, 
 his huinanitv, or his pcdilieal views, on this sub 
 jecf. Could that ineniber be serious, when he 
 inude the parallel of latitude the measure -d his 
 goodwill to those unfortunnte blaeks ? Or was 
 betrviiig how far he eoul.l go in fallacious argu- 
 ment' and absurdity, without creating one blush 
 even on his own cheek, for inconsistency .' \\ hat, 
 etarvo the negroes out, pen them tip m the 
 ewuuips and morasses, conlino them to southern 
 latitudes, to long, scorching days of labor and 
 fatigue, uniil the race becomes extinct, that the 
 fairyland of Missouri may be tciiauled by that 
 gentleman, his brothers, and sons? He ck 
 peeled from the majority of the House a more 
 liberal jiolicy, and "better evidence that they 
 really were actuated by humane motives. 
 I Mr. S. said, he would trouble the House no 
 I longer ; he thanked them for tlie attention and 
 : indulgence already bestowed ; but he desired to 
 j apprise gentlemen, before he sat down, that they 
 / were sowing the seeds of discord in this Union, 
 ; by uttemptiiig to admit states with unequal privi- 
 ' leges and unequal rights ; that they were signmg, 
 sealing, and delivering their own deutliwarrant ; 
 that the weapon they were so unjustly wieldinfr 
 against the people of Missouri, was a two-edged 
 sword. From the cumulative nature of power, 
 the day might come when the general govern- 
 ment might, in turn, undertake to dictate to them 
 ">oir questions of internal policy; Missouri, now 
 weak and feeble, whose fate and murmurs would 
 excite but little alarm or sensibility, might be- 
 come an easy victim to motives of policy, party 
 zeal, or mistaken ideas of power; but othertimes 
 and other men would succeed ; a future Congress 
 might come, who, under Ihe sauctilied forms of 
 coustitutioiial power, would dictate to tliim odious 
 conditions ; nay, inti.ct on their internal independ- 
 ence a wound more deep and dreadful thiin even 
 this to Missouri. The House had seen the force 
 of precedent, in the mistaken iipplication of the 
 conditions imposed on the people of Louisiana 
 anterior to their admission into the Union. And, 
 •whatever might be the ultimate determination of 
 the House, Mr. S. considered this question big 
 With the fate of Casar and of Rome. 
 
 Mr. CouB, ol' (Jeorgiii, observed that he 
 did not rise for the purpose of detaining the at- 
 tention of the House for any length of time. He 
 was too sensible of the importance of each mo- 
 ment which yet remained of the session to ob- 
 trude many remarks upon their patience. But, 
 upon a measure involving the important conse- 
 quences that this did, he felt it to be an imperious 
 duty to e.\pres8 his sentiments, and to enter his 
 most solemn protest against the principle propos- 
 ed for adoption by the amendment. Were gen- 
 tlemen aware of what they were about to do ? 
 Did they foresee no evil consequences likely to 
 result out of the measure if adopted ? Could 
 
 they BuppoBo that (he southern Stnlenwnuld siib- 
 mit with paticnee l<ia UK'aMiiethe effect of whi<'h 
 would be to e,\elii(lc) them from all cnjoyiiieiit of 
 the vast rcL'ioM puichaccd by the United .Slate* 
 beyond Ihe Missifsipiii, ami which b( longed 
 equally to them as to tiie liortheiii .States? Il<3 
 vciitureil to assiiru Ihem that they would not. 
 The jieoiile of tho flitrrlt'i/ilinff S/nle», hh ihviy 
 are called, knoir their rights, t/nd will insist 
 upon the <'iijoynient of them. Ho should not now 
 allempl to go ovcM- gftiund already occupied by 
 others, with iiuuli more ability, and atletppt to 
 fIiow that, by the treaty with Kianee, the people 
 of that Territory were secured in the enjoymoiit 
 of the property which I hey lield in their slavcH. 
 That th»* pro])osed amendment was an infractioa 
 of this treaty, had been moct clearly shown. Nor 
 would he litlemiit to rescue from slander the 
 character of the peojde of the southern Stales. \a 
 their condiul towards, and trealnien! of, their 
 black iiojiulation. That had also been done 
 with a dcgiee of force and ehxiiieiice, to which 
 he could picteiid no claim, by Ihe genlknian 
 from Virginia (Mr. Harbour), and the honoiablo 
 speaker. He was, however, dearly of opinion 
 that L'<)ti<,'icss/josse'<sril no /mircr uiidfr tlirCi'il- 
 x//7h//(;h to adopt the nrineiple ])roi)oscd in the 
 amendment, lie (failed upon the advocates of it 
 to point out, ami lay 1 heir linger upon thai clause 
 of the Constitution" of the United States, which 
 gives to this body the ri^itl to legislate upon tho 
 subject. Could they show in what clause or sec- 
 tioi'i this right was expressly frivcn, or from which 
 it could be inferred ? Uiih'ss this authority could 
 be shown, Congress would be assumiiif!^ a power, 
 if the ainendmeiit prevailed, not delegated to 
 them, and most dangerous in its exercise. \\'liat 
 is the end and tendency of the measure pioiMisod? 
 It is to impose on the Statcof Missouri conditions 
 not imposed upon any other State. It is to de- 
 prive her of one branch of sovereignty not sur- 
 rendered by any other .State in the Union, not 
 even those "beyond the Ohio; for all of them had 
 legislated upo'n this subject ; ail of them had de- 
 cided for Ihcinselves wi.elher Slavery should be 
 tolerated, at the time they framed their several 
 con.--tilution9. He would not now discuss the 
 propriety of admitting Slavery. It is not now a 
 question whether it is politic or impolitic to tole- 
 rate Slavery in the United States, or in a particu- 
 lar State. It was a discussion into which he 
 would not permit himself to bedragged. Admit, 
 however, its moral improprieti/ : yet there was a 
 vast diflerence between moral improjiriety and 
 political sovereignty. The people of New York 
 or Pennsylvania may deem it highly immoral 
 and politically improper to permit Slavery, but 
 yet they possess the xorcrciirii right and power 
 to permit it, if they choose. They can to-morrow 
 so alter their constitutions and laws as to admit it, 
 if Ihey were so disposed. It is a branch of sove- 
 reignty which the old Thirteen States never sur- 
 render in the adoption of the Federal Constitu- 
 tion. Now, the bill proposes that the new- State 
 shall be admitted upon an equal fooling with the 
 other states of the Union. ,ll is 'in this way only 
 that she can be admitted under the Constitution. 
 These words can have no other meaning than 
 that she shall be rt^quhi'd In surrender no more 
 of her rights of sovereignty than the other States, 
 into a union with which she is about to be ad- 
 mitted, have surrendered. Hut if the proposed 
 amendment is adopted, will not this new Slate be 
 shorn of one branch of her sovereignty, one right, 
 which the other States mat/ and have exercised, 
 (whether properly or not, is immaterial,) and da 
 now exercise whenever they think fit ? 
 
 Mr. C. observed, that he did conceive the prin- 
 ciple involved in tho amendment pregnant with 
 danger. It was one, he repeated, to which he 
 believed tho people of the region of country 
 
20 
 
 THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 
 
 wliicli he rcprosoiitcd would vof quietly snlniiit. 
 He in'iLrlit, jterliips, fiuhject himself to" ridicule, 
 for ntteiiipl'iiiT (lie display of (i spirit of prophecy 
 wliirh li(=^ dill not po.ssoss or of zeal and enthiisi- 
 asin t'lr wliicli ho was entitled to little eredit. 
 But ho irarnrd the advocates of this measure 
 asain-t the certain etfeets which it must produce. 
 EiTects destrnclive of the peace and harmony of 
 the Union. Ho believed that they werekindlins 
 a fire which all the waters of tlio ocean could 
 not extinguish. It could l»e extinguished only in 
 blood ! ^ 
 
 Mr. LivERMORE»of N. H.,saicl, I am in fa 
 vor of the proposed amendment. The object of it is 
 to prevent the extension of Slaverv over the Ter- 
 ritory ceded to the United States by France. It 
 accords with the dictates of reason, and the best 
 feeiin'.^s of the human lieart ; and is not calcula- 
 ted to interrupt any legitimate right arising either 
 from the Constitution Or any other compact. I 
 propose to show what Slavery is. and to mention 
 a few of the many evils which follow in its train ; 
 and I hope to evince that we are not bound to 
 tolerate the existence of so disgraceful a state of 
 things l)eyond its present extent, and that it 
 would be impolitic and very unjust, to let it 
 spread over the whole face of our Western Ter- 
 ritory. Slavery in the United States, is the con- 
 dition of man subjected to the will of a master, 
 who can make any disposition of him short of 
 taking away his life. In those States wliere it is 
 tolerated, laws are enacted, making it penal to in- 
 struct slaves in the art of reading, and they are 
 not permitted to attend public worship, or to hear 
 the gospel preached. Thus, the light of science 
 aiid of religion is utterly excluded from the 
 mind, that the body may be more easily bowed 
 down to servitude. The bodies of slaves may, 
 witli impunity, be prostituted to any purpose, 
 and deformed in any manner by their owners. 
 The sympathies of nature in slaves are disre- 
 garded : mothers and children are sold and 
 separated ; the children wring their little hands, 
 and expire in agonies of grief, while the bereft 
 mothers commit suicide, in despair. How long 
 will the desire of wealth render us blind to the 
 sin of holding both the bodies and souls of oiir 
 fellow-men in chains ! But, sir, I am admonished 
 of the Constitution, and told we cannot emanci- 
 pate slaves. I know we may not infringe that 
 instrument, and therefore do not propose to 
 emancipate slaves. The proposition before us 
 goes only to prevent our citizens from making 
 slaves of such as have a right to freedom. In 
 the present slaveholding States let Slavery con- 
 tinue, for our boasted Constitution connives at 
 it ; but ilo not, for the sake of cotton and tobacco, 
 let it be told to future ages that, while pretend- 
 ing to love liberty, we have purchased an exten- 
 sive country, to disgrace it with the foulest re- 
 proach of nations. Our Constitution requires no 
 such tiling of us. The ends for which that su- 
 preme law was made, are succinctly stated in 
 its prefice. They are first to form a more per- 
 fect Union, and insure domestic tranquillity. 
 Will Slavery effect this ? Can we, sir, by mingling 
 boiul with free, black spirits with white, like 
 Shakespeare's witches in iMacbeth, form a more 
 perfect Union, and insure domestic traniiuillity ? 
 Secondly, to est.iblish justice. Is justice to "be 
 established by subjecting half mankind to the 
 will of the other half? Justice, sir, is blind to 
 colors, and weighs in equal scales the rights of 
 all men, whether while or black. Thirdly, to 
 
 Erovide for the common defense, and secure the 
 lessings of liberty. Does Slavery add anything 
 to the common defense '/ Sir, the strength of a 
 republic is in the arm of freoilom. But, above 
 all things, do the blessings of liberty consist in 
 Slavery ? If there is any sincerity in our profes- 
 
 sion, that Slavery is an ill, tolerated only from 
 necessity, let us not, while we feel that ifl, shun 
 the cure, which consists only in an honest avowal 
 that liberty and equal rights are the end and aim 
 of all our institutions, and that to tolerate 
 Slavery beyond the narrowest limits prescribed 
 for it by the Constitution, is a perversion of 
 them all. 
 
 Slavery, sir, I repeat, is not established by our 
 Constitution : but a part of the States are indulged 
 in the commission of a sin from which they could 
 not at once be restrained, and which they would 
 not consent to abandon. But, sir, if we could, 
 by any process of reasoning, be bmught to b% 
 lieve it justifiable to hold others to involuntary 
 servitude, policy forbids that we should increase 
 it. Even the present slaveholding States have an 
 interest, I think, in limiting the extent of involun- 
 tary servitude: for, should sdaves become much 
 more numerous, and, conscious of their strength, 
 draw the sword against their masters, it will" be 
 to the free States the masters must resort for an 
 efficient power to suppress servile insurrection. 
 But we have made a treaty with France, which, 
 we are told, can only be preserved by the charms 
 of Slavery. 
 
 Sir, said Mr L., until the ceded Territory shall 
 have been made into States, and the new 
 States admitted into the Union, we can do what 
 we will with it. We can govern it as a province, 
 or sell it to any other nation. A part of it is 
 probably at this time sold to Spain, and the in- 
 habitants of it may soon not only enjoy the com- 
 forts of Slavery, but the blessings of the hdy in- 
 quisition along with them. The question is on 
 the admission of Missouri, as a State, into the 
 Union. Surely it will not be contended that we 
 are bound by the treaty to admit it. The treaty- 
 making power does not extend so far. Can the 
 President and Senate, by a treaty with Great 
 Britain, make the province of Lower Canada a 
 Stateof this Union 7 To be received as a State 
 into this Union, is a privilege which no country 
 can claim as a right. It is a favor to be granted 
 or not, as the United States may choose. When 
 the United States think proper to grant a tavor, 
 they may annex just and reasonable terms : and 
 what can be more reasonable than for these States 
 to insist that a new Territory, wishing to have 
 the benefits of freedom extended to it, should re- 
 nounce a principle that militates with justice, 
 morality, religion, and every essential right of 
 mankind? Louisiana was admitted into the 
 Union on terms. The conditions, I admit, were 
 not very important, but still they recognize the 
 principles for which I contend. 
 
 An opportunity is now presented, if not to 
 diminish, at least to prevent the growth of a sin 
 which sits heavily on the soul of e\ery one of 
 us. By embracing this opportunity, we may re- 
 trieve the national character, and, in some degree, 
 our own. But if we sutler it to pass unimproved, 
 let us at least be consistent, and declare that our 
 Constitution was made to impose Slavery, and 
 not to establish liberty. Let us no longer tell 
 idle tales about the gradual abolition of Slavery ; 
 away with colonization societies, if their de- 
 sign is only to rid us of free blacks and tur- 
 bulent slaves; have done also with bible so- 
 cieties, whoso views are extended to Africa and 
 the East Indies, while they overlook the deplora- 
 ble coiulition of their sable bretln-en within our 
 own borders ; make no more laws to prohibit the 
 importation of slaves, for the world must see that 
 the object of such laws is alone to prevent the 
 glutting of a prodigious market for the tlesh and 
 blood of man, which we are about to establish in 
 the West, and to enhance the price of stiu-dy 
 wret(-hes, reared, like black cattle and horses, for 
 sale on our own plantations. 
 
THE SECOND MISSOURI STRUGGLE. 
 
 21 
 
 The House bill Ihus passed, reached the 
 Senate, Feb. nth, when it was read twice 
 and sent to a Si-leet Committee already 
 raise<l on a like application from Alabama, 
 consisting of 
 
 Messrs. Tnit (if On., Morrow of Oliio, WilliamB 
 of Miss., Edwnrdsof Ill.,Williuiiisof Tc-iin. 
 
 On the 2'2nd, Mr. 'I'ait, from this (\nnmit- 
 tee, reportwl the bill with amendments, strik- 
 out the anti-slavery restrictions inserted by 
 the House. This bill was taken up in Com- 
 mittee of the Whole on the '27th, when Mr. 
 AVilson of N. J. moved its ])ostponement to 
 the r)th of March— that is, to the end of the 
 session — negatived : Yeas 14 ; Nays 23. 
 
 The Senate then proce(Kled to vote on 
 agreeing to the amendments reported by the 
 Select Committee, viz. : 1. to strike out of the 
 House bill the following : 
 
 " And thftt all fhildron of slaves born within 
 tho said State, after tlio admission thereof into 
 tlie Union, shall be free, but may be held to scr- 
 Tice until the ago of twenty-ouo years." 
 
 Which was stricken out by the following 
 
 vote : 
 
 YEAS — Against the Restriction: 
 
 Messrs. Barbour of Va Leake of Miss. 
 
 Crittenden of Ky. Maeon of N. C. 
 
 Dan;gett of Conn. Otis of JIass. 
 
 Eaton of Tcnn. Palmer of Vt. 
 
 Edwards of 111. Roberts of Penn. 
 
 Eppes of Va. Sanford of N. Y. 
 
 Fromcntin of La. Tait, of Ga. 
 
 Gaillard of S. C. Talbort of Ky. 
 Goldsborough Md. Taylor of Ind. 
 
 lb)rsey of Del. Thomas of III. 
 
 Johnson of La. Trichenor of Vt. 
 
 Kuig of N. Y. Van Dyke of Del. 
 
 Lacoek of Pa. Williams of Miss. 
 Williams of Tenn. — 27. 
 
 NAYS — For the Restriction: 
 
 Messrs. Bunill of K. I. Morrill of N. H. 
 
 Diekerson of N. J. Noble of Ind. 
 Mellen of Ma.s9. Ruggles of Ohio. 
 Wilson of N. J. — 7 
 
 The Senate then proceeded to vote on the 
 residue of the House Restriction, as follows : 
 
 " And provided also, That the further introduc- 
 tion of slavery or involuntary servitude be pro- 
 hibited, except for tho punishment of crhnes, 
 whereof the party shall have been duly con- 
 victed." 
 
 The vote on this clause was as follows : 
 
 YEAS — For striking out the Restriction : 
 
 Messrs. Barbour of Va. Leake of Miss. 
 Crittenden of Ky. Macon of N. C. 
 Eaton of Tenn. Otis of Mass. 
 Edwards of III. I'almer of Vt. 
 Eppes of Va. Stokes of N. C. 
 Fromentin of La. Talbot of Ga. 
 Gaillardof S. C. Tait of Ga. 
 Goldsborough Md.Thomas of III. 
 Horsey of Del. Van Dyke of Del. 
 Johnson La. Williams of Miss. 
 
 Laeock of Pa. Williams of Teiin.— 22. 
 
 NA YS — Against striking out : 
 Messrs. Burrill of R. I. Noble of Ind. 
 
 Daggett of Conn. Roberts of Pa. 
 Dana of do. Ruggles of Ohio, 
 
 Diekerson of N. J. Sauford of N. Y. 
 
 KingofN. Y. StororofN. 11. 
 
 Mellen of Mass. Tavlor of Ind. 
 
 Morrill of N. H. Tiehenor of Vt. 
 
 M. II row uf Ohio, Wilson of N.J. — 16. 
 
 The bill thus amended was ordered to be 
 engro.ssed, and was (.March 2nd — last day but 
 one of the Session) read a third time, and 
 pa.s.scd without a division. 'I'he bill was on 
 that day returned to the House, and the 
 amendments of the Senate read : whenMij)on, 
 Mr. Talimadge of N. Y. moved that the bill be 
 postponed indeiinitely. Yeas (JO ; Nays 7t. 
 
 [The rei'ord shows hardly a vote clmnLced from 
 Yea, on the original passage of the Restriction, to 
 Nay now , but many members who voted then 
 were now absent or silent.] 
 
 The vote was then taken on concurring ia 
 the Senate's amendments, a.s aforesaid, and 
 the House rel'u.sed to concur: Yeas 70; 
 Nays 78. 
 
 [Hardly a vote ehanged ; but more Member* 
 voting than on tho previous division, and less 
 llian when the Restriction was carried.) 
 
 The bill was now returned to the Senate, 
 with a message of non-concurrence ; when 
 Mr. Tait moved that the Senate adhere to its 
 amendment, which was carried without a 
 division. 'J'he bill being thus remanded to 
 the House, Mr. Taylor of N. Y. moved that 
 the House adhere to its disagreement, which 
 prevailed. Yeas 78 ; Navs 6G. So the T 
 bill fell between the two Houses, and was i 
 lost. 
 
 The southern portion of the then Territory 
 of Missouri (organized by separation from 
 Louisiana in 1812) was excluded from the 
 proposed State of Missouri, and organized as 
 a separate Territory, entitled Arkansas. 
 
 The bill being under consideration, Mr. 
 Taylor of N.Y. moved that the foregoing re- 
 striction be applied to it also ; and the clause, 
 proposing that slaves born therein alter the 
 passage of this act be free at twenty-five 
 years of age, was carried (Feb. 17th) by 75 
 Yeas to 73 Nays ; but that providing against 
 the farther introduction of slaves was lost : 
 Yeas 70 ; Nays 71. The next day, the clause 
 just adopted was stricken out, and the bill 
 ultimately passed without any allusion to 
 Slavery. Arkansas of course became a Slave 
 Territory and ultimately (183G) a Slave 
 State. 
 
 VII. 
 
 THE SECOND MISSOURI STRUGGLE. 
 
 A new Congress assembled on the 6th of 
 December, 1819. Mr. Clay was again 
 chosen Speaker. On the 8th, Mr. Scott, 
 delegate from Missouri, moved that the 
 memorial of her 'J'erritorial Legislature, as 
 also of several citizens, praying her admis- 
 sion into the Union as a State, be referred to 
 a select committee ; carried, and Messrs. 
 Scott of Mo., Robertson of Ky., Terrell of 
 
22 
 
 THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 
 
 Ga., Strothcr of Ya., ami Do Witt of N. Y. 
 (all but the last from the slave regiou), 
 were ajipoiiited said committee. 
 
 Mr. Strong of N. Y. that day gave no- 
 tice of a bill " To ))rohibit the farther exten- 
 sion of Slavery in the United States." 
 
 On the 14th. Mr. Taylor of N. Y. moved 
 a select committee on this subject, which was 
 granted ; and the mover, with Messrs. Liv(>r- 
 more of N. H., Barbom- (P. P.) of Ya., 
 Lowndes of S. C, Fuller of Mass., Hardin 
 of Ky., and Cuthbert of Ga., were appointed 
 such committee. A majority of this com- 
 mittee being Prft-Slavery, Mr. Taylor could 
 do nothing ; and on the 28th the Committee 
 was, on motion, discharged from the further 
 consideration of the subject. 
 
 On the same day .Air. Taylor moved : 
 
 " That a Committee be appointed with instruc- 
 tions to report a bill prolubiting the further ad- 
 mi.-jsion of Slaves into the Territories of the 
 United States west of the river Mississippi.'' 
 
 On motion of Mr. Smith, of Md., this re- 
 solve was sent to the Committee of the 
 Whole, and made a special order for Jan. 
 10th ; but it was not taken up, and appears 
 to have slept the sleep of death. 
 
 In the Senate, the memorial of the Mis- 
 souri Territorial Legislature, asking admis- 
 sion as a State, was presented by Mr. Smith 
 of S. C, Dec. 29th, and referred to the 
 Judiciary Committee, which consisted of, 
 
 Messrs. Smith of S. C, Lonke of Miss., Bur- 
 rill of 1{. I., Logan of Ky., Otis of Mass. 
 
 DANIEL WEBSTER ON SLAVERY EX- 
 TENSION. 
 
 The following " Memorial to the Congress 
 of the United States, on the subject of re- 
 straining the increase of Slavery in New 
 States to be admitted into the Union," in 
 pursuance of a vote of the inhabitants of 
 Boston and its vicinity, assembled at the 
 State House on the 3rd of December, 1819, 
 was drawn up by Daniel Webster, and signed 
 by himself, George Blake, Josiah Quincy, 
 James T. Austin, etc. It is inserted here 
 instead of the resolves of the various New 
 England Legislatures, as a fuller and clearer 
 statement of the views of the great body of 
 the people of that section during the pen- 
 dency of the Missouri question : 
 
 " MEMORIAL 
 
 " To the Senate and Hoiixe of Representatives of 
 tlie United States, in Congress assembled : 
 
 " The undersigned, inhabitants of Boston and 
 its vicinity, beg leave most respectfully and hum- 
 bly to reprc^seut: Tliat the question oi' the intro- 
 duction of Slavery into the new Stales to be 
 formed on the we^st side of the Mississippi River, 
 appears to them to be a question of the last im- 
 
 fortanco to the future welfare of the United States, 
 f the progress of this great evil is ever to be 
 arrested, it seems to the undersigned lliat this is 
 the time to arrest it. A false step takwi uow. 
 
 cannot be retraced ; and it appears to us that the 
 happiness of unborn millions rests on the measure 
 which Congress on this occasion may adopt. 
 Considering this as no local question, nor a ques- 
 tion to be decided by a temporary expediency, 
 but as involving great interests of the whole 
 United States, and affecting deeply and e.'^sentially 
 those objects of common defense, general welfare, 
 and the perpetuation of the blessings of liberty, 
 for which the Constitution itself was formed, we 
 have presumed, in this way, to offer our senti- 
 ments and express our wishes to the National 
 Legislature. And as various reasons have been 
 suggested against prohibiting Slavery in the new 
 States, it may perhaps be permitted to us to state 
 our reasons, both for believing that Congress 
 possesses the constitutional power to make such 
 prohibition a condition, on the admission of a new 
 State into the Union, and that it is just and proper 
 that they should exercise that power. 
 
 " And in the first place, as to the constitutional 
 authority of Congress. The Constitution of the 
 United States has declared that ' 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 con- 
 strued as to prejudice the claims of the United 
 States or of any particular State.' It is very well 
 known, that the saving in this clause of the claims 
 of any particular State, was designed to apply to 
 claims by the then existing States, of territory 
 which was also claimed by the United States as 
 their own property. It has, therefore, no bearing 
 on the present question. The power, then, of 
 Congress over its own territories, is, by the very 
 terms of the Constitution, unlimited. It may make 
 all ' needful rules and regulations,' which of course 
 include all such regulations as its own views of 
 policy or expediency shall, from time to time, dic- 
 tate. If, therefore, in its judgment it be needful 
 for the benefit of a territory to enact a prohibition 
 of Slavery, it would seem to be as much within 
 its power of legislation as any other act of local 
 policy. Its sovereignty being complete and unP 
 versal as to the territory, it may exercise over it I 
 the most ample jurisdiction in every respect. It 
 possesses, in this view, all the authority which j 
 any State Legislature possesses over its own ter- 
 ritory ; and if any State Legislature may, in its 
 discretion, abolish or prohibit Slavery within its 
 own limits, in virtue of its general legislative 
 authority, for the same reasou Congress also may 
 exercise the like authority over its own territories.-' 
 And that a State Legislature, unless restrained by 
 some constitutional provision, may so do, is un- 
 questionable, and has been established by general 
 practice. ***** 
 
 " The creation of a new State, is, in effect, a 
 compact between Congress and the inhabitants 
 of the proposed State. Congress would not prob- 
 ably claim the power of compelling; the inha- 
 bitants of Missouri to form a Constitution of their 
 own, and come into the Union as a State. It is as 
 plain, that the inhabitants of that territory have 
 no right of admission into the Union, as a State, 
 without the consent of Congress. Neither party 
 is bound to form this connection. It can be formed 
 only by the consent of both. What, then, pre- 
 vents Congress, as one of the stipulating parties, 
 to propose its terms ? And if the other party 
 assents to these terms, why do they not effectually 
 bind both parties? Or if the inhabitants of tho 
 Territory do not choose to accept the proposed 
 terms, but prefer to remain under a Territorial 
 Government, has Congress deprived them of any 
 right, or subjected them to any restraint, which, 
 in its discretion, it had no authority to do ? If 
 the admission of new States be not the discretion- 
 ary exercise of a constitutional power, but in all 
 cases an imperative duty, how is it to bo per- 
 
THE SECOND MISSOURI STRUGGLE. 
 
 28 
 
 formed ? If tho Constitution moiins lliut ConprcKs 
 slutU admit luw Stuton, does it nicim tliiit Coii- 
 gresK KJiall d > tiii« on c\ t-rynjiplicnlioii and under 
 all circumistanits .' Or iflhia eonclrurtion cannot 
 be iidniitttd, and if it must bo conceded that 
 CongrcKB must in Bome respects exercise its dis 
 crelion on the nchnission of new States, how is it 
 to be shown Ihnt tliat discretion nniv not be exor- 
 cised in regard to tliis subject as well hb in regard 
 to others .' 
 
 •• Tho Constitution declares, ' that the migratmn 
 or inij)ortation of sueii persons as any of tlie States 
 noiv CL-istiiii:, shall think i)n>i)er to admit, shall 
 not be prohibited by the Congress, prior to the 
 year 1808.' II is most manifest that the Constitu- 
 tion does contemplate, in tho very terms of tliis 
 claute, that Congress possesses the authority to 
 l)rohibit the migration or ini))ortation of slaves; 
 for it limits the exercise of this authority for a 
 specitic period of tmie, leaving it to its full opera- 
 tion ever afterward. Ami tUi,s_ power seems ne- 
 ceR.sarily included in tTie'authiirlty which Tielongs 
 to Congress, ' to regulate connnerce with foreign 
 nations and nmnm; Ihc ^iinidl S/ti/cs.' No person 
 l»w r\-cr doubted Ihaf (he i)roliibition of the foreign 
 slave trade was completely within tho authority 
 of Congress since tho year 1808. And why .' Cer- 
 tainly oidy because it is embraced in the regula 
 tion "of /c/-«'i!'« cummeicc ; and if so, it may for 
 the like reason be prohibited since that period 
 between the States. Commerce in slaves, since 
 the year 1808, being as much subject to the regu- 
 lation of Congress as any other commerce, if it 
 should SCO fit to enact that no slave should ever 
 be sold from one State to anotlicr, it is not per- 
 ceived how its constitutional right to make such 
 provision could be questioned. It would seem to 
 bo too plain to be questioned, that Congress did 
 possess tho power, before tho year 1808, to pro- 
 hibit the migration or importation of slaves into 
 the territories (and in point of fact it exercised 
 that power) as well as into any new Slalta : and 
 that its authority, after that year, might be as 
 fully exercised to prevent the migration or import- 
 ation of slaves into any of the old States. And 
 if it may prtihibit new States from importing 
 slaves, it may surely, as we hund)ly submit, make 
 it a condition of the admission of such States into 
 the Union, that they shall never import them. 
 In relation, too, to its own Territories, Congress 
 possesses a more extensive authority, and may, in 
 various other ways, eflect tho object. It might, 
 for example, make it an express condition of its 
 grants of the soil, that its owners shall never hold 
 slaves ; and thus prevent the possession of slaves 
 from ever being connected with the ownership of 
 the soil. 
 
 •' As corroborative of tho views which have 
 been already sugijested, the memorialists would 
 respectfully call tho attention of Congress to the 
 history of tho national legislation, under the Con- 
 federation as well as under tho present Constitu- 
 tion, on this interfering subject. Unless tho me- 
 morialists greatly mistake, it will demonstrate tho 
 sense of the nation, at every period of its legisla- 
 tion, to have been, that the prohibiticni of Slavery 
 was no infringement of any just riirlds belonging 
 to free States, and was not incompatible with the 
 enjoyments of all the rights and immunities which 
 an admission into the Union was supposed to 
 confer. 
 
 "The memorialists, after this general survey, 
 would respectfully ask the attention of Congress 
 to tho state of tho question of the right of Con- 
 gress to prohibit Slavery in that part of the former 
 Territory of Louisiana which now forms the Mis- 
 souri Territory. Louisiana was purchased of 
 Franco by the Treaty of the :JOth April, 1803. 
 The third article of that Treaty is as Ibllows : ' The 
 inhabitants of the ceded Territory shall be incor- 
 porated into tho Union of the United States, and 
 
 admitted ns noon na poBBiblo, aceordinfc to the 
 prlnriplcs of the Ffilcrnl Contfifiition, to the en- 
 joyment of all the rialits, (KlnniftiH' x, and im- 
 WHiiitini of ritiziiiH iif ihf UiiHiil Sfiiti^ ; and in 
 tho mean lime they shall be maintaineil and i)ro- 
 teeted iu the t'n e enjoyment of iheir liberly, pro- 
 jierty, and the rcli;;i(in which they j)rol'e-s.' 
 
 " Although the language of this article is not 
 very ])reciso or B<-curate, tho memorialists con- 
 coive that its real import and iiileni cannot bo 
 mistaken. The first clause |irovldi-H for the nd- 
 niission of the ceded territory into Ihe I'ninn, 
 and th<! succeeding clause shows this must bo 
 tirri/nliiif,' to the jiiincijilrii of tlir i'vdi ml ('on- 
 stilntion; and this vnri/ qnalijicalion lorr^r'nnly 
 cxrlude:< the idea that Confrress were not In he at 
 lihcrty to impose any conditions ii/ion siirh ad- 
 mission vhicli were consistent trilk the iirintiplen 
 (if that Constitution, and which had In; n, or 
 )nii,'ht justly be. applied to other new Slatci. 
 The lan<;uatje is not by any means so )i( tinted n» 
 that of the Kesolve of 1780; and yet it has boon 
 seen that that Uestdvo was never suii])i«seil to 
 inhibit thi! authority of Congress, as to the intro- 
 duction of slavery. Anil it is clear, upon the 
 plainest rule of construction, that in the absence 
 (if all restrictive language a clause merely pro- 
 viding for the admission of a territory into the 
 Union, must be construed to authorizes an admis- 
 sion in the manner, and upon the terms, which 
 the Constitution itself would justify. This con- 
 struction derives additional supjiort from the next 
 clause. The inhabitants ' shall be admitted as 
 soon as possil)Ie, according to the ))rinciple8 of 
 Ihe Federal Constitution, to tho enjoyment of all 
 the riah/s, adrnntn^es, and immniiilics «{<-ilizens 
 of the United Slates.' The rights, advantages, 
 and innnnnities here spoken of, must, from tho 
 very force of the terms of the clause, be such aa 
 are recognized or communicated by tho Consti- 
 tution of the United States; such as are common 
 to all citizens, and are uniform thron^-hout the 
 United States. The clause cannot be referred to 
 rights, advantages, and immunities derived ex- 
 clusively from the State Government, for theso 
 do not depend upon tho Federal Consfilution. 
 Hesides, it would be impossible that all the rights, 
 advantages, and immunities of citizens of the 
 different States, could be at tho same time enjoyed 
 by the same persons. These rights are different 
 in dilTerent States ; a right exists in one State 
 which is denied in others, or is repugnant to other 
 rights enjoyed in others. In some of the States, 
 a freeholder alone is entitled to vote in elections; 
 in some a qualification of personal property is 
 sufficient; and in others, ago and freedom are 
 the solo qualifications of electors. In some States, 
 no citizen is permitted to hold slaves : in othei-s, 
 he possesses that power absolutely ; in others, it 
 is limited. The obvious meaning, therefore, of 
 the clause is, that the rights derived under the 
 Federal Constitution, shall be enjoyed by the in- 
 habitant of Louisiana in the same nninner ;is by 
 tho citizens of other States. The United States, 
 by the Constitution, are bound to guarantee to 
 every State in the Union a republican t'orm of 
 government ; and the inhabitants of Louisiana 
 are entitled, when a State, to this guarantee. 
 Each Slate has a right to two Senators, and to 
 Representatives aceordint; to a certain enumera- 
 tion of population, pointed out in the Constitution. 
 The inhabitants of Louisiana, upon their admis- 
 sion into the Union, are also entitletl to these 
 privileges. The Constitution further declares, 
 •that tiio citizens of each State shall be entitled 
 to all tho privileges and imnmnities of citizens in 
 the several States.' It wi)uld seem as if the mean- 
 ing of this clause could not well be misinteri)reted. 
 It obviously applies to the case of the removal of 
 a citizen of one State to another State: and in 
 such a cnso it uccuros to the migrating citizen all 
 
24 
 
 THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 
 
 the priviloirc-s and imnmnitics of citizens in the 
 State to which he removes. It cannot surely be 
 contended, ui)on any rational interiiretation, that 
 it given to liie citizens of each State all (he privi- 
 Icj^es and innnnnities of the citizens of every other 
 State, at the same time, and under all circum- 
 stances. .Such a construction would lend to the 
 most extraordinary consequences. It would at 
 once destroy all the fundamental limitations of 
 the State constitutions upon the riphts of their 
 own citizens: and leave all those rights to the 
 mercy of the citizens of any other State, which 
 should ado]it difl'erent limitations. Accordinj; to 
 this construction, if all the State constitutions, 
 save one, i)rohibited slavery, it would be in the 
 power of that single State, by the admission of 
 the right of its citizens to hold slaves, to commu- 
 nicate the same right to the citizens of all the 
 other States within their own exclusive limits, in 
 defiance of their own constitutional prohibitions ; 
 and to render the absurdity still more ai>i)arent, 
 the same construction would communicate the 
 most opposite and irreconcilable rights to the 
 citizens of different States at the same time. It 
 seems, therefore, to be undeniable, upon any ra- 
 tional interpretation, that this clause of the Con- 
 stitution communicated no rights in any State 
 which its own citizens do not enjoy ; and that the 
 citizens of Louisiana, upon their admission into 
 the Union, in receiving the benefit of this clause, 
 would not enjoy higher or more extensive rights 
 than the citizens of Ohio. It would communicate 
 to the former no right of holding slaves except in 
 States where the citizens already possessed the 
 game right under their own State Constitutions 
 and laws. , # # « * 
 
 " Upon the whole, the memoriali.sts would most 
 respectfully submit that the terms of the Consti- 
 tution, as well as the practice of the Governments 
 under it, must, as they humbly conceive, entirely 
 justify the conclusion that Congress may pro- 
 hibit the further introduction of Slavery into its 
 own territories, and also make such prohibition a 
 condition of the admission of any new State into 
 the L^nion. 
 
 "If the constitutional power of Congress to 
 make the proposed prohibition be satisfuctorily 
 shown, the justice and policy of such prohibition 
 seem to the undersigned to be supported by plain 
 and strong reasons. The permission of Slavery 
 in a new State, necessarily draws after it an ex- 
 tension of that inequality of representation, which 
 already exists in regard to the original States. 
 It cannot be expected that those of the original 
 States, which do not hold slaves, can look on 
 such an extension as being politically just. As 
 between the original States the representation 
 rests on compact and plighted faith ; and your 
 memorialists have no wish that that compact 
 should be disturbed, or that plighted faith in the 
 slightest degree violated. But the subject as- 
 sumes an entirely different character, when anew 
 State proposes to be admitted. With her there is 
 no compact, and no faith plighted ; and where is 
 the reason that she should come into the Union 
 with more than an equal share of political im- 
 portance and political power ? Already the ratio 
 of representation, established by the Constitution, 
 has given to the States holding slaves twenty 
 members of the House of Representatives more 
 than they would have been entitled to, except 
 under the particular provision of the Constitution. 
 In all probability, this number will be doubled 
 in thirty years. Under these circumstances, we 
 deem it not an unreasonable expectation that the 
 inhabitants of Missouri should propose to come 
 into the Union, renouncing the right in question, 
 and establishing a constitution prohibiting it for 
 ever. Without dwelling on this topic, we have 
 still thought it our duty to present it to the cou- 
 eideratiiiu of Congress. We present it with a 
 
 deep and earnest feeling of its importance, and we 
 ros])ectfully solicit for it the full consideration of 
 the National Legislature. 
 
 " Your memorialists were not without the hope 
 that the time had at length arrived when the in- 
 convenience and the danger of this description 
 of population had become apparent in all jiarts 
 of this country, and in all parts of the civilized 
 world. It might have been hoped that the new 
 .States themselves would have had such a view of 
 tlieir own permanent interests and pros])erity as 
 would have led them to prohibit its extension and 
 increase. The wonderful increase and prosperity 
 of the States north of the Ohio is unquestionably 
 to be ascribed, in a great measure, to the conse- 
 quences of the ordinance of 1787 ; and few, in- 
 deed, are the occasions, in the history of nations, 
 in which so much can be done, by a single act, 
 for the benefit of future generations, as was done 
 by that ordinance, and as may now be done by 
 tlie Congress of the United States. We a))peal 
 to the justice and to the wisdom of the National 
 Councils to prevent the further progress of a 
 great and serious evil. We appeal to those who 
 look forward to the remote consequences of their 
 measures, and who cannot balance a temporary 
 or trifling convenience, if there were such, against 
 a permanent, growing, and desolating evil. We 
 cannot forbear to remind the two Houses of Con- 
 gress that the early and decisive measures adopt- 
 ed by the American Government for the abolition 
 of the slave-trade, are among the proudest memo- 
 rials of our nation's glory. That Slavery was ever 
 tolerated in the Republic is, as yet, to be attrib- 
 uted to the policy of another Government. No 
 imputation, thus far, rests on any portion of the 
 American Confederacy. The Missouri Territory 
 is a now country. If its extensive and fertile 
 field shall be opened as a market for slaves, the 
 Government will seem to become a party to a 
 traffic which, in so many acts, through so many 
 years, it has denounced as impolitic, unchristian, 
 inhuman. To enact laws to punish the traffic, 
 and, at the same time, to tempt cupidity and ava- 
 rice by the allurements of an insatiable market, 
 is inconsistent and irreconcilable. Government, 
 by such a course, would only defeat its own pur- 
 poses, and render nugatory its own measures. 
 Nor can the laws derive support from the man- 
 ners of the people, if the power of moral senti- 
 ment be weakened by enjoying, under the per- 
 mission of Government, great facilities to com- 
 mit ofienses. The laws of the United States have 
 denounced heavy penalties against the traffic in 
 slaves, because such traffic is deemed unjust and 
 inhuman. We appeal to the spirit of these laws : 
 We appeal to this justice and humanity : We 
 ask whether they ought not to operate, on the 
 present occasion, with all their force? We have 
 a strong feeling of the injustice of any toleration 
 of Slavery. Circumstances have entailed it on 
 a portion of our community, which cannot be im- 
 mediately relieved from it without consequences 
 more injurious than the suffering of the evil. But 
 to permit it in a new country, where yet no hab- 
 its are formed which render it indispensable, what 
 is it, but to encourage that rapacity, and fraud, 
 and violence, against which we have so long 
 pointed the denunciations of our penal code ? 
 What is it, but to tarnish the proud fame of the 
 country ? What is it, but to throw suspicion on 
 its good faith, and to render questionable all its 
 professions of regard for the right of humani- 
 ty and the liberties of mankind ? 
 
 " As inhabitants of a free country — as citizens 
 of a great and rising Republic — as members of a 
 Christian community — as living in a liberal and 
 enlightened age, and as feeling ourselves called 
 upon by the dictates of religion and humanity, 
 wo have presumed to offer our sentiments to 
 Congress on this question, with a solicitude for 
 
THE SECOND MISSOURI STRUGGLE. 
 
 25 
 
 the evpnt fur beyond vvhnt n common occnsion 
 could inspire." 
 
 Instead of rcpriiiliiif,' tlu> Speoc-hos elicited 
 by this rrnitrul liieiiie, wiiicli iimst necessarily, 
 to a fcreat extent, be a mere reproduction of 
 ideas e.\i)ress«l in the debate of tlie last ses- 
 sion, aii-eudy fjiven, we lierc insert the lie- 
 solves of tlie Ix^fjislatures of New-York, 
 New-Jersey, I'ennsylvania, Delaware, and 
 Kentucky — the first three beinir unanimous 
 expressions in favor of Slavt'ry Kestrielion ; 
 the fourth, fr()ni a Slave State, also in favor 
 of such Kostrietion, though prol)a!)iy not 
 unanimously ap:reed to by the I/^gislaturc ; 
 the last a^'ainst Restriction, and also (we 
 presume) unanimous. The f^eirislatures of 
 the Fr(>e States were generally unanimous 
 for Restriction ; those of the Slave States 
 (Delaware excepted) unanimous against it. 
 It is not deemed necessary to print more 
 than the following : 
 
 NEW YORK. 
 
 " State of New- York, in Asecmbly, Jan. 17, 
 18-2(1 : 
 
 " M'Acrc^.'s.Tlieinliibitinijthe further extension 
 of Slnvory in these United States is a subject of 
 deep concern among the people of this State ; and 
 whereas wo consider Slavery us an evil much to 
 be deplored ; and that every constitutional barrier 
 should be interposed to prevent its further exten- 
 sion : and that the Constitution of the United 
 States clearly gives Congress the rigtit to require 
 of new States, not comj)rised with the original 
 boundaries of these United States, the prohibition 
 of Slavery, as a condition of its admission into the 
 Union : Therefore, ^^■^^ 
 
 ^'Keso/rrd (if the lionorablc the Senate concur 
 herein), That our Senators be instructed, and our 
 Representatives in Congrcs.s bo requested, to op- 
 pose the admission as a State into the Union, any 
 territory not comprised as aforesaid, without 
 making the prohibition of Slavery therein an in- 
 dispensable condition of admission : therefore, 
 
 "Jiexoivcd, That measures be taken by the clerks 
 of the Senate and Assembly of this State, to trans- 
 mit copies of the preceding resolutions to each of 
 our Senators and Representatives in Congress." 
 
 [Unanimously concurred in by the Senate.] 
 
 NEW JERSEY. 
 
 House of Representatives, ) 
 January 2-lth, 1820. ] 
 
 Mr. Wilson of X. J. communicated the 
 following Resolutions of the Legislature of 
 the State of New- Jersey, which were read : 
 
 " IV/icrcnit. A Bill is now depending in the Con- 
 gress of the United States, on the application of 
 the people in the Territory of i^Iissoun for the ad- 
 mission of that Territory as a State into the Union, 
 not containing provisions against Slavery in such 
 ])riipo.«fd State, and a questidu is made upon the 
 right and expediency of such provision. 
 
 ■' The representatives of the people of New-Jer- 
 sey, in the Legislative Council ami General 
 Assembly of the said State, now in session, deem 
 it a duty they owe to themselves, to their constitu- 
 ent.?, and posterity, to declare and make known 
 the opinions they hold upon this momentous sub- 
 ject ; and, 
 
 "1. Thei/ do resolve and (fcc/o re, That the further 
 admission of Territories into the Union, without 
 
 reslrietion of Slavery, would, in their opinion, ch- 
 seiiliiilly impair tli<' right of this iind oilier existing 
 Slates to eipiiil represeiitatinn in (Joiigress (a right 
 at the foundation of the politicnl coiniiael), inaa- 
 inui'li as such newly a<linillc(l slavchouiiiig Stato 
 would he represented on the basis ot Ilieir slave 
 piipulalion ; a concession made at the formation 
 of the Constitutioii in favor of the ilicn existing 
 Stales, hut never nlipulatcd for new Stales, nor to 
 be inferred from any article or cluubc in that iu- 
 slninieiit. 
 
 " 'J. Resolved, That to admit the Territory of 
 Missouri as a .Slate into the Union, witliout pro- 
 hibiting Slavi'ry Ihcie, would, in the opinion ot the 
 representatives of the peo]jle of New-Jersey afore- 
 said, be no less than to sanction this great i)oliti- 
 cal and moral evil, furnish the ready mcaim of 
 peopling a vast Territory with Slaves, and per- 
 petuate all the dangers, crimes, and )>erniciou8 
 elTects of domestic bondage. 
 
 " 'A. Resolved, As the opinion of the Representa- 
 tives aforesaid, That inasmuch an no Territory 
 has a right to be admitted into the Union, but on 
 theiirinciplesof the Federal Constitution, and only 
 by a law of (Congress, consenting thereto on the 
 part of the existing States, Congress may rightful- 
 ly, ;ind ought to refuse such law, unless upon the 
 reasonable and just conditions, assented to on the 
 part of the people applying to become one of the 
 States. 
 
 " 4. Resolved, In the opinion of the Representa- 
 tives aforesaid, That the article of the Constitution 
 which restrains Congress from prohit>iting the 
 migration or importation of Slaves, until after the 
 year 18U8, does, by necessary implicalion, a<lmit 
 Ihe general power of Congress over the subject 
 of Slavery, and concedes to them the right to rej^u- 
 late and restrain such migration and importation 
 after that time, into the existing, or any newly-to- 
 be created State. 
 
 "5. Resolved, As the opinion of the Representa- 
 tives of the people of New-Jersey aforesaid. That 
 inasmuch as Congress have a clear right to refuse 
 the admission of a Territory into the Union, by 
 the terms of the Constitution, they ought in the 
 present case to exercise that absolute discretion 
 in order to preserve the political rights of the 
 several existing States, and prevent the great 
 national disgrace and multiplied mischiefs, which 
 must ensue from conceding it, as a matter of right, 
 in the immense Territories yet to claim admission 
 into the Union, beyond the Mississippi, that they 
 may tolerate Slavery. 
 
 '• C. Resolved, (with the concurrence of Council,) 
 That the Governor of this State be requested to 
 transmit a copy of the foregoing resolutions to 
 each of the Senators and Representatives of this 
 Stato in the Congress of the United States." 
 
 PENNSYLVANIA. 
 
 House of Representatives, ? 
 December llth, ISIU. J 
 
 A motion was made by Mr. Duane and 
 Mr. Thackara, and read as follows : 
 
 " The Senate and House of Representatives of 
 the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, while they 
 cherish the riglit of the individual Stales to ex- 
 press tlicir opinion upon all public measures pro- 
 posed in the Congress of the Union, are awaro 
 that its nset'ulncss must in a great degree depend 
 upon the discretion with which it is exercised; 
 they believe that the right ought not to be resorted 
 to upon trivial subjects or unimportant occasions ; 
 but they are also persuaded that there are mo- 
 ments wlien the neglect to exercise it would be a 
 dereliction of public duty. 
 
 "Such an occasion, as in their judgment de- 
 mands tlie frank expression of the sentiments of 
 Pennsylvania, is now presented. A measure was 
 
26 
 
 THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 
 
 ardently mipportcd in the last Congress of the 
 United "Stnlt's, and will probably be as earnestly 
 urged during the existing session of that body, 
 wliieli has a palpable tendency to impair the po- 
 litical relations of the several States ; wliich is cal- 
 culated to mar the social happiness of the present 
 and future generations; which, if adopted, would 
 impede the march of humanity and Freedom 
 through the world; and would transfer from a 
 misguided ancestry an odious stain and tix it in- 
 delibly upon the present race — a measure, in 
 brief, which proposes to spread the crimes and 
 cruelties of Slavery from the banks of the Missis- 
 sippi to the shores of the Pacitic. When a mea- 
 sure of this character is seriously advocated in 
 the republican Congress of America, in the nine- 
 teenth century, the several States are invoked by 
 the duty which they owe to the Deity, by the 
 veneration which they entertain for the memory 
 of the founders of the Republic, and by a tender 
 regard for posterity, to protest against its adoption, 
 to refuse to covenant with crime, and to limit the 
 range of an evil that already hangs in awful bod- 
 ing over so large a portion of the Union. 
 
 " Nor can such a protest be entered by any 
 State with greater propriety than by Pennsylvania. 
 This commonwealth has as sacredly respected the 
 rights of other States as it has been careful of its 
 own ; it has been the invariable aim of the people 
 of Pennsylvania to extend to the universe, by their 
 example, the unadulterated blessings of civil and 
 religious freedom ; and it is their pride that they 
 have been at all times the practical advocates of 
 those improvements and charities among men 
 ■which are so well calculated to enable them to an- 
 swer the purposes of their Creator ; and above all, 
 they may boast that they were foremost in re- 
 moving the pollution of Slavery from among 
 them. 
 
 " If, indeed, the ineasure, against which Penn- 
 sylvania considers it her duty to raise her voice, 
 ■were calculated to abridge any of the rights guar- 
 anteed to the several States ; if, odious as Slave- 
 ry is, it was proposed to hasten its extinction by 
 means injurious to the States upon which it was 
 unhappily entailed, Pennsylvania would be 
 among the first to insist upon a sacred observ- 
 ance of the constitutional compact. But it can- 
 \ not be pretended that the rights of any of the 
 States are at all to be affected by refusing to ex- 
 tend the mischiefs of human bondage over the 
 boundless regions of the W&st, a territory which 
 formed no part of the Union at the adoption of 
 the Constitution ; -which has been but lately pur- 
 chased from a European Po-sver by the people of 
 the Union at large ; -which may or may not be ad- 
 mitted as a State into the Union at the discretion 
 of Congress ; which must establish a republican 
 form of Government, and no other; and whose 
 climate afl'ords none of the pretexts urged for re- 
 sorting to the labor of natives of the torrid zone; 
 such a territory has no right, inherent or acquired, 
 such as those States possessed which established 
 the existing Constitution. When that Constitu- 
 tion was framed in September, 1787, the conces- 
 sion that three-fifths of the slaves in the States 
 then existing should be represented in Congress, 
 could not have been intended to embrace regions 
 at that time held by a foreign power. On the con- 
 trary, so anxious were the Congress of that day 
 to confine human bondage within its ancient 
 (home, that on the I3th of July, 1787, that body 
 unanimously declared that Slavery or involuntary 
 ' servitude should not exist in the extensive tcrn- 
 I tories bounded by the Ohio, the Mississippi, 
 ( Canada and the Lakes ; and in the ninth article 
 i of the Constitution itself, the power of Congress 
 /i/to prohibit the (tHii^^ralion of servile persons after 
 }• 1808, is expressly recognized ; nor is there to bo 
 found in the statute-book a single instance of the 
 admission of a Territory to the rank of a State in 
 ■which Congress have not adhered to the right, 
 
 vested in them by the Constitution, to stipulate 
 with the Territory upon the conditions of the 
 boon. 
 
 '■ The Senate and House of Representatives of 
 Pennsylvania, therefore, cannot but deprecate 
 anv departure from the humane and enlightened 
 policy pursued not only by the illustrious Con- 
 gress which framed the Constitution, but by their 
 successors without exception. They are persuad- 
 ed that, to open the fertile regions of the West to 
 a servile race, would tend to increase their num- 
 bers beyond all past example, would open a new 
 and steady market for the lawless venders of hu- 
 man flesh, and would render all schemes for obht- 
 erating this most foul blot upon the American 
 character useless and unavailing. 
 
 " Under these convictions, and in the full per- 
 suasion that upon this topic there is but one opin- 
 ion in Pennsylvania — 
 
 " Resolved 1/7/ the Senate and House of Repre- 
 sentatives of the Commoiiwealtk of Pennsylvania, 
 That the Senators of this State in the Congress of 
 the United States be, and they are hereby in- 
 structed, and that the Representatives of this 
 State in the Congress of the United States be, and 
 they are hereby requested, to vote against the ad- 
 mission of any Territory as a State into the Union, 
 unless said Territory shall stipulate and agree 
 that ' the further introduction of Slavery or in- 
 voluntary servitude, except for the punishment of 
 crimes whereof the party shall have been duly 
 convicted, shall he prohibited ; and that all chil- 
 dren bom -within the said Territory, after its ad- 
 mission into the Union as a State, shall be free, 
 but may be held to service until the age of twen- 
 ty-five years.' 
 
 "Resolved, That the Governor be, and he is 
 hereby requested to cause a copy of the foregoing 
 preamble and resolution to be transmitted to such 
 of the Senators and Representatives of this State 
 in the Congress of the tinited States. 
 
 " Laid on the table.'' 
 
 •'Thursday, December 16, 1819. 
 
 " Agreeably to the order of the day, the House 
 resumed the consideration of the resolutions post- 
 poned on the 14th inst., relative to preventing the 
 introduction of Slavery into States hereafter to be 
 admitted into the Union. And on the question, 
 ' Will the House agree to the resolution V the 
 Yeas and Nays were required by Mr. Randall and 
 Mr. Souder. and stood— Yeas, 74— (54 Democrats, 
 20 Federalists) ; Nays, 7ione. Among the Yeas 
 were David R. Porter, late Governor, Josiah 
 Randall of Philadelphia, now a Whig supporter 
 of Buchanan, William Wilkins, late minister to 
 Russia, now in the State Senate, Dr. Daniel 
 Sturgeon, late U. S. Senator, etc-, etc. Wilham 
 buane, editor of The Aurora, then the Demo- 
 cratic Organ, also voted for the resolutions, 
 as ho had prominently advocated the principle 
 they asserted. 
 
 " The Senate unanimously concurred, and the 
 Resolves were signed by Gov. William Findlay." 
 
 DELAWARE. 
 
 In Senate of the United States, early in 
 1820, Mr. Van Dyke communicated the fol- 
 lowing Resolutions of the Legislature of the 
 State of Delaware, -which were read : 
 
 " Resolved, by the Senate and House of Repre- 
 sentatives of the State of Delaware, in General 
 Assembly met : That it is, in the opinion of this 
 General Assembly, the constitutional right of the 
 United States, in Congress assembled, to enact 
 and establish, as one of the conditions for the ad- 
 mission of a new State into the Union, a provision 
 which shall effectually prevent the further intro- 
 duction of Slavery into such State ; and that a duo 
 regard to the true interests of such State, as well 
 
THE SECOND MISSOURI STRUGGLE. 
 
 2T 
 
 ns of the other States, require that the same should 
 bo lioiie. 
 
 " A't'.so/iTf/. That a copy of the above and fore- 
 goinj; re.sDiution l)o trnii.sinittod, by the Snoakor 
 of the Si'imte, to ciich of the Senators and Kei)re- 
 sontnlivcs fiDiu tliis State in the Con^jrena of tho 
 United States." 
 
 KENTUCKY. 
 
 In Heiiafo, .Tannary '24th, 1820, Mr. Logan 
 Cniiniuiiiicated tho rollowiii;,' pi-e;unl)le and 
 Kosohitioiis of tlic LofiislatufO of tho State 
 of Kentucky, whioh woro rotul : 
 
 " W/wrcrts, Tiie Con.stitution of the United 
 States provides for tlie admission of new States 
 into tlie Union, and it ia just and projjor that all 
 sueh States should be established upon the footin;^ 
 of orif^iiial .States, with a view to the preservation 
 of State Sovereif^nty, the prosperity of sucli new 
 State, and the f;oo(l of their eiti/ens ; and ichercu.t, 
 sueeessl'ul attempts have been hrretufore made, 
 and are now making;, (o prevent the Peonlcof the 
 Territory of Missouri from beini; adniitteil into the 
 Union as a State, unless trannneled by rules and 
 refiubitious wliieh do not exist iu the original 
 Stales, pariieularly in relation to the toleration of 
 Slavery. 
 
 "11 'hrrrn.i, also, if Con},'ress ean thus trammel or 
 control the powers of a Territory in the formation 
 of a State jjovernincnt, that body may, on the 
 same pniieiple, reduce its powers to little more 
 than those ipossessed by the people of the District 
 of Columbia; and whilst protessing to make it a 
 Sovereign .State, may bind it in perpetual vas- 
 salage, and reduce it to the condition of a province ; 
 sueh State must necessarily become the dependent 
 of Congress, asking such powers, and not the iu- 
 dependcMt State, demanding rights. Ami ichcrrris, 
 it is neeessnry, in preserving the State Sovereign- 
 ties in their present rights, that no new State 
 should be subjected to this restriction, any more 
 than an old one, and that there can be no reason 
 or justice why it should not be entitled to the 
 same privileges, when it is bound to bear all the 
 burdens and taxes laid upon it by Congress. 
 
 "In passing the following Uesolulion, the Gene- 
 ral Assembly refrains from expressing any opinion 
 eitlier hi favor or against the principles of Slavery ; 
 but to support and maintain State rights, which 
 it conceives necessary to be supported and main- 
 tained, to preserve tho liberties of the free people 
 of these United States, it avows its solemn con- 
 viction, that the States already confederated under 
 one common Constitution, have not a right to 
 deprive new St.-ites of equal privileges with them- 
 selves. Therefore, 
 
 " Resulvc'l, by the General Assembly of the 
 Commonweahh of Kentucky, That the Senators 
 in Congress from this State be instructed, and the 
 Representatives be requested, to use their et^'orts 
 to procure the passage of a law to admit the people 
 of Missouri into the Union, as a State, whether 
 those people will sanction Slavery by their Con- 
 stitution, or not. 
 
 " Resolved, That the Executive of this Com- 
 monwealth be requested to transmit this Resolu- 
 tion to the Senators and Representatives of this 
 State in Congress, that it may be laid before that 
 body lor its consideration." 
 
 The bill authorizing Mis.«ouri to form a 
 constitution, etc., came up in tho House as a 
 special order, Jan. 24th. Mr. Taylor of X. 
 Y. moved that it be postponed for one week : 
 Lost : Yeas 87 ; Nays 88. Whereupon the 
 House adjourned. It was considered in com- 
 mittee the next day, as also ou the 28th aud 
 
 30th, and thence dei)ated daily until the lOth 
 of February, when a bill cunie down from 
 the Sentite " to admit tiie State f)f Muiie 
 into tho Union," i)utwith a rider authorizing 
 the people of .Miss(;uri to form a State Con- 
 stitution, etc., without restriction on tho sub- 
 ject of Slavery. 
 
 'I'iio House, very early in tlio session, passed 
 a bill ])roviding for llio admission of .Maine 
 as a State. This bill came to tho Senate, 
 and wa»s sent to its Judiciary (,'ominiltee 
 aforesaid, which ainonded it by tuldiiig a 
 provision for .Missouri as above. After 
 several days' debate in Senate, Mr. llolx-rta 
 of I'a. moved to recommit, so as to strilsO 
 out all but the admission of Maine ; which 
 was defeated (Jan. 14th. 1820)— Yeas 18; 
 Nays 2.5. Hereupon Mr. Thomas of III. 
 (who voted with the majority, a,s uniformly 
 against any restriction on Missouri) gave 
 notice that he should 
 
 " ask leave to bring a bill to prohibit the intro- 
 duction of Slavery into the Territories of the 
 United Stntex North and West of the contem- 
 plated State of Missouri." 
 
 — which he accordingly did on the 1 0th ; 
 when it Avas read and ordered to a third 
 reading. 
 
 [Note. — Great confusion and misconception ex- 
 ists in the public min<l with recrard to "the ;\Iissouri 
 Restriction," two totally difTereiit (jropositions 
 being called by that name. The oriirinal Re- 
 striction, which Mr. Clay vehemently opposed, 
 and Mr. JefTerson in a letter characterized as a 
 " tire-b(ll in the night, " contemplated the limita- 
 tion of .Slavery in its exclusion from the State of 
 Missouri. This was ultimately defeatcfl, as wo 
 shall see. The second proposed Restriction was 
 that of Mr. Tlnmias, just cited, which proposed 
 the exclusion of Slavery, not from tho State of 
 Missouri, but from the Territories of the United 
 States North and West of that State. This 
 pfoposition did not emanate from the original 
 Missouri Restrictionists, but from their adversa- 
 ries, and was but reluctantly and partially ac- 
 cepted by the former.] 
 
 The Maine admission bill, with the pro- 
 posed amendments, was discussed through 
 several days, until, Feb. 16th, the question 
 was taken on the Judiciary Committee's 
 amendments (authorizing Missouri to form a 
 State Constitution, and saying nothing of 
 Slavery), which were adopted by the follow- 
 ing vote : 
 
 YEAS — Against the Restriction on Missouri: 
 
 Messrs. Barbour of Va. Logan of Ky. 
 
 Hrown of La. Macon, of N. C. 
 
 Eaton of Tcim. Pinkncy of Md. 
 
 Edwards of 111. Pleasants of Va. 
 
 Elliott of Ga. Smith of S. C. 
 
 Gaillard of S. C. Stokes of N. C. 
 
 Johnson of Ky. Taylor of Ind. 
 
 Johnson of La. Thomas <^i l\\. 
 
 King (\Vm. R.), Ala. Walker of Ala. 
 
 Leake of Miss. Walker ot (Ja. 
 
 Llovd of Mil. Williams of Miss. 
 "Williams of Tenn.— 23. 
 
 [20 from Slave States ; 3 (iu italic^) from 
 Free Stales.] 
 
28 
 
 THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 
 
 NA YS — For Restriction . 
 
 Messrs. Burrill of R. I. 
 Diina of Ct. 
 Dickinson of N. J. 
 Horsey of Del. 
 Hunter of R. I. 
 
 Noble of md. 
 Otis c)f Mass. 
 Palmer of Vt. 
 Parrott of N. H. 
 Roberts of Pa. 
 
 King (Rufus) of N. Y. Ruirglos of Ohio, 
 Lanmanof Conn. SanfordofN. Y. 
 
 Lowrio of Pa. Ticlicnor of Vt. 
 
 Mellen of Mass. Trimble of Ohio, 
 
 Morrill of N. H. Van Dyke of Del. 
 
 Wilson of N. J.— 21 
 
 [19 from Free States, 2 (in italics) from 
 Delaware.] 
 
 Mr. Thoma.? of 111. then proposed his 
 amendment, as follows : 
 
 " And be it fnr/ficr enacted, That the sixth 
 article of compact of the Ordinance of Con- 
 gress, ])assed July 13th, 1787, for the govem- 
 ment of the Territory of the United States, north- 
 west of the river Ohio, shall, to all intents and 
 purposes, be, and hereby is, deemed and held ap- 
 plicable to, and shall have full force and effect m 
 and over, all (hat tract of country ceded by 
 France to the United States under the name of 
 Louisiana which lies north of thirty-si.x degrees 
 and thirty minutes, north latitude, excepting only 
 such part thereof as is included within the limits 
 contemplated by this act." 
 
 On the following day Mr. Thomas with- 
 drew the foregoing and substituted the fol- 
 lowing : 
 
 '^And heitfiirther enacted, That in all that Ter- 
 ritory ceded by France to the United States under 
 the name of Louisiana which lies north of thirty- 
 six degrees thirty minutes, north latitude, except- 
 ing only such part thereof as is included within 
 the limits of the State contemplated by this act, 
 Slavery and involuntary servitude, otherwise 
 than in the punishment of crime whereof the 
 party shall have been duly convicted, shall be 
 and is hereby forever prohibited. Provided 
 alicayf, that any person escaping into the same, 
 from where labor or service is lawfully claimed 
 in any State or Territory of the United States, 
 such fugitive may be lawfully reclaimed and con- 
 veyed to the person claimiug his or her labor 8r 
 service as aforesaid." 
 
 Mr. Trimble of Ohio moved a substitute 
 for this, somewhat altering the boundaries 
 of the region shielded from Slavery, which 
 was rejected : Yeas 20 (Northern) ; Nays 
 24 (Southern, with Noble, Edwards, and 
 Taylor, as aforesaid). 
 
 The question then recurred on Mr. Thom- 
 as's amendment, which was adopted as fol- 
 lows : 
 
 YEA S — For excluding Slavery from all the 
 Territory North and West of Missouri : 
 Messrs. Brown of La. Mellen of Mass. 
 
 Burrill of R. 1. Morrill of N. II. 
 
 Dana of Conn. Otis of Mass. 
 
 Dickorson of N. J. Palmer of Vt. 
 
 Eaton of Tenn. Parrott of N. II. 
 
 Edwards of 111. Pinkney of Md. 
 
 Horsey of Del. Roberts of Pa. 
 
 II uuler of R. I. Ruggles of Ohio, 
 
 Johnson of Ky. Sanford of N. Y. 
 
 Johnson of La. Stokee of N. C 
 
 King (VVm. R.) of Ala. Thomas of 111. 
 
 King (Rufus) of N. Y. Tichenor of Vt. 
 
 Lanman of Conn. Trimble of Ohio, 
 
 Leake of Miss. Van Dyke of Del. 
 
 Lowrie of Pa. Walker of Ala. 
 
 Lloyd of Md. 
 Logan of Ky. 
 
 Williams of Ten. 
 Wilson of N. J.— 34 
 
 NAYS — As;ainst such Restriction . 
 
 Messrs. Barbour of Va. 
 Elliott of fta. 
 Gaillard of S. C. 
 Macon of N. C. 
 Noble of Ind. 
 Pleasants of Va. 
 
 Smith (Wm.) of 
 
 S C 
 Tavlor of Ind. 
 Walker of Ga. 
 Williams of 
 
 Miss. -10. 
 
 fit will here be seen that the Restriction ulti- 
 mately adopted, that excluding Slavery from all 
 territory then owned by the United States North 
 and West of the Southwest border of the State of 
 Missouri, was proposed by an early and steadfast 
 opponent of the Restriction originally proposed, 
 relative to Slavery in the contemplated State of 
 Missouri, and was sustained by the votes of four- 
 teen Senators from Slave States, including the 
 Senators from Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, 
 Tennessee, Alabama, and Louisiana, with one vote 
 each from North Carolina and Mississippi. 
 
 The current assumption that this Restriction 
 was proposed by Rufus King of New York, and 
 mainly sustained by the antagonists of Slavery 
 Extension, is wholly mistaken. The truth, doubt- 
 less, is, that it was suggested by the more moder- 
 ate opponents of the proposed Restriction on Mis- 
 souri — and supported also by Senators from Slave 
 States — as a means of overcoming the resistance 
 of the House to Slavery in Missouri. It was, in 
 effect, an offer from the milder opponents of 
 Slavery Restriction to the more moderate and 
 flexible advocates of that Restriction — " Let ub 
 have Slavery in Missouri, and we will unite with 
 you in e.xcluding it from all the uninhabited 
 territories North and West of that State." It 
 was in substance an agreement between the North 
 and the South to that effect, though the more de. 
 termined champions, whether of Slavery Exten- 
 sion or Slavery Restriction, did not unite in it] 
 
 The bill, thus amended, was ordered to be 
 engrossed for a third reading by the follow- 
 ing vote : 
 
 YEAS— For the Missouri Bill : 
 
 Messrs. Barbour of Va. Lloyd of Md. 
 
 Brown of La. Logan of Ky. 
 
 Eaton of Tenn. Parrott of N. H. 
 
 Edwards of 111. Pinkney of Md. 
 
 Elliott of Ga. Pleasants of Va. 
 
 Gaillard of S. C. Stokes of N. C. 
 
 Horsey of Del. Thomas of 111. 
 
 Hunter ofR.L VanDyke,Del. 
 
 Johnson of Ky. Walker of Ala. 
 
 Johnson of La. Walker of Ga. 
 
 King of Ala. Williams of Miss. 
 
 Leake of Miss. Williams, Tenn. — 24. 
 
 NA YS— Against the Bill : 
 
 Messrs. Burrill of R. I. Otis of Mass. 
 
 Dana of Conn. Palmer of Vt. 
 
 Dickerson of N. J. R()l)erts of Pa. 
 
 King of N. Y. Ruggles of Ohio, 
 
 Lanman of Conn. Sanford of N. Y. 
 
 Lowrio of Pa. Smith of S. C. 
 
 Mncon of N. C. Taylor of Ind. 
 
 Mullen of Mass. Tichenor of Vt. 
 
 Morrill of N. H. Trimble of Ohio, 
 
 Noble of Ind. Wilson of N. J. 
 —20. 
 
THE 8EC0ND MISSOURI STRUGGLE. 
 
 29 
 
 The bill was thus passed (Feb. IHtli) willi- 
 out further division, and sent to the House 
 for conenrrence. In tiie House, iMr.'I'honi- 
 as's aineiidni'Mt (as aliove) was at first re- 
 jected bv botii parties, antl defeated by the 
 stron<r vote of 159 to IB. The Yeas (to 
 adopt) were, 
 Missi-rt Hiildu-iii of Pa. MoecliofVt. 
 
 H'lvlv of Mil. Mcn-or of Vn. 
 
 JJlooinliol.l of N. J. Quiiilcfl of Ky. 
 
 C.K-ko of Toiin. liiiii;:,'..!.! ofMil. 
 
 ( 'laflrt of Vt. Sli.iw of .M.i.-is. 
 
 CiillK-ppcr of N. C. !Slo;iii of Oliio. 
 
 Kiiisciy of N.J. Smiiliof N.J. 
 
 Lntliri>)ii>fMiis8. Smith of Md. 
 
 1/ittleofiM.l. Till r of I'a.— 18. 
 
 Prior to tliis vote, the House disajjjreed to 
 the ioj^-rollinir of Maine ami Missouri, into 
 one bill by the strons^ vote of 93 to 72. 
 [We do not "[ive tlie Yeas and Nays on this 
 decision ; but the majority was composed of 
 the representatives of tiie Free States with 
 only four e.x'ceptions ; and Mr. Louis MeLane 
 of Delaware, who was constrained by in- 
 structions from his legislature. His col- 
 leatrue, Mr. Willard Hall, did not vote.] 
 
 Tiie members from Free States who voted 
 with the Soutii to keep Maine and Missouri 
 united in one bill were, 
 
 Messrs. II. Baldwin of Pa. Henry Moigs of N. Y. 
 Blooiufiddof N. J. Iloiiry .Sluiw of M:iss. 
 
 The House also disagreed to the remain- 
 ing amendments of the Senate (striking out 
 the restriction on Slavery in Missouri) by 
 the strong vote of 102 Yeas to G8 Nays. 
 
 [Nearly or quite every Representative of a Free 
 State voted in the majority of this division with 
 the following from Slave States : 
 
 Loiii.-^ McLancDel. Nel.^on, 3Id. 
 Alat-y McLean, Ky. Trimble, Ky.] 
 
 So the House rejected all the Senate's 
 amendments, and returned the bill with a 
 corresponding message. 
 
 The Senate took up the bill on the 2'lth, 
 and debated it till the 28th, when, on a direct 
 vote, it was decided not to recede from the 
 attachment of Missouri to the Maine bill : 
 Yeas 21 : (19 from Free States and 2 from 
 Delaware ;)' Nays 23 ; (20 from Slave States, 
 with Messrs. Taylor of Ind., Edwards and 
 Thomas of 111.) 
 
 The Senate also voted not to recede from 
 its amendment prohibiting Slavery west of 
 Mis.?ouri, and north of 30'' 30', north latitude. 
 (For receding, 9 from Slave States, with 
 Messrs. Noble and Tavlor of Ind. : against 
 ■it 33— (22 from Slave'States, 11 from Free 
 States.) The remaining amendments of the 
 Senate were then insisted on without division, 
 and the House notified accordingly. 
 
 The bill was now returned to "the House, 
 which, on motion of Mr. John W. Taylor 
 of N. Y.. voted to insist on its disagreement 
 to all but see. 9 of the Senate's amendments, 
 by Yeas 97 to Nays 7(3 : [all but a purely 
 sectional vote : Hugh Nelson of Va. voting 
 with the North : Baldwin of Pa., Bloomfield 
 
 of N. J., anil Shaw of Mass., voting with the 
 Soiitli] 
 
 Sec. 9, (the Senate's exclusion of Slavery 
 from the 'firritory north and west of Mis- 
 souri) wa.s al.so rejected — Y<'as iGl) ; Nays 
 14, (much as before.) The Senate there- 
 upon (.March 2nd) passed the House's Mis- 
 souri bill, striking out the restriction of 
 Slavery by Yeas 27 to Nays If), and adding 
 without a division the exclusion of Slavery 
 from the Territory west and north of said 
 State. Mr. Trimble again moved the exclu- 
 sion of Slavery from Arkansas also, but was 
 again voted down ; Yeas 12 ; Nays 30. 
 
 The Senate now asked a conference, which 
 the House granted without a division. The 
 Committee of Conference was compo.sed of 
 Messrs. Thomas of 111., Pinkney of Md.,and 
 Barbour of Va. (all anti-restrictionists), on 
 the part of the Senate, and Messrs. Holmes 
 of >lass., Taylor of N. Y., Lowndes of S. C, 
 Parker of Mass., and Kinsey of N. J., on 
 the part of the House. [Such eon.stitiition 
 of the Committee of Conference was in effect 
 a .surrender of the Restriction on tlie pari of 
 the House.] John Holmes of Ma.ss.. from 
 this Committee, in due time (March 2nd), re- 
 ported that, 
 
 1. The Senate should give up the combina- 
 tion of Missouri in the same bill with 
 -Maine. 
 
 2. The House should abandon the attempt 
 to restrict Slavery in Missouri. 
 
 3. Both Houses should agree to pass the 
 Senate's separate Missouri bill, with Mr. 
 Thomas's restriction or compromising pro- 
 viso, excluding Slavery from all Territory 
 north and west of Missouri. 
 
 The report having been read, 
 The first and most important question 
 was put, viz. : 
 
 " AVill the House concur with the Senate in so 
 much of the said amendments as ])roi)oscs to 
 strike from the fourth section of the [.Missouri] 
 bill the provision prohibitiiif^ Slavery or involun- 
 tary servitude, in the contemplated State, other- 
 wise than in the punishment of crimes?" 
 
 On which question the Yeas and Nays 
 were demanded, and were as follow : 
 YEAS — For giving up Rtstriction on Mis- 
 souri : 
 
 Massachu.setts — Mark Lanjjdon Hill, John 
 Holmes. Jonathan Mason, Henry Shaw — 4. 
 
 Khodk Island. — Samuel Eiklj' — 1. 
 
 Co.vxKCTicuT. — Samuel A. Foot, James Stc- 
 phcn.s — 2. 
 
 New-York. — Henry Meigs, Henry R. Storrs 
 —2. 
 
 Nkw-Jeusey. — Joseph Bloomfield, Charles 
 Kinsey, Bernard Smith — 3. 
 
 PE.N.Nsyi.v.\.NiA. — Henry Baldwin, Dtivid Ful- 
 lerton — 2. 
 
 Total from Free States 14. 
 
 Delaware. — Louis McLane — 1. 
 
 M A 11 Y I. AN !>■ — Steplu'Dsoii Ari'her, Thomas Bay- 
 ly, Thomas Culbrelii. Jo.-jfph Kent. Peter Little, 
 Ivnph.ul Ne.ilo, Saiiuiel lviiig;,'iild, Samuel Smith, 
 Henry H. Wi.rfield— <). 
 
 ViUGiMA. — Mark Alexander, William S. 
 Archer, Philip P. Barbour, William A. Burwell, 
 
30 
 
 THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 
 
 John Floyd, Robert S. Gavnett, Jame? Johnson, 
 Juiiifs Joiios, Williiun McCoy, Chnrles P. Mereer, 
 Hiigli Ntlsoii, Thomas Nelson, Severn E. Par- 
 ker, Jas Pindall, John Raudolph, Ballard Smith, 
 Alexander .Smyth, George V. Strother, Thomas 
 Van SwenrinRen, George Tucker, John lylcr, 
 Jared Williams— ^2. 
 
 North Caholina. — Hutchina G. Burton, John 
 Culpoijper. William Davidson, Weldon N. Ed- 
 wards, Charles Fisher, Thomas H. Hall, Charles 
 Hooks. Thomas Settle, Jesse Slocumb, James 
 K. Smith, Felix Walker, Lewis Williams— 12. 
 
 South Carolina. — Josiah Brevard, Elias 
 Earle, James Ervin, William Lowndes, James 
 MeCroary, James Overstreet, Charles Pinckney, 
 Eldred Simkins. ISterlinsr Tucker— 9. 
 
 Gedugia Joel A. Abbott, Thomas W. Cobb, 
 
 Joel Crawford, John A. Cuthbert, Robert E. 
 Keid, W'illiam Terrell— (i. 
 
 Alabama. — John Crowell — 1. 
 Missis."? IP I'l. — John Rankin — 1. 
 Louisiana.— Thomas Butler — 1. 
 Kentucky.— Richard C. Anderson, jr., William 
 Brown, Benjan\in Hardin, Alney McLean, 
 Tliomas Metcalf, Tuustall Quarles, Geo. Robert- 
 Bon, David Trimble — 8. 
 
 Tennessee— Robert Allen, Henry H. Bryan, 
 Newton Camion, John Cocke, Francis Jones, 
 John Rhea— 5. 
 
 Total Yeas from Slave States 76 ; in all 90. 
 NAYS— Against giving itp the Restriction 
 on Slavery in Missouri : 
 
 New-Hampshire Joseph Bufitum, jr., Josiah 
 
 Butler, Clifton Clagett, Arthur Livermore, Wil- 
 liam Plumer. jr., Nathaniel Upham.. .6. 
 
 Massachusetts (including Maine). ..Benjamm 
 Adams. Samuel C Allen. Joshua Cushmau. Ed- 
 ward Dowse, Walter Folder, jr., Timothy Fuller, 
 Jonas Kendall, Martin Kinsley, Samuel Lathrop, 
 Enoch Lincoln, Marcus Morton, Jeremiah Nelson. 
 James Parker. Zabdiel Sampson, Nathaniel Sils- 
 bee, Ezekiel Whitman — 16. 
 
 Rhode Island Nathaniel Hazard_l. 
 
 Connecticut —Jonathan O. Moseley, Ehsha 
 Phelps. John Russ, Gideon Tomlinson— 4. 
 
 Vermont Samuel C. Crafts, Rollin C. Mal- 
 
 lary, Ezra Meech, Charles Rich, Mark Richards, 
 William Strong_(i. 
 
 New-York Nathaniel Allen, Caleb Baker, 
 
 Robert Clark. Jacob H. De Witt, John D. Dick- 
 inson, John Fay, William D. Ford, Ezra C. Gross, 
 James Guyon" jr., Aaron Hackley. jr., George 
 Hall, Joseph S. Lyman, Robert MoncU, Nathaniel 
 Pitcher, Jonathan Richmond, Randall S. Street, 
 James Strong, John W. Taylor, Albert H. 
 Tracy. Solomon Van Rensselaer, Peter H. W en- 
 dover, Silas Wood_22. 
 
 New-Jersey.. -Ephraim Bateman, John Linn, 
 Henry Southard — 3. „r^,^■ 
 
 Pennsylvania -Andrew Boden, William 
 Darlington, George Dennison, Samuel Edwards, 
 Thomas Forrest, Samuel Gross, Joseph Hemphill, 
 Jacob llibschman, Joseph Heister, Jacob Hostet- 
 ter, William P. Maclay, David Marchand, Robert 
 Mooio, Samuel Moore, John Murray. Thomas 
 Patterson, Robert Philson, Thomas J. Rogers, 
 John Sergeant, Christian Tarr, James M.Wal- 
 lace- 21. , ^ , 
 
 Ohio Philemon Beecher, Henry Brush, John 
 
 W. Campbell, Samuel Herrick, Thomas R. Ross, 
 John Sloane — 6. 
 
 Indiana. — William Hendricks- -1. 
 Illinois Daniel P. Cook — 1. 
 
 Total Nays 87— all from Free States. 
 
 [The members apparently absent on this im- 
 portant division, were Henry W. Edwards of 
 Conn., Walter Case and Ilonorius Peck of N. Y. 
 mid John Condit of N. J., from the Free States; 
 
 with Lemuel Sawyer of N. C, and David Walker 
 of Ky., from the Slave States. Mr. Clay of Ky. > 
 being Speaker, did not vote.] 
 
 This defeat broke the back of the Northern 
 resistance to receiving Missouri as a Slave 
 State. 
 
 Mr. Taylor, of N. Y., now moved an amend- 
 ment, intended to include Arkansas Territory 
 under the proposed Inhibition of Slavery 
 West of Missouri ; but this motion was cut 
 off by the Previous Question (which then 
 cut off amendments more rigorously, accord- 
 ing to the rules of the House, than it now 
 does), and the House proceeded to concur 
 with the Senate in inserting the exclusion of 
 Slavery from the Territory West and North 
 of Missouri, instead of that just stricken out 
 by 134 Yeas to 42 Nays, (the Nays being 
 from the South). So the bill was passed in 
 the form indicated above ; and the bill ad- 
 mitting Maine as a State, (relieved, by a 
 conference, from the Missouri rider,) passed 
 both Houses without a division, on the fol- 
 lowing day. 
 
 Such was the virtual termination of the 
 struggle for the restriction of Slavery in 
 Missouri, which was beaten by the plan of 
 proffering instead an exclusion of Slavery 
 from all the then Federal Territory West and 
 North of that State. It is unquestionable 
 that, without this compromise or equivalent, 
 the Northern votes, which passed the bill, 
 could not have been obtained for it. 
 
 YIIL 
 
 THE THIRD MISSOURI STRUGGLE. 
 
 Though the acceptance of Missouri as a 
 State, with a Slave Constitution, was forever 
 settled by the votes just recorded, a new ex- 
 citement sprang up on her presenting herself 
 to Congress (Nov. IG, 1820), with a State 
 Constitution, framed on the 19th of July, 
 containing the following resolutions : 
 
 " The General Assembly shall have no power 
 to pass laws, Fu'st, for the emancipation of slaves 
 without the consent of their owners, or without 
 paying them, before such emancipation, a full 
 equivalent for such Slaves so emancipated ; and. 
 Second, to prevent bona fde emigrants to this 
 State, or actual settlers therein from bringing 
 from any of the United States, or from any of 
 their Territories, such persons as may there be 
 deemed to be Slaves, so long as any persons of 
 the same description are allowed to be held as 
 Slaves by the laws of this State. 
 
 » * * •' It shall be their duty, as soon as 
 may be, to pass such laws as may be necessary, 
 
 " First, to prevent free necrroes and mulattocs 
 from coming to, and settling in, this State, under 
 any pretext whatever." 
 
 The North, still smarting under a sense of 
 its defeat on the question of excluding Slavery 
 from Missouri, regarded this as needlessly de- 
 fiant, insulting, and inhuman, and the last 
 quoted as palpably in violation of that clause 
 of the Federal ('onstilution which gives to the 
 citizens of each State (which blacks are, in 
 
THE ANNEXATION" OF TEXAS. 
 
 81 
 
 several Free States,) the rififlits of citizens in 
 evL'i-y State. A determined resistaiiec to any 
 sucli exclii*i()n was manifested, and a portion 
 of tlie Nortiiern Members evineed a disposi- 
 tion to renew tiie strugufle airainst the further 
 intriuhu'tion of Shives into Missouri. At 
 the first elT)rt to carry her admission, the 
 House voted it down — Yeas, 7'.) ; Nays, <)."{. 
 A second attempt to admit her, on condition 
 pile would expunge the olmoxious cUiuse (last 
 quoted) of her (Constitution, was vt)ted down 
 Btill more decisively — Yeas, ; Nays, 146. 
 
 The House now rested, until a joint resolve, 
 admit tinij: her with but a va-jue and ineffect- 
 ive f[ualitication, came down from the Senate, 
 where it was jiassed by a vote of '2G to IH — 
 six Senators from Free States in the afTirma- 
 tivc. Mr. ('lay, who had resiurned in the 
 recess, and l)een succeeded, as Speaker, by 
 John W. Taylor, of New York, now appeared 
 as the leader of the Missouri a(hnissionists, 
 and proposed terms of compromise, which 
 were twice voted down by the Northern 
 Members, aided by John Randolph and three 
 others from the South, who would have 
 Mis.souri admitted without condition or qua- 
 lification. At last, Mr. Clay proposed a 
 Joint Committee on this subject, to be chosen 
 by ballot — whicli the House agreed to by 
 101 to 5.5 ; and Mr. (]^lay became its Chair- 
 man. By this Committee it was agreed, that 
 a solemn pledge should be required of th 
 Legislature of Missouri, that the Constitution 
 of that State should not be construed to 
 authorize the passage of any Act, and that 
 no Act should be passed, " by which any of 
 the citizens of either of the States should be 
 excluded from the enjoyment of the privileges 
 and immunities to which they are entitled 
 under the Constitution of the United States." 
 The Joint Resolution, amended by the addi- 
 tion of this proviso, passed the House by 86 
 Yeas to 82 Nays ; the Senate concurred 
 (Feb. 27th. 1821.) bv 26 Yeas to 15 Nay.s— 
 (all Northern but "Macon, of N. C.) xMis- 
 souri complied with tlie condition, and be- 
 came an accepted member of the Union. 
 Thus closed the last stage of the fierce Mis- 
 souri Controversy, which for a time seemed 
 to threaten — as so many other controversies 
 have harmlessly threatened — the existence of 
 the Union. 
 
 IX. 
 
 EXTENSION OF MISSOURI. 
 
 The State of Missouri, as originally or- 
 ganized, was bounded on the West by a line 
 already specified, which excluded a triangle 
 West of said lino, and between it and the 
 Missouri, which was found, in time, to be 
 exceedingly fertile and desirable. It was 
 free soil by the terms of the Missouri com- 
 pact, and was also covered by Indian reserv- 
 ations, not to be removed without a concur- 
 rence of two-thirds of the Senate. Messrs. 
 Benton and Linn, senators from Missouri, 
 
 undertook the dinicult task of engineering 
 througii (jongri'ss a i)ill including this triangle 
 (large enough to form seven Counties) witliin 
 the State of Missouri; which they ellicted, 
 at the long Sessicju of 1835-6, .so tiuietly as 
 hardly to attract attention. The bill was 
 first sent to the Senate's CommitttH! on the 
 Judiciary, where a favorable report was pro- 
 cured from Mr. John M. Clayton, <if Del^v- 
 ware, its Chairman ; and then it was floated 
 through both Hou.ses without encountering 
 the perils of a division. The re(iuisite Indian 
 treaties were likewise carried through the 
 Senate ; so Missouri became pwsessed of a 
 large and desirable accession of territory, 
 which has since become one of her most po- 
 pulous and wealthy sections, devoted to the 
 growing of hemp, tobacco, etc., and culti- 
 vated by Slaves. This is the most pro-Slavery 
 section of the State, in which was originated, 
 and has been principally sustained, that series 
 of inroads into Kansas, corruptions of her 
 ballot-boxes, and outrages upon her peoj)le, 
 which have earned for their authors the ap- 
 pellation of Border Ruffiuns. 
 
 X. 
 
 THE ANNEXATION OF TEXAS. 
 
 The name of Texas was originally applied 
 to a Spanish possession or province, lying 
 between the Mississippi and the Rio (irande 
 del Norte, but not extending to either of 
 these great rivers. It was an a])pendage of 
 the Viceroyalty of Mexico, but had very few 
 civilized inlialjitants down to the time of the 
 separation of Mexico from Spain. On two 
 or three occasions, bands of French adven- 
 turers had landed on its coa.st, or entered it 
 from the adjoinina: French colony of Louisi- 
 ana ; but they had uniformly been treated as 
 intruders, and eitlier destroyed or made pri- 
 soners by the Spanish military authorities. 
 No line had ever been drawn between the 
 two colonies ; but the traditional line between 
 them, south of the Red River, ran somewhat 
 within the limits of the present State of 
 Louisiana. 
 
 The etymology of Natchitoches, a city of 
 Louisiana on the Red River, several miles 
 within the present boundary of that State, 
 attests its claims to a Spanish origin. 
 
 When Louisiana was transferred by France 
 to the United States, without specification 
 of boundaries, collisions of claims on this 
 frontier was apprehended, (ieneral Wilkin- 
 son, commanding the United States troops, 
 moved gradually to the west ; the Spanish 
 commandant in Texas likcwi.se drew toward 
 the frontii'rs. until they stood opposite each 
 other across what wius then tacitly settled 
 as the boundary between the two countries. 
 This was never afterward disregarded. 
 
 In 1819, Spain and the United States 
 seemed on the verge of war. (General Jack- 
 son had twice invaded Florida, on the assump- 
 
S2 
 
 THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 
 
 tion of complicity on the part of her rnlers 
 and people — first with our British, tlien with 
 our siiviisre enemies — ^and had finally overrun, 
 and, in effect, annexed it to the Union. 
 Spain, on the other hand, had preyed upon 
 our commerce during the long wars in 
 Europe, and honestly owed our merchants 
 large sums for unjustifiable seizures and 
 spoliations. A negotiation for the settle- 
 ment of these differences was carried on at 
 Washington, between John Quincy Adams, 
 Mr. Monroe's Secretary of State, and Dou 
 Onis, the Spanish embassador, in the course 
 of which Mr. Adams set up a claim, on the 
 part of this country, to Texas as a natural 
 geographical appendage not of Mexico, 
 but of Louisiana. This claim, however, he 
 eventually waived and relinquished, in con- 
 sideration of a cession of Florida by Spain 
 to this country — our government agreeing, 
 on its part, to pay the claims of our mer- 
 chants for spoliations. Texas remained, 
 therefore, what it always had been — a de- 
 partment or province of Mexico, with a 
 formal quit-claim thereto on the part of the 
 United States. 
 
 The natural advantages of this region 
 naturally attracted the attention of Ameri- 
 can adventurers, and a small colony of 
 Yankees was settled thereon, about 1819-20, 
 by Moses Austin of Connecticut. Other 
 settlements followed. Originally, grants of 
 land in Texas were prayed for, and obtained 
 of the Mexican government, on the assump- 
 tion that the petitioners were Roman Catho- 
 lics, persecuted in the United States, because 
 of their religion, and anxious to find a refuge 
 in some Catholic country. Thus all the 
 early emigrants to Texas went professedly as 
 Catholics, no other religion being tolerated. 
 
 Slavery was abolished by Mexico soon 
 after the consummation of her independence, 
 when very few slaves were, or ever had been, 
 in Texas. But, about 1834, some years after 
 this event, a quiet, but very general, and, 
 evidently concerted, emigration, mainly from 
 Tennessee and other southwestern States, 
 began to concentrate itself in Texas. The 
 emigrants carried rifles ; many of them were 
 accompanied by slaves ; and it was well un- 
 derstood that they did not intend to become 
 Mexicans, much less to relinquish their 
 slaves. When Gen. Sam. Houston left 
 Arkansas for Texas, in 1834-5, the Little 
 Rock Journal, which announced his exodus 
 and destination, significantly added : " We 
 shall, doubtlesft, hear of his raising his flag 
 there shortly." That was a foregone conclusion. 
 
 Of course, the new settlers in Texas did 
 not lack pretexts or provocations for such a 
 step. jNlexico was then much as she is now, 
 misgoverned, turbulent, anarchical, and des- 
 potic. The overthrow of her Federal Con- 
 stitution by Santa Anna was one reason as- 
 signed for the rebellion against her authori- 
 ty which broke out in Texas. In 1835, her 
 
 independence was declared ; in 1836, at the 
 decisive battle of San Jacinto, it was, by the 
 rout and capture of the Mexican dictator, 
 secured. This trium])h was won by emi- 
 grants from this country almost exclusively ; 
 scarcely half a dozen of the old Mexican in- 
 habitants participating in the revolution. 
 Santa Anna, while a prisoner, under restraint 
 and apprehension, agreed to a peace on the 
 basis of the independence of Texas — a 
 covenant which he had no power, and proba- 
 bly no desire, to give effect to when restored 
 to liberty. The Texans, pursuing their ad- 
 vantage, twice or thrice penetrated other 
 Mexican provinces — Tamaulipas, Coahuiia, 
 etc., and waved their Lone-Star flag in de- 
 fiance, on the banks of the Rio Grande del 
 Norte ; which position, however, they were 
 always compelled soon to abandon — once 
 with severe loss. Their government, never- 
 theless, in reiterating their declaration of in- 
 dependence, claimed the Rio Grande as their 
 western boundary, from its source to its 
 mouth, including a large share of Tamaulipas, 
 Coahuiia, Durango, and by far the more im- 
 portant and populous portion of New Mexi- 
 co. And it was with this claim, express- 
 ly set forth in the treaty, that President 
 Tyler and his responsible advisers negotiated 
 the first official project of annexation, which 
 was submitted to the Senate, during the ses- 
 sion of 1843-44, and rejected by a very de- 
 cisive vote : only fifteen (mainly Southern) 
 senators voting to confirm it. Col. Benton, 
 and others, urged this aggressive claim of 
 boundary, as affording abundant reason for 
 the rejection of this treaty ; but it is not 
 known that the Slavery aspect of the case 
 attracted especial attention in the Senate. 
 The measure, however, had already been 
 publicly eulogized by Gen. James Hamilton, 
 of S. C, as calculated to '• give a Gibraltar 
 to the South," and had, on that ground, se- 
 cured a very general and ardent popularity 
 throughout the southwest. And, more than 
 a year pieviously, several northern mem- 
 bers of Congress had united in the fol- 
 lowing : 
 
 TO THE PEOPLE OF THE FREE STATES 
 OF THE UNION. 
 
 We. the undersigned, in closing our duties to 
 our couslituents and our country as menibera of 
 the 27th Congress, feel bound to call your atten- 
 tion, very Ibriefly, to the projoct, long entertained 
 by a portion of the people of these United States, 
 still pertinaciously adhered to, and intended soon 
 to be cdnsnnmiated : the annexation of Texas 
 TO THIS Union. In the press of business inci- 
 dent to the last, days of a session of Congress, we 
 have not time, did we deem it necessary, to 
 enter upon a detailed statement of the reasons 
 which force upon our minds the conviction, 
 that this project is i-y »o means abandoned : 
 that a large portion of the country, interested 
 in the continuance of Domestic Slavery and 
 the Slave Trade in these United States, have 
 solemnly and unalterably determined : /liat it 
 shall he sprcd/l// carried info executinn ; and that, 
 bv this admission of new Slave Territory and 
 
THE ANNEXATION OV TKXAS. 
 
 83 
 
 Slave Stales, the untluc n'icriKhinri/ of the Shirr- 
 holilins: f)i>irrr in flir (iDicriimni/ shall be fccuitd 
 anil rirr/ril hri/nml all icilcmplion ! ! 
 
 Tliul it WHS with tlicso viows and iiifcntiona Hint 
 sctlk'iiioiilH wi'n- tlViTlfil in lli<> I'loviiice, by 
 citizens of llio I'liitrtl Slates, diHicultics f.iniciit 
 ed with the Mexican fJovernnu'iit, a revolt 
 broii^jht ahout, and an hidi'pondfMit Government 
 declared, cannol now admit of a iloulit ; and that, 
 hithcili), all attenii)ls of Mexico to reduce her re- 
 volted jirovince to obedience, h-ivo i)roved iiii- 
 BUccesslul is to be attributed to the unlawful aid 
 and assistance of desi^iiinij and iiitcrc.'^tcd indi- 
 viduids in the I'nited States, and the direct and 
 indirect cooperation of our own Government, 
 icitit similar views, is not the less certain and do- 
 monstrahle. 
 
 The o|)en niid repeated enlistment of troops in 
 several .States of this Union, in aid of the 'I'exan 
 Revolution, the intrusion of nn American Army, 
 by order of the President, far into the Territory 
 of the Mexican Government, at a nioment ciitical 
 for the fate of the insur;:ents, under pretense 
 of preventiiifi Mexican soldiers from fomentiufj; 
 Indian disturbances, but in reality in aid of. and 
 nctint; in siiijxular concert ami comcidenee with, 
 the army of the Kevolutionists, the entire neglect 
 of our (iovernincnt toadojit any ellicient measures 
 to prevent the most unwarrantable aggressions 
 of boilics of our own citizens, enlisted, organized 
 aiul ollicered within our own borders, and march- 
 ed in arms and battle array upon the territory, and 
 against the inhabitants of a friendly government, 
 in aid of freebooters and insurgents, and the pre- 
 mature recognition of the Independence of Texas, 
 by a snaj) vote, at the heel of a session of Con- 
 gress, and that, too, at the very session w^lien 
 President Jackson had. by special Message, in- 
 sisted that "the measure would be contrary to 
 the policy invariably observed by the United 
 States in all similar cases ;'' would be marked with 
 great injustice to Jlexico, and peculiarly liable to 
 the darkest suspicions, inasmuch as the Tcxaiis 
 were almost all vmi sera nts from the United Stales, 
 
 AND SOUGHT THE RECOGNITION OK THEfR IM)E- 
 PENDKNCE WITH THE AVOWED PURPOSE UK OD- 
 TAINISG THEIR ANNEXATION TO THE U. STATES. 
 
 These occurrences are too well known and too 
 fre.sh in the memory of all, to need more than a 
 passing notice. These have become matters of 
 history. For further evidence upon all these and 
 other important ])oints, we refer to the memorable 
 siieech of .John Quincy Adams, delivered in the 
 House of Representatives during the morning 
 hour in June and July, 1S38. and to his address 
 to his constituents, delivered at BraLutree, 17th 
 September, 1842. 
 
 The open avowal of the Texans themselves — 
 the frequent and anxious negotiations of our own 
 Government — the resolutions of various States of 
 the Union — the numerous declarations of mem- 
 bers of Congress — the tone of the Southern press 
 — as well as the direct application of the Texan 
 Government, make it impossible for any man to 
 doubt, that ANNEXATION, and the formation of 
 several new Slaveholding States, were originalli/ 
 the policy and design of the Slaveholding States 
 and the Executive of the Nation. 
 
 The same references will show, very con- 
 clusively, that \hc particular objects of this new 
 acquisition of Slave Territory, were the per- 
 petuation OF Slavery and the continued 
 ASCExnANcr of the .Slave Power. 
 
 The following extracts from a Re^iort on that 
 subject, adopted by the Legislature ot Mississippi, 
 from a mass of similar evidence which might oe 
 be adduced, will show icilh what views the an- 
 nexation was then urged. 
 
 "But we hasten to suprgpst the importance of the 
 
 annexation of Texiis to this Rcpuljlic upon grounds 
 
 somewh.it local in tlieir cumploxion. but of an import 
 
 infinitely grave and interesting to the people who in- 
 
 3 
 
 j lul.it the Si'uDiern portion of Hon Confi'dernc^-, where 
 
 ' it >a known tlml u >pi'ci>'B<'f donii'Htic i^iuviry in tuli- 
 
 ratid and iiiitcctcd by Inw, wboM- exiatnice i.i pro- 
 
 I liil.iloil hy tin- Ifgiil rt'giilntiiins of otln-r ftatoii of thie 
 
 ; Coiifeili'tary ; winoli Hystcni of ^l^^cry in held by all, 
 
 I who are familiarly acquainted with it-i prarricil cf- 
 
 fcclH, to he iif hif;li'ly ltn,tftcial iitdufiice lu th<: cuuntry 
 
 uilhin irliosr lirnilg it in I'lntnilii-f to exist. 
 
 "The CoMiniiiti-ii fi'«l authoij/.nd to say that thin 
 sys't'm ia ch•-^i^hl•d by our coiiKiitucnls aa tlie very 
 piilladium nj llieir pruspeiily anil Imiij.iHrSs. and wbal- 
 i'\tr ignorant fanatica may clH.uh.-rf conj-cl mi. the 
 Comniitt' I- are fully acsurcd, upon the iiioat diligent 
 ohoervation and reflection on ib« Bii|ij.ct that ihe 
 Siiuth lines y n' ;)os«e«.« irithm Iter limitn a lilesstng teith 
 irliivli lliir off'clioiis of her peo le are no ctu.-ely nUieined 
 and so completely ei.filired, a.ui wlioae valuo is more 
 highly appreciated, than that which we are now con- 
 sioering. 
 
 »*••♦# 
 
 " It may not be improper here to remark, tliat da- 
 ring Ihe bisl si-.ssion of Ci'ngrpBS, when a Sci. aim from 
 Miss'-ssippi proposed the achuowleiljjniciit of 'IVxiaa 
 iijd"pcnUence, it was found, with a fiw exceptions, Me 
 members of tliat body were r>-udy In tal^e ground upon 
 it, lis upon the Kuliject of Slavery iisi-lf. 
 
 " With all these facts before us. we do not hesitate 
 in belii'ving iliat these feelings inllienced ihe New 
 Kng'and ^eiialors. but one voting in l.v.or of ihe mea- 
 sure ; anil, indeed, Mr. Webster has been b(il<l enough, 
 ii> a pulilic speech recently delivered in NiwYoik, to 
 many tliousand citizens, to decla'e that I Ik- reasou 
 tliat iiilliienccd liis opposit on was hiH abhnrreuce to 
 S^l.ivery in the South, and that it mi-ht, in the event 
 wt its recognition, bi come a slaveholding State. He 
 also spoke of Ihe efforts making in f.vor of Abolition; 
 and that being piedi.-aied upon, and aiilei bv tin- pow- 
 erlul iniiueiKo of religious feeling it would become 
 irresistible and overwht-lmjiig. 
 
 '• This langungc, coming from so distinguished an 
 individual as Mr. Webster, so familiar with ihe feelings 
 of the North and entertaining so hi.iha respect for 
 nublic sentiment in New England, ppeaks so plainl/ 
 the voiie of the Nor'h as uott<> be misunderstood. 
 
 "We sincerely hope there is en'.ujih good sense 
 and genuine love of country among our fellow-coun- 
 trymen of the Northern t^tates, to sicure ns •■final ju9- 
 tict on ttiis subject ; yet we cannot cmi.siderit >af« or 
 I'Xpfdient for the people of the South to entirely dia- 
 n-g.ird the elTorts of the fanatica, and the opinions of 
 such men as Webster, and others who countenance 
 such d;ingi"r(iU8 doctrines. 
 
 " The Xvrlhern Slates have no in'cresis of tftfiir 
 oxen which require anj special tafcguards for their 
 defense, sav" oly their domestic niiuul'acture.s ; and 
 God knows (hey have already received protection from 
 Government on a most liberal scale ; under which en- 
 couragement thev have improved and flourished be- 
 yoDQ ixample. T lie South has very peculiar interests 
 to preserve : interests already violently assailed and 
 boldly ' hr.-atened. 
 
 "Your Committee are fully persuaded that this pro- 
 lection to her liest interests will lie uJfordrU liy Ihe an- 
 nexnli'n of Texaa ; an equipoise if iiitlui-nce in the 
 halts of Con<;ress trill be .featrf ci. irliich icillfu rnish u» 
 a permment guarantee if protection.'' 
 
 The speech of 5Ir. Adams, exposing the whole 
 system of duplicity and perfidy toward Me.xico. 
 had marked the conduct of our Government : and 
 the emphatic expressions of ojiposition which 
 began to come up from all parties in the Free 
 States, however, for a time, nearl)* silenced tho 
 (damors of the South for annexation, and the peo- 
 ple of the North have been lulled into llu' belief, 
 that the project is nearly, if not wlndly abandoned, 
 and that, at least, there is now no serious danger 
 of its consumination. 
 
 Uelieving tliis to be a false and damrerons se- 
 curity ; that the project has never been nban- 
 donecl a moment, by its originators and abettors, 
 but that it has been defen-ed for n more favorable 
 nioment for its accomplishment, we refer to a few 
 evidences of more recent development upon 
 which this opinion is founded. 
 
 The last Election of President of the Republic 
 of Texas, is understood to have turned, mainly, 
 upon the question of annexation or no annex- 
 ation, and the candidate favorable to that mea- 
 sure was successful by an overwhelming majority. 
 
34 
 
 THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 
 
 The sovereign States of Alabama, Tennessee, and 
 MisKissi))])!, have recently adopted Resolutions, 
 some, if not all of them, unammoudy, in favor of 
 annexiition, and forwarded them to Congress. 
 
 The lion. Henry A. Wise, a member of Con- 
 gress from the District in which our present 
 Chief Jlagi^trate resided when elected Vice-Presi- 
 dent, (111(1 who is understood to be more intimately 
 acquainted with the views and designs of the pre- 
 sent aciiniuistration than any other member of 
 Congress, most distinctly avowed his desire for, 
 and expectation of annexation, at the last session 
 of Congress. Among other things, he said, iu a 
 speech delivered January ^ti, 1842 : 
 
 " Ti'ue. if Iowa be addi'd on the one side, Florida 
 ■will be added on Ihe other. But there the equation 
 must stop. Let one more Northern St 'te be admitted, 
 and the equilil'irium i.s gone — ^'one forever. The bal- 
 ance of interests is gone — the sn/rguurd of Ameiicnn 
 propert\— of the Aineiican Constituiion — ol the Ameri- 
 can Union, v.anished into thiu air. I'/tis viust l/f. Die 
 Uieviliihle result, itrtUss hy a treaty Tilh Mrxieo, tuk 
 
 SOCTFI CAN ADD JIORE WF.IGHT TO HER END OK THE 
 
 LEVER ! Let the. Houih stop at tiie Siibine, (the east- 
 ern boundary of Texas ) while the North may (■[irend 
 «nch ckfd beyond the Rocky Mountnins, AND THE 
 SoUTUEilN SCALE MDST KICK THE BEAM!" 
 
 Finding difficulties, perhaps, in the way of a ces- 
 sion by Treaty, in another speech delivered in 
 April, 1812, on a motion made by Mr. Linn, of 
 N. y., to strike out the salary of the Minister to 
 Mexico, on the ground that the design of the Ex 
 ECUTivE, in making the appointment, was to ac- 
 complish the annexiition of Texas, Mr. Wise said, 
 " he earnestly hoped and trusted that the Presi- 
 dent was as desirous (of annexation) as he was 
 represented to be. We may well suppose the 
 President to be iu favor of it, as every wise states- 
 man must be who is not governed by fanati- 
 cism, or local sectional prejudices." 
 He said of Texas, that 
 
 " While she was as a State, weak and almost pow- 
 erless in resisting inva.siou. she was herself irresisti- 
 ble as an invading and a conq ering power. S^he )iad 
 but a sparse population, and neither men nor money 
 of her own, to raise and equip an army for he- own 
 defense, but let her once T>^\^e the flag of foreign con- 
 quest—let her once proclaim a crusade against the 
 rich States to the south of her, and in a moment 
 volunteers w.)uld flock to herR'amlard in crowds./;oTO 
 aU tUt States in the great vallei/ of the Mississijipi — 
 men of enteiptise and valor, before whom no M,;xican 
 troops could stand for an hour. They would leave 
 their own towns, arm themselves, and tiavel on their 
 own cost, and would come up in thousands, to plant 
 the lone stir of the Texan banner on tlie Mexican 
 capi'iil. They would drive Santa Anna to the Snuth. 
 and th.e boundless wealth of captmed towrs, and rifled 
 churches, and a lazy, vicious, and luxurious priest- 
 hood, would soon enable Texas to pay her sildiery, 
 and r-'deem her State debt, and pu-h her victorious 
 arras to the very shores of the Pacific. And would 
 not all this extend the bound.s of Slavery? Yes, the 
 result would be, that before another quarter of a cen- 
 tury, the extension of Slavery would not stop short of 
 the' Western Ocean. We had but two alternatives be- 
 fore us ; either to receive Texas into our fraternity of 
 States. a>id thus make her our own. or to leave her to 
 conqw-r Mexico, and become our most dangerous and 
 foitniUubte rival. 
 
 " To talk of re.'itraining the people of the great Val- 
 ley from emigrating to join her armies, was all in 
 vain ; and it was equally vain to calculate on their 
 defeat by any Mexican forces, aided by England or not. 
 They h':d gcme once already; il icas they that conquered 
 Santa Anna at San Jacinto ; and three-fourths of 
 them, after winning that glorious field, had peaceably 
 returned to their homes But once set before them 
 the conquest of the rich Mexican provinces, and you 
 might a-, well attempt to stop the wind. This Govern- 
 ment mtght send its troops to the frontier, to turn 
 them back, and they would run over them like a herd 
 of buffalo." 
 
 " Nothing could keep these booted loafers from ru.'^h- 
 ing on, till they kicked the Spanish priests out of the 
 tempb'B they profaned." 
 
 Mr. \V. proceeded to insist that a majority of the 
 people of tho United fctates were in favor of the an- 
 
 nexation ; at all events, he would risk it with the De- 
 mocracy of the North. 
 
 •• Sir " siii i Mr. W.. " i^ is not only the dnty of the 
 Government to deiiiaod the liquidation ofourelairos, 
 and the liben ion of our citizens, but to go further, 
 and demand the non-invasion of Texas. Shall we sit 
 still while the standard of insurrection is raised on 
 our borders and let a horde if slaves, and Jndi ins, 
 and Mexicatis rll up to the boj/ndury line of Arkansas 
 ond l.i.uisaual No. It is our duty at once to say to 
 Mexico. ' Ij you strike Txis you stiike us;' and if 
 Engiiiiid, standing by fhonld dare to intermeddle, and 
 ask, ' Do yiiu lake part uiih Texas 7' his piompt an- 
 swer .'■hould be, ' \es. and anuinst you.' 
 
 '• Such, he trould let genlley/icn Iw.to. was the spirit 
 of the w ole people of the gieut valley of the West." 
 
 Several other members of Congress, in the 
 same debate, expressed similar views and desii-es, 
 and they (ire still more frequently expressed iu 
 conversation. 
 
 The Hon. Tho's W. Gilmkr, a member of Con- 
 gress from Virginia, and formerly a Governor of 
 that State, numbered as one of the " Guard," and 
 of course understood to be in the counsels of the 
 Cnbinet, in a letter bearing date the lOth day of 
 January last, originally designed as a private and 
 confidential letter to a friend, gives it as his 
 deliberate opinion, after much examination and 
 reflection, that Texas will be annexed to the 
 Unio-v ; and he enters into a spacious argument, 
 and presents a variety of reasons in favor of the 
 measure. He says, among other things : 
 
 Washington, Jan. 10th, 1S43. 
 "Dear Sir — You ask if I have expres'sed the opin- 
 ion, tliat Texas would be annexed to the United 
 States. I an-wer, yes ; and this opinion h.is not been 
 adopted without refl> ction. or wi'hout a careful obser- 
 vation of causes, which I believe are rapid y bringing 
 about thi-* rei'uU. I do not know how f;ir these 
 causes have mnde the same imp^es^ion on others; 
 bur I am persuaded tha' the tim>'' is not distant when 
 they will be felt in all their force. The exritement 
 which you apprehend, may arise; but it will be tem- 
 porary, and iu the end, salutary." 
 
 He dodges the Constitutional objections as fol- 
 lows : 
 
 "I am, as you know, a strict constructionist of the 
 powers of our federal Government ; and I do not ad- 
 mit the force of mere precedent to establish authority 
 under written constitutions. The power c-'uiferred by 
 the Consiiiution over our foreign relations, and the 
 repeated acquisitions of territory under it. seem to me 
 to leave this question open as one of expedience." 
 
 "But you anticipate objections with reg-Td to the 
 subject o"f Slavery. Thii? is indeed a sutiject of txheme 
 delicacy, but it is one on which the annexation ';/ Tex- 
 as will have the moft salutary influence. Some have 
 thought that the proposition would endanger our 
 Union. I am of a different opinion. I believe it will 
 bring about a better understanding of our relaiive 
 rights and obligations." 
 
 In conclusion, he says : 
 
 " Having acquired Louisiana and Florida, we hare 
 an interest and a frontier on the Gulf of Moxic-o. and 
 along our interior to the Pacific, which will not per- 
 mit us to close our eyes, or fold our aims with indif- 
 ference to the events which a few years may disclose 
 iu that quarter. We have already had one quesiion 
 of bouedarv with Texas; oih^r questions mu-t soon 
 arise, under our revenue laws, and on other points of 
 necessary intercourse, which it will he diflicult to ad- 
 just. The institutions of Texas, and her relations 
 with other giiveinments are yet in tha' condition which 
 inclines her people (who are our countryiuen.) to unite 
 their destinies wuhows. This mcst b-. done soon, 
 OR not at all. There are numerous tribes <jf lu'iians 
 along both frontinrs, which can easily become the 
 cause or the instrument of border wars. Our own 
 population is pressing onward to tho Pacific. No 
 power can rtstrain i'. The pioneer from our Atlantic 
 seaboard will so ■■o, kii'dle his fires, and erect his cabin, 
 beyond the Kocky Mountains, and on tlie Gulf of 
 California. If Mahomed comes not to the moun- 
 tain, the mountain will go to Mahomed. Every year 
 adds new difUcultics to our progress, as natural and afi 
 
THE ANNEXATION OF TEXAS. 
 
 36 
 
 Inevitable in the current of the MissiBnippi. Thoee 
 difflculiies wi'l soon, lik^ mountains interiiosed,'— 
 • • Make OMpniin" of nations, 
 
 Wliich now. like kindred drops, 
 
 Might niinjfle into one.' 
 
 " Truly yonr.i. 
 
 "THOMAS W. OTUIKR" 
 
 The inipovonnlied contiilioii of IVxiis, licr iiiii 
 bility to riiiso aiwl Kuslaiii Uoo\\f to dcA-iid luMscIt 
 ngiiinst inviision for nuy lenjitli of time, mid her 
 •mmi of ilmnu-ler iiiid credit iil»i-o«d, iiix; urLred u« 
 reiij'ons for im.mkdiatk annk.xatio.n, iiiid the 
 0|iii|ioii hiin been fieiiiieiitly expressed, by tlio.se 
 wlio feel ft deep interest in this subjeet, tluit it 
 would take pliiee at a vkuy eakly day in the 
 
 NKXT SKSSUIN OF CONOKESs! 
 
 At (lie present session, tho Resolutions of Iho 
 Stale of Ahibaniii, in favor of annexation, and 
 sundry petitions and remonstrances agiiinst it, 
 were referred to tho Committee on Koreif,'n Rela- 
 tions. A majority of tiie Cinnmittee, eonsistinj,' 
 of members from "tho shiveholdin^' States, refused 
 to consider and report upon tho subject, and di- 
 rected Mr. Adams, llieir Chairman, to report a 
 resolution, askini; to be di8eliHr}i;ed from the fur- 
 ther consideration of the subject, which ho did on 
 the 'J8th dav of February. At the same time, Jlr. 
 Adams asked, as an individual member of the 
 Committee, for leave to present the following 
 rcsohitions: 
 
 " Rpsolvcd, That by the Constitution of the United 
 States, no powi-r is delegated to their Congre>s. or 
 to any departiiiODt or di'parlnients of their Govern- 
 ment, to affix to this Union any foreign State, or the 
 people thereof. 
 
 ••Jie-uh-ed. Tnat any attempt of the Government 
 of the United .'^tates. by an act of Congress, or by 
 treaty, to annex 'o this Union tho Republic of Texan, 
 or the people thereof, would be a violation of tho 
 Constitu ion of the United States, null and void, and 
 to which the Fri-e States of this Union, and their peo- 
 ple, ought not to submit." 
 
 Objections beina; made, the resolutions were not 
 received ; the Southern members siiowins; a disiii- 
 cUnation to have tlie subject agitated in the House 
 at prcHcid. Mit,'ht it not be considered as savor- 
 ing too much of a violation of private confidence, 
 we could refer to various declarations of persons 
 high in otlice in the national government, avow- 
 ing a fixed determination to bring Texas into the 
 Union, declaring that they had assurances of the 
 aid of the Free Stales to accomplish the object, 
 and insisting that they prefer a dissolution of tlie 
 Union to the rejection of Texas, expressing, hovy- 
 cver, at the same time, their confidence, that if 
 ihe nnnexntion could be effected, the people of 
 the Free States would submit to it, and the insti- 
 tutions of the Slave States would be secured and 
 perpetuated. Contenting ourselves, however, 
 with the above brief glance at some of the most 
 prominent evidence in relation to the subject, we 
 submit to you whether the project of annexation 
 seems to be abandoned, and whether there be not 
 the must imminent dani^cr of its speedy necom- 
 plishmeut, unless the entire mass of the people in 
 the Free States become aroused to a conviction of 
 this danger, and speak out, and act in reference 
 to it, in a manner and with a voice not to be mis- 
 vnderstood, eitlier by the people of tlie Slave 
 States, or their own public servants and Repre- 
 sentatives. 
 
 Although perfectly aware that many important 
 and controlling objections to annexation exist 
 a.'iide from the question of Slavery, we have in 
 this address confined ourselves principally to that, 
 because of its paramount importance, and 
 because the advocates of annexation distinctly 
 
 place it vpon that ground most of the specious 
 
 arguments and reasons in favor of annexation, 
 witli whii'h its advocates attempt to gild the pill 
 for Surthcrn pali/lrs, are just aljout as sincere and 
 substantial as were those of Mr. Wise in the 
 
 speech above referred to, in which ho labored a 
 long liino to convince Northern idiilanthropiBta 
 that they would best promote the olyecls liiey had 
 in view", by liiv<nirig aniicxiition, thiil Ihey might 
 have Slavery in Texas wilhin the power and con- 
 trol of our own government, that //(/•// might 
 aholish it or miti-;iitr ii s er, Is, \ii: himself being 
 an advocate of perpeliial Slavery, and among tho 
 very foremost to Irample iip'>n the right of pelitiou 
 itself!! 
 
 None can bo so blin<l now, as not to know that 
 the real design and object of Ihe South is, (o "ADD 
 
 NEW WklGll r To IlKlt KM) o K I II E I.K V K K." It 
 
 was ujion liiat ground that Mr. Webster ^ilaced 
 liis op])osilion, in his speech on that subject in 
 New-York, in March, 1«;J7. In that spieeli, after 
 staling that he saw insurmountable olijections to 
 the annexation of Texas, that the pnreliiise of 
 Louisiana and FUu-ida furnisiied no precedent for 
 it. Unit Ihe cases were not parallel, and Ihiil no 
 such jioliey or necessity as led to that, required 
 the annexation of Texas, he said : 
 
 " Gentlemen, we all see, that by whomROever pos- 
 sessed, Texas i« likely t" be a slaveholding country; 
 Hud I frai.kly avow my entire unwilliogneus to do any- 
 thing which shall oxt-iid the Slavery of the African 
 race on this continent, or add other i-laveholdiug 
 States to tho Union. Wh.n 1 s.iy that I iC|4ard Sla- 
 very in itself a great moral, social, and poliiical evil, 
 I only use language winch has been adopt-d liy ois- 
 tiuguished men. themselves citizen.s of sUveholding 
 States I shall do nothing, therefore, to favor or en- 
 courage its further extension," 
 
 And again, ho said : 
 
 " In my opinion, the people of the United States 
 will not consent to bring a new, vas'ly extensive, and 
 slaveholding country, large enough for half a dozen 
 or a diizeirsta es. i^to the Uniou. In mv opi.nios 
 TH8Y OUGHT NOT TO CONSENT TO IT. Indeed I am 
 altogether at a loss lo c uceive what po^sil>le b-nefit 
 any part of ihis country can expect to derive from 
 such aiinesation AH benefit, to any part, is at least 
 doubtful and n -ertain, the objecions obvious plain, 
 and St oiig. (in the general question of Slave'V. a 
 groat portion of tlie comniuniiy is already strongly 
 excited. The subject has not only attiacted atten- 
 tion as a question of politicn. but it has struck a 
 far deeper-toned corl~it has arrested tho religious 
 feeling of the country; it has taken a strong hold 
 on the consciences u! men. He is a rash man. in- 
 deed, and It'le conversant with human nature, and 
 especixlly has he a very erroieous esticnate of the 
 cb.iracer of the people of this country who sup- 
 poses that a feeling of this kind is to be trilled with, 
 or desjised. It will assuredly cause itself to be re- 
 spected." 
 
 In conclusion he said: 
 
 "I see, therefore, no political necessity for the an- 
 iiexat on of Texas to the Union ; no advantages to 
 be deiived from it; and objections to it of a strong, 
 and, inmv judgment, decisive ch*ract*r. 
 
 •I believe it to be for the interest and happiness 
 of the whole Union, to rem;iin as it is, without dimi- 
 nution and without addition." 
 
 We hold that there is not only " no nolitical ne- 
 cessity" for it, " no advantages to be derived 
 from it," but that there is no constitutional power 
 delej;ated to any department of the national gov- 
 ernment to authorize it ; that no act of Congress, 
 or treaty, for annexation, can impose the least 
 obligation upon the several States of this Union 
 to submit to such an unwarrantable act. or t(> re- 
 ceive into their family and fraternity such misbe- 
 gotten and illegitimate progeny. 
 
 We hesitate not to say, that annexation, effect- 
 ed by any act or proceeding of the Federal- Gov- 
 crninent, or any of its departments, would be 
 
 IDENTICAf, WITH DISSOLUTION It WOUldbc a 
 
 violation of our national compact, its objecfa, 
 designs, and the great elementary principles 
 which entered into its formation, of a character so 
 deep and fuiulanientiil_aiid would be an attempt 
 to eteruizo an institution and a power of a nature 
 
36 
 
 THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 
 
 so unjust in (liemaclves, so injurious to the inter- 
 ests (ind iibhorreiit to the feelings of the jjeople of 
 the Free Stixtes, !is, in our opinion, not only in- 
 evitably to result in ca dissolution of the Union, 
 but fully to justify it ; and we not only assert that 
 the people o'f the Free States " ouglil n >t to sub- 
 mit to it," but we say, with confidence, they 
 WOULD Not submit to it. We know their pres- 
 ent temper and spirit on this sulijeet too well to 
 believe for a moment that they would become 
 partn-epa criminia in any such subt le contrivanee 
 for the irremediable perpctxntioii oK an institu- 
 tion, which the wisest and best men who formed 
 our Federal Constitution, as well from the Slave 
 as the Free States, regarded an an evil and a 
 curse, soon to become extinct under the operation 
 of laws to be passed, prohibiliufj the Slave Trade, 
 and the progressive influence of the principles of 
 the Revolution. 
 
 To prevent the success of this nefarious project 
 
 to preserve from such gross violation the Con- 
 
 Btitution of our country, adopted expressly " to 
 secure the blessings of liberty,' and not the per- 
 petuation of Slavery — and to prevent the speedy 
 and violent dissolution of the Union — we invite 
 you to unite, without distinction of party, in an 
 immediate expression of your views on this sub- 
 ject, in such manner as you may deem best cal- 
 culated to answer the end proposed. 
 
 JOHN QUINCY ADAMS; 
 SEIH M. GATES, 
 WILLI A.M .-"LAliH, 
 ■WILLIA.M B CALHOUN, 
 JO:<HUA R. GIDDINGS, 
 SHErtLOOK J. AvDllEi^S, 
 NATHANIKL B. BORDEN, 
 THOrf C. CHIITENDEN, 
 JOHN MATrOOKS. 
 CHRISTOPHER. MORGAN, 
 JOtHUA M. HOVVAKD, 
 VICTORY BIKD3EYE, 
 UILaND HALL. 
 Washington, March 3rd, 1843. 
 
 [Note The above Address was drawn up by 
 
 Hon. Seth M. Gates of New York, at the sugges- 
 tion of John Quincy Adams, and sent to Membei-s 
 of Congress at their residences, after the close of 
 the session, for their signatures. Many more than 
 the above approved heartily of its positions and 
 objects, and would have signed it, but for its 
 premature publication, through mistake. Mr. 
 Winthrop of Mass. was one of these, with Gov. 
 Briggs, of course : Mr. Fillmore declined signing 
 it.] 
 
 The letters of Messrs. Clay aud Van 
 Buren, taking ground against annexation, 
 without the consent of Mexico, as an act of 
 bad faith and aggression, which would ne- 
 cessarily result in war, which appeared in 
 the spring of 1844, make slight allusions, if 
 any, to the Slavery aspect of the case. In 
 a later letter, Mr. Clay declared that he did 
 not oppose annexation on account of Slave- 
 ry, which he regarded as a temporary institu- 
 tion, which, therefore, ought not to stand in 
 the way of a ])erinancnt acquisition. And, 
 though Mr. Clay's last letter on the subject, 
 prior to the election of 1844, reiterated and 
 emphasized all his objections to annexation 
 under the existing circumstances, he did not 
 include the existence of Slavery. 
 
 The defeat of Mr. Van Buren, at the Bal- 
 
 timore Nominating Convention— ^Mr. Polk 
 being selected in his stead, by a body which 
 had been supposed pledged to renominate 
 the ex-President — excited considerable feel- 
 ing, especially among the Democrats of New 
 York. A number of their leaders united in 
 a letter, termed the " Secret Circular," ad- 
 vising their brethren, while they supported 
 Polk and Dallas, to be careful to vote for 
 candidates for Congress who would set their 
 faces as a flint against annexation. Here is 
 the circular : 
 
 " Siu — You will, doubtless, agree with us, that 
 the late Baltimore Convention placed the Demo- 
 cratic Party, at the North, in a position of great 
 ditHculty. We are constantly reminded that 
 it rejected Mr. Van Buren, and nominated Mr. 
 Polk, for reasons connected with the immediate 
 annexation of Texas — reasons which had no rela- 
 tion to the principles of the party. Nor was that 
 all. The Convention went beyond the authority 
 delegated to its members, and adopted a resolu- 
 tion on the subject of Texas (a subject not before 
 the country when they were elected, upon which, 
 therefore, they were not instructed), which seeks 
 to interpolate into the party creed a new doc- 
 trine, hitherto unknown among us, at war with 
 some of our established principles, and abhorrent 
 to the opinions and feelings of a great majority 
 of Northern freemen. In this position, what was 
 the party at the North to do ? Was it to reject 
 the nominations, and abandon the contest '.' or 
 should it support the nominations, rejecting the 
 untenable doctrine interpolated at the Conven- 
 tion, and taking care that their support should be 
 accompanied by such an expression of their opin- 
 ion as to pre^iit its being misinterpreted? The 
 latter alternative has been preferred, and we 
 think wisely ; for we conceive that a proper ex- 
 pression of their opinion will save their votes 
 trom misconstruction, and that proper efforts will 
 secure the nomination of such Members of Con- 
 gress as will reject the unwarrantable scheme now 
 pressed upon the country. 
 
 " With these views, assuming that you feel on 
 this subject as we do, we have been desired to 
 address you, and invite the cooperati')n of your- 
 self and other friends throughout the State : 
 
 " 1st. — In the publication of a joint letter, de- 
 claring your purpose to support the nomination, 
 rejecting the resolutions respecting Texas. 
 
 " 2nd. — In promoting and supporting at the 
 next elections the nomination for Congress of 
 such persons as concur in these opinions. 
 
 " If your views in this matter coincide with 
 ours, please write to some one of us, and a 
 draught of the proposed letter will be forwarded 
 for examination. 
 
 " Very respectfully, 
 
 •• GEO. P. BARKER, 
 WILLIAM C. BRYANT, 
 J. W. EDMONUS. 
 DAVID DUDLEY FIELD, 
 THI<:0D0RE SEoO'-MCK, 
 THO.MAS VV. TUCKER, 
 ISAAC TOWNSEiND." 
 
 Silas "Wright, then a Senator of the 
 United States, and who, as such, had opposed 
 the Tyler Treaty of Annexation, was now 
 run for Governor, as the only man who 
 could carry the State of New Y^ork for Polk 
 and Dallas. In a democratic speech at 
 Skaneateles, N. Y., Mr. Wright had recently 
 declared that he could never consent to An- 
 nexation on any terms which would give 
 Slavery an advantage over Freedom. This 
 
THE ANNEXATION OF TEXAS. 
 
 37 
 
 sentiment was i-eiteralod and aiiiplifud in a 
 a great Convention of tiie IK-niocTacy, wliioh 
 met at llfikiiner, in tiie autumn of this year. 
 'I'lie contest proceeded with f;reat earnest- 
 ness throiiufhoiit tlie Free States, tlie sup- 
 porters of i'ulk and of Hirney (the AV)oli- 
 tion candidate for Tresidcnt), fully airreeiuf,' 
 in tlie assertion that Mr. Clay's position was 
 equally favorable to Annexation with Mr. 
 Tolk's. Mr. IJirney, in a letter published 
 on the eve of the Election, declared tluit he 
 rei^arded Mr. Clay's election as more favor- 
 able to Annexation than Mr. Polk's, because, 
 while equally inclined to fortify and extend 
 Slavery, he possessed more ability to influ- 
 ence Congress in its favor, lie says : 
 
 " I Imvc no reasons for opposing Mr- Clay on 
 personal grounds. On tlie contrary, tlio inter- 
 course we have had has been of the most friendly 
 character. I oppose his election, because ho dis- 
 believes the great political truths of the Declara- 
 tion of Independence, the foundation of all just 
 govornniont, and because he repudiates the para- 
 mount objects of the Union, the pcri)etuation of 
 liberty to all. On the same ground, 1 oppose the 
 election of Mr. Polk. But I more deprecate the 
 election of Mr. Clay— because, possessing abili- 
 ties superior to Mr. Polk's, he would proportion- 
 ately weaken the influence of those truths on the 
 minds of our countrymen. 
 "Respectfully, &c., 
 
 ''James G. Birney." 
 
 Before this time, but as ^et withheld from, 
 and unknown to, the public, Mr. Calhoun, 
 now President Tyler's Beeretary of State, 
 and an early and powerful advocate of An- 
 nexation, had addressed to Hon. Wni. R. 
 King, our Embassador at Paris, the follow- 
 ing official dispatch : 
 
 Mr. Calhoun to Mr. King. 
 
 " Depautsient of State, 
 
 WasUiyiglun, August 12, 1844 
 
 " Sir — I have laid your dispatch. No. 1, before 
 the President, who instructs me to make known 
 to you that he has read it with much pleasure, 
 especially the portion which relates to your cor- 
 dial reception by the King, and his assurance of 
 friendly feelings toward the United States. The 
 President, in particular, highly appreciates the 
 declaration of the King, that, in no event, would 
 any steps be taken by his government in the 
 sliglitest degree hostile, or which would give to 
 tlie United States just cause of complaint. It 
 was the more gratifying from the fact, that our 
 previous information was calculated to make the 
 impression that the government of France was 
 prepared to unite with Great Britain in a joint 
 protest against the annexation of Te.xas, and a 
 joint effort to induce her Government to with- 
 draw the proposition to annex, on condition that 
 Mexico should bo mad(! to atknowHedgc her in- 
 dependence. He is happy to infer from your 
 disjiatch that the information, so far as it relates 
 to France, is, in all probability, without founda- 
 tion. You did not go further than you ought, in 
 assuring the King that the object of Annexation 
 would be pursued with unabated vigor, and in 
 giving your opinion that a decided majority of 
 tiie American people were in its favor, and that 
 it woukl certainly be annexed at no distant day. 
 I feel confident that your anticipation will be 
 fully realized at no distant period. 
 
 " Kvcry day will (end to weaken that couibi- 
 nation of |)oliiiciil rauscH which led to the opposi- 
 tion of the nirasnre, and to slrengtbrh the 
 conviction that it wan not only exi>edient, but 
 juft /ind necessary. 
 
 "You were right in making the distiiu^tion be- 
 tween the iiilercsts of France and Ivigland in 
 reference to Texas— or rallur, I hlionid say, the 
 apparent interests of the two roimlries. trance 
 I'annot jHissibly have any other than connncrcinl 
 interests in desiring to see her pri-serv.- her Hi'iia- 
 rale independenc<', wliileit is certain that Kngland 
 lo<d<s beyond, to p(dilical interests, to whidi nhe 
 apparently attaches nuicii iin|)nrlaiice. But, in 
 our opinion, the inlercst of both against the mea- 
 sure is more ajjparcnt than real ; and that neither 
 France, lMiglan<l, ma- even Mexico hersult, lias 
 any in opposition to it, when the snbjei't is fairly 
 viewed and considered in its whole extent, and 
 in all its bearings. Thus viewed and coiiBidcrcd, 
 and assuming tliat peace, the extension of com- 
 merce, and security, are objects of primary policy 
 with tlieni, it may, as it seems to me, be readily 
 shown that the jjolicj' on the part of those powein 
 whicii would acijuiesce in a measure so strongly 
 desired by both the United States and Texas, for 
 their mutual welfare and safety, as tlie annex.-ilion 
 of the latter to the former, would be far more 
 promotive of these great objects than that which 
 would attempt to resist it. 
 
 " It is im|]ossible to cast a look at the map of 
 the United Stales and Texas, and to note the long, 
 artifieial and inconvenient line whicli divides 
 them, and to take into consideration the exlraor- 
 dinary increase of population and growth of 
 the former, and the source from which the latter 
 must derive its inhabitants, institutions, and 
 laws, without coming to the conclusion that it ia 
 their destiny to be united, and of course, that 
 .Annexation is merely a question of time and 
 mode. Thus I'egarded, the question to be decided 
 would seem to be, whether it would not be better 
 to permit it to be done now, with the mutuid con- 
 sent of both parties, and the acquiescence of 
 these powers, than to attempt to resist and defeat 
 it. 
 
 " If the former course be adopted, the certain 
 fruits would bo the preservation of peace, great 
 extension of commerce by the rapid settlement 
 and improvement of Texas, and inert ased secu- 
 rity, especially to Mexico. The last, in reference 
 to Mexico, may be doubted ; but I hold it not 
 less clear than the other two. 
 
 " It would be a great mistake to suppose that 
 this Government has any hostile feelings toward 
 Mexico, or any disposition to aggrandize itself at 
 her expense. The fact is the very reverse. 
 
 " It wishes her well, and desires to see her set- 
 tled down in peace and security ; and is prepared, 
 in the event of the Annexation of Texas, if not 
 forced into conflict with her, to propose to settle 
 with her the question of boundary, and all oIIkiu 
 growing out of the Annexation, on the most libe- 
 ral terms. Nature herself has clearly marked 
 the boundary between her and Texas by natural 
 limits, too strong to be mistaken. Tliere are few 
 countries whoso limits are so distinctly marked ; 
 and it would be our desire, if Texas should be 
 united to us, to see them firmly established, as 
 the most certain means of establishing permanent 
 peace between the two countries, and slrenglhen- 
 ing and cementing tlieir friendsiiip. Such would 
 be the certain coiisc(iuence of permitling the An- 
 nexation to take place now, wilii the acquiescence 
 ofJIexico; but very ditferent would be the case 
 if it should be atteniiited to resist and defeat it, 
 whether the attempt should be successful for the 
 present or not. Any attempt of the kind would. 
 not improbably, lead to a conflic't between us and 
 Mexico, and invtdvo consequences, in reference 
 to her and the general peace, long to be deplored 
 
38 
 
 THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 
 
 on both sides, nnd difficult to be repaired. But, 
 Bliould that not be the case, and the interference 
 of another poiver defeat the Annexation for tlie 
 present, without the interruption of peace, it 
 would but postpone the conflict, and render it 
 more tierce and bloody whenever it might occur. 
 
 " Its defeat would be attributed to emnity and 
 ambition on the part of that power by whose in- 
 terference it was occasioned, and excite deep jeal- 
 ousy and resentment on the part of our people, 
 ■who would be ready to seize the first favorable 
 opportunity to effect by force what was prevent- 
 ed from being done peaceably by mutual con- 
 sent. It is not diflicult to see how greatly such a 
 conflict, como when it might, would endanger 
 the general peace, and how much Mexico might 
 be the loser oy it. 
 
 " In the mean time, the condition of Texas 
 would be rendered uncertain, her settlem.ent and 
 prosperity in consequence retarded, and her com- 
 merce crippled ; while the general peace would 
 be rendered much more insecure. It could not 
 but greatly atfect us. If the Annexation of Texas 
 should be permitted to take place peaceably 
 now, (as it would, without the interference of 
 other powers,) the energies of our people would, 
 for a long time to come, be directed to the peace- 
 able pursuits of redeeming and bringing within 
 the pale of cultivation, improvement, and civil- 
 ization, that large portion of the continent lying 
 between Mexico on one side and the British 
 possessions on the other, which is now, with lit- 
 tle excei)tiou, a wilderness, with a sparse popula- 
 tion, consisting, for the most part, of wandering 
 Indian tribes. 
 
 " It is our destiny to occupy that vast region ; 
 to intersect it with roads and canals ; to fill it with 
 cities, towns, villages, and farms ; to extend over 
 it our religion, customs, constitution, and laws, 
 and to present it as a peaceful and splendid addi- 
 tion to the domains of commerce and civilization. 
 It is our policy to increase by growing and 
 spreading out into unoccupied regions, assimilat- 
 ing all we incorporate : in a word, to increase by 
 accretion, and not through conquest, by the addi- 
 tion of masses held together by the adhesion of 
 force- 
 
 " No system can be move unsuited to the lat- 
 ter process, or better adapted to the former, than 
 our admirable federal system. If it should not 
 be resisted in its course, it will probably fulfill its 
 destiny without disturbing our neighbors, or 
 putting in jeopardy the general peace ; but if it 
 be opposed by foreign interference, a new direc 
 tion would be given to our energy, much less 
 favorable to harmony with our neighbors, and to 
 the general peace of the world. 
 
 " The change would be undesirable to us, and 
 much loss in accordance with what I have as- 
 sumed to be primary objects of policy on the 
 part of France, England, and Mexico. 
 
 '• But, to descend to particulars : it is certain 
 that while England, like France, desires the in- 
 dependence of Texas, with the view to commer- 
 cial connections, it is not less so that, one of the 
 leading motives of England for desiring it, is the 
 hope that, through her diplomacy and influence, 
 Kegro Slavery inay be abolished there, and ulti- 
 mately, by consequence, in the United iStates and 
 throughout the whole of this continent. That 
 its ultimate abolition throughout the entire conti- 
 nent is an object ardently desired by her, we 
 have decisive proofs in the declaration of the 
 Earl of Aberdeen, ddivered to this Department, 
 and of which you will find a copy among the 
 dottuments transmitted to Congress with the 
 Texan treaty. That she desires its abolition in 
 Texas, and has used her influence and diplomacy 
 to effect it there, the sinne document, with the 
 correspondence of this Department with Mr. 
 Puckenham, also to bo found among the docu- 
 
 ments, furnishes proof not less conclusive. That 
 one of the objects of abolishing it there is to fa- 
 cilitate its abolition in the United States, and 
 throughout the continent, is manifest from the 
 declaration of the Abolition party and societies 
 both in this country and in England. In faet, 
 there is good reason to believe that the scheme 
 of abolishing it in Texas, with a view to its abo- 
 lition in tiie United States, and over the conti- 
 nent, originated with the prominent members of 
 the party in the United States ; and was firet 
 broached by them in the (so called) World's Con- 
 vention, held in London in the year 1840, and 
 through its agency brought to the notice of the 
 British Government. 
 
 " Now, I hold, not only that France can 
 have no interest in the consummation of this 
 grand scheme, which England hopes to accom- 
 plish through Texas, if she can defeat the Annex- 
 ation, but that her interests, and those of all the 
 Continental powers of Europe are directly and 
 deeply opposed to it. 
 
 " It is too late in the day to contend that hn- 
 manity or philanthropy is the great object of the 
 policy of England in attempting to abolish Afri- 
 can Slavery on this Continent. I do not question 
 but humanity may have had a considerable 
 influence in abolishing Slavery in her West India 
 possessions, aided, indeed, by the fallacious cal- 
 culation that the labor of the Negroes would be 
 at least as profitable, if not more so, in conse- 
 quence of the measure. She acted on the princi- 
 ple that tropical products can be produced 
 cheaper by free African labor and East India 
 labor, than by slave labor. She knew full well 
 the value of such products to her commerce, navi- 
 gation, navy, manufacturers, revenue, and pow- 
 er. She was not ignorant that the support and 
 maintenance of her political preponderance de- 
 pended on her tropical possessions, and had 
 no intention of diminishing their productiveness, 
 nor any anticipation that such would be the ef- 
 fect, when the scheme of abolishing Slavery in 
 her colonial possessions was adopted. On the 
 contrary, she calculated to combine philanthro- 
 py with profit and power, as is not unusual with 
 fanaticism. .Experience has convinced her of 
 the fallacy of her calculations. She has failed in 
 all her objects. The labor of her Negroes has 
 proved far less productive, without aflording the 
 consolation of having improved their condition. 
 
 " The experiment has turned out to be a costly 
 one. She expended nearly one hundred millions 
 of dollars in indemnifying the owners of the eman- 
 cipated Slaves. It is estnnated that the increased 
 piice paid since, by the people of Great Britain, 
 for sugar and other tropical productions, in con- 
 sequence of the measure, is equal to half that 
 sum ; and that twice that amount has been ex- 
 pended in the suppression of the Slave-trade ; 
 makmg together two hundred and fifty millions 
 of dollars as the cost of the expermient. Instead 
 of realizing her hope, the result has been a sad 
 disappointment. Her tropical product.s have 
 fallen off to a vast amount. Instead of supplying 
 her own wants, and those of nearly all Europe 
 with them, as formerly, she has now, in some of 
 the most important ai'ticles, scarcely enough to 
 supply her own. What is worse, her own colo- 
 nies are actually consuming sugar produced by 
 Slave-labor, brought direct to England, or refined 
 in bond, and exported and sold in her colonies as 
 cheap, or cheaper, than can be produced there ; 
 while the Slave-trade, instead of diminishing, has 
 been in fact carried on to a greater extent than 
 ever. So disastrous has been the result, that her 
 fixed capital invested in tropical possessions, esti- 
 mated at the value of nearly five hundred mil- 
 lions of dollars, is said to stand on the brink of 
 ruin. 
 
 " But this is not the worst; while this costly 
 
TUE ANNEXATION OF TEXAS. 
 
 39 
 
 Bchcmo lidR linil siuli rulnons cffcclfl on tlio tiopi- i 
 ciil productions of (irciit Britiiiii, it lias jjivoii a 
 jiowerl'ul ctiimiliis, ti.llowi-d by ii foneHijoiidiiiK 
 iiicreuBc of iiiodiK-ts, to tlioMO coiiiitiics which Imd 
 hud tho good 8CI180 to hIiiui her example. Thcro 
 has been vested, it has been eMtinmted by them, 
 in the production of tropical jiroducts, since 18IIH, 
 in iixed capital, nearly JI,IM)U.(l()(l,0()t), wholly de- 
 pciidcut 0,1 Shive labor. In the sumc period, the 
 value of their products ha.s been eslimuted to 
 have risen from about $7:J.(10(),(l(tO, nnnually, to 
 nearly ljCJ-JU,()ltO,tll)0 ; while tho whido of the li.\ed 
 capital of Great Britain, vested in cultivating 
 tropical products, both in tho East and West 
 Indies, is estimated nt only about $S30,00(),()()l), 
 and the value of tho produl'ts annually at about 
 $.jl),()0(),OU(). To present a still more striking view 
 of three articles of tropical jjroducts (sugar, coffee, 
 and (.'otlon), tho British possessions, including the 
 East and West Indies, and Mauritius, nroduced 
 in 184"J, of sugar, only H,'j;i:{,771 pounds; while 
 Cuba, Brazil, and the United States, excluding 
 other countries having tri>pical pos.sessions, pro- 
 duced 9,000,000 pounds; of coffee, tho British 
 possessions produced oidy 'J7 ,31)3,003 pounds, 
 while Cuba and Brazil produced 201,.')'.l0,l:>j 
 pounds; and of cotton, the ]$rilish possessions, 
 including shipments to China, only 137,1 13, 4J() 
 pounds, while the United States alone produced 
 790,47!l,27.5 pounds. 
 
 " The above facts and estimate have all been 
 drawn from a British periodical of high standing 
 and authority," and are believed to be entitled to 
 credit. 
 
 " Tho vast increase of the capital and produc- 
 tion on the part of those nations, who have con- 
 tinued their former policy toward the negro race, 
 compared with that of (J rent Britain, indicates a 
 corresponding relative increase of tho means of 
 connnerce, navigation, manufactures, wealth, 
 and power. It is no longer a question of doubt, 
 that the great source of wealth, prosperity, and 
 power of moj"e civilized nations of the tem- 
 perate zone fespecially Europe, where tho arts 
 have made the greatest advance), depends, in a 
 great degree, on the exchange of then- products 
 with those of the tropical regions. So great has 
 been the advance made in the arts, both chemical 
 and mechanical, within the few last generations, 
 that all the old civilized nations can, with but a 
 small part of their labor and capital, supply their 
 respective wants ; which tends to limit, within 
 narrow bounds, the amount of the commerce be- 
 tween them, and forces them all to seek for mar- 
 kets in the tropical regions, and the more'newly- 
 settled portions of tho globe. Those who can 
 best succeed in commauding those markets, have 
 the least prospect of outstripping the others in the 
 career of connnerce, navigation, manufactures, 
 wealth, and power. 
 
 This is seen and felt by British statesmen, and 
 has opened their eyes to tho errors which they 
 have connnitted. The question now with them 
 is, how shall it be counteracted ? What has been 
 done cannot bo undone. The question is, by 
 what means can Great Britain regain and keep a 
 superiority in tropical cultivation, commerce, and 
 innuenee? Or. shall that be abandoned, and 
 other nations be suffered to acquire the supremacy, 
 even to the extent of supplymg British markets, 
 to the destruction of the capital already vested in 
 tlieir produ(!tion ? These are the questions which 
 now protbundly occupy the attention of her states- 
 men, and have the greatest influence over her 
 councils. 
 
 " In order to regain her superiority, she not only 
 Bceks to revive and increase her own capacity to 
 produce tropical productions, but to diminish and 
 destroy the capacity of those who have so far out- 
 
 * Blackwood's Magazine for June, 1841. 
 
 strippeil her in consequence of her error. In pur- 
 suit of the former, she has ca.st her eyes to her 
 East India possessions — to Central and E'lstern 
 Africa — with tho view of establishing <'olonie8 
 there, ami even to restore, substantially, the Slave- 
 trade itself, under the specious name of tran.sport- 
 ing her free lulMirers from Africa to her West 
 India possessions, in order, if possible, to conipelo 
 successfully with those wlio have refused lo follow 
 her suicidal policy. But these all afford but un- 
 certain and distant hopes of recovering her lost 
 superiority. Jler main relianct' is on the other 
 alternative — to cripple or destroy the productions 
 other successful rivals. There is but one way by 
 which it can be done, and that is by abolishing 
 African Slavery throughout tiiis continent ; and 
 that she opeidy avows to be the constant object 
 of her policy and exertions. It matters not how, 
 or from what motive, it may be done — whether it 
 be by diplomacy, influence, or force ; by secret or 
 open means; and whether the motive be humane 
 or selfish, without regard to manner, means, or 
 motive. The thing itself, should it be accoiu- 
 ])lished, would put down all rivalry, and give her 
 the undis])uted supremacy in supjilyiiig her own 
 wants, and those of the rest of the world ; and 
 thereby more than fully retrieve what shi' lost by 
 her errors. It would give her the monopoly of 
 tropical productions, which I shall next proceed 
 to show. 
 
 " What would be the consequence if tliis object 
 of her unceasing solicitude and exertions should 
 be effected by the abolition of Negro Slavery 
 throughout this continent, some idea may bo 
 formed from the immense diminution of i)ioduc- 
 tions, as has been shown, which has followed 
 abolition in her West India possessions. But, as 
 great as that has been, it is nothing compared 
 with what would be the effect, if she should suc- 
 ceed in al>olishing Slavery in the United States, 
 Cuba, Brazil, and throughout this continent. The 
 experiment in her own colonies was made under 
 the most favorable circumstances. It was brought 
 about gradually and peaceably by the steady and 
 linn ojieration of the parent country, armed with 
 eoinpkte power to prevent or crush at once all 
 insurrectionary movements on the part of the 
 negroes, and able and disposed to maintain to the 
 full, the political and social a.scendancy of the 
 former Masters over their former Slaves. It is not 
 at all wonderful that the change of the relations 
 of Master and Slave took place, under such cir- 
 cumstances, without violence and bloodshed, and 
 that order and peace should have been since pre- 
 served. Very different would be the result of 
 abolition, should it be effected by her intluenee 
 and exertions in the possessions ot other countries 
 on this continent — and especially in the United 
 States, Cuba, and Brazil, the great cultivators of 
 the principal tropical products of America. To 
 form a correct conception of what would be tho 
 result with them, we must look, not to J.imaica, 
 but to St. Domingo, for example. The change 
 would be followed by unforgiving hate between 
 the two races, and end in a bloody and deadly 
 struggle between them for the sunerioriiy. One 
 or the other would have to bo subjug.'ited, extir- 
 pated, or expelled ; and desolation would over- 
 spread their territories, as in St. Domingo, from 
 which it would lake centuries to recover. The 
 end would be, that tho superiority in cultivating 
 tho great tropical staples would be transteiTcu 
 from them to the Britisli tropical possessions. 
 
 " Tliey are of vast extent, and those beyond tho 
 Cape of Good Hoi)e, possessed of an unlimited 
 amount of labor, standing ready, by tho aid of 
 British capital, to supply the deficit which 
 would be occasioned by destroying the tropical 
 productions of tho United States, Cuba, Brazil, 
 and other countries cultivated by Slave-labor 
 on this continent, as soon as the increased prices, 
 iu couscqucnce, would yield a profit. It ia the 
 
40 
 
 THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 
 
 Buccessful competition of that Inbor which keeps 
 the prices of the groat tropica! staples so low as 
 to prevent their cultivation with profit in the 
 possessions of Great Britain, by what she is 
 pleased to call free-labor. 
 
 " If she can destroy its competition, she would 
 have a monopoly of these productions. She has 
 all the means of "furnishing an unlimited supply 
 
 vast and fertile possessions in both Indies, 
 
 boundless command of capital and labor, and 
 ample power to sui)press disturbances and pre- 
 serve order throughout her wide domain. 
 
 '• It i.s unquestionable that she regards the 
 abolition of Slavery in Texas as a most import- 
 ant step toward this great object of policy, so 
 much the aim of her solicitude and exertions ; 
 and the defeat of the Annexation of Texas to our 
 Union as indispensable to the abolition of Sla- 
 very there. She is too sagacious not to see what 
 a fatal blow it would give to Slavery in the 
 United States, and how certainly its abolition 
 ■with us will abolish it over the whole continent, 
 and thereby give her a monopoly in the produc- 
 tions of the great tropical staples, and the com- 
 mand of the commerce, navigation, and manu 
 factures of the world, with an established naval 
 ascendancy and political preponderance. To 
 this continent, the blow would be calamitous be- 
 yond description. It would destroy, in a great 
 measure, the cultivation and productions of the 
 great tropical .s(a])les, amounting annually in 
 value to nearly .•?:iOli, 0(10, 000, the fund which 
 stimulates and upholds almost every other branch 
 of its industry, commerce, navigation, and manu- 
 factures. The whole, by their joint influence, are 
 rapidly spreading population, wealth, improve- 
 ment and civilization over the whole continent, 
 and vivifying, by their overflow, the industry of 
 Europe, thereby increasing its population, wealth, 
 and advancement hi the arts, in power, and in 
 civilization. 
 
 " Such must be the result, should Great Britain 
 succeed in accomplishing the constant object of 
 her desire and exertions— the abolition of Negro 
 Slavery over this continent— and towards the ef- 
 fecting of which she regards the defeat of the 
 Annexation of Texas to our Union so important. 
 
 " ('unit be possible that governments so en- 
 lightened and sagacious as those of France and 
 the other great continental powers, can be so 
 blinded by the plea of philanthropy as not to see 
 what must inevitably follow, be her motive what 
 it may, siiould she succeed in her object ? It is 
 little short of mockery to talk of philanthropy, 
 with the example before us of the effects of abol- 
 ishing Negro Slavery in her own colonies, in St. 
 Domingo, and in the Northern States of our 
 Uuion.'where statistical facts, not to be shaken, 
 prove that the free Negro, after the experience of 
 sixty years, is in a far worse condition than in the 
 other'States, where he has been left in his former 
 condition. No : the effect of what is called abo- 
 lition, where the number is few, is not to raise 
 the inferior race to the condition of freemen, but 
 to deprive the Negro of the guardian care of his 
 owner, subject to all the depression and oppres- 
 sion belonging to his inferior condition. But, on 
 the other hand, where the number is great, and 
 bears a large proportion to the whole population, 
 it would be still worse. It would be to substitute 
 for the existing relation a deadly strife between 
 the two races, to end in the subjection, expulsion, 
 or extirpation of one or the other; and such 
 would be the case over the greater part of this 
 continent where Negro Slavery exists. It would 
 not end there ; but would, in all probability, ex- 
 tend, by its example, the war of races over all 
 South America, including Mexico, and extending 
 to the Indian as well us the African race, and 
 make the whole one scene of blood and devasta- 
 tion. 
 
 "Dismissing, then, the stale and unfounded plea 
 of philanthropy, can it be that France and the 
 other great continental powers — seeing what must 
 be the result of the policy, for the accomplish- 
 ment of which England is constantly exerting 
 herself, and that the defeat of the Annexation of 
 Texas is so important towards its consummation 
 —arc prepared to back or countenance her in her 
 eflorts to produce either ? What possible motives 
 can they have to favor her cherished policy ? Is 
 it not better for them that they should be sup- 
 plied with tropical products in exchange for 
 their labor from the United States, Brazil, Cuba, 
 and this continent generally, than to be depend- 
 ent on one great monopolizing power for their 
 supply ? Is it not better that they should receive 
 them at the low prices which competition, cheap- 
 er means of production, and nearness of market, 
 would furnish them by the former, than to give 
 the high prices which monopoly, dear labor, and 
 great distance from market, would impose ? Is 
 it not better that their labor should be exchanged 
 with a new continent, rapidly increasing in popu- 
 lation and capacity for consuming, and which 
 would furnish, in the course of a few genera- 
 tions, a market nearer to them, and almost of 
 unlimited extent, for the products of their indus- 
 try and arts, than with old and distant regions, 
 whose population has long since reached its 
 growth 1 
 
 " The above contains those enlarged views of 
 policy which, it seems to me, an enlightened Eu- 
 ropean statesman ought to take, in making up 
 his opinion on the subject of the Annexation of 
 Texas, and the grounds, as it may be inferred, 
 on which England vainly opposes it. They cer- 
 tainly involve considerations of the deepest im- 
 portance, and demanding the greatest attention. 
 Viewed in connection with them, the question of 
 Annexation becomes one of the first magnitude, 
 not only to Texas and the United States, but to 
 this continent and Europe. They are presented, 
 that you may use them on all suitable occasions 
 where you think they may be with effect, in your 
 correspondence, where it can be done with pro- 
 priety or otherwise. The President relies with 
 confidence on your sagacity, prudence, and zeal. 
 Your mission is one of the first magnitude at all 
 times, but especially now ; and he feels assured 
 that nothing will be left undone on your part to 
 do justice to the country and the Government in 
 reference to this measure. 
 
 " I have said nothing as to our right of treaty 
 with Texas, without consulting Mexico. You so 
 fully understand the grounds on which we rest 
 our right, and are so familiar with all the facts 
 necessary to maintain them, that it was thought 
 unnecessary to add anything in reference to it. 
 "lam, Sir, very respectfully, 
 
 " Your obedient Servant, 
 
 "J. C CALHOUN." 
 "William R. King, Esq., &c., &c." 
 
 The election of James K. Polk as Presi- 
 dent, and George M. Dallas as Vice-Presi- 
 dent, (Nov. 184-1) having virtually settled, 
 affirmativel)', the question of annexing Tex- 
 as, the XXVIlIth Congress commenced 
 its second session at Washington on the 2nd 
 of December, 1844— Mr. John Tyler being 
 still acting President up to the end of the Con- 
 gress, March 4th following. 
 
 Dec. 19. Mr. John B. Weller, (then mem- 
 ber from Ohio, now Senator from California) 
 by leave, introduced a joint resolution, No. 
 51, providing for the annexation of Texas to 
 the United States, which he moved to the 
 Committee of the AVhole. 
 
THE ANNEXATION OF TEXAS. 
 
 41 
 
 Mr. E. S. ITamliii of Ohio niovetl a re- 
 ference of said resolve to a rointnittee of 
 one from eaeli State, with iiistriictions to re- 
 port to the House, 
 
 " laf. Wlietlier Conprces hn« nny coiistitulional 
 powiM" to iiiiiR-x i\ J'orti'^n, iiKli'pi'iidciit iHitioii lo 
 this (Jovciimii'iit ;" niid if so, l)}' wlmt article niul 
 sct-tioii ot'lhf t'oiistitutioii it is fonfuned ; wlietli 
 er it is (iiiioii); tlio powciK exjjrfssly grunted, or 
 nniou)^ tlio.so wliicli arc implird ; wliotlier it iH ne- 
 cessary to carry into efTect uny expressly -gran ted 
 power; and if so, which one. 
 
 " '2il. Whether annexation of Texas would not 
 extend and perjjetiiate Slavery in the Slave States, 
 and also, the niternal slave-trade ; and whether 
 the United Slates (tovernnieiit has any constitu- 
 tional power over Slavery in the. Stales, either to 
 pcr|)etuate it there, or to <lu it airni/. 
 
 " '.id. Whether the United Stales, havinj^ no- 
 kniiwledijtvt the iinlei>endenee of Texas, Mexico 
 is thereby deprived of her right to recouquer that 
 province. 
 
 '• 4///. That they report whether Texas i8 owing 
 any debts or not ; and, if she is, what is tlie 
 amount, and to whom payable: and whetlicr, if 
 she should be annexed to tlie United States, the 
 United States Govonimeut would bo bound to 
 pay them nil. 
 
 '• 5/h. That they report what treaties are in ex- 
 istence between Texas and foreign governments ; 
 and,if she should bo anne.\e(l to the United States, 
 whether the United Stales Government would be 
 bound, by tho law of nations, to fulfill those 
 treaties." 
 
 The question on commitment was insisted 
 upon, and first taken — Yeas, 109 (Demo- 
 crats) ; Najs, 01 (Whigs) ; whereupon it was 
 held that Mr. Hamlin's amendment was de- 
 feated, and the original proposition alone 
 committed. 
 
 ./<//(. lOlh. 1845. Mr. John P. Hale, N. 
 H., (then a Democratic Repre.sentative, now 
 a Republican Senator) proposed the follow- 
 ing as an amendment to any act or resolve 
 contemplating the annexation of Texas to 
 this Union : 
 
 " Proriih'd, That immediately after the ques- 
 tion of boundary between the United States of 
 America and Mexico shall have been detinitivcly 
 settled by the two governments, and before any 
 State formed out of the ten-itory of Texas shall be 
 admitted into the Union, the said territory ofTexas 
 ehall be divided as follows, to wit : beginning at 
 a point on tlie Gulf of Mexico, midway between 
 the Northern and Southern boundaries thereof on 
 the coast ; and thence by a line running in a 
 northwesterly direction to the extreme boundary 
 thereof, so as to divide the same a.s nearly as pos- 
 sible into two equal parts, and in that portion of 
 said territory lying south and west of the line to bo 
 run ns aforesaid, there shall be neither Slavery 
 nor involuntary servitude, otherwise than in the 
 punishment of crimes, whereof the party shall 
 have been duly convicted. 
 
 ''And proBtded further. That this provision 
 shall be considered a.s a compact between the peo- 
 ple of the United States and the peo{)le of the 
 said territory, and forever remain unalterable, 
 unless by the consent of three-fourths of the States 
 of the Union." 
 
 Mr. Hale asjced a suspension of the rules, 
 to enable him to offer it now, and have it 
 printed and committed. Refused— Yeas, 92, 
 (not two-tiiirds ;) Nays, 81. 
 
 I'm.s- — All till! Wliig.'^ and most of tho 
 Democrats from the Krec States, witii Messrs. 
 Duncan L. Clinch and Alex. H. Stephens 
 of (ieorgia, andd'eo. W. Siimniirs of Va. 
 
 A'a//.s--All the memlx-rs from Slave 
 States, except the above, with the following 
 from Free Slates : 
 
 Maine.— Shejipard Cary— 1. 
 
 Nk\v-!Ia.mi>shikk.— Edmund Burke, Mose8 
 Norris, jr — 1!. 
 
 Nkw-Yokk.— James G. Clinton, Sclah B. 
 Strong— 2. 
 
 PKN.NsYr.vANiA.— James Black, l{i(-hard Brod- 
 head, Hemy D. Poster, Joseph li. Ingersoll, 
 Michael H.Jenks— 5. ^ 
 
 Ohio.— Joscjih J. McDowell— 1. 
 
 l.HDiANA.— William J. Brown, John W. Davis, 
 John Pettil— 3. 
 
 Ii.r.iNois.— Orlando B. Ficklin, Joseph P. 
 Iloge, Robert Smith— 3. 
 
 Total Democrats from Free States, 17. 
 
 Dec. 12th.— Mv. C. J. Ingersoll of Pa., 
 from the Conunittee on Foreign Affairs, re- 
 ported a Joint Resolution for annexing 
 Texas to the Union, which was committed 
 and discussed in Committee of the Whole 
 from time to time, through the next 
 month. 
 
 Jan. 1(h. — Mr. J. P. Hale presented re- 
 solves of the Legislature of New 1 lampshire, 
 thoroughly in favor of Annexation, and 
 silent on the subject of Slavery, except as 
 follows : 
 
 "Hesohed, That we agree with i\rr. Clay, that 
 the re-annexation of Texas will add more Free 
 than Slave States to the Union; and that it would 
 be unwise to refuse a permanent acquisition, 
 which will e.xist as long as the globe remains, 
 on account of a temporary institution." 
 
 Jan. I3th. — Mr. Cave Johnson of Tenn. 
 moved that all further debate on this sub- 
 ject be closed at 2 p. m. on Tlmrsday next. 
 Carried— Yeas, 126 ; Nays, 57 ; (nearly all 
 the Nays from Slave States). 
 
 Jan. 25th. — The debate, after an exten- 
 sion of time, was at length brought to a 
 close, and the Joint Resolution taken out of 
 Committee, and reported to the House in the 
 following form ; (that portion relating to 
 Slavery, having been added in Committee, 
 on motion of Mr. Milton Brown (Whig) of 
 Tennessee : 
 
 " Resolved, by the Senate and House of Rep. 
 reserUa lives in Congress assembled. That Con- 
 gress doth consent that the Territory properly 
 included witliin, and rightfully belonging to, the 
 Republic of Texas, may bo erected into a now 
 State, to bo called tho State of Texas, witli a 
 republican form ot government, to bo adopted 
 by tho people of said republic, by deputies in 
 convention assembled, with tlio consent of the 
 existing government, in order that the same may 
 be adniilted as one of the States of this Union. 
 
 " 'J. And be it further resolved. That the fore- 
 going consent of Congress is given upon the fol- 
 lowing conditions, and with the following guaran- 
 tees, to wit : 
 
 " First. Said State to be formed, subject to the 
 adjustment by this Government of all questions 
 of boundary that may arise with other govern- 
 
42 
 
 THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 
 
 ments ; and the Constitution thereof, with the | 
 proper evidence of its adoption by the people of 
 Baid Republic of Texas, shall be transmitted to 
 the President of tlie United States, to be laid 
 before Congress for its final action, on or before 
 the Ist day of January, 1846. 
 
 " Second. Said State, when admitted into the 
 Union, after cedinf^ to the United States all pub 
 lie edifices, fortifieations, barracks, ports, and 
 harbors, navy and navy-yards, docks, magazines, 
 arms, armaments, and all other property and 
 means pertaining to the public defense, belong- 
 ing to the said Republic of Texas, shall retain 
 all the public funds, debts, taxes, and dues of 
 every kind which may belong to, or be due 
 or owing said republic; and shall also retain 
 all the vacant and unappropriated lands lying 
 within its limits, to be applied to the payment 
 of the debts and liabilities of said Republic of 
 Texas ; and the residue of said lands, after dis- 
 charging said debts and liabilities, to be disposed 
 of as said State may direct ; but in no event 
 are said debts and liabilities to become a charge 
 upon the United States. 
 
 "Third. New States of convenient size, not 
 exceeding four in number, in addition to said 
 State of Texas, and having sufficient population, 
 may hereafter, by the consent of said State, be 
 formed out of the Territory thereof, which shall 
 be entitled to admission under the provisions of 
 the Federal Constitution. And such States as 
 may be formed out of that portion of said Terri- 
 tory, lying south of thirty-six degrees thirty 
 minutes north latitude, commonly known as the 
 Missouri Compromise line, shall be admitted into 
 the Union, with or without Slavery, as the people 
 of each State asking admission may desire ; and 
 in such State or States as shall be formed out of 
 said Territory, north of said Missouri Compro- 
 mise line, Slavery or involuntary servitude (ex- 
 cept for crime) shall be prohibited." 
 
 Mr. Cave Johnson of Tenn. moved the 
 previous question, which the House seconded 
 —Yeas 113 ; Nays 106— and then the 
 amendment aforesaid was agreed to — Yeas 
 118 ; Nays 101, 
 
 Yeas, 114 Democrats, and Messrs. Milton 
 Brown of Tenn., James Dellet of Ala., and 
 Duncan L. Clinch and Alex. H. Stephens 
 of Ga. (4), Southern Whigs. 
 
 Nays, all the Whigs present from Free 
 States, with all from Slave States, but the 
 four just named ; with the following Demo- 
 crats from Free States : 
 
 Maine Robert P. Dunlap, Hannibal Hamliu 
 
 _2. 
 
 Vermont Paul Dillingham, jr. — 1. 
 
 Nkw-IIampshire. — John P. Hale — 1. 
 
 Connecticut. — George S. Catlin — 1. 
 
 New-York. — Joseph II. Anderson, Charles S. 
 Benton, Jeremiah E. Carey, Amasa Dana, Rich- 
 ard D. Davis, Byram Green, Preston King, 
 Smith M. Purdy, George Rathbun, Orville Rob- 
 inson, David L. Seymour, Lemuel Stetson — 12. 
 
 Ohio. — Jacob Brinckerhoff, William C. Mc- 
 Causlen. Joseph Morris, Henry St. John — 4. 
 
 Michigan. — James B. Hunt, Robert McClel- 
 land— 2. 
 
 Total Democrats from Free States, 23, 
 " Whigs from Free and Slave 
 
 States, , 78. 
 
 The House then ordered the whole propo- 
 sition to a third reading forthwith — Y''eas 
 120 ; Nays 97 — and passed it by Yeas 120 ; 
 Nays 98. 
 
 Yens, all the Democrats from Slave States, 
 and all the Democrats from Free States, ex- 
 cept as below ; with Messrs. Duncan L. 
 Clinch, Milton Brown, James Dellet, Wil- 
 loughby Newton, of Va. (who therefrom 
 turned Democrat), and Alex. H. Stephens 
 of Ga. (now Democrat), from Slave States. 
 
 Nays, all the Whigs from Free States ; 
 all those from Slave States except as above ; 
 with the following Democrats from Free 
 States, viz. : 
 
 Maine. — Hannibal Hamlin — 1. 
 
 New-Hampshiue. — John P. Hale, John E. 
 Reding— '2. 
 
 Vermont. — Paul Dillingham, jr. — 1. 
 
 Connecticut. — George S. Catlin — 1. 
 
 New-York.. .Joseph H. Anderson, Charles S. 
 Benton, Levi D. Carpenter. Jeremiah E. Carey, 
 Amasa Dana, Richard D. Davis, Byram Green, 
 Preston King, Smith M. Purdy, George Rathbun, 
 Lemuel Stetson, Horace Wheaton, David L. 
 Seymour — 14. 
 
 Ohio. — Henry St. John — 1. 
 
 Michigan James B. Hunt, Robert McClel- 
 land— 2. 
 
 Total Democrats from Free States 23. 
 
 So the resolve passed the House, and was 
 sent to the Senate for concurrence. 
 
 In Senate, several attempts to originate 
 action in favor of Annexation were made 
 at this session, but nothing came of them. 
 
 Feb. 2ith. The joint resolution aforesaid 
 from the House was taken up for considera- 
 tion by 30 Yeas to 11 Nays (all Northern 
 Whigs). On the 27th, Mr. Walker of Wis. 
 moved to add an alternative proposition, 
 contemplating negotiation as the means of 
 effecting the meditated end. 
 
 Mr. Foster (Whig) of Tenn. proposed the 
 following : 
 
 " And provided further. That in fixing the 
 terms and conditions of such admission, it shall 
 be expressly stipulated and declared, that the 
 State of Texas, and such other States as may be 
 formed out of that portion of the present Territory 
 of Texas lying south of thirty six deg. thirty min_. 
 north latitude, commonly known as the Missouri 
 Compromise line, sl^all be admitted into the 
 Union with or without Slavery, as the people of 
 each State, so hereafter asking admission, may 
 desire : And provided furthermore. That it shall 
 be also stipulated and declared, that the public 
 debt of Tex.-is shall in no event become a charge 
 upon the government of the United States." 
 
 The question was first taken on the first 
 (Slavery) proviso of the foregoing, which 
 was defeated, by Yeas and Nays, as fol- 
 lows : 
 
 YEAS — For the Slavery Proviso: 
 
 Messrs. Archer, Va. 
 Barrow, La. 
 Bayard, Del 
 Berrien, Ga. 
 Clayton, Del. 
 
 Jarnagin, Tenn. 
 .lohnson. La. 
 Maiigum, N. C. 
 Merrick, Md. 
 Morehcad, Ky. 
 
 Crittenden, Ky. Pearce, Md. 
 
 Foster, Tenn. Phelps, Vt. 
 
 Haniicgan, Ind. Rives, Va. 
 
 Huger, S. C. Sevier, Ark. — 18. 
 
 All Whigs but three (m Italics). 
 
THE ANNEXATION OF TEXAS. 
 
 43 
 
 NAYS — Airninat the Slai-enj Proi'iso: 
 
 Messrs. Alli'ii, Ohio. Franclti, U. I 
 
 AsliU'v, .Vik. Hayw<.(..l, N. C. 
 
 Aloliisoii, Mo. HeiuliTsoii, Mms. 
 
 Athcrlon, N. H. lluiitiiijrtoii, Conn. 
 
 ]!at:l)v, Alii. Lewis, Ala. 
 
 Bales", Mass. MeDutlie, S. 0. 
 
 I!eiit(.ii, Mo. Miller, N. Y. 
 
 IJreeso, Itid. Niies, Conn. 
 
 IJuclianan, Pii. Porter, I.1I. 
 
 Clioate. Mass. Sein|)le. 111. 
 
 Colquitt, (ia. Sliir^i-eon, Pa. 
 
 Davton, N. J. Tapjian, Ohio. 
 
 Dickinson, N.Y. Uplinin, Vt. 
 
 l)i.\, N. Y. Walker, Wis. 
 
 Evans, Mo. Whit.-. Ind 
 
 Fairfield, Mo. Woodbridge, Mich. 
 
 Woodbuiy, N. H.— 3 1. 
 
 The other branch of the amendment was 
 vottd down. Yeas. 20 (Whigs) ; Nays, 31 
 (25 Democrats and G Whij^^s). 
 
 Various amendments were proposed and 
 voted down. Among them, Mr. Foster, of 
 Tenu., moved an express stipulalion that 
 Slavery should be tolerated in all States 
 formed out of the Territory of Te.xas, south 
 of the Missouri line of .36-^'' 30'. Rejected- 
 Yeas, IG (Southern AVhigs, and Sevier of 
 Arkansas) ; Nays, 33. 
 
 Mr. Miller, of N. J., moved to strike out 
 all after the enacting clause, and insert : 
 
 "That the President of the United States be, 
 and he hereby is, authorized and advised to open 
 noRotiations with Mexico and Texas, for the ad- 
 justment of boundaries, and the annexation of 
 the latter to the United States, on the following 
 basis, to wit : 
 
 •'1. The boundary of the annexed territory to 
 be in the desert prairie we.st of the Nueces, and 
 alonti; the highlands and mountain heights which 
 divide the waters of the Mississippi from the 
 waters of the Rio del Norte, and to latitude forty- 
 two degrees north. 
 
 "II. The people of Texas, by a legislative act, 
 or by any authentic act which shows the will of 
 the ma)t)rily, to express Iheir assent to said an- 
 nexation. 
 
 "III. A State to be called 'the State of Texas,' 
 with boundaries fixed by herself, and an extent 
 not exceeding the largest State of the Union, be 
 admitted into the Union, by virtue of this act, on 
 an equal footing with the original States. 
 
 "IV. The remainder of the annexed territory, 
 to be held and disposed of by the United States 
 as one of their Territories, to be called ' the 
 Southwest Territory.' 
 
 " V. The existence of Slavery to be forever 
 prohibited in the northern and northwestern part 
 of said Territory, wc^t of the lOtlth degree of lati- 
 tude west froni Greenwich, so as to divide, as 
 equally as may bo, the whole of the annexed 
 country between slaveholding and uon-slavo- 
 holding States. 
 
 " VI. The assent of Mexico to be obtained by 
 treaty to such annexation and boundary, or to 
 be dispensed with when the Congress of the 
 United States may deem such assent to bo unne- 
 cessary. 
 
 " Vil. Other details of the annexation to bo 
 adjusted by ti-eaty, so far as the same may come 
 within the scope of the treaty-making power." 
 
 Kejected by the following vote : 
 YEAS— For Mr. Miller's Subttitute: 
 
 Choate of Jla-OH. Miller of N. J. 
 
 Crittenden of Ky. Phelps of Vt. 
 
 Dayton of N. .1. Uiihiim of Vt. 
 
 Woodbi-idgo of Mich.— 11 (all Whig.s). 
 
 NAYS— Against Mr. Milter'.^ Substitute: 
 
 Messrs. Allen, Ohio. Haywood, N. C. 
 
 Ashley, Ark. llenderHon, Miss. 
 
 Atchison, Mo. IIug<'r, S. C. 
 
 Atherton, N. II. Jarnai^in, Tenn. 
 
 liagby, Ala. .lohnHnn. La. 
 
 HaiTow, jjn. Lewi.s, Ala. 
 
 Pentoii, Mo. iMeDiillie, S. C. 
 
 lireese, Ind. Merrick, Md. 
 
 liuchanan. Pa. Niles, Conn. 
 
 Clayton, Del. Pearce, Md. 
 
 Colquitt, Ga. Kives, Va. 
 
 Dickinson, N.Y. Seinple, III. 
 
 Dix, N. \. Sevier, Ark. 
 
 Fairfield, Mo. Sturgeon. Pa. 
 
 Foster, Tenn. Tappan, Ohio, 
 
 llannegan, Ind. Walker, Wis. 
 Woodbury, N. 11.— :33. 
 
 The Walker amendment aforesaid was car- 
 ried, by Yeas 27, to Nays 25, as follows : 
 
 YEAS — For Walker's Amendtnent: 
 
 Messrs. Allen, 
 
 Haywood, 
 
 Ashley, 
 
 Henderson, 
 
 Atchison, 
 
 Hnger, 
 
 Atherton, 
 
 Johnson, 
 
 Uagby, 
 
 Lewis, 
 
 Benton, 
 
 McDuffie, 
 
 Breese, 
 
 Merrick, 
 
 Buchanan, 
 
 Niles, 
 
 Colquitt, 
 
 Semple, 
 
 Dickinson, 
 
 Sevier, 
 
 Dix, 
 
 Sturgeon, 
 
 Faiilield, 
 
 Tappan, 
 
 llanucgan. 
 
 Walker, 
 
 Woodbury- 
 
 -27. 
 
 NAYS — Agaiiist Walker's Amemlmi 
 
 Messrs. Archer, 
 
 Huntington, 
 
 Barrow, 
 
 Jarnagin, 
 
 Bates, 
 
 Mangum, 
 
 Bayard, 
 
 Miller, 
 
 Berrien, 
 
 Morehead, 
 
 Choate, 
 
 Pearce, 
 
 Clayton, 
 
 Phelps, 
 
 Messrs. Archer of Va. 
 Bcrrieu of Ga. 
 
 Evans of Me. 
 Francis of R. I. 
 
 Crittenden, Porter, 
 
 Dayton, Rives, 
 
 Evans, Simmons, 
 
 Foster, Upham, 
 
 Francis, White, 
 
 Woodbridge — 25. 
 
 The resolution as thus amended was adopt- 
 ed (Feb. 27,) by Yeas and Nays as follows : 
 
 YEAS — For the Proposition as amended : 
 
 Messrs. Allen, Haywood, 
 
 Ashley, Henderson, 
 
 Atchison, linger, 
 
 Atherton, JuUnxon, 
 
 Bagby, Lewis, 
 
 Benton, McDufl!io, 
 
 Breese, Merrick. 
 
 Buchanan, Kilos, 
 
 Colquitt, Semple, 
 
 Dickinson, Sevier, 
 
 Dix, Sturgeon, 
 
 Fairfield, Tappan, 
 
 llannegan. Walker, 
 ^\■oodbury— 2«. 
 
 [Yeas — All Democrats but three in italics, 
 of whom Messrs. Henderson and Merrick 
 have since been Democrats.] 
 
44 
 
 THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 
 
 NAYS — Against the proposed Annexation i 
 
 Messrs. Archer, 
 IJarrow, 
 Bates, 
 Bayard, 
 Berrien, 
 Choate, 
 Clayton, 
 Crittenden, 
 Dayton, 
 Evans, 
 Foster, 
 Francis, 
 Woodbridge — 25- 
 
 Huntington, 
 Jarnagin, 
 Mniigum, 
 Miller, 
 Morciiead, 
 Pearee, 
 Phelps, 
 Porter, 
 Rives, 
 Simmons, 
 Upham, 
 White, 
 -[all Whigs]. 
 
 The joint resolve being thus returned to 
 the House as amended by the Senate, a vote 
 wasahnost immediately taken on concurring, 
 and the amendment of the Senate was assent- 
 ed to— Yeas, 134 ; Nays, 77. [A strict par- 
 ty vote, except that Mr. Dellet of Alabama, 
 (Whig) voted in the majority] . So the An- 
 nexation of Texas was decreed, and in the 
 following terms : 
 
 JOINT RESOLUTION FOR ANNEXING TEXAS TO 
 THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 "Resolved, hy the Senate and House of Rep- 
 resentatives of the. United States in Congress 
 assembled, That Congress doth consent that the 
 territory properly included within, and rightfully 
 belonging to, the Republic of Texas, may be 
 erected iuto a new State, to be called the State 
 of Texas, with a Republican form of government, 
 to be adopted by the people of said Republic, by 
 deputies in convention assembled, with the con- 
 sent of the existing government, in order that the 
 same may be admitted as one of the States of 
 this Union. 
 
 "Sec. -2. And be it farther resolved, That the 
 foregoing consent of Congress is jjiveu upon the 
 followmg conditions, and with the following guar- 
 anties, to wit: 
 
 " First. Said State to be formed, subject to the 
 adjustment by this Government of all questions 
 of boundary that may arise with other Govern- 
 ments ; and the constitution thereof, with the 
 proper evidence of its adoption by the people of 
 said Republic of Te.xas, shall be transmitted to 
 the President of the United States, to bo laid be- 
 fore Congress for its final action, on or before the 
 first day of January, one thousand eight hun- 
 dred and forty-six. 
 
 ''Second. Said State, when admitted into the 
 Union, after ceding to the United States all pub- 
 lic edifices, fortitications, barracks, ports, and 
 harbors, navy and navy-yards, docks, magazines, 
 arms, armaments, and all other property and 
 means pertaining to the public defense, belong- 
 ing to the said Republic of Texas, shall retain all 
 the public funds, debts, taxes, and dues of every 
 kind which may belong to, or be due or owing said 
 Republic ; and shall also retain all the vacant or 
 unappropriated lands lying within its limits, to be 
 applied to the pavment of the debts and liabilities 
 of said Republic of Texas; and the residue of 
 said lands, after discharging said debts and lia- 
 bilities, to become a charge upon the United 
 States. 
 
 " Third. New States of convenient size, not 
 exceeding four in number, in addition to the said 
 State of Texas, and having sufliicient population, 
 may hereafter, by the consent of said State, be 
 formed out of the territory thereof, which shall be 
 entitled to admission under the provision of the 
 Federal Constitution ; and such States as may bo 
 formed out of that portion of said territory lying 
 
 South of thirty-six degrees thirty minutes north 
 latitude, commonly known as the Missouri Com- 
 promise line, shall be admitted into the Union 
 with or without Slavery, as the people of each 
 State asking admission may desire. And in such 
 State or States as shall be formed out of said ter- 
 ritory north of said Missouri Compromise line, 
 Slavery or involuntary servitude (except for 
 crime) shall be prohibited. 
 
 [Walker's Amendment — added.] 
 " And be it further resolved. That if the Presi- 
 dent of the United States shall, in his judgment 
 and discretion, deem it most advisable, instead 
 of proceeding to submit the foregoing resolu- 
 tion to the republic of Texas, as an overture on 
 the part of the United States, for admission, to 
 negotiate with that Republic ; then, 
 
 " Be it resolved, That a State to be formed out 
 of the present Republic of Texas, with suitable 
 extent and boundaries, and with two representa- 
 tives in Congress, until the next apportionment 
 of representation, shall be admitted into the 
 Union by virtue of this act, on an equal footing 
 with the existing States, as soon as the terms and 
 conditions of such admission, and the cession 
 of the remaining Texan territory to the United 
 States, shall be agreed upon by the Governments 
 of Texas and the United States. 
 
 ''And beit further enacted. That the sum of 
 one hundred thousand dollars be, and the same 
 is hereby, appropriated to defray the expenses 
 of missions and negotiations, to agree upon the 
 terms of said admission and cession, either by 
 treaty to be submitted to the Senate, or by arti- 
 cles to be submitted to the two Houses of Con- 
 gress, as the President may direct. 
 
 " Approved, March 2, 1845." 
 
 XI. 
 
 THE WILMOT PROVISO. 
 
 Texas having been annexed during the 
 summer of 1845, in pursuance of the forego- 
 ing joint resolution of the two Houses of 
 Congress, a portion of the United States 
 Army, under Gen. Taylor, was, early in the 
 Spring of 1846, moved down to the east 
 bank of the Rio Grande del Norte, claim- 
 ed by Texas as her Western boundary, but 
 not so regarded by Mexico. A hostile col- 
 lision ensued, resulting in war between the 
 United States and Mexico. 
 
 It was early thereafter deemed advisable 
 that a considerable sum should be placed by 
 Congress at the President's disposal, to ne- 
 gotiate an advantageous Treaty of Peace 
 and Limits with the Mexican government. 
 A Message to this effect was submitted by 
 President Polk to Congress, August 8th, 
 1846, and a bill in accordance with its sug- 
 gestions laid before the House, which pro- 
 ceeded to consider the subject in Committee 
 of the Whole. The bill appropriating $30,000 
 for immediate use in negotiations with Mexi- 
 co, and placing $2,000,000 more at the dis- 
 posal of the President, to be employed in 
 making peace, Mr. David Wilmot, of Pa., 
 after consultation with other Northern Demo- 
 crats, offered the following Proviso, in ad- 
 dition to the first section of the bill : 
 
 " Provided, That as an express and fundament- 
 al condition to the acquisition of any territory 
 
THE WILMOT ITvOVlriO. 
 
 45 
 
 from the Republic of Mexico by the United Stntoa, 
 by virtue of (iiiy troiity wliicJi iimy bo ne;,'otiuted 
 between them, (ind to llie u.-e by the Executive 
 of tile nuiiiey.i hereiu nppniiiriiited, neither 
 Slavery nor iiivojuntiiry servitude kIuiII ever ex 
 1st in iniv l>Krt i)f miid terrilorv, except for crime, 
 •\vLereol"tlio imrty nhull tirst be duly convicted." 
 
 This proviso was carried in Committee, 
 by llie stroiij;: vote of eiglity-tiiree to sixty- 
 four— only three Members (Democrats) from 
 tlu! Free States, it was said, o])posiiig it. 
 [No record is made of iiulividtial votes in 
 Committee of the Whole.] 'I'iie bill was 
 tiien reported to the House, and Mr. Rath- 
 bun of N. Y. moved the previous question 
 on its enjirrossment. 
 
 Mr. Tibbatts of Ky. moved that it do 
 lie on the talile Defeated — Yeas 7!) ; 
 [Stejihon A. Douglas, Joint A. McCler- 
 uand, John Petlit, and Robert C. Schonck, 
 voting with the South to lay on the table] ; 
 Nays 93 ; [Henry (J rider and William P. 
 Thomasson of Ky. (Whigs) voting with the 
 North against it]. 
 
 'J'he bill was then engrossed for its third 
 readitig by Yea.s 85, Nays 80 ; and thus 
 passed wifhout further division. A motion 
 to reconsider was laid on the table — Yeas 
 71 ; Nays 83. So the bill was passed and 
 sent to the Senate, where Mr. Dixon TI. 
 Lewis of Ala. moved that the Proviso 
 above cited be stricken out ; on which de- 
 bate arose, and Mr. John Davis of IMass. 
 was speaking when, at noon of August 10th, 
 the time fixed for adjournment having ar- 
 rived, both Houses adjourned without day. 
 
 [NoTK. — We do not give the Yeas and Nays 
 on the divisions just above, the House having 
 been quite thin when they were taken, and some 
 Northern Members votinjj with the South from 
 hostility to the whole project of buying either 
 pence or territory. Generally, however, the vote 
 ran much as former divisions would lead one to 
 expect. Mr. Stephen A. Douglas, and some 
 other friends of the original bill, voted against it 
 at every stage after the Proviso was added.] 
 
 The XXX th Congress assembled Dee. 6, 
 1847. 
 
 Feb. 28///, 1848, Mr. Putnam of N. York 
 moved the following : 
 
 " Whrrms, In the settlement of the difficulties 
 pending between this country and Mexico, terri- 
 tory may be acquired in which Slavery does not 
 now exist : 
 
 '^ And ichcreaa, Congress, in the organization 
 of a terriforial government, at an early period of 
 our political hi.slory established a principle worthy 
 of imitation in all future time, forbidding the ex- 
 istence of Sltvery in free territory ; Therefore, 
 
 " IiCfiolrrH, That in any territory, that may be 
 ncqnired from Mexico, over whichshall be estab- 
 lished territorinl L'ovcrnments, Slavory, or involun- 
 tary servitude, except as a punishment for crime, 
 whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, 
 shall be forever i>rohibited ; and that in any act 
 or resolution establishing such governments, a 
 fundamental provision ought to be uiscrted to that 
 effect" 
 
 Mr. R. IJrodhead of Penn. moved that this 
 resolution lie on the table. Carried ; Yeas, 
 10;') ; Nuy.s, !):i. 
 
 [Yeas— ull th(' members from Slave States, 
 but John W. Houston (Whig), of Delaware, 
 with the Ibllowing from Free States (all 
 Democrats but Ijevin) : 
 
 Maine.— Asa W. II. Clapp, Franklin Clark, Job. 
 S. Wiley, Ih'Zekiah W'illiarnH — I. 
 
 Nkw YouK.— Ausburn IJirdniili, David S. Jack- 
 son, Kredi^rick W. Lord, Williiuii It. Mncliiy — 1. 
 
 I'KN.Nsvi.VANiA. — Kicliard Ibodliciid, ClmrlcB 
 IJrown, />(•«•/.< ('. I.rviii, .Job Munn — 1. 
 
 Ohio. — William Kennon, jr., .lolin K. Miller, 
 Thomas Kichey, ^^'illianl Sawyer — 1. 
 
 India.n.a. — Charles W. Cathcart, Thomas J. 
 Ilcnlev, John Pctitt, John L. Itobinson, William 
 W. Wi( k— .'i. 
 
 Ii.r.i.Mus. — Orlando H. Ficklin, John A. Mc- 
 Clernand, ^\'illian^ A. liichardson, Kobert Smith, 
 Thomas J. Turner — 5. 
 
 Nays — all the "Whigs and a large majority 
 of the Democrats from Free States, with 
 John W. Houston aforesaid. 
 
 This vote terminated all direct action in 
 favor of the Wilmot proviso for that Ses- 
 sion. 
 
 Jnhi 18//(.— In Senate, Mr. Clayton of 
 Del., from the Select Committee to which 
 was referred, on the 12th inst., the bill pro- 
 viding a territorial government for Oregon, 
 reported a bill to establish Territ(jrial gov- 
 ernments for Oregon, New Mexico, and Cali- 
 fornia, which was read. [It proposed to 
 submit all questions as to the rightful exist- 
 ence or extent of Slavery in the Territories 
 to the decision of the Supreme Court of the 
 United States.] 
 
 Juhj 2-itk. — Second reading. Mr. Bald- 
 win of Conn, moved to strike out so much 
 of said bill as relates to California and New 
 Mexico. Rejected; Yeas, 17 (Northern 
 Free Soil men of both parties) ; Nays, 37. 
 
 The bill was diseusvsed through several 
 succeeding days. On the 2Gth, Mr. Clarke 
 of R. I. moved to add to the Gth section : 
 
 " Provided, however. That no law, regulation, or 
 act of the provisional govenimeut of said Territory 
 permitting Slavery or involuntary servitude there- 
 in shall be valid, until the same shall be approved 
 by Congress.'' 
 
 Rejected ; Yeas, 19 [Col. Benton, and 
 18 Northern Freesoilers of both parties] ; 
 Nays, 33. 
 
 Mr. Reverdy Johnson of Md. moved to 
 amend the bill by inserting — 
 
 " Except only, that in all eases of title to Slaves, 
 the said writ.=; of error or appeals shall be allowed 
 and decided by the sai<l Supreme Court without 
 regard to the "value of the matter, property, or 
 title in controversy, and except, also, that a writ 
 of error or appeal shall also be allowed to the Su- 
 preme C'ourt of the United States from the decision 
 of the said Supreme Court created by this act. or 
 of any judire thereof or of the district'Courts crea- 
 ted by this act, or of any judge ujion any writ of 
 habeas corpus iuvolvmg the question of personal 
 freedom." 
 
 Carried : Yeas, 31 (all sorts) ; Nays, 19 
 
THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 
 
 46 
 
 (all Southern, but Bright, Dickinson, and 
 Hannepan). _ . 
 
 Mr. Bakhvin of Conn, moved au additional 
 section, as follows : 
 
 " Sec. 37. And be it further enacted. That it 
 shall be the duty of the attorneys for said Terri- 
 tories, respectively, on the comjilaint of any per- 
 son held in involuntary servitude therein, to make 
 application in his behalf in due form of law,_ to 
 the court next thereafter to be holden in said Ter- 
 ritory, for a writ of habeas corpus, to be directed 
 to the person so holding such applicant in service 
 as aforesaid, and to pursue all needful measures in 
 his behalf; and if the decision of such court shall 
 be adverse to the application, or if, on the return 
 of the wrh, relief shall be denied to the applicant, 
 on the ground that he is a slave held in servitude 
 in said Territory, said attorney shall cause an ap- 
 peal to be taken therefrom, and the record of all 
 the proceedint^s in the case to be transmitted to 
 the Supreme Court of the United States as speedily 
 as may be, and to give notice thereof to the At- 
 torney General of the United States, who shall 
 prosecute the same before said Court, who shall 
 proceed to hear and determine the same at the 
 first term thereof." 
 
 Teas, 15 (all Northern, except Benton) ; 
 Nays, 31. 
 
 Mr. Davis of Mass. moved to strike out 
 section 12, and insert as follows : 
 
 " Sec. I'i. And be it further enacted, That so 
 much of the sixth section of the ordinance of the 
 13th July, 1787, as is contained in the following 
 words; viz : ' 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 convict- 
 ed,' shall be and remain in force in the Territory 
 of Oregon." 
 
 This was defeated ; Teas, 2] ; Nays, 33, as 
 follows : 
 
 YEAS— For the Slavery Prohibition: 
 Messrs. Allen, Ohio. Dodge, Wise. 
 
 Atherton, N. H. Fclch, Mich. 
 Baldwin, Conn. Fitzgerald, Mich. 
 Benton, Mo. Greene, K. I. 
 
 Bradbury, Mo. Hale, N. H. 
 Clarke, R. I. Hamlin, Me. 
 
 Corwin, Ohio, Miller, N. J. 
 Davis, Mass. Niles, Conn. 
 Dayton, N. J. Spruance, Del. 
 Dix, N. Y. Upham, Vt. 
 
 Walker, Wis.— 21. 
 
 YEAS — For Clatjtoii's Compromise: 
 Messrs. Atchison, Houston, 
 
 NAYS— Against the 
 
 Messrs. Atchison, Mo. 
 Badger, N. C. 
 Bell,Tcnn. 
 Berrien, Ga. 
 Borland, Ark. 
 Breese, III. 
 Bright, Ind. 
 Butler, S. C. 
 Calhoun, S C. 
 Clayton, Del. 
 Davis, Miss. 
 Dickinson, N. Y, 
 Douglas, III. 
 Downs, La. 
 Fool,., Miss, 
 llaiinogan, Ind. 
 Yulee 
 
 The bill was then engrossed for a third 
 reading ; Yeas, 33 ; Nays, 22 ; as fol- 
 lows: 
 
 Slavery Prohibition . 
 
 Houston, Texas. 
 Hunter, Va. 
 Johnson, Md. 
 Johnson, La. 
 Johnson. Ga. 
 King, Ala. 
 Lewis, Ala. 
 Mangum, N. C. 
 Ma.son, Va. 
 Metcalf, Ky. 
 Rusk, Texas, 
 Sebastian, Ark. 
 Sturgeon. Pa. 
 Turney, Tenn. 
 Underwood, Ky. 
 Westcott, Fla. 
 -33. 
 
 Atherton 
 
 Benton, 
 
 Beriien, 
 
 Borland, 
 
 Breese, 
 
 Bright, 
 
 Butler, 
 
 Calhoun, 
 
 Clayton, 
 
 Davis, Miss 
 
 Dickinson, 
 
 Douglas, 
 
 Downs, 
 
 Foote, 
 
 Haunegan, 
 
 Yulee — 33. 
 
 Hunter, 
 
 Johnson, Md. 
 
 Johnson, La. 
 
 Johnson, Ga. 
 
 King, 
 
 Lewis, 
 
 Slangum, 
 
 Mason, 
 
 Phelps, 
 
 Rusk, 
 
 Sebastian, 
 
 Spruance, 
 
 Sturgeon, 
 
 Turney, 
 
 Westcott, 
 
 NAYS— Against Clayton's hill 
 
 Messrs. Allen, 
 Badger, 
 Baldwin, 
 Bell, 
 
 Bradbury, 
 
 Clarke, 
 
 Corwin, 
 
 Davis, Mass. 
 
 Dayton, 
 
 Dix. 
 
 Dodge, 
 
 Felch, 
 
 Fitzgerald, 
 
 Greene, 
 
 Hale. 
 
 Hamhn, 
 
 Metcalf, 
 
 Miller, 
 
 Kiles, 
 
 Underwood, 
 
 Upham, 
 
 Walker— 22. 
 
 So the bill was engrossed, and immedi- 
 ately passed without a division. 
 
 July 28//;.— This bill reached the House, 
 and was taken up and read twice. 
 
 Mr. Linn Boyd of Ky. moved it to a 
 Committee of the Whole on the State of the 
 Union. 
 
 Mr. C. B. Smith of Ind. moved and ob- 
 tained a call of the House, when all but 
 eighteen Members responded. 
 
 "Mr. A. H. Stephens of Ga. moved that 
 the bill do lie on the table. Yeas and Nays 
 ordered, and the motion prevailed : Yeas, 
 112 ; Nays, 97. 
 
 Yeas all the Free State Whigs, with the 
 following Whigs from Slave States : 
 
 Virginia.— John S. Pendleton — 1. 
 
 NoiiTH Carolina.— Nathaniel Boydon, Rich- 
 ard S. Donuell— 2. 
 
 Georgia.— Alex- H. Stephens — 1. 
 
 Kentucky.— Green Adams, Aylett Buckner, 
 John B. Thompson — 3. 
 
 Tennessee.— John H. Crozier — 1. 
 
 Total, eight Whigs from Slave States. 
 Democratsfrora Free States : 
 
 Maine.— Asa W. H. Clapp, David Hammons, 
 Ephraim K. Smart, James S Wiley— 4. 
 
 NEW-HAMrsHiRE.--Charles H. Feasloe— 1. 
 
 Vermont.— Lucius B. Peck— 1. 
 
 Rhode Island.— Benjamin B. Thurston— 1. 
 
 New York.— William Collins, Timothy Jen- 
 kins, Sidney Lawrence, Frederick W. Lord, 
 William B. Maclay, Henry Nicoll, George A. 
 Starkweather — 7. 
 
 Pennsylvania Wm. Strong, James Ihomp- 
 
 son, David Wilmot— 3. 
 
 Ohio.- James J. Faran, George Fries, Samuel 
 Lnhm Jonathan D. Morris_4. 
 
 Indiana. — Thomas J. Ilenloy—l. 
 
 Illinois Robeit Smith, John Weutworth_2. 
 
TUE WILMOT PROVISO. 
 
 47 
 
 Michigan. — Kinslry S. Binf^hnm, Robert 
 McClelliiml, Cli(irU-« E. Stimrt— 3. 
 
 Wisconsin.— Miwoii C. Darling, William I'ltt 
 Lyii<l<— -2. 
 
 Iowa.— William Thompson -1. 
 
 Total Di'iuocrats from Free States— 30. 
 
 Total Wliiir.s from Frei; States— 74. 
 
 Nayr^, 21 Democrats from Free States, 
 with 70 Democrats and Whigs from Slave 
 Stato.-^. 
 
 Mr. Pollock of Fa. moved that this vote 
 be reconsidered, and that the motion to re- 
 consider do lie on the table ; which prevailed 
 — Yeas, 113 ; Nays, 9G. (V'ote same as be- 
 fore, except that Mr. Franklin Clark of 
 Maine changed from the minority to the 
 majority.) 
 
 So .Air. Clayton's project of Compromise 
 ■was defeated. 
 
 GEN. CASS'S NICHOLSON LETTER. 
 
 Immediately after the adjournment of 
 Congre^-S in 1847, Gen. Cass was currently 
 reported to have expressed his favorable 
 opinion of the Wilmot Proviso, and his re- 
 gret that Mr. Davis's untimely remarks in 
 the Senate had deprived him (Cass) of an 
 opportunity of recording his vote in its favor. 
 This remark he was said to have made in a 
 railroad ear, on his homeward journey from 
 Washington. If such a position were taken 
 by him. however, it was not long maintained ; 
 as the following letter from his pen appeared 
 during the winter of 1847-8, and proved a 
 prelude to the nomination of the writer for 
 President, by the Democratic National Con- 
 vention which assembled at Baltimore in the 
 spring of 1848. It may be regarded as the 
 first logical and well-considered enunciation 
 of the doctrine of " Squatter Sovereignty." 
 
 Gen. Cass to A. O. P. Nicholson. 
 
 Washington, Dec. 24. 1847. 
 
 Dear Sir, — I have received your letter, and 
 shnll answer it as frankly as it is written. 
 
 You a.sk me whether I am in f;ivor of the ae- 
 quisitioii of Jlexican territory, and what are my 
 sentimont.s with rejjard to the Wilmot Proviso. 
 
 I have &o often and so explicitly stated my 
 views of the first question, in the Senate, that it 
 seems almost unnecessary to repeat them here. 
 As you request it, however, I shall briefly give 
 tliem. 
 
 I think, then, that no peace should be granted 
 to Mexico, till a reasonable indemnity is obtained 
 for the injuries which she has done us. The ter- 
 ritorial extent of this indemnity is, in the first 
 instance, a subject of Executive consideration. 
 There the Constitution has placed it, and there I 
 nm willing to leave it: not only because I have 
 full confidence in its judicious exercise, but be- 
 cause, in the ever- varying circumstances of a war, 
 it would be indiscreet, by a jjiiblic declai-ation, 
 to conmiit the country to any line of indemnity, 
 which might otherwi'se be enlarged, as the obsti- 
 nate injustice of the enemy prolongs the contest, 
 with its loss of blood and treasure. 
 
 It ajipears to me, that the kind of metaphysical 
 magnanimity which would reject all indemnity 
 at the clii-.e of a bloody and expensive war, 
 brought on by a direct attack upon our troops by 
 the enemy, aiid preceded by a succession of unjust 
 
 nctfl for a Bcrics of years, is ns unworthy of tho 
 nge iu which we live, n^ it is revollini; to tlio 
 conniKin sense mikI practice of mankind. It would 
 conduce but little to our future Bccurity, or, in- 
 dec<i, to our present rei)UtHtion, to declare that 
 we repudiate all expectation of compeiiHHtion from 
 tlie Mexican (lovcrinncnl, and are tii;hling, not 
 for any praclicul result, hut for smne vague, per- 
 haps ]p|iilaiitiirnpic. Dbjcct, wliiiii i'«cMpe8 my 
 penetration, and must bo defined liy those who 
 assume this new ]Miiicii)lo of national intercom- 
 nninication. All wars arc to be deprei-Mleil, na 
 well by flic statesman as by the pInlantliropiHt. 
 They are great evils ; but there are greater c%'ila 
 than these, and submission to injiistiee is among 
 fhein. The nation which should refuse to defend 
 its rights and its honor, when assailed, would 
 Boon have neither to defend ; and, when driven to 
 war, it is not by professions of disinterestedness 
 and declarations of magnanimity thai its rational 
 objects can be best obtained, or other nations 
 taught a lesson of forbearance — the strongest se- 
 curity for i)ermaneiit peace. We are at war with 
 Mexico, and its vigorous prosecution is the surest 
 means of its speedy termination, and auii)le in- 
 demnity the surest guaranty against the recur- 
 rence of sneh injustice as ])rovoked it. 
 
 Tho Wilmot Proviso has been before the coun- 
 try some time. It has been repeatedly discussed 
 in Congress, and by the public Press. I am 
 strongly impressed with the opinion, that a great 
 change has been going on in the public mind upon 
 this subject, in my own as well as others ; and 
 that doubts arc resolving themselves into convic- 
 tions, that the principle it involves should be kept 
 out of the National Legislature, and left to tho 
 people of the confederacy m their respective local 
 governments. 
 
 The whole subject is a comprehensive one, and 
 fruitful of important consequences. It would be 
 ill-timed to discuss it here. I shall not assume 
 that responsible task, hut shall confine myself to 
 such general views as arc necessary to the fair 
 exhibition <if my opinions. 
 
 We may well regret the existence of Slaveiy in 
 the Southern States, and wish they had been 
 saved from its introduction. But there it is, not 
 by the act of the present generation ; and we must 
 deal with it as a great practical question, involv- 
 ing the most momentous consequences. We have 
 neither the right nor the power to touch it where 
 it exists ; and if we had both, their exercise, by 
 any means heretofore suggested, might lead to 
 results which no wise man would willingly en- 
 counter, and which no good man could contem- 
 plate without anxiety. 
 
 The theory of our Government presupposes 
 that its various members have reserved to them- 
 selves the regulation of all subjects relating to 
 what may be termed their internal ])i>lice. They 
 are sovereign within their boundaries, except iu 
 those cases where they have surrendered to the 
 General Government u portion of their rights, in 
 order to give eft'ect to the objects of the Union, 
 whether the.se concern foreign nations or the seve- 
 ral States themselves. Local institutions, if I 
 may so speak, whether they have reference to 
 Slavery or to any other relations, domestic or 
 public, are left to local authority, either original 
 or derivative. Congress has no right to say that 
 there shall be Slavery in New- York, or that there 
 shall be no Slavery in Georgia ; nor is there any 
 other human power, but tho people of those States, 
 resi-ectivelv, which can change the relations ex- 
 istuig tlieie"in : and they can say, if they will. Wo 
 will liave Slavery in tho former, and we will 
 ab dish it in the latter. 
 
 In various respects, the Territories differ from 
 the States. Some of their rights are inchoate, and 
 they do not possess the peculiar attributes of 
 sovereignty. Their relatiou to the General Gov- 
 
48 
 
 THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 
 
 eminent is very imperfectly defined by the Con- 
 etitution; and it will be found, upon examination, 
 that in that instrument the only prant of power 
 concerning them is conveyed in the phrase, 
 " Congres'p shall Imve the power to dispose of and 
 make all needful rules and regulations, respecting 
 the territory and other property belonging to the 
 United States." Certainly this pln-aseology is 
 very loose, if it were designed to include in the 
 grant the whole power of legislation over persons, 
 as well as things. The expression, the " territory 
 and other property," fairly construed, relates to 
 the public lands, as such ; to arsenals, dockyards, 
 forts, ships, and all the various kinds of property 
 which the United Slates may and must possess. 
 
 But surely the simple authority to dinpoae of 
 and regiilalc these does not extend to the un- 
 limited "power of legislation ; to the passage of all 
 laws, m the most general acceptation of the word ; 
 •which, by-theby, is carefullj; excluded tyom the 
 sentence. And, indeed, if this were so, it would 
 render unnecessary another provision of the Con- 
 stitution, which grants to Congress the power to 
 legislate, with the consent of the States, respec- 
 tively, over all places purchased for the " erec- 
 tion of forts, magazines, arsenals, dockyards," etc. 
 These being the ''property" of the United States, 
 if the power to make " needful rules and regula- 
 tions concerning" them includes the general 
 power of legislation, then the grant of authority 
 to regulate '' the territory and other propertj' of 
 the United States" is unlimited, wherever subjects 
 are found for its operation, and its exercise needed 
 no auxiliary provision. If, on the other hand, it 
 does not include such power of legislation over tho 
 "other property" of the United States, then it 
 does not include it over their " territory ;" for tho 
 same terms which grant the one, grant the other. 
 " Territorif is here classed with property, and 
 treated as such ; and the object was evidently to 
 enable the General Government, as a property- 
 holder — which, from necessity, it must be — to 
 manage, preserve and " dispose of" such property 
 as it might possess, and which authority is essen- 
 tial almost to its being. But the lives and persons 
 of our citizens, with the vast variety of objects 
 connected with them, cannot be controlled by an 
 authority which is merely called into existence 
 for the purpose of making rules and regulations 
 for the disposition and management of property. 
 Such, it appears to me, would be the construc- 
 tion put upon this provision of the Constitution, 
 were this question now first presented for consid- 
 eration, and not controlled by imperious circum- 
 stances. The original ordinance of the Congress 
 of the Confederation, passed in J 787, and which 
 M^as the only act upon this subject in force at the 
 adoption of the Constitution, provided a complete 
 frame of govcrnmeut for tho country north of 
 the Ohio, while in a territorial condition, and for 
 its eventual admission in separate States into the 
 Union. And the persuasion that this ordinance 
 contamed within itself all the necessarjf means 
 of execution, probably prevented any direct re- 
 ference to the subject in the Constitution, further 
 than vesting in Congress the right to admit the 
 States formed under it into the Union. However, 
 circumstances arose, which required legislation, 
 as well over the territory north of the Ohio as 
 over other territory, both within and without the 
 original Union, ceded to the general Government, 
 and, at various times, a more enlarged power has 
 been exercLsed over the Territories — meaning 
 thereby tiie diliereut Territorial Governments— 
 than is conveyed by the limited grant referred to. 
 How far an existing necessity may have operated 
 in producing this legislation, and thus extending, 
 by rather a violent implication, powers not direct- 
 ly given, I know not. But certain it is that the 
 principle of interference should not be carried be- 
 yond the necessary implication, which produces 
 
 it. It should be limited to the creation of proper 
 governments for new countries, acquired or set- 
 tled, and to the necessary provision for their 
 eventual admission into the Union ; leaving, in 
 the mean time, to the people inhabiting them, to 
 regulate their internal concerns in their own way. 
 They are just as capable of doing so as the peo- 
 ple of the States ; and they can do so, at any 
 rate as soon as their political independence La 
 recognized by admission into the Union. During 
 this temporary condition, it is hardly expedient 
 to call into exercise a doubtful and invidious 
 authority, which questions the intelligence of a 
 respectable portion of our citizens, and whose 
 limitation, whatever it may be, will be rapidly 
 approaching its termination — an authority which 
 would give to Congress despotic power, uncon- 
 trolled by the Constitution, over most important 
 sections of our common country. For, if the re- 
 lation of master and servant may be regulated or 
 annihilated by its legislation, so may the regula- 
 tion of husband and wife, of parent and child, 
 and of any other condition which our institutions 
 and the habits of our society recognize. What 
 would be thought if Congress should undertake 
 to prescribe the terms of marriage in New- York, 
 or to regulate the authority of pm-ents over their 
 children in Pennsylvania? And yet it would be 
 as vain to seek one justifying the interference of 
 the national legislature in the cases referred to in 
 the original States of the Union. I speak here 
 of the inherent power of Congress, and do not 
 touch the question of such contracts as may be 
 formed with new Stales when admitted into the 
 confederacy. 
 
 Of all the questions that can agitate us, those 
 which are merely sectional in their character are 
 the most dangerous, and the most to be depre- 
 cated. The warning voice of him who from his 
 character and services and virtue had the best 
 right to warn us, proclaimed to his countrymen, 
 in his Farewell Address — that monument of wis- 
 dom for him, as I hope it will be of safely for 
 them — how much we had to apprehend from 
 measures peculiarly aflecting geographical sec- 
 tions of our country. The grave cii-cumstancos 
 in which we are now placed make these words 
 words of safety ; for I am satisfied, from all I 
 have seen and heard here, that a successful at- 
 tempt to engraft the principles of the Wilmot 
 Proviso upon the legislation of this Government, 
 and to apply them to new territory, should new 
 territory be acquired, would seriously affect our 
 tranquillity. I do not suffer myself to foresee or 
 to foretell the consequences that would ensue; 
 for I trust and believe there is good sense and 
 good feeling enough in the country to avoid them, 
 by avoiding all occasions which might lead to 
 them. 
 
 Briefly, then, I am opposed to the exercise of 
 any jurisdiction by Congress over this matter; 
 and i am in favor of leavmg to the people of any 
 territory, which may be hereafter acquired, tho 
 right to regulate it for themselves, under the 
 general principles of the Constitution. Be- 
 cause — 
 
 1. I do not see in the Constitution any grant of 
 the requisite power to Congress ; and I am not 
 disposed to extend a doubtful precedent beyond 
 its necessity — the establishment of teiTitorial 
 governments when needed — leaving to the inhabit- 
 ants all the rights compatible with the relations 
 they bear to the confederation. 
 
 a. Because I believe this measure, if adopted, 
 would weaken, if not impair, the union of the 
 States ; and would sow the seeds of future discord, 
 which would grow up and ripen into an abundant 
 harvest of calamity. 
 
 3. Because I believe a general conviction that 
 such a proposition would succeed, would lead to 
 an immediate withholding of the supplies, and 
 
THE WILMOT PROVISO. 
 
 49 
 
 thus to a (lisliniiornhli^ tcrrninntion of tlin war. I 
 tliinlv no (iisims.simuilc ohsi-rvt-r at tlio scut of 
 Goveiiiim-iit can donlit tliis result. 
 
 4. If, hovvcvor, in this I am under a niisnpprc- 
 boiision, I am under none in tlie nrncticMl o])era 
 lion of tills restrietiori, if adoptetl liy (!oni:ress, 
 unon II treaty of peaee, makinff any acquisition 
 ot Mexican fenilory. Such a treaty would lie 
 rejected as certainiV as preseiitoil to tlie Senate. 
 Jfore than oiio third of that liody would vote 
 ntjainst it, viewiiii,' sucli a principle as an excln 
 sion of the citizens of llio slavelioldiii^ States 
 from a participation in the benetils ac<iuireil tiy 
 tiio treasure and exertions of all, and whieii 
 should be comuioii to all. I am repealinj,'— 
 neither advaneini; nor defending these views. 
 That branch of the subject does not lie in uiy 
 way, and I shall not turn aside to seek it. 
 
 In tliis aspect of the matter, the people of the 
 United States must choos-e between this restric- 
 tion and the extension of their territorial limits. 
 They cannot have botii; and which tlK'y will sur- 
 render must depend upon their representatives 
 first, and then, if these fail them, upou them- 
 selves. 
 
 5. But after all, it .«eoms to bo f^enorally con- 
 ceded that this restriction, if carried into efTect, 
 could not operate upon any State to be formed 
 from ucwly-acquired territory. The well known 
 attributes of sovereignty, recognized by lis as 
 l)elonging to the State Governments, would sweep 
 before thein any such barrier, and would leave 
 the people to express and c.xert their will at plea- 
 sure. Is the ol))e<-t, then, of temporary exclusion 
 for so short a period as the duration of the Terri- 
 torial Governments, worth the price at which it 
 it would be purchased.' — worth the discord it 
 would engender, tlie trial to which it would expose 
 our Union, and the evils that would be the certain 
 consequence, let the trial result as it might? As 
 to the course, which has been intimated, rather 
 than proposeit. of engrafting such a restriction 
 upon any treaty of ncipiisition, I persuade myself 
 it would find but little favor in any portion of this 
 country. Such an arrangement would render 
 Mexico a party, having a right to interfere in our 
 internal institutions in questions left by the Con- 
 stitution to the State Governments, and would in- 
 flict a serious blow upon our fundamental prin('i- 
 pics. Few, indeed, 1 trust, there are among us 
 who would thus gi-autto a foreign power the right 
 to inquire into the constitution and conduct of the 
 sovereign States of this Union ; and if there are 
 any, I am not among them, nor never shall be. To 
 the people of this country, under God, now and 
 hereafter, are its destinies committed ; and we 
 want no foreign power to interrogate us, treaty in 
 hand, and to say, Why have you done this, or 
 why have you left that undone ? Our own dignity 
 and the prinei[)les of national independence unite 
 to repel such a proposition. 
 
 But there is another important consideration, 
 which ought not to be lost sight of, in the in- 
 vestigation of this subject. The question that 
 presents itself is not a question of the increase, 
 but of the ditfusion of Slavery. Whether its 
 ephcre be stationary or progressive, its amount 
 will be the same. The rejection of this restriction 
 will not add one to the class of servitude, nor will 
 its adoption give freedom to a single being who 
 is now placed therein. The same numbers will be 
 spread over greater territory ; and, so far as com- 
 pression, with less abundance of the necessaries 
 of lilbj is an evil, so far will that evil be mitigated 
 by transporting slaves to a new country, and giv- 
 ing them a larger space to occupy. 
 
 I say this in the event of the extension of Slavery 
 over any new acquisition. But can it go there .' 
 This may well be doubted. All the des(!riptions 
 which reach us of the condition of the Califoruias 
 and of New-Mexico, to the acquisition of which 
 
 our efforts seem at proRcnt directed, unite in rep- 
 resenting those eonntries as agricultural r<'i_ri,,iiii, 
 similar in their products to our Miildle Slates, and 
 generally initit for the proiliiction of the great 
 staph's which can alone reniler Slave labor valu- 
 able. If we are not grossly deceived — and it is 
 ditlicult to conceive how we can be — the inhidiit- 
 aiits of those regions, whether they depend upon 
 their jtlows or their herds, cannot be slaveholdcrn. 
 Involuntary labor, reipiiring the inve.-lment of 
 large capital, eau only be protitable when cm- 
 ployed in the proiluction of a few favored articles 
 confined by nature to sp<'cial districts, and paying 
 larger returns than the usual agricultural produela 
 spread over more considerable porliiius of the 
 earth. 
 
 In tho nblo letter of Mr. Buchanan u])on this 
 subject, not long since given to the ]ud)lie, he 
 presents similar considerations with great force. 
 "Neither,'' says the distinguished writer, -'the 
 soil, tlu^ climate, nor the production.s of California 
 south of lit)" :{(•', nor indeed of any portion of it, 
 North or South, is adapted to Slave labor; and 
 beside every facility would be there afforded for 
 the slave to escape from his master. Such pro- 
 perty would be entirely insecure in any part of 
 C'aliVornin. It is morally impossible, therefore, 
 that a majority of the onigrants to that iiorfion 
 of the territory south of 'M>'^ 3U', which will be 
 chiefly composed of our (.■ifizens. will ever re- 
 establish Slavery within its limits. 
 
 " In regard to New-Mexico, east of the Kio 
 Grande, the question has already been settled by 
 the admission of Texas into the Union. 
 
 " Siiould we acquire territory beyond the Rio 
 Grande and east of the Rocky Mountains, it is 
 still more imi)oasible that a majority of the people 
 would consent to reestahlixli Slavery. They are 
 themselves a colored population, and among them 
 the negro docs not belong socially to a degraded 
 race." 
 
 With this last remark, Mr. Walker fully coin- 
 cides in his letter written in 18 M, upon the annex- 
 ation of Texas, and which everywhere produced 
 so favorable an impression upon the public mind, 
 as to have conduced very materially to the ac- 
 complishment of that great measure. " Beyond 
 the Del Norte," says Mr. Walker, " Slavery will 
 not pass ; not only because it is forbidden by law, 
 but because the colored race there preponderates 
 ill the ratio of ten to one over the whites ; and 
 holding, as they do, the government and most of 
 the offices in their possession, they will not jiermit 
 the enslavement of any portion of the colored 
 race, which makes and executes the laws of the 
 country." 
 
 The question, it will be therefore seen on ex- 
 amination, does not regard the exclusion of Slav- 
 ery from a region where it now exists, but a pro- 
 hibition against its introduction where it does not 
 exist, and where, from the feelings of the inhabit- 
 ants and the laws of nature, '"it is morally im- 
 possible." as Mr. Buchanan says, that it can 
 ever re establish itself 
 
 It augurs well for the permanence of our con- 
 federation, that during more than half a century, 
 which has elapsed since the establishment of this 
 Government, many serious questions, and some 
 of the highest importance, have agitated the i>ub- 
 lic mind, and more than once threatened the 
 gravest consequences ; but that they have all in 
 succession passed away, leaving our institutions 
 unscathed, and our country advancing in num- 
 bers, power, and wealth, and in all the other ele- 
 ments of national prosperity, with a rapidity un- 
 known in ancient or in modern days, hi times 
 of jiolitical excitement, when difficult and delicate 
 questions jiresent themselves for solution, there is 
 one ark of safety for us ; and that is, an honest 
 ajipeal to the fundamental prmeiples of our Union, 
 and a stern determination to abide their dictates- 
 
50 
 
 THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 
 
 This course of proceeding lias carried us in safety 
 thnniirh many a trouble, and I trust will carry us 
 pnfclv^ihroui^li many more, should many more be 
 di'st'moil to assail us. The Wilmot Proviso seeks 
 to take from its lofritjmato tribunal a questioii of 
 domestic policy, having no relation to the Union, 
 ns such, and to transfer it to another, created by 
 the jiciiple for a special purpose, and foreign to 
 the subject matter involved in this issue. By 
 going back to our true principles, we go back to 
 the rond of peace and safety. Leave to the peo- 
 ple, who will be affected by this question, to ad- 
 just it ui)iin their own responsibility, and intheir 
 own manner, and we shall render another tribute 
 to the original principles of our Government, and 
 furnish another guaranty for its permanence and 
 prosjjcrity. I am, dear sir, respectfully, your 
 obedient servant, LEWIS CASS. 
 
 A. 0. P. NiCHOi-SON, Esq., Nashville, Tenn. 
 
 The next session of the same Congress 
 opened undor very different auspices. The 
 Mexican "War had been terminated, so that 
 none could longer be deterred from voting 
 for Slavery Exclusion by a fear that the 
 prosecution of hostilities would thereby be 
 embarrassed. General Taylor had been 
 elected President, receiving the votes of De- 
 laware, Maryland, North Carolina, Georgia, 
 Kentucky, Tennessee, Louisiana, and Florida 
 — a moiety of the Slave States — over Gen. 
 Cass, now' the avowed opponent of Slavery 
 Restriction. Many of the Northern Demo- 
 crats considered themselves absolved by this 
 vote from all extra-constitutional obligations 
 to the South, and voted accordingly. 
 
 Dec. 13.— Mr. J. M. Eoo't of Ohio, offered 
 uhe following : 
 
 " Resolved, That the Committee on Territories 
 be instructed to report to this House, with as little 
 delay as practicable, a bill or bills providing a 
 territorial govermnent for each of the Territories 
 of New Mexico and California, and excluding 
 Slavery therefrom." 
 
 A call of the House was had, and the pre- 
 vious question ordered. 
 
 Mr. W. P. Hall of Mo. moved that the 
 same do lie on the table. Lost : Yeas, 80 ; 
 Nays, 106. 
 
 The resolve then passed : Yeas, 108 ; 
 Nays, 80, viz. : 
 
 Yeas — All the Whigs from Free States, and all 
 the Democrats, but those noted as Nays below, 
 including the following, who had voted against 
 the same principle at the former session : 
 
 Maine.— Asa W. H. Clapp, James S.Wiley— 2. 
 
 New York. — Frederick W. Lord — 1. 
 
 Ohio. — Thomas Richey — 1. 
 
 Indiana.— Charles W Cathcart, Thomas J. 
 Henley, John L. Robinson, William W. Wick— 4. 
 
 Illinois. — Robert Smith — 1. 
 
 Messrs. Clark and H. Williams of Maine, Bird- 
 sail and Maclay of New-York, Brodhead and 
 Mann of Pa., Pettit of Ind., Ficklin and McClel- 
 land of 111., who voted with the South at the for- 
 mer session — now failed to vote. 
 
 Mr. Jackson of N.Y., who then voted with the 
 South, had been succeeded by Mr. H. Greeley, 
 who voted with the North. 
 
 Nays — All the Members voting from the Slave 
 States, with the following from (he Free States : 
 
 New-Youk. — Iloury C. Murphy — I. 
 
 Pennsylvania — Charles Brown, Charles J. In- 
 ge rsoll — 2. 
 
 Ohio — William Kennon, jun., John K . Miller, 
 William Sawyer — 3. 
 
 Illinois.— William A. Richardson — 1. 
 
 Iowa. — Sheplierd Leffler — 1. 
 
 Total Nays from Free States — 8. 
 Mr. Robinson of Ind. moved a reconsidera- 
 tion of this vote, which motion (Dec. 18), 
 on motion of ilr. Wentworth of 111., was 
 laid on the tabic : Yeas, 10.5 ; Nays, 83. 
 
 [Messrs. Clapp, Clark, and Wiley of Me., 
 voted to lay on the table, as did Messrs. 
 Lord of N. Y., Job Mann of Pa., Richey 
 of Ohio, Henley and Wick of Indiana. R. 
 Smith of 111. Messrs. C. Brown and Levin 
 of Pa. did not now vote. The rest, very 
 much as before, except that a few moi-e 
 voted.] 
 
 Dec. 20//t.— Mr. C. B. Smith accordingly 
 reported a bill, establishing the Territorial 
 Government of Upper California, which was 
 read twice and committed. 
 
 Jan. 3rd. — He reported a similar bill for 
 the organization of New Mexico, which took 
 the same direction. 
 
 Jan. I5th. — Mr. Julius Rockwell of Mass. 
 moved that these bills be made the special 
 order for the '23d instant. Negatived : Yeas, 
 114 (not two-thirds) ; Nays, 71 (nearly a 
 sectional vote). 
 
 Feb. 26-lth. — The bill was taken out of 
 committee, and engrossed for a third reading. 
 
 ]\Ir. Meade of Ya. moved that it do lie on 
 the table. Negatived : Yeas, 86 ; Nays, 
 127. 
 
 It was then passed by the following similar 
 vote : 
 
 Yeas — All the Whigs from the Free 
 States, with Aylett Buckner (Wliig) of Ky., 
 and all the Democrats also, except 
 
 Pensylvania. — Samuel A. Bridges — 1. 
 Ohio. — William Kcnuon, jun., John K. Miller, 
 William Sawyer — 3. 
 Total— 4. 
 
 Nays^AW the Members from Slave 
 States, except Mr. Buckner aforesaid, with 
 the addition of those from Free States just 
 mentioned. 
 
 This bill was read twice in the Senate, 
 (Feb. 28th), and referred to the Committee 
 on Territories. 
 
 March M. — Said Committee was discharg- 
 ed from its further consideration, and Mr. 
 Douglas moved that it be taken up in Senate, 
 which was negatived. Yeas, 25 ; Nays, 28 
 (all but a sectional vote). That was the 
 end of the bill ; the Senate having already 
 determined to affix its essential jjrovisionsto 
 the Civil and Diplomatic Appropriation bill, 
 and thus avoid and defeat the Slavery Exclu- 
 sion contained in the House bill, and force 
 the House to agree to organize the Terri- 
 tories, ivithout such provision, or leave the 
 Government without appropriations. How 
 1 this succeeded, we shall see. 
 
THE WILMOT PROVISO. 
 
 61 
 
 The Civil ami Diplomatic Appropriation 
 bill having pa,«.so(l the iluuse in the usual 
 form, came up to the Senate, where it was de- 
 bated several days. 
 
 Feb. 21*7.— Mr. Walker of Wise, moved 
 an aniendiueut, e.vteiiding all the laws of the 
 United States, so far as applieahle, to the 
 Territories acquired from Mexico. 
 
 Mr. Bell of 'I'eiin. moved to add further 
 sections organizing- the State of California, 
 to be admilted info tiie Union on the 1st of 
 Oetober next. This Wiis rejected : Yeas 4 
 (Bell, Dodge of Iowa, Douglas, Davis) ; 
 is'ays 3!). 
 
 Feb. 2(Uli. — Mr. Dayton of N. J. moved 
 that the I'residi'ut be vested with power to 
 provide a suitable temporary government for 
 tlie Territories. Eejected ; Veas 8 ; Nays 
 47. 
 
 The question recurred on Mr. AValker's 
 amendment, modified so as to read as fol- 
 lows : 
 
 "Sec. 5. Aud he if, further enacted, Tluit the 
 Constitution of the UnUotl States, iu so fur as tiie 
 
 Sro visions of the same be applicable to the con- 
 itioii of a Territory of the United States, and uU 
 and siiiffular the several acts of Congress respect- 
 ing- the registering, recording, enrolling, or licens- 
 ing ships, or vessels, and the entry and clearance 
 thereof, and the foreign and coasting trade and 
 fisheries, and all the acts respecting the imposing 
 and collecting the duties on imports, and all the 
 acts respecting trade and intercourse with the 
 Indian tribes, and all the acts respecting the \>\\h- 
 lie lands, or the survey or sale thereof, and all and 
 singular the other acts of Congress of a public and 
 general character, and the provisions whereof are 
 suitable and proper to be ajjplied to the territory 
 West of the l\io del Norte, acquired from Mexico 
 by the treaty of the second day of February, 
 18J8, be, and the same are hereby, extended 
 over, and given full force and efficiency in 
 all said territory; and the President of the 
 United States is hereby authorized to prescribe 
 aud establish all proper and needful rules aud re- 
 gulations (in conformity with the Constitution of 
 uie United States) for the enforcemeut of the pro- 
 visions of the Constitution hereinbefore referred 
 to, of said laws in said territory, and for the pre- 
 servation of order and tranquillity, aud the es- 
 tablishment of justice therein, and from tune 
 to time to modify or change the said rules and 
 regulations in such manner as may seem to him 
 discreet and proper ; and to establish, tenipornrily, 
 such divisions, districts, ports, offices, and all ar- 
 rangements proper for the execution of said laws, 
 and appoint and commi.ssiou such ofliccrs as may 
 be necessary to administer such laws iu said ter- 
 ritory, fur such term or terms as he may prescribe, 
 whose authority shall continue until otherwise 
 provided by Congress ; said officers to receive 
 such compensation as the I'resident may prescribe, 
 not e.vceeding double the compensation heretofore 
 paid to similar officers of the United States or its 
 territories, for like services ; and to enable the 
 same to be done, the sum of two hundred thousand 
 dollars be appropriated, out of any money iu the 
 treasury not otherwise appropriated." 
 
 YEAS — For Mr. Watlcefs proposition : 
 Messrs. Atchison, Houston, 
 
 Bell, Hunter, 
 
 Berrien, 
 
 Jtihnson of La. 
 
 Borland, 
 
 Johnson of Ga. 
 
 Butler, 
 
 King, 
 
 Davis of Miss. 
 
 
 Mangum, 
 
 Dickinson, 
 
 
 Mason, 
 
 Dodge, Iowa, 
 
 
 Kiisk, 
 
 DoU;,r|,iH^ 
 
 
 .Selmstian, 
 
 Downs, 
 
 
 Slurgoon, 
 
 Filzgc'nild, 
 
 
 Turner, 
 
 Fitzpatrick, 
 
 
 Underwood, 
 
 Foote, Miss. 
 
 
 Walker, 
 
 Haunegan, 
 
 
 Westcott, 
 
 YulCKI 
 
 -'J9. 
 
 
 NAYS—AgaiiislMr. 
 
 Walker's proposilion 
 
 klessrs. Allen, 
 
 
 F<-lch, 
 
 Atherton, 
 
 
 (iii'cnc, 
 
 Bailger, 
 
 
 JInle, 
 
 Baldwin, 
 
 
 Jliiniliii, 
 
 Bra<lbury, 
 
 
 tlojiiisoii, Md. 
 
 Bright, 
 
 
 .lones. 
 
 Cameron, 
 
 
 Mill.r, 
 
 Clarke, 
 
 
 Niles, 
 
 Cor win. 
 
 
 Peareo, 
 
 Davis of Mass. 
 
 
 Phelps, 
 
 Dayton, 
 DLx, 
 
 
 .Spraance, 
 IJpliam, 
 
 Dodge, Wise. 
 
 
 Wales, 
 
 Webster-27. 
 
 
 The Ijill being returned to the House, thus 
 amended, this amendment was (Marcii 2d) 
 voted down — Yeas 101 ; Nays ll.o — as fol- 
 lows : 
 
 Yeas, all the members from the Slave 
 States, with the following from the Free 
 States, viz. : 
 
 Maine — Hezekiah Williams — 1. 
 
 New York — Ausburn Birdsall — 1. 
 
 PiNiNSVLVANiA — Samuel A. Bridges, Richard 
 Brodhead, Charles Brown, Charles J. IngersoU, 
 Lewis C. Levin — 5. 
 
 Ohio — William Kennon, jr., William Sawyer 
 —2. 
 
 Illinois— Orlando B. Ficklin, John A. Mc- 
 Clernand, William A. Kichurdsou — 3. 
 
 Iowa Shepherd Leftier — 1. 
 
 Total, thirteen from Free States ; eighty- 
 eight from Slave States. (Oidy two from 
 Slave States absent or silent.) 
 
 Nays, all the Whigs from Free States, 
 and all the Democrats from Free States, ex- 
 cept those named above. 
 
 So the House refused to concur in this 
 amendment, and the bill was returned to the 
 Senate accordingly. 
 
 The Senate resolved to insist on its 
 amendment, and ask a conference, which was 
 granted, but resulted in nothing. Messrs. 
 Atherton of N. H., Dickinson of N. Y., 
 aud Berrien of Ga., were managers on the 
 part of the Senate, and insisted on its 
 amendment, organizing the Territories with- 
 out restriction as to Slavery. Messrs. Vin- 
 ton of Ohio, Nicoll of N. Y., and Morehead 
 of Ky., were appointed on the part of the 
 House. These, after a long sitting, report- 
 ed their inability to agree, and were dis- 
 charged. 
 
 The bill being now returned to the House, 
 Mr. MeCleniand of III. moved that the 
 House do recede from its disagreement ; Car- 
 ried : Yeas 111 ; Nays lOG. 
 
 Mr. Morehead of Ky. moved to amend 
 so as to provide that nothing in this section 
 
52 
 
 THf] STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 
 
 shall affect the question, as to the boundary 
 of Texas. Carried : Yeas 187 ; Nays 
 19. 
 
 Mr. K. W. Thompson of Ind. moved that 
 the House concur with the Senate, with an 
 anienchneiit, which was a substitute, extend- 
 ing tlie hiws of the United States over said 
 Territories, but leaving them unorganized, 
 as follows : 
 
 " That the rresitleut of the Uniled States be, 
 and he hereby is, authorized to hold iiossessiou of 
 aud occupy the Territories ceded by Mexico to 
 the United States, by the treaty of the 2iid of Feb., 
 eighteen hundred and forty-eight, aud that he be, 
 and hereby is, authorized for that purpose, and in 
 order to maintain the authority of the United 
 Stales, and preserve peace and order in said Ter- 
 tory, to employ such parts of tlie army and navy 
 of tlic United States as he may deem necessary^ 
 and that the Constitution of the United States, so 
 far as the same is applicable, be extended over 
 said Territories. 
 
 "Sec. 2nd. And be it further enacted, That, 
 until the fourth day of July, eighteen hundred 
 aud fifty, unless Congress shall sooner provide 
 for the government of said Territories, the exist- 
 ijig laws thereof shall he retained and observed, 
 and that the civil and judicial authority hereto 
 fore e.\ercised in said Territories shall be vested 
 in, and exercised by, such person or persons as 
 the President of the United States shall appoint 
 aud direct, to the end that the inhabitants of said 
 Territories may be protected in the full and free 
 enjoyment of their liberty, property, and religion: 
 provided, nevertheless, that martial law shall not 
 be proclaimed or declared in said Territories, or 
 either of them, nor any military court established 
 or instituted, except ordinary courts-martial for 
 the trial of persons belonging to the army and 
 navy of the United States ; and the imprisonment 
 of any citizen of said Territories for debt is here- 
 by forbidden. 
 
 '" Sec. 3. And be it further enacted. That, to 
 enable the President to carry into execution the 
 provisions of this act, the sum of two hundred 
 thousand dollars is hereby appropriated out of 
 any money in the Treasury not otherwise appro- 
 priated." 
 
 Tlie question being reached on amending 
 the Senate's proposition as proposed by Mr. 
 Thompson, it was carried : Yeas 111; Nays 
 105. 
 
 [All the Southern Members in the nega- 
 tive, with Levin and a few of the Northern 
 Democrats ; the residue with all the North- 
 ern Wliigs ill the atlRrmative.] 
 
 'I'he House now proceeded to agree to the 
 Senate's amendment, «.s amended ; Yeas 
 110 ; Nays 103, [the same as before ; the 
 friends of the Senate's proposition voting 
 against it, as amended, and vice versa, on 
 the understanding that Mr. Thompson's 
 amendment would exclude Slavery.] 
 
 The bill as thus amended being returned 
 to the Senate, it refused to agree to the 
 House's amendment, and receded from its 
 own proposition ; so the bill was pa.ssed and 
 the session closed, with no provision for 
 the government of the newly-acquired Ter- 
 ritories. 
 
 XII. 
 
 Aug. 6, 1846. — Mr. Douglas, from the 
 Committee on Territories, reported to the 
 House a bill organizing the Territory of 
 Oregon. 
 
 Said bill was discussed in Committee of 
 the AVhole, and the following amendment 
 agreed to : 
 
 " And neither Slavery, nor involuntary servi- 
 tude shall ever exist in said Territory, except for 
 crime >vhcreof the party shall have been duly- 
 convicted." 
 
 On coming out of Committee, this amend- 
 ment was agreed to — Yeas 108 ; Nays 44. 
 [The Nays are all Southern, but Charles J. 
 Ingersoll, Orlando B. Ficklin, and possibly 
 one or two others ; and all Democrats, but 
 some half a dozen from the South, of whom 
 Robert Toombs has since turned Democrat.] 
 Stephen A. Douglas did not vote. The bill 
 pas.sed the House without further opposition, 
 wivs read twice in the Senate, and referred ; 
 and Mr. Westcott of Florida made a report 
 thereon from the Committee on Territories ; 
 but the Session closed without further action 
 on the bill. 
 
 This Congress reassembled, Dec. 7th, 
 184G. On tiie 23d, Mr. Douglas a^ain re- 
 ported his bill to provide a territorial gOY- 
 ernment for Oregon, which was read twice 
 and committed : Jan. 11th, 1847, was dis- 
 cussed in Committee, as also on the 12th 
 and 14th, when it was resolved to close the 
 debate. On the 15th, it was taken out of 
 Committee, when Gen. Burt of S. C. moved 
 the following addition (already moved, de- 
 bated, and voted down in Committee) to 
 the clause forbidding Slavery in said Terri- 
 tory : 
 
 " Inasmuch as the whole of said Territory lie.s 
 north of thirty six degrees thirty minutes north 
 latitude, known as the line of the Missouri Com- 
 promise." 
 
 The purpose of this is clear enough. It 
 was intended to recognize the Missouri line, 
 not as limited to the territories possessed 
 by the United States at the time said line 
 was established, but as extending to all 
 that had since been, or hereafter should be, 
 acquired, so as to legalize Slavery in any 
 territory henceforth to be acquired by us 
 south of 36» 30'. 
 
 Mr. Burt's amendment was negatived — 
 Yeas 82; Nays 114. 
 
 The vote was very nearly sectional ; but 
 the following Members from Free States 
 voted in the minority : 
 
 Pennsylvania. — Charles J. Ingersoll — 1. 
 Illinois — Stephen A. Douglas, liobt. Smith — 2. 
 Iowa. — S. C. Hastings — 1. 
 
 In all, 5. 
 
 No Member from a Slave State voted ia 
 
OREGON. 
 
 53 
 
 the majority. Tlio hill then passed — Yeas 
 134 ; Nays 3J (all Soiitlieni). 
 
 Jan. IfHh.— The bill reached the Senate, 
 and was sent to the Judiciary Committee, 
 consisting of 
 
 Messrs. Ashley, Ark. I?crrion, On. 
 
 Brccse, 111. Dayton, N. J. 
 
 Westcott, Fin. 
 
 Jan. 25. — Mr. Ashley reported the Oregon 
 bill with amendments, which were ordci'ed to 
 be printed. 
 
 2y//(. — Said bill, on motion of Mr. West- 
 cott, was recommitted to the Judiciary Com- 
 mittet;. 
 
 Feb. \Qtft. — Mr. Ashley again reported it 
 with amendments. 
 
 March ^d. — It was taken np as in Com- 
 mittee of the AVhole, when Mr. Evans of 
 Me. moved that it be laid on the table. 
 Defeated— Yeas 19, (all Whigs but Cal- 
 houn of S. C, and Yulee of Florida) ; Nays 
 26 ; (24 Dem., with Corwin of Ohio, and 
 Johnson of La.). 
 
 Mr. Westcott of Fla. immediately moved 
 that the bill do lie on the table, which pre- 
 vailed — Yeas 2G ; Nays 18, (a mi.xed vote, 
 evidently governed by various motives) ; but 
 tlie negatives were all Democrats, but Cor- 
 win and Johnson aforesaid. This being the 
 last day of the session, it was evident that 
 the bill, if opposed, as it was certain to be, 
 could not get through, and it was, doubtless, 
 in behalf of other pressing business that many 
 Senators voted to lay this aside. It was, of 
 course, dead for the session. 
 
 Dec. 6tk, 1847.— The XXXth Congress as- 
 sembled ; Robert C. Winthrop (Whig) of 
 Mass. was chosen Speaker of the House. 
 President Polk, in his Annual Message, re- 
 gretted that Oregon had not already been 
 organized, and urged the necessity of action 
 on the subject. 
 
 Feb. OUi.—Mt. Caleb B. Smith of Indiana 
 reported to the House a bill to establish the 
 territorial government of Oregon .; which, by 
 a vote of two-thirds, was made a special or- 
 der for March 14th. It was postponed, 
 however, to the 28th ; when it was taken up 
 and discussed, as on one or two subsequent 
 days. Mai/ 29th, it was again made a spe- 
 cial order next after the Appropriation bills. 
 The President that day sent a special mes- 
 sage, urging action on this subject. July 
 2oth, it was taken up in earnest ; Mr. 
 "Wentworth of Illinois rao\'ing that debate 
 on it in Committee cease at two o'clock 
 this day. 
 
 Mr. Geo. S. Houston of Ala. endeav- 
 ored to put this motion on the table. De- 
 feated—Yeas 85 ; Nays 89. (nearly, but 
 not fully, a sectional division). Mr. Geo. 
 W. Jones of Teun. moved a reconsidera- 
 tion, which was carried — Yeas 100; Nays 
 88 ; and the resolution laid on the table — 
 Yeas 96 ; Nays 90. 
 
 The bill continued to bo discussed, and 
 fiMally ( Aug. 1 st) wus got out of Connnittce ; 
 when Mr. (J. H. Swiitli moved the Previous 
 Question thereon, which was ordered. 
 
 August 2d. — The House came to u vote 
 on an anu'iidnient made in Committee, where- 
 by the following jjrovision of the original 
 bill was stricken out : 
 
 " That tlic iiilwiliitniits of said Territory Khnll 
 bo piililled to enjoy, all and sinKular, Iho ri^^htH, 
 ])rivilefjeH, and advantaf^'es tfinntod and w<-urod 
 to llu' |K;nplc of tlio Territory of tins Uniloil Slates 
 northwost of the river Ohio, by the artielcs of 
 eonipaet contained in the ordinance for the U"v- 
 ernnient of said Territory, passed tlie 13th day 
 of .luly. seventeen hundred and eij^lily seven ; 
 anil shall bo Hiibjcef to all the conditions, and re- 
 strictions, and prohibitions in said uriie.lesof eom- 
 paet imposed upon Iho jwoplo of said territory 
 and — " 
 
 'J'he House refused to agree to this amend- 
 ment — Yeas 88 ; Nays 114. 
 
 The Memliers from the Free States who 
 voted with the South to strike out, were — 
 
 NkwYokk — Ausburn Birdsall — 1. 
 
 Ohio— William Kenuoii, jr., John K. Mil- 
 ler— L>. 
 
 Illinois — Orlando B. Fieklin, John A. Mc- 
 demand, William A. Kichnrdson — 3. 
 
 Indiana — John L. Robinson, William W. 
 Wiek— 2. 
 
 Mr. John W. Houston of Delaware voted ia 
 the majority. 
 
 The bill was then passed : Yeas 128 ; 
 Naj-s 71. 
 
 [This vote was almost completely section- 
 al. Mr. Houston of Delaware voting in 
 the majority as before : otherwise, Mem- 
 bers from Free States in the affirmative; 
 those from Slave States in the negative.] 
 
 Aug. 3rd. — This bill reached the Senate, 
 when Mr. Badger of N. C. moved its inde- 
 finite postponement : negatived, 47 to 1, 
 (Yulee). It was then sent to the Committee 
 on Territories. 
 
 The Senate had had under consideration, 
 from time to time through the Session, a bill 
 of its own, reported by Mr. Douglas, which 
 was finally rel'erred to a Select Committee — 
 Mr. Clayton of Delaware. Chairman — and 
 by said committee reported some days before 
 the reception of the House bill. It was 
 then dropped. 
 
 Aug. 5th. — Mr. Douglas reported the 
 House Bill, with amendments, which were 
 printed. 
 
 Aug. 10th. — After some days' debate, the 
 Senate proceeded to vote. Mr. Foote of 
 Miss, moved that the bill do lie on the 
 table. Defeated : Yeas 15 (Southern) ; 
 Nays 36. 
 
 On the question of agreeing to this 
 amendment : 
 
 " Inasmueb as the said Territory is north of 
 thirty -six dog. thirty min., usually knowii as the 
 [line of the] Missouri Compromise." 
 
 It was rejected : Yeas 2 (Bright and 
 Douglas) ; Nays 52. 
 
5i 
 
 THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 
 
 Mr. DouglavS moved to amend the bill, by 
 inserting after the word " enacted " : 
 
 " Tlint the line of thirty-six degrees and thirty 
 minutes of north latitude, known as the Missouri 
 Compromise line, as defined iu the eighth section 
 of an act entitled, ' An Act to authorize the jjeo- 
 pie of the Missouri Territory to form a Constitu- 
 tional and State Government, and for the admis- 
 sion of sueh State into the Union, oti an equal 
 footing with the origjinal States, and to proliibit 
 Slaverv in certain Territories, approved March 
 6th, 18:^0,' be. and the same is hereby, declared to 
 extend to the Pacific Ocean ; and the said eighth 
 section, together %vith the compromise therein 
 effected, is hereby revived, and declared to be in 
 full force and binding, for tlie future organiza- 
 tion of the Territories of the United States in the 
 same sense, and with the same understanding 
 with which it was originally adopted ; and — " 
 
 carried — Yeas 33 ; Nays 21 
 
 "Which was 
 — as follows : 
 
 YEAS — For recognizing 
 as rightfuUt/ extending 
 
 Messrs. Atchison, 
 Badger, 
 Bell, 
 Benton, 
 Berrien, 
 Borland, 
 Bright, 
 Butler, 
 Calhoun, 
 Cameron, 
 Davis of Miss., 
 Dickinson, 
 Douglas, 
 Downs, 
 Fitzgerald, 
 Foote of Miss., 
 
 Underwood- 
 
 the Mis'fouri line 
 to the Pacific : 
 
 Hannegan, 
 Houston, 
 Hunter, 
 
 Johnson of Md., 
 Johnson of La., 
 Johnson of Ga., 
 King, 
 Lewis, 
 Man gum, 
 Mason, 
 Metcalf, 
 Pearee, 
 Sebastian , 
 Spruance, 
 Sturgeon, 
 Turney, 
 -33. ^ 
 
 NAYS — Against recognizing suid line: 
 
 Messrs. Allen, Dodge, 
 
 Atherton, FelcB, 
 
 Baldwin, Greene, 
 
 Bradbury, Hale, 
 
 Breese, Hamlin, 
 
 Clarke, Miller, 
 
 Corwin, Niles, 
 
 Davis of Mass., Phelps, 
 
 Dayton, Upham, 
 
 Dix, Walker, 
 Webster— 21. 
 
 The bill was then engrossed for a third 
 reading : Yeas 33 ; Nays 22 (nearly same 
 as the above — AVestcott of Florida, added 
 to the Nays — and thus passed). 
 
 Aiig. llth. — The bill, thus amended, having 
 been returned to the House, the amendment 
 of Mr. Douglas, iust recited, was rejected : 
 Yeas 82 ; Nays 121. 
 
 Yeas from Free States : 
 
 New York — Ausburn Birdsall — 1. 
 
 Pennsylvania — Charles Brown, Chai-les J. 
 IngersoU. — 2. 
 
 Total— 3. 
 
 Otherwi.<?e, from Slave States, all Yeas ; 
 from Free States, all Nays. 
 
 Aug. Villi. — Tlio Senate, after voting 
 down various propositions to lay on the 
 table, etc., finally decided to recede from its 
 amendments to the Oregan bill, and pass it 
 
 as it came from the House ; 
 25, as follows : 
 
 Yeas 29; Nays 
 
 YEAS— For Receding: 
 
 Douglas, 
 
 Fetch , 
 
 Fitzgerald, 
 
 Greene, 
 
 Hale, 
 
 Hamlin, 
 
 Hannegan, 
 
 Houston, 
 
 Miller, 
 
 Niles, 
 
 Phelps, 
 
 Messrs. Allen, 
 
 Baldwin, 
 
 Benton, 
 
 Bradbury, 
 
 Breeze, 
 
 Bright, 
 
 Cameron, 
 
 Clarke, 
 
 Corwin, 
 
 Davis of Mass., 
 
 Dayton, 
 
 Dickinson, 
 
 Dix, 
 
 Dodge, 
 
 Webster— 29 
 
 Spruance, 
 
 Upham, 
 
 Walker, 
 
 NAYS — Against Receding : 
 
 Messrs. Atchison, Johnson of La., 
 
 Badger, Johnson of Ga., 
 
 Bell, Lewis, 
 
 BciTien, Mangum, 
 
 Borland, Mason, 
 
 Butler, Metcalf, 
 
 Calhoun, Pearee, 
 
 Davis of Miss., Eu.sk, 
 
 Downs, Sebastian, 
 
 Foote, Turney, 
 
 Hunter, Underwood, 
 
 Johnson of Md., Weetcott, 
 Yulee— 25. 
 (All from Slave States.) 
 
 So the bill became a law, and Oregon a 
 Territory, under the original Jetferson or 
 Dane Proviso against Slavery. 
 
 xni. 
 
 THE COMPROMISE OP 1850. 
 
 The XXXIst Congress commenced its 
 first Session at Washington, Dec. 3d, 1849 ; 
 but the House was unable to organize — no 
 person receiving a majority of all the votes 
 for Speaker — until the 22nd, when, the Plu- 
 rality rule having been adopted by a vote 
 of 113 to lOG, Mr. Howell Cobb of Ga. was 
 elected, having 102 votes to 100 for Robert 
 0. Winthrop of Mass., and 20 scattering. 
 It M-as thereupon resolved — Yeas 149; 
 Nays 35 — " That Howell Cobb be declared 
 duly elected Speaker ;" and on the 24th 
 President Zaehary Taylor transmitted to 
 both Houses his first Annual Message, in 
 the course of which he says : 
 
 " No civil government having been provided 
 by Congress for California, the people of that 
 Territory, impelled by the necessities of their 
 political condition, recently met in Convention, 
 for the purpose of forming a Constitution and 
 State Government ; which, the latest advices give 
 me reason to suppose, has been accomplished ; 
 and it is believed they will shortly ajiply for the 
 admission of California into the Union, as a 
 Sovereign State. Should such be the case, and 
 sliould their constitution be conformable to tho 
 requisitions of the Constitution of the United 
 States, I i-ecommend their application to the fa- 
 vorable consideration of Congress. 
 
 " The people of New-Mexico will also, it is 
 believed, at no very di.«tant period, present them- 
 selves for admission into the Union. Preparatory 
 to tho admission of California and Now-Mexieo, 
 
THE COMPROMISE OF 1850. 
 
 56 
 
 the people of ench will have insfituted for tliem- 
 Belvc's n republican form of poveriimont, layiii;; 
 its fonmlatioii in mucIi prini-ipicw, and orjjunizin},' 
 its piiwir in nucli t'orni. aw to llii'ni kIiuII secni 
 most Idiciy l<> olVi'ct tlioir safely and iiai)pinef». 
 " liy awaitin;,' their aetinn, all causes of un- 
 easiness may bo avoided and confidence and 
 kind feelini,'" preserved. With a view of nniin 
 tainiii^r the liarmony and tranipiillity so dear to 
 all, we should abstain from the introduction of 
 those oxcitin;; topics of a sectional I'liaractcr 
 which have hitherto produced pniid'ul apprehen- 
 sions in the public miini ; and 1 repeat the solemn 
 warnin;^ of the tirsl and most illustrious of my 
 predecessors, a;;fainst furnishin<^ any |[;;round for 
 charactorizinjj parlies by geographical discri- 
 minations." 
 
 Jan. it/i. — Goii. Sam. Houston of Texas 
 submitted to the Senate the lullowiug pro- 
 position : 
 
 " " IVhereas, The Congress of the United States, 
 possessing only a delegated authority, have no 
 power over the subject of Negro Slavery witliin 
 the limits of the United States, eitiicr to prohibit 
 or interfere willi it, in the States, Territories, or 
 District, wliere, by muni(Mpal law, it now exists, 
 or to establish it in nny State or Territory where 
 it does not e.\ist ; but, as nil assurance and {^ua. 
 rnntee to promote harmony, quiet apprehension, 
 and remove sectional prejudice, which by possi- 
 bility might inii)air or weaken love and devotion 
 to the Union iii any part of the country, it is 
 hereby 
 
 '' Rcsoh-c<}, That, as the people in Territories 
 have the same inherent rights of self government 
 as the people in the States, if, in the exercise of 
 such inherent rights, the people in the newly- 
 acquired Territories, by the Annexation of Texas 
 and the acquisition of California and New-Mexico, 
 south of the parallel of 36 degrees and 30 minutes 
 of north latitude, extending to the Pacific Ocean, 
 shall establish Negro Slavery in the funnntion of 
 their state governments, it shall be deemed no 
 objection to their admission as a State or States 
 into the Union, in accordance with the Constitu- 
 tion of the United States." 
 
 Jan. 2lst. — Gen. Taylor, in answer to a 
 resolution of inquiry, sent a message to the 
 House, stating that he had urged the forma- 
 tion of State Governments in California and 
 New-Moxico. He adds : 
 
 " 111 advising an early application by the 
 people of these Territories for admission as States, 
 I was actuated principally by an earnest desire 
 to atford to the wisdom and patriotism of Con- 
 gress the opportunity of avoiding occasions of 
 hitter and angry discussions among the people 
 of the United States. 
 
 " Under the Constitution, every State has the 
 right to establish, and, from time to time, alter 
 its municipal laws and domestic institutions, in- 
 dependently of every other State and of the 
 General Government, subject only to the prohi- 
 bitions and guarantees expressly set forth in the 
 Constitution of the United States. The subjects 
 thus left exclusively to the respective Stiites, 
 ■were not designed or expected to oecome topics 
 of National agitation. Still as, under the Consti- 
 tution, Coiigi'ess has power to make all needful 
 rules and regulations respecting the Territories 
 of the United States, every new acquisition of 
 territory has led to discussi<iiis on the question 
 whether the system of involuntary servitude, 
 whiidi prevails in many of the Slates, should or 
 Bhould not be prohibited in that Territory. The 
 
 Eeriods of excitement from this cause, which 
 ave heretofore occurred, have been safely 
 passed; but, during tho interval, of whatever 
 
 length, which may clapRO before the admission 
 of the Territories ceded by Me.\ioo, us SlatoH, it 
 appears |)r(d>ablo that siinilur excitement will 
 prevail to an unduir extent. 
 
 " Under these circumstances, I thought, ond 
 still thiidi, that it was my duty to endeavor to 
 ])ut il in the power of Con^^ress.by the admimiion 
 of California and New-Mexico as Stales, to re- 
 move all occasion for the uuiieceHsary agitation 
 of the public mind. 
 
 " It is understood that the |)eople of the Western 
 part of California have formed the i)lan of a State 
 Constitution, and will soiui submit Ihe same to 
 the judgment of (congress, and apply for admis- 
 sion as a State. This course on their purl, though 
 in accordinice with, was not adopted exclusively 
 in c<ins(>(iiience of any expression of my wishes, 
 inasmuch as measures tending to this end had 
 been ])roinoted by oHicers sent there by my pre- 
 decessor, and were already in active progress of 
 execution, before any communication from me 
 reached California. If the proposed constitution 
 shall, wlieii submitted to Congress, be fouml to 
 bo in compliance with the requisitions of the 
 Constitution of the United States, I earnestly 
 recommend that it may receive the sanction of 
 Congress." 
 
 He adds — 
 
 " Should Congress, when California shall pre- 
 sent herself for incorporation into the Union, 
 annex a condition to her admission ns a State 
 affecting her domestic institutions contrary to 
 the wishes of her peojile, and even compel her 
 temporarily to comply with it, yet the State could 
 change her constitution at any time after admis- 
 sion, when to her it should seem expedient. Any 
 attempt to deny to the people of the State the 
 right of sclfgovernment, in a matter which pecu- 
 liarly alfects themselves, will infallibly be re- 
 garded by them as an invasion of their rights ; 
 and, upon the priiiciiiles laid down in our own 
 Ueclaiation of Independenee, they will certainly 
 bo sustaiiiecl by the great mass of the American 
 people. To assert that they are a conquered 
 people, and must, as a State, submit to the will of 
 their conquerors, in this regard, will meet with no 
 cordial response among American freemen. Great 
 numbers of them are native citizens of the United 
 States, and not inferior to the rest of our country- 
 men in intelligence and patriotism ; and no lan- 
 guage of menace to restrain them in the exercise of 
 an undoubted right, substantially guarantied to 
 them by the treaty of cession itself, shall ever be 
 uttered by me, or encouraged and sustained by 
 person.s acting under my authority. It is to be 
 expected that, in the residue of the territory ceded 
 to us by Mexico, the people residing there will, at 
 the time of their incorporation into the Union as a 
 State, settle all questions of domestic policy to 
 suit themselves." 
 
 Feb. 13, 1850. — Gen. Taylor coniinuni- 
 eated to Congress the Constitution (free) of 
 the State of California. 
 
 Jan. 20th, 18:j0.— Mr. Henry Clay of Ky. 
 submitted to the Senate the tollowiiig pro- 
 positions, which were made a special order 
 and printed : 
 
 " 1. Resolved, That California, with suitable 
 boundaries, ought, upon her application, to be ati- 
 mitted as one of the States of this Union, without 
 Uio inqxisition by Congress of any restriclion in 
 respect to the exi-lusioii or introduction of Slavery 
 within those boundaries. 
 
 " '2. Resolved, That as Slavery does not exist by 
 law, and is not likely to be introduced into any of 
 the territory acquireil by the United States from the 
 1^'publie of Mexico, it is inexpedient tor Congress 
 to provide by law either for its iutroduciiou into, 
 
56 
 
 THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 
 
 or exclusion from, any part of the said territory ; 
 and tluit aiiin-opriate territorial governments ought 
 to bo (si.iblislnd liy Congress in all the said ter- 
 ritdiv, noi Mssii;nt.d as within the boundaries 
 of ilie proiMised Slate of California, without the 
 adopiiou of any restriction or condition on the 
 subject of Slavery. ,-,.,, 
 
 '■ 3. liesolvcd, That the western boundary ot the 
 State of Texas ought to be fixed on Iheliio del 
 Norle, oonimenciiig one marine league from its 
 moutli, and running up that river to the southern 
 line of Xe\v-5Ie.\ico ; thence with that line east- 
 wardlv, and so conlinunig in the same direction 
 to the line as established between the United 
 States and Spain, excluding any portion of New- 
 Mexico, whether lying on the east or west of that 
 
 " 4. Eatolrrd. That it be proposed to the State 
 of Texas, that the United States will provide for 
 the payment of all that portion of the legitimate 
 and bJ/ia //,/<■ public debt of that State contracted 
 prior to it's annexation to the United States, and 
 for whi('h the duties on foreign imports were 
 pledged by the said State to its creditors, not 
 exceeding the sum of dollars, in consider- 
 ation of the said duties so pledged having been no 
 longer appli( able to that object after the said an- 
 nexation, but having thenceforward become pay- 
 able to the United States ; and upon the condition, 
 also, that the .-aid Mate of Texas shall, by some 
 solemn and authentic act of her legislature, or ol a 
 convention, relinquish to die United States any 
 claim which she has to any part of New-Mexico. 
 
 " 5. Kesolved, That it is inexpedient to abolish 
 Slavery in the District of Columbia whilst that 
 institution continues to exist in the State of Mary- 
 land, without the consent ot that State, without 
 the consent of the people of the District, and 
 without just compensation to the owners of Slaves 
 within tlie District. 
 
 " (5. But Resolved, that it is expedient to pro- 
 hibit, within the District, the slave trade in slaves 
 brought into it from States or places beyond the 
 limits' of tlie District, either to be sold therein as 
 merchandise, or to be transported to other markets 
 without the District of Columbia. 
 
 "7. Resolved, That more efl'cctual provision 
 ought to be made by law, according to the re- 
 quirement of the Constitution, for the restitution 
 and delivery of persons bound to service or labor 
 in any State, who may escape into any other State 
 or Terriiory in the Union. And, 
 
 "8. AV.so/;r'?, That Congress has no power to 
 
 ' prohibit or obstruct the trade in slaves between 
 
 the Slaveholding States, but that the admission 
 
 1 or exclusion of Slaves brought from one into 
 
 ( another of them, depends exclusively upon then- 
 
 own particular laws." 
 
 Feb. 28?/i.— Mr. John Bell of Teun. sub- 
 mitted to the Senate the following propo- 
 sitions : 
 
 " Whcreax, Considerations of the highest inter- 
 est to the whole country demand that the existing 
 and increasing dissensions between the North and 
 the South, on the subject of Slavery, should be 
 speedily arrested, and that the questions in con- 
 troversy be adjusted upon some basis which shall 
 tend to give present quiet, repress sectional ani- 
 mosities, remove, as far as possible, the causes 
 of future discord, and secure the uninterrupted 
 enjoyment of those benefits and advantages which 
 tlie tJnii>n was intended to confer in equal measure 
 upon all its members; 
 
 " And. vkcicfis. It is manifest, under present 
 circumstances, that no adjustment can be effected 
 of the points of diiferencc unhappily existing be-, 
 twecn the Northern and Southern sections ot the 
 Union, connected with the subject of Slavery, 
 which shall secure to either section all that is con- 
 
 tended for, and that mutual concessions upon 
 questions of mere policy, not involving the viola- 
 tion of any constitutional right or principle, must 
 be the basis of every project affording any assur- 
 ance of a favorable acceptance ; 
 
 " And, icliereas. The joint resolution for an- 
 nexing Texas to the United States, approved 
 March 1, 181.3, contains the following condi- 
 tion and guarantee— that is to say : _' New States 
 of convenient size, not exceeding four in num- 
 ber, in addition to said State of Texas, and having 
 sufficient population, may hereafter, by the con- 
 sent of said State, be formed out of the territory 
 thereof, which shall be entitled to admission under 
 the provisions of the Federal Constitution ; and 
 such States as may be formed out of that portion 
 of said territory lying south of thirty-six degrees 
 thirty minutes north latitude, commonly known 
 as the Missouri Compromise line, shall be admit- 
 ted into the Union with or without Slavery, as the 
 peo)ile of each State asking admission may desire ; 
 and ill such State or States as shall be formed out 
 of said territory north of said Missouri Compro- 
 mise line. Slavery, or involuntary servitude (ex- 
 cept for crime), shall be prohibited:' Therefore, 
 
 "1. Resolved, That the obligation to comply with 
 the condition and guarantee above recited in 
 good faith be distinctly recognized ; and that, in 
 part compliance with the same, as soon as the 
 people of Texas shall, by an act of their leg- 
 islature, signify their assent by restricting the 
 limits thereof, within the territory lying east of 
 the Trinity and south of the Eed Kiver, and 
 when the people of the residue of the territory 
 claimed by Texas adopt a constitution, republi- 
 can in form, they be admitted into the Union 
 upon an equal footing in all respects with the ori- 
 ginal States. 
 
 "2. Resolved, That if Texas shall agree to 
 cede, the United States will accept, a cession of 
 all the unappropriated domain in all the terri- 
 tory claimed by Texas, lying west of the Colorado 
 and extending north to the forty-second parallel 
 of north latitude, together with the jurisdiction 
 and sovereignty of all the territory claimed by 
 Texas, north of the thirty-fourth parallel of north 
 latitude, and to pay therefor a sum not exceeding 
 millions of dollars, to be applied in the 
 
 first place to the extinguishment of any portion 
 of the existing public debt of Te.xas, for the dis- 
 charge of which the United States are under any 
 obligation, implied or otherwise, and the remain- 
 der as Texas shall require. . 
 
 "3. Resolved, That when the population ot 
 that portion of the territory claimed by Texas, 
 lying south of the thirty-fourth parallel ot north 
 latitude and west of the Colorado, shall be equal 
 to the ratio of representation in Congress, under 
 the last preceding apportionment, according to 
 the provisions of the Constitution, and the people 
 of such teiTitory shall, with the assent of the new 
 State contejnplated in the preceding resolution, 
 have adopted a State Constitution, republican in 
 form, they be admitted into the Union as a State, 
 upon an equal footing with the original States. 
 
 "4. Resolved, That all the territory now- 
 claimed by Texas, lying north of the thirty-fourth 
 parallel of north latitude, and which may bo 
 ceded to the United States by Texas, be incorpor- 
 ated with the Territory of New-Mexico, except 
 such part thereof as lies east ot the Ixio Grando 
 and south of the thirty-fourth degree ot north 
 latitude, and that the Territory so composed torm 
 a State, to be admitted into the Union when the 
 inhabitants thereof shall adopt a State Constitu- 
 tion, republican in form, with the conseiit of Con- 
 gress ; but, in the mean tune, and until tongiess 
 shall give such consent, provision be ^V^^fJ^ 
 the trovernmeut of the inhabitants ot said leiu- 
 lory suitable to their condition, but without any 
 resli-iction as to Slavery. 
 
THE COMPROMISE OF 1850. 
 
 5T 
 
 " 5. Rcxo/rtd, That nil llio forritory coikHl to 
 Ihc United Stiitcn, by tlif Trcnty of ('Jiiinlnlmipe 
 llidalj^i), lyiiij; wi'st of Hiiid Territory of Nt!\v- 
 Mcxici), (iiid cMst of the coiiloiiiplalcd new Stale 
 ol" t'alil'ornia, lor llie prexeiit, eoiintitule one 'I'er- 
 ritory, and for wliieli Home form of f^overnnient 
 suitaljli! to tlic {condition of the inhaliitanlH bu 
 provided, without any restriction nw to .Shivery. 
 
 " ti. J{(\io/rc<l, Tliat tlio eonstitntion recently 
 formed by the petiplo of the wewtern portion of 
 California, an<l nrescntod to ('onf^reHS by the I're- 
 fideiit on the l-'Uh day of February, 18;j(), bo nc- 
 eoi)ted, andi that they be admitted into the Union 
 as a State, upon an e<iual footing in nil respeuls 
 witii the oritiiual States. 
 
 "7. Rcsolrcd, Tliat, in future, the formation of 
 State Constitutions, by the inhnbitants of the 
 territories of the United Stalc.i, be re;,'ulated by 
 law ; and th:it no siieli eon.slitutiou bu hereafter 
 formed or adopted by tiie inhabitants of any Ter- 
 ritory belon<;injjf to tlie United Slates, without 
 the consent and authority of Con^jress. 
 
 " 8. Jusu/rcil, That the inhaliitunts of any 
 Territory of tlie United Stutes, when they shall 
 bo nuthorized by C<<n<^rcss to form a State Con- 
 stitution, shall have the sole and exclusive power 
 to rei^ulale and adjust all questions of internal 
 State policy, of whatever nature they may be, 
 controlled only by the restrictions expressly 
 imposed by tho Coustitutiou of the United 
 States. 
 
 " 9. Jicsolfct?, That the Committee on Terri- 
 tories be instructed to report a bill in conformity 
 with the spirit and principles of tlio foregoing re- 
 solutions." 
 
 A debate of unusual duration, earnestne.ss, 
 and ability ensued, mainly on Mr. Clay's 
 Resolutions. They wore rej^arded by uncom- 
 promising- champions, whether of Xortheru 
 or of Southern views, but especially of the 
 latter, as conceding- substantially the matter 
 in dispute to the other side. Thus, 
 
 Jdii. 29///. — Mr. Clay having read and 
 briefly commented on his propositions, seria- 
 tim, he desired that they should be held 
 over without debate, to give time for con- 
 sideration, and made a special order for 
 Monday or Tuesday following. But this 
 was not assented to. 
 
 Mr. Rusk rose at once to protest against 
 that portion of them which called in ques- 
 tion tho right of Texas to so much of New- 
 Mexico as lies east of the Rio del Xorte. 
 ^ Mr. Foote of Miss, spoke against them 
 generally, saying : 
 
 " If I iindenstand the resolutions properly, they 
 arc objectionable, as it seems to me, 
 
 " 1. Because they only assert that it isnotexpe- 
 dient that Congress should abolish Slavery in tho 
 District of Columbia; thus allowing the implica- 
 tion to arise that Congress has power to legislate 
 on the subject of Slavery in tho District, which 
 may hereafter be exercised, if it should become 
 expedient to do so ; whereas, I hold that Con- 
 gress has, under the Conslitutioii, no such power 
 at all, and that any attempt thus to legislate would 
 bo a gross fraud upon all the Slates of the Union. 
 
 " '2. The Resolutions of tho honorable Senator 
 assert that Slavery does not now exist by law in 
 tho territories recently acquired from Me.xico -, 
 whereas, I am of opinion that tho treaty with the 
 Mexican republic carried tho Constitution, n-ith 
 all ilx ^ninriiiitics, to all tho territory obtained by 
 ti-caty, and secured the privilege to every South- 
 ern slaveholder to enter any part of it, attended 
 
 by his HlftVc-properfy, and to enjoy the eamo 
 therein, frcu Ironi all molestation or hindrance 
 whatsoever. 
 
 ■' •'. Whether Slavery is or is not likely to bo 
 introduced into these territories, or into any of 
 them, is a projuisilion too uncertain, in my judg- 
 ment, to be at present positively aflirmcd ; and I 
 am unwilling to uuikc a si.lemii legishitivo decla- 
 ration on the )ioint. Lit the fitluii' provide Ihe 
 (ippiuijirifitr not 11/ ion of lliia iii/rrc'tiiifr ijiUHtion. 
 
 " •!• Considering, as I liiive several times here- 
 tofore formally declared, the lill(! of Texas to all 
 the territory embraccci in her boundaries, as laid 
 down in her law of I.S:jti, full, coniplt-ie, and unde- 
 niable, 1 am unwilling to say anything, by reso- 
 lution or olherw-ise, which nuiy in the least de- 
 gree draw that title into question, as I think is 
 (lone in one of the i-esolutions of the honorable 
 Senator from Kentucky. 
 
 " .'>. I am, ui)on constitutionni and other 
 grounds, wholly opposed to the principle of ax- 
 sumin^ Slalv drl/Li, which 1 understand to bo 
 embodied in one of the resolutions ot the hon- 
 orable Senator from Kentucky. If Texan soil la 
 to be bought, (and with certain appropriate safe- 
 guards, I am dei-idedly in favor of it,) let us pay 
 to the sovereign Stateof Texas the value thereof 
 in mono}-, to be used by her as she pleases. It 
 will be, as I think, more delicate and respectful 
 to let her provide for the management of this 
 matter, which is strictly domestic in its charac- 
 ter, in such maimer as she may choose — presum- 
 ing thnt she will act wisely, justly, and honorably 
 toward all to whom she may be indebted. 
 
 " (). As to the abolition of the slan-tradc in 
 the District of Columbia. I see no particular ob- 
 jection to it, provided it is done in a delicate and 
 judicious manner, and is not n concession to the 
 menaces and demands of factionists and fanatics. 
 If other questions can be adjusted, this one will, 
 perhaps, occasion but little ditHculty. 
 
 " 7. The resolutions which provide for tho res- 
 toration of fugitives from labor or service, and 
 for the establishment of territorial governineuts, 
 free from all restriction on the subject of Slavery, 
 have my hearty aj)[iroval. The lust resolution — 
 which asserts that Congress has no power to 
 j)i-ohibit the trade in Slaves from State to State — 
 I equally approve. 
 
 " 8. If all other questions connected with the 
 subject of Slavery can be satisfactorily adjusted, 
 I can see noobjec-tion to admitting all California, 
 above tho line of 3tj deg. 30 min., into the Union ; 
 provided anotltcr new Slave State can be laid 
 off within tlie present limits of 'J'exax, so as to 
 keep the present equiponderance between the 
 Slave and Free States of the Union ; and pro- 
 vided further, all this is done by way of com- 
 promise, and in order to save the Union, (as dear 
 to me as to any man living.") 
 
 Mr. Mason of Va., after expressing his 
 deep anxiety to " go with him who went 
 furthest, but within the limits of strict 
 duty, in adjusting these unhappy dififer- 
 ences," added : 
 
 " Sir, so far ns I have read these resolutions, 
 there is but oiio proposition to which I can give 
 n hearty assent, and that is tho resolution which 
 proposes to organize Territorial governments at 
 once in these Territories, without a declaration 
 one way or the other as to their domestic institu- 
 tions. IJut there is another which I deeply regret 
 to sec introduced into this Senate, by a Senator 
 from a slaveholding State ; it is that which assumes 
 that Slavorv docs not now exist by law in those 
 countries. 1 understand one of these propositions 
 to declare that, by law. Slavery is now nuolishod 
 in New-Mexico and California. That was tho very 
 proposition advanced by the non-sluveholding 
 
68 
 
 THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION, 
 
 States at the last session; combated and die- 
 
 E roved, as I thought, by gentlemen from the slave- 
 olding States, and which tlie Compromise bill 
 was framed to tost. So far, I regarded the ques- 
 tion of law as disposed of, and it was very clearly 
 and satisfactorily shown to be against the spirit 
 of the resolution of the Senator from Kentucky. 
 If the contrary is true, I presume the Senator 
 from Kentucky would declare that if a law is now 
 valid in tlie Territories abolishing Slavery, that it 
 could not be introduced there, even if a law was 
 passed creating the institution, or repealing the 
 statutes already existing ; a doctrine never as- 
 sented to, so far as I know, until now, by any 
 Senator representing one of the slaveholding 
 States. Sir, I hold the very opposite, and with 
 such confidence, that at the last session I was 
 willing and did vote for a bill to test this question 
 in the Supreme Court. Yet tliis resolution as- 
 sumes the other doctrine to be true, and our assent 
 is challenged to it as a proposition of law. 
 
 " I do not mean to detain the Senate by any dis- 
 cussion ; but I deemed it to bo my duty to enter a 
 decided protest, on the part of Virginia, against 
 such doctrines. They concede the wliole question 
 at once, that our people shall not go into the new 
 Territories and take their property with them ; a 
 doctrine to which I never will assent, and for 
 which, sir, no law can be found. There are other 
 portions of the resolutions, for which, if they could 
 l3e separated, I should be very willing to vote. 
 That respecting fugitive slaves, and that respect- 
 ing the organization of governments in these 
 Territories, I should be willing to vote for ; and I 
 am happy to declare the grafitication 1 experience 
 at finding the Senator from Kentucky difteriiig so 
 much, on this subject, from the Executive message 
 recently laid before the Senate. I beg not to be 
 understood as having spoken in any spirit of un- 
 kindness towards the Senator from Kentucky, 
 for whom I entertain the warmest and most pro- 
 found respect : but I cannot but express also my 
 regret that he has felt it to be his duty, standing 
 as he does before this people, and representing 
 the people he does, to introduce into this body 
 resolutions of this kind." 
 
 Mr. Jefferson Davis of Miss, (since and 
 now Secretary of War) objected specially to 
 so much of Mr. Clay's propceitious as relates 
 to the boundary of Texas, to the Slave-trade 
 in the Federal district, and to Mr. Clay's 
 avowal in his speech that he did not believe 
 Slavery ever would or could be established 
 in any part of the territories acquired from 
 Mexico. He continued : 
 
 " But, sir, we are called upon to receive this as 
 a measure of compromise ! As a measure in which 
 we of the minority are to receive nothing. A 
 measure of compromise ! I look upon it as but 
 a modest mode of takmg that, the claim to which 
 has been more boldly asserted by others ; and, 
 that I may be understood upon this question, 
 and that my position may go forth to the coun- 
 try in the same columns that convey the senti- 
 ments of the Senator from Kentucky, I here 
 assert, that never will I take less than the Mis- 
 Bouri Compromise line extended to the Pacific 
 ocean, with the specific recognition of Uie right 
 to hold slaves in the territory below that line ; 
 and that, before such territories are admitted in- 
 to the Union as States, slaves may bo taken there 
 from any of the United States at the option of 
 tlie owners. I can never consent to ^ive addi- 
 tional power to a majority to commit further ag- 
 gressions upon the minority in this Union ; and 
 will never consent to any proposition whii^h 
 will have such a tendency, wuiiout a full guar- 
 
 anty or counteracting measui'e is connected with 
 it." 
 
 Mr. Clay in reply said : 
 
 " I am extremely sorry to hear the Senator 
 from Mississippi say that he requires, first, 
 the extension of the Missouri Compromise line to 
 the Pacific ; and also that he is not satisfied with 
 that, but requires, if I understood him correctly, 
 a positive provision for the admission of Slavery 
 south of that line. And now, sir, coming from a 
 Slave State, as I do, 1 owe it to myself, I owe it 
 to truth, I owe it to the subject, to state that no 
 earthly power could induce me to vote for a spe- 
 cific measure for the introduction of Slavery 
 where it tiad not before existed, either south or 
 north of that line. Coming as I do from a Slave 
 State, it is my solemn, deliberate, and well-ma- 
 tured determination that no power — no earthly 
 power — shall compel me to vote for the positive 
 introduction of Slavery either south or north of 
 that line. Sir, while you reproach, and justly, 
 too, our British ancestors for the introduction of 
 this institution upon the i ontinent of America, I 
 am, for one, unwilling that the posterity of the 
 present inhabitants of California and of New- 
 Mexico shall reproach us for doing just what we 
 reproach Great Britain for doing to us. If the 
 citizens of those Territories choose to estab- 
 lish Slavery, I am for admitting them with such 
 provisions in their constitutions ; but then, it ■ 
 will be their own work, and not ours, and their 
 posterity will have to reproach them, and not us, 
 for forming constitutions allowing the institU'. 
 tion of Slavery to exist among them. These are 
 my views, sir, and I choose to express them ; 
 and I care not how extensively and universally 
 they are known. The honorable Senator from 
 Vu-giuia has expressed his opinion that Slavery 
 exists in these Territories, and I have no doubt 
 that opinion is sincerely and honestly entertained 
 by him ; and I would say with equal sincerity and 
 honesty, that I believe that Slavery nowhere 
 exists within any portion of the Territory ac- 
 quired by us from Mexico. He holds a directly 
 contrary opinion to mine, as he has a perfect 
 right to do ; and we will not quarrel about that 
 diti'erence of opinion." 
 
 Mr. William R. King of Ala. was in- 
 clined to look with favor on Mr. Clay's pro- 
 positions, and assented to some of them ; but 
 he objected to the mode in which California 
 had formed what is called a State Constitu- 
 tion. He preferred the good old way of first 
 organizing Territories, and so training up 
 their people "for the exercise and enjoy- 
 ment of our institutions." Besides, he , 
 thought " there was not that kind of popu- 
 lation there that justified the formation of a 
 State Government." On the question of 
 Slavery in the new Territories, he said : 
 
 "With regard to the opinions of honorable 
 Senators, respecting the operation of the laws of 
 Mexico in our newly-acquired territories, there 
 may be, and no doubt is, an honest diflerence of 
 opinion with regard to that matter. Some believe 
 that the municipal institutions of Mexico over- 
 rule the provisions of our Constitution, and pre- 
 vent us from carrying our slaves there. That is 
 a matter which I do not propose to discuss ; it has 
 been discussed at length in the debate upon the 
 Compromise bill, putting it on the ground of a 
 judicial decision. Sir, 1 know not— nor is it, a 
 matter of much importance with me— whether 
 that which the honorable Senator states to be a 
 fact, and which, as has been remarked by the 
 Senator from Mississippi, can only be conjectural, 
 
THE COMPROMISE OF 1850. 
 
 59 
 
 be in rcalilv so or not — tlint Slavery never cnn po 
 there. Tins is what is utiileil, however. Well, 
 be it so. It' slave labor be not jirolitable there, 
 it will not go there; or, if it po, who will be 
 beneliteil / Not the South. The)' will never 
 compel it to (jo there. We are misunderstood — 
 pjrossly, I may say — by honorable ^Senators, 
 thoii-h not intentionally ;'but we are eonlendiiif,' 
 for a i(riiiei|)le, and a jjn'at i>riMcii)lt — a prineiple 
 Iviny at the very foundation of our eonstitutioual 
 rlj^dits — invtdviu},', as has been rennirkvd, our 
 property ; in one word, involvint; our sal'ety, our 
 Loiior, all that is dear to us, as Aineri(^an free 
 men. Well, sir, for that principle we will bo com- 
 jielled to eontend to the utmost, and to resist a;^- 
 
 fression at CAery hazard and at every sacrifice, 
 'hat is the position in which we are placed, ^\'e 
 nsk no act of t'ou'^'icss — as has been properly in- 
 timated by the Senator from Mississippi — to carry 
 Slavery ariywiicre. Sir, I believe wo have as 
 nuieh constitutional power to prohibit Slavery 
 from goinjf into the territories of (ho Unile<l 
 States, us we have to pass an act carrying Slave- 
 ry there. ^ye^ll;l^:i'.lI,ll_l•ii;l^t todo either the one 
 or the other. ' JLwould as soon voreTbTllTD"\Vil- 
 mot Proviso as I would vote for any lawvrhieh 
 rciiuireil that Slavery should gii into any of the 
 Territories." 
 
 Mr. Downs of Louisiana said : 
 
 " I must confess that, in tlie whole course of 
 my life, my astonishment has never been greater 
 than it was when I saw this [!\[r. Clay's] pro- 
 
 i)08itiou brought forward as a compromise; and 
 rise now, sir, not for the purpose of discussing 
 it at all, but to protest most solemnly against it. 
 I consider this compromise as no compromise at 
 all. What, SM-, does it grant to the South ? I 
 can see noliiing at all. The lirst resolution offer- 
 ed by the honorable Senator proposers to admit 
 the State of California with a provision prohibit- 
 ing Slavery in territm-y which embraces all our 
 jiossessions on the Pacific. It is true, there may 
 bo a new regulation of the boundary hereafter ; 
 but, if there were to bo such a regulation, why 
 was it not enibraced in this resolution ? As no 
 boundary is mentioned, we have a right to pre- 
 sume that the boundary established by the Con- 
 stitution of California was to be received as the 
 established boundary. What concession, then, 
 is it from the North, that wo admit a State thus 
 prohibiting Slavery, embracing the whole of our 
 possessions on the Pacific coast, according to 
 these resolutions ? As to the resolution relating 
 to New-iMexico and Deseret, if it had simply con- 
 tained the provision that a constitutional govern- 
 ment shall be established there, without any 
 mention of Slavery whatever, it would have been 
 well enough. 15ut, uiasnmcli as it is aflirmed that 
 Slavery does not now exist in these Territories, 
 does it not absolutely preclude its admission 
 there ? and the resolutions might just as well 
 affirm that Slavery should be prohibited in these 
 Territories. The Senator from Alabama, if I un- 
 derstood him aright, maintains that the proposi- 
 tion is of the same impcu't as the Wilmot Pro- 
 viso ; and, in view of these facts, I would ask, 
 is there anything conceded to us of the South 1" 
 
 Mr. Butler of South Carolina said : 
 
 " Perhaps our Northern brethren ought to un- 
 derstand that ill! the Compromises that have been 
 made, have been by concessions — acknowledged 
 I concessions — on the part of the South. When 
 ' otJier compromises are proposed, that require 
 new concessions on their part, whilst none are 
 exacted on the other, the issue, at least, should be 
 presenteil for their consideration before they 
 come to the decision of their great question. If 
 1 understand it, the Senator from Kentucky's 
 wliole propositiou of compromise it) aothijig more 
 
 than this: That California i.s olrcndy disponed of, 
 having formed ii State Constitution, and that 
 'I'erritorial (iovernments shall be organized for 
 Deseret and New Mi'.\ico, under which, by tlio 
 operation of laws already existing, u slaveliold- 
 ing population could not carry with them, or ovra 
 slaves there. What is there in the nature of a 
 comiiromise here, coupled, as it is. with tln^ pro- 
 po.siiidii that, by the existing laws in the Terri- 
 tories, it is allno.'-t certain that slavelndders can- 
 not, and have no right to, go there with their 
 property ! \Vliat is there in the nature of a eoin- 
 i>romise here ? I am willing, howe\er, to runtho 
 risks, and am ready to give to the Tj'rritories the 
 governments they require. I shall always think 
 that, under a constitution gi\iiig eiiiial "rights to 
 all parties, the slaveholding people, us such, can 
 go to these Territories, and retain their property 
 there. Put, if we adopt this proposition of the 
 Senator from Kentucky, it is clearly on the basis 
 that Slavery shall not go there. 
 
 " I do not understand the Senator from MissU- 
 sippi (Mr. Davis) to maintain the proposition, 
 that the South asked or desired a law declaring 
 that Slavery should go there, or that it maintained 
 the policy even that it was the duty of Congress 
 to pass such a law. We have only asked, and it 
 is the only com])roinise to which we will submit, 
 that Congress sliidl withhold the hand of violence 
 trom the Territories. The only way in which 
 this question can bo settled is, for gentlemen 
 from the North to withdraw all their opposition 
 to the Territorial Governments, and not insist on 
 their Slavery Prohibition. The Union is then 
 safe enough. Why, then, insist on a compromi.-ic, 
 when those already made are sufficient for the 
 peace of the North and South, if faithfully ob- 
 served ? These propositions are in the name of 
 a compromise, wlieu none is necessary." 
 
 The debate having engrossed the attention 
 of the Senate for nearly two months — 
 
 March 2i)th. — Mr. Douglas, from the Com- 
 niittee on Territories, reported the following 
 bills : 
 
 Senate, 1G9.— A bill for the admission of Cali- 
 fornia into the Union. 
 
 Senate, 170.— A bill to establish the Territorial 
 Governments of Utah and New-Mexico, and for 
 other purposes. 
 
 These bills were read, and passed to a 
 second reading. 
 
 April Wth. — Mr. Douglas moved that Mr. 
 Bell's resolves do lie on the table. Lost : 
 Yeas 26 ; Nays 28. 
 
 April loth. — The discussion of Mr. Clay's 
 resolutions still proceeding, Colonel Benton 
 moved that the previous orders be postponed, 
 and that the Senate now proceed to con- 
 sider the bill (S. 169) for the admission of 
 the State of California. 
 
 Mr. Clay moved that this proposition do 
 lie on the table. Carried : Yeas 27 (for a 
 Compromise) ; Nays 24 (for a settlement 
 without compromise). 
 
 The Senate now took up Mr. Bell's re- 
 solves aforesaid, when Mr. Benton moved 
 that they lie on the table. Lost : Yeas 24 ; 
 Nays 28. 
 
 Mr. Benton ne.xt moved that they be so 
 amended as not to connect or mix up the 
 admission of California with any other 
 question. Lost : Yeas 23 ; Nays 28. 
 
60 
 
 THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 
 
 Various modifications of the generic idea 
 were severally voted down, generally by large 
 majorities. 
 
 On motion of Mr. Foote of Miss., it was 
 now 
 
 " Ordered, That the resolution submitted by 
 Mr. Bell ou the 'J8th February, together with the 
 resolutions submitted on the 29th of January by 
 Mr. Clay, be referred to a Select Committee of 
 thirteen ; Provided, that the Senate does not 
 deem it necessary, and therefore declines, to ex- 
 press in advance any opinion, or to f^ive any in- 
 struction, either general or specific, for the guid- 
 ance of the said Committee." 
 
 April I9th. — The Senate proceeded to 
 elect by ballot such Select Committee, which 
 was composed as follows : 
 
 Mr. Henry Clay of Ky. Chairman. 
 Messrs. Dickinson of N. Y. Cooper of Pa. 
 
 Phelps of Vt. Downs of La. 
 
 Bell of Tenn. King of Ala. 
 
 Cass of Mich. Mangum of N. C. 
 
 Webster of Mass. Mason of Va. 
 
 Berrien of Ga. Bright of Ind. 
 
 May Sth. — Mr. Clay, from said Com- 
 mittee, reported as follows : 
 
 REPORT. 
 
 The Senate's Committee of thirteen, to whom 
 were referred various resolutions relating to 
 California, to other portions of the territory 
 recently acquired by the United States from 
 the Republic of Mexico, and to other subjects| 
 connected with the institution of Slavery, have, ; 
 according to order, had these resolutions and 
 subjects under consideration, and beg leave to 
 submit the following Report: 
 
 The Committee entered on the discharge of 
 their duties with a deep sense of their great im- 
 portance, and with earnest and anxious solicitude 
 to arrive at such conclusions as might be satis- 
 factory to the Senate and to the country. Most 
 of the matters referred have not only been sub- 
 jected to extensive and serious public discussion 
 throughout the country, but to a debate in the 
 Senate itself, singular for its elaborateness and 
 its duration ; so that a full exposition of all those 
 motives and views which, on several subjects 
 confided to the Committee, have determined the 
 conclusions at which they have arrived, seems 
 quite unnecessary. They will, therefore, restrict 
 themselves to a few general observations, and to 
 some reflections which grow out of those sub- 
 jects. 
 
 Out of our recent territorial acquisitions, and 
 in connection with the institution of Slavery, 
 questions most grave sprung, which, greatlv di- 
 viding and agitating the people of the United 
 States, have threatened to disturb the harmony, 
 if not to endanger the safety, of the Union. The 
 Committee believe it to be highly desirable and 
 necessary speedily to adjust all those questions, 
 in a spirit of concord, and in a manner to pro- 
 duce, if practicable, general satisfaction. They 
 think it would be unwise to leave any of them 
 open and unsettled, to fester in the public mind, 
 and to prolong, if not aggravate, the existing 
 agitation. It has been their object, therefore, in 
 this Report, to make such proposals and recom- 
 mendations as would accomplish a general ad- 
 justment of all these questions. 
 
 Among tlie subjects referred to the Committee 
 whi('h coiiiinund their first attention, are the reso- 
 lutions ofl'ered to the Senate by the Senator from 
 
 Tennessee, Mr. Bell. By a provision in the 
 resolution of Congress annexing Texas to the 
 United States, it is declared that " new States of 
 convenient size, not exceeding four in number, 
 by the consent of said State, be formed out of 
 the territory thereof, which shall be entitled to 
 admission, under the provisions of the Federal 
 Constitution : and such States as may be formed 
 out of that portion of said territory lying South 
 of 36° 30' North latitude, commonly known as 
 the Missouri Compromise line, shall be admitted 
 into the Union with or without Slavery, as the 
 people of each State asking admission may de- 
 sire." 
 
 The Committee are unanimously of opinion, 
 that whenever one or more States, formed out 
 of the territory of Texas, not exceeding four, 
 having sufficient population, with the consent of 
 Texas, may apply to be admitted into the Union, 
 they are entitled to such admission, beyond all 
 doubt, upon the clear, unambiguous, and absolute 
 terms of the solemn compact contained in the 
 Resolution of Annexation adopted by Congress, 
 and assented to by Texas. But, whilst the Com- 
 mittee conceive that the right of admission into 
 the Union of any new State, carved out of the 
 Territory of Texas, not exceeding the number spe- 
 cified, and under the conditions stated, cannot be 
 justly controverted, the Committee do not think 
 that the formation of any new States should now 
 originate with Congress. The initiative, in con- 
 formity with the usage which ha.s hitherto pre- 
 vailed, should be taken by a portion of the peo- 
 ple of Texas themselves, desirous of constituting 
 ^ new State, with the consent of Texas. And in 
 the formation of such new States, it will be for 
 the people composing it to decide for themselves 
 whether they will admit, or whether they will ex- 
 clude, Slavery. And however they may decide 
 that purely municipal question, Congress is bound 
 to acquiesce, and to fulfill in good faith the stipu- 
 lations of the compact with Texas. The Commit- 
 tee are aware that it has been contended that the 
 resolution of Congress annexing Texas was im- 
 constitutional. At a former epoch of our coun- 
 try's history, there were those (and Mr. Jefferson, 
 under whose auspices the treaty of Louisiana 
 was concluded, was among them,) who believed 
 that the States formed out of Louisiana could not 
 be received into the Union without an amend- 
 ment of the constitution. But the States of Loui- 
 siana, Missouri, Arkansas, and Iowa have been 
 all, nevertheless, admitted. And who would now 
 think of opposing Minnesota, Oi'egon, or new 
 States formed out of the ancient province of 
 Louisiana, upon the ground of an alleged original 
 defect of constitutional power ? In grave nation- 
 al transactions, while yet in their earlier or in- 
 cipient stages, dift'erences may well exist ; but 
 when once they have been decided by a constitu- 
 tional majority, and are consummated, or in a 
 process of consummation, there can be no other 
 safe and prudent alternative than to respect the 
 decision already rendered, and to acquiesce in it. 
 Entertaining those views, a majority of the Com- 
 mittee do not think it necessary or proper to re- 
 commend, at this time, or prospectively, any new 
 State or States to be formed out of the territory 
 of Texas. Should any such State be hereafter 
 formed, and present itself for admission into the 
 Union, whether with or without the establishment 
 of Slavery, it cannot be doubted that Congress will 
 admit it, under the influence of similar considera- 
 tions, in regard to new States formed of or out of 
 New-Mexico and Utah, with or without the insti- 
 tution of Slavery, according to the constitutions 
 and judgment of the people who compose them, 
 as to what may be best to promote their happi- 
 ness. 
 
 In considering tlie question of the admission 
 of California as a State into the Union, a majori- 
 
THE COMPROMISE OF 1850. 
 
 61 
 
 ty of the Coniiniltro conc-civc Hint niiy irregu- 
 larity, by v.U'w.h liiiit State was urgaiii/.i-il williout 
 the pruvi<ui8 alillmrity tif an act it( C'oiif;ri'SK, 
 ou(j;lit to 1)1! (>v<Tlii(>ki'il, ill cmiBideratiim of the 
 omission by ("oii;,'r«'ss to i'Mtal>li.sh iiiiy territorial 
 Rovcrnniciit lor the iii'oiilc of falifornia, ami llio 
 coiisi'tjueiit lu'coHsity wliicli thvy were uiiiUr to 
 create a t;ovcrmiicii't for tln'iiisi'ivCB. best adaiited 
 to their own wants. There are various iuslaiiees, 
 prior to tile ease of California, of the ailniissioii 
 of new States into the Union without any pre 
 vious authorization by ("oiiijress. 'J'he sole eon 
 dition reiiuired hy the Constitution of the I'liited 
 States, in respeel to the admission of a new State, 
 is, that its eoustitution shall be republican in 
 form. California prosi'nts such n constitution; 
 and there is no doubt of her haviiiff a {greater 
 poiiuliititin than that which, aeeordinj; to the 
 l)ractieeof the government, lias been heretofore 
 deemed sullieieiit to receive a new State into the 
 Union. 
 
 In rej^ard to the proposed boundaries of Cali- 
 fornia, the Committee would have been glad if 
 there c.\ist<>il more full and accurate geographi- 
 cal knowledge of the territory which these bound- 
 aries include. There is reason to believe that, 
 large as they are they embrace no very dispro- 
 portionate quantity of land adapted to cultiva- 
 tion. And it is known that they contain c.vteii- 
 Bive ranges of mountains, deserts of sand, and 
 much unproductive soil. It might have been, 
 jierhaps, better to have assigned to California a 
 more limited front on the Pacific ; but even if 
 there had been reserved, on the shore of that 
 ocean, a portion of the boundary which it presents, 
 for any other State or Stales, it is not very 
 certain that an aeeessible interior of sufficient 
 extent could have been given to them to render 
 an approach to the ocean, through their own lim- 
 its, of very great importance. 
 
 A majority of the Committee think that there 
 are many and urgent concurring considerations 
 in favor of admittiii'j California, with the pro 
 posed t)oundaries, aiiu of securing to her at this 
 time tlie benetits of a State government. If, 
 hereafter, ujion an increase of tier population, a 
 more thorougli e-xploratiou of her territory, and 
 an ascertainment of the relations which may 
 arise between the people occupying its various 
 parts, it should be found conducive to their con- 
 venience and happiness to foim a new State out 
 of California, we have every reason to believe, 
 from past experience, that the question of its ad- 
 mission will bo fairly considered and justly de- 
 cided. 
 
 A majority of the Committee, therefore, recom- 
 mend to the Senate the passage of the bill re- 
 ported by the Committee on Territories, for the 
 admission of California as a State into the Union. 
 To prevent misconception, the Committee also 
 recommend that the amendment reported by the 
 same Committee to the bill be adojited, so as to 
 leave incontestable the right of the United States 
 to the public domain and other public property 
 of California. 
 
 Whilst a majority of the Committee believe it 
 to be necessary and jiroper, under actual circum- 
 stances, to admit California, they think it quite 
 ns necessary and proper to establish governments 
 for the residue of the territory derived from Mex- 
 ico, and to bring it within the pale of the federal 
 authority. The remoteness of that territory from 
 tlie seat of the general government ; the dispersed 
 state of its population ; the variety of races — pure 
 and mixed — of which it consists ; the ignorance 
 of some of the races of our laws, language, and 
 hahits ; their exposure to inroads and wars of 
 savage tribes ; and the solenui stipulations of the 
 treaty by which we acquired dominion over them 
 — inijiose upon the Uniteii States the imperative 
 obligation of extending to them protection, and 
 
 of providing for Ihcm govemmont and Inwn suit- 
 ed to their condition. Congress will fail in tho 
 perl'ormaiieo of a high duty, if it do not give, 
 or attempt to give to llieiii, the benefit of such 
 protection, govermiient, and laws. They are not 
 now, and for a long time to come may not be, (ire- 
 pared for State government The territorial 
 form, for the jiresent, is best suited to their condi- 
 tion. A bill has been reported by the ('umuiilteo 
 on TciTitories, dividing all the territory iic(|uirt>d 
 from Mexico, not comprehended within tlie limita 
 of California, into two lerritoriis, under themiinea 
 of NewMexieo and Utah, and projiosing for each 
 a territorial government. 
 
 'I'Ik^ Committee recommend to the Senate tho 
 establishment of those territorial governments; 
 and, in oriler more certainly tosecuri.: tlmt desira- 
 ble object, they also recommend that the bill 
 for their establishment be incorporated in the hill 
 for the admission of California, and that, united 
 together, they both bo passed. 
 
 The combination ot the two measures in the 
 same bill is objected to on viu'ious grounds. It 
 is said that they are incongruous, and have no 
 necessary connection with each other. A majority 
 of (he Committee think otherwise. The object 
 of both measures is the establishment of a govern- 
 ment suited to the conditions, resjiectively, of 
 the propo.sed new State and of the new Territo- 
 ries. Prior to their transfer to the United States, 
 they both formed a part of Mexico, where tJioy 
 stood in equal relations to tho government of Uiat 
 republic. They were both ceded to the United 
 States by the same treaty. And, in the same ar- 
 ticle of that treaty, the United States engaj^ed to 
 l)rotect and govern bi^th. Common in tlieir ori- 
 gin, common in their alienation from one for- 
 eign government to another, common in their 
 wants of good government, and conterminous in 
 some of their boundaries, and alike in many par- 
 ticulars of ])hysical condition, they have nearly 
 ( verything in common in the relation in which 
 they stand to the rest of this Union. There is, then, 
 a general fitness and propriety in extending the 
 parental care of goNcrnment to both in common. 
 If California, by a sudden and extraordinary aug- 
 mentation of population, has advanced so rapidly 
 as to mature tor herself a State Government, that 
 furnishes norenson why the loss fortunate Territo- 
 ries of New-Mexico and Utah should be aban- 
 doned and left ungoverned by the United States, 
 or should be disconnocled with California, which, 
 although she has organized for herself a State 
 Government, must, leijally and constitutionally, 
 be regarded as a Territory until she is actually 
 admitted as a State into tho Union. 
 
 It is further objected that, by combining the 
 two measures in the same bill, members who 
 may be willing to vote for one, and unwilling to 
 vote for the other, would be placed in an embar- 
 rassing condition. They would be constrained, it 
 is urged, to take or reject both. On the otimr hand, 
 there are other members who would be willing 
 to vote for both united, but would feel them- 
 selves constrained to vote against the California 
 bill if it stood alone. Each party finds in the bill 
 which it favors something which coinmends it to 
 acceptance, and in the other something which it 
 disapproves. The true ground, theiefore, of tho 
 objection to the union of the me;isiire.s is not 
 any want of affinity between them, but because 
 of the favor or disfavor with which they are re- 
 S[)cetively regarded. In this conflict of opinion, 
 it seems to a majority of the Connnittee that a 
 spirit of mutual eonccssiou enjoins that tho two 
 measures should be connected together— the ef- 
 fect of which will be, that neither opinion will 
 exclusively triuni])h, and that both may find, in 
 such an amicable wrangemcnt, enough of good 
 to reconcile them to the acceptance of the oom- 
 biucd measure. And such a course of Icgisla- 
 
62 
 
 THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 
 
 tion is not (it all unusual. Few laws have ever 
 passed ill which there were not paita to which 
 exception wius tnkon. It is inexpedient, if not 
 iini)racticable, to separate these parts, and em- 
 body them in distinct bills, so as to accommodate 
 the diversitj' of opinion whicli may exist. The 
 Constitution of tlie United tStates contained in 
 it a great variety of provisions, to some of which 
 Bcrious objection was made in the convention 
 which formed it, by different members of that 
 body ; and, when it was submitted to tlie ratifica- 
 tion of the States, some of tliem objected to some 
 parts, and others to other parts, of tlie same instru- 
 ment. Had these various porta and provisions 
 been separately acted on in the convention, or 
 separately submitted to the people of the United 
 States, it is by no means certain that the Consti- 
 tution itself would ever have been adopted or 
 ratified. Those who did not like particular jjro- 
 visions found compensation in other parts ot it. 
 And in all cases of constitution and laws, when 
 either is presented as a whole, the question to 
 be decided is, whether the good which it contains 
 is not of greater amount, and capable of neutraliz- 
 ing anything objectionable in it. And, as nothing 
 hmiiaii is perfect, for the sake of that harmony so 
 desirable in such a confederacy as this, we must 
 be reconciled to secure as much as we can of what 
 we wish, and be consoled by the reflection that 
 what we do not exactly like is a friendly conces- 
 sion, and agreeable to those who, being united 
 with us in a common destiny, it is desirable, 
 should always live with us in peace and con- 
 cord. 
 
 A majority of the Committee have, therefore, 
 been led to the recommendation to the Senate 
 that the two measures be united. The bill for 
 establishing the two Territories, it will be observ- 
 ed, omits tiie SVilmot proviso on the one hand, 
 and, on the other, makes no provision for the in- 
 troduction of Slavery into any part of the new 
 Territories. 
 
 That proviso has been the fruitful source of 
 distraction and agitation. If it were adopted and 
 applied to any Territory, it would cease to have 
 any obligatory force as soon as such Territory 
 were admitted as a State into the Union. There 
 was never any occasion for it to accomplish the 
 professed object with which it was originally 
 offered. This has been clearly demonstrated by 
 the current of events. California, of all the re- 
 cent territorial acquisitions from Mexico, was that 
 in which, if anywhere within them, the introduc- 
 tion of Slavery was most likely to take place ; and 
 the constitution of California, by the unanimous 
 vote of her convention, has expressly interdicted 
 it. There is the highest degree of probability 
 that Utah and New-Mexico will, when they come 
 to be admitted as States, follow the example. The 
 proviso is, as to all those regions in common, a 
 mere abstraction. Why should it be any longer 
 insisted on ? Totally destitute as it is of any 
 practical import, it has, nevertheless, had the per- 
 nicious effect to excite serious, if not alarming, 
 consequences. It is high time that the wounds 
 which it has inflicted should bo healed up and 
 closed. And, to avoid, in all future time, the 
 agitations which must be produced by the conflict 
 of opinion on the Slavery question, existing as 
 this institution does in some of the States, and 
 prohibited as it is in others, the true principle 
 which ought to regulate the action of Congress 
 in forming Territorial Governments for each 
 newly acquired domain, is to refrain from all 
 legislation on the subject in the Territory ac- 
 quired, so long as it retains the Territorial form 
 of Governinent— leaving it to the people of such 
 Territory, when they have attained to the condi- 
 tion which entitles them to admission as a State, 
 to decide for themselves the question of the allow- 
 ance or prohibition of domestic Slavery. The 
 
 Committee believe that they express the anxiou.s 
 desire of an immense majority of the peoi)le of 
 the United States, when they declare that it is 
 high time that good feeling, harmony, and frater- 
 nal sentiment should be again revived, and that 
 the (government should be able once more to pro- 
 ceed in its great operations to promote the happi- 
 ness and prosperity of the country, undisturbed 
 by this distracting cause. 
 
 As for California — far from seeing her sensi- 
 bility affected by her being associated with other 
 kindred measures — she ought to rejoice and be 
 highly gratified that, in entering into the Union, 
 she may have contributed to the tranquillity and 
 happiness of the great family of States, of which, 
 it is to be hoped, she may one day be a distin- 
 guished member. 
 
 The Committee beg leave next to report on 
 the subject of the Northern and Western bound- 
 ary of Texas. On that question a great diversity 
 of opinion has prevailed. According to one view 
 of it, the western limit of Texas was the Nueces; 
 according to another, it extended to the Kio 
 Grande, and stretched from its mouth to its 
 source. A majority of the Committee having 
 come to the conclusion of recoiiiinending an ami- 
 cable adjustment of the boundary with Texas, 
 abstain from expressing any opinion as to the 
 true and legitimate western and northern bound- 
 ary of that State. The terms proposed for such 
 an adjustment are contained in the bill herewith 
 reported, and they are, with inconsiderable varia- 
 tion, the same as that reported by the Committee 
 on Territories. 
 
 According to these terms, it is proposed to 
 Texas that her boundary be recognized to the Eio 
 Grande, and up that river to the point commonly 
 called El Paso, and thence running up that river 
 twenty miles, measured thereon by a straight 
 line, and thence eastwardly to a point where the 
 hundredth degree of west longitude crosses Eed 
 liiver; being the southwest angle in the line de- 
 signated between the United States and Mexico, 
 and the same angle in the line of the territory set 
 apart for the Indians by the United States. 
 
 If this boundary be assented to by Texas, 
 she will be quieted to that extent in her title. And 
 some may suppose that, in consideration of this 
 concession by the United States, she might, with- 
 out any other equivalent, relinquish any claim 
 she has beyond the proposed boundary ; that is, 
 any claim to any part of New-Mexico. But, 
 under the influence of sentiments of justice and 
 great liberality, the bill proposes to Texas, for 
 her relinquishment of any such claim, a large pe- 
 cuniary equivalent. As a consideration for it, 
 and considering that a portion of the debt of 
 Texas was created on a pledge to her creditors of 
 the duties on foreign imports, transferred by the 
 resolution of Annexation to the United States, 
 and now received and receivable in her treasury, 
 a majority of the Committee recommend the pay- 
 ment of the sum of millions of dollars to 
 
 Texas, to be applied in the first instance to the 
 extinction of that portion of her debt for the re- 
 imbursement of which the duties on foreign im- 
 ports were pledged as aforesaid, and the residue 
 in such manner as she may direct. The sum is 
 to be paid by the United States, in a stock, to be 
 created, bearing five per cent, interest annually, 
 payable half yearly, at the treasury of the United 
 States, and the principal reimbursable at the end 
 of fourteen years. 
 
 According to an estimate which has been 
 made, there are included in the territory to which 
 it is proposed that Texas shall relinquish her 
 claim, embracing thq* part of New-Mexico lying 
 east of the Kio Grande, a little less than 124,933 
 square miles, and about 79,957,120 acres of land. 
 From the proceeds of the sale of this land, the 
 United States may ultimately be reimbursed a 
 
THE COMPROMISE OF 1850. 
 
 C3 
 
 E' 
 
 portion, if not the wliolo, of the amount of what 
 18 thus) pniiioscd to lie iidvimccU to T<'.\as. 
 
 It ciuiiiot ho aiiticiiiatvcl that 1V.\m« will (k-- 
 cliia- to accoilc to tlitw^ lihi-nil proiioMilionn ; hut 
 if sho hIkiiiIiI, it JH to l)c iliMtiiictiy uiMloiMtooil that 
 the title of the United SlalcN to" any tenitoiy ac- 
 quireil from Mexico fii«t of the Kio (Jrande will 
 remain miimpaircd, and iu the Banic condition an 
 if the i)io|ioMal8 of ttiyustnioul now otlcred hml 
 never JK'en inudo. 
 
 A uoi^iinilv of Iho Connnittoo roconnnend to 
 tlic Senate tluit the section containing these pro 
 
 sals to Texas shall ho incorporated into the 
 ill emhraein},' llie admission ot C'alil'ornia as a 
 State, and the estal)lishnient of terrilmial ;;oyerii- 
 uiontti for Utah and New Mexico. The detinilion 
 ande«tal)lislnnent of the houndary hetween New- 
 Mexico and Texas liave an intmintc and neces- 
 sary connection willi the estahlishnicnt of a ter- 
 ritorial government t'or New-Mexico. To form a 
 territorial government for NewMexico, without 
 prescribing the limits of the Territory, would 
 leave the work imperfect and incomi)letc, and 
 might expose New-Mexico to seriouscontroversy, 
 if not dangerous collisions, with the .Slate of 
 Texas. And most, if not all, the considerations 
 which unite in favor of combining the bill for the 
 admission of Calitbrnia as a State and the Teriito- 
 rial liills, apply to the boundary question of Tex- 
 as. Hy the union of tlic three measures, every 
 question of difKculty and <livision which has 
 arisen out of the territorial acquisitions from 
 Mexico, will, it is hoped, be a(\justed, or placed 
 in a train of satisfactory adjustment. The Com- 
 mittee, availing thenuselves of the arduous and 
 valuable labors of the Committee on Territories, 
 report a bill, hcrewitii annexed, (marked A,) em- 
 bracing those three measures, the passage of 
 •which, uniting thcai together, they recommend 
 to the Senate. 
 
 The Committee will now proceed to the con- 
 sideration of, and to report upon, the subject of 
 persons owing service or labor iu one Slate es- 
 caping into another. The text of the Constitution 
 is quite clear: " No person held to labor or service 
 in one State, under tlie l/iics thereof^ escaping into 
 another, shall, in consequence of any law or regu- 
 lation therein, he discharged from such service or 
 labor, but shall be delivered vp on the claim of 
 the party to whom such service or labor is due." 
 Notliing can be more explicit than this language 
 — nothing niore manifest than the right to demand, 
 and the obligation to deliver up to the claimant, 
 any such fugitive. And the Constitution address- 
 es itself alike to the States composing the Union 
 and to the General (jioverument. If, indeed, 
 there were any diflerenco in the duty to enforce 
 tliis portion of the Constitution between the 
 States and the Federal Government, it is more 
 clear that it is that of the former than of the lat- 
 ter, liut it is the duly of both. It is well known 
 and incontestable that citizens of slaveholdiu"- 
 States encounter the greatest difficulty hi obtain- 
 ing the benefit of this provision of the Constitu- 
 tion. 
 
 The attempt to recapture a fugitive is almost 
 always a subject of great irritation and excite- 
 ment, and often leads to most unpleasant, if not 
 perilous, collisions. An owner of a slave, it is 
 quite notorious, cannot pursue his property, for 
 the purpose of its recovery, in some of the States, 
 without imminent pei-sunal hazard. This is a 
 deplorable state of things, which ought to be re- 
 medied. The law of ^ 17!« has been found 
 wholly ineffectual, and requires more stringent 
 enactments. There is especially a deficiency in 
 tlie number of public functionaries authorized to 
 attord aid in the seizure and arrest of fugitives. 
 Various States have declined to aflord aid and 
 cooperation in the surrender of fugitives from 
 labor, as the Committee believe, from a miscou- 
 
 ception of tlieir duty, ariBiliK under the Constitn- 
 tion of the Uniteil Stales. It is Iruo that a deci- 
 sion of the Supreme Court of the Unin^d Slates 
 has given counteiianco to them in withholding 
 their assislaiice. Hut Iho Committee cannot but 
 bi'lieve lliat the intention of the Supreme Court 
 has bi'en misumlerslood. They cannot but think 
 that that Court merely meant that laws of liio 
 several States, which »'reated obslacdes in Iho 
 way of the recovery of fugilives, were not au- 
 thorized by the C(Ui»titution, and not that tlio 
 Stale laws affording facilitie.s in the recovery of 
 fugitives were forbidden by that iiiKtrumenl. The 
 iioij slaveholding States, whatever sympathies 
 any of their cilizeim may feel for persons who 
 est'ape from othi'r States, cannot discharge them- 
 selves from an obligation to enforce the Constitu- 
 tion (d'the United States. All parts (d'lhe inslru- 
 ment being dependent upon, and connected with, 
 each other, ought to be fairly and justly enforced. 
 If souk; Slates may seek to exonerate them- 
 selves from one jiortion of the Constitution, other 
 States may endeavor to evade the performance 
 of tlu' other portions of it ; and thus the instru- 
 ment, in some of the most important provisions, 
 might become inoperative and invalid. 
 
 But, whatever may be the condu<'t of indivi- 
 dual States, the duty of the General Government 
 is perfectly clear. That duty is, to amend the 
 existing law, and provide an eflectu.-d remedy for 
 the recovery of fugitives from service or labor. 
 In devising such a remedy. Congress ought, 
 whilst, on the one hand, securing to the owner 
 the fair restoration of his property, effectually to 
 guard, on the other, against any abuses iu the ap- 
 plication of that remedy. 
 
 In all case.i of arrest, within a State, of persons 
 charged with offenses ; iu all cases of the pursuit 
 of fugiiives from justice from mio State to an- 
 other State ; in all cases of extradition, inovided 
 for by treaties between foreign powers — the pro- 
 ceeding uniformly is summary. It has never 
 been thought necessary to apply, in cases of that 
 kind, the forms and ceremonies of a final triid. 
 And, when that trial dues take place, it is in the 
 Stale or country from which the party has tied, 
 and not in that in which he has found refuge. By 
 the expHiss language of the Constitution, whether 
 the fugitive is held to service or labor, or not, is 
 to be determined hy the laws nf the Stu/efrom 
 ickich he ficd ; and, consequently, it is most pro- 
 per that the tribunals of that State should ex- 
 pound and administer its own laws, if there 
 have been any instances of abuse, iu the errone- 
 ous arrest of fugitives from service or labor, the 
 Committee have not obtained knowledge of ihcm. 
 They believe that none have occurred, and that 
 such are not likely to occur. But, iu order to 
 guard against the possibility of their occurrence, 
 the committee have prepiu-ed, and herewith re- 
 port, a section, (marked B.) to be offered to the 
 fugitive bill now before the Senate. According to 
 this section, the owner of a fugitive from service 
 or labor is, when practicable, to can'y with him 
 to the State in which the person is found a record 
 from a competent tribunal, adjudicating the fact 
 of elopement and slavery, with a general de- 
 scription of the fugitive. This record, properly 
 attested and certified under the official seal of the 
 court, being taken to the Stale where the persc)n 
 owing service or labor is found, is to be held 
 compelent and sufficient evidence of the facta 
 which had been adjudicated, and will leave no- 
 thing more to be done than to identity the fugi- 
 tive. 
 
 Numerous petitions havo been presented pray- 
 ing for a trial by jury, in the case of arrest of 
 fugitives from service or labor in the noii slave- 
 holding States. It has been already shown that 
 this would bo entirely contrary to practice and 
 uniform usage in all similar cases. Under the 
 
64 
 
 THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 
 
 name of a populnr and cherished institution — an 
 iustitution, however, never applied in eases of 
 preliminary jiroeeeding, and only in cases of 
 final trial— there would be a complete mockery 
 of justice, so far as the owner of the fugitive is 
 ooncernod. If the trial by jury bo admitted, it 
 would draw after it its usual consequences ; of 
 continuance from time to time, to bring evidence 
 from distant places ; of second or new trials, in 
 cases where the jury is hung, or the verdict is 
 set aside ; and of revisals of the verdict and con- 
 duct of tiic juries by competent tribunals. Dur- 
 ing the j)rogres8 of all these dilatory and expeu- 
 sivc proceedings, what security is there as to the 
 custody and forthcoming of the fugitive upon 
 their termination ? And if, finally, the claimant 
 should be successful, contrary to what happens 
 in ordinary litigation between free persons, he 
 would have to bear all the burdens and expenses 
 of the litigation, without indemnity, and would 
 learn, by sad experience, that he had by far bet- 
 ter abandon his right in the first instance, than 
 to eslablit-h it at such uuremuuerated cost and 
 heavy sacrifice 
 
 But, whilst the Committee conceive that a trial 
 by jury in a State whore a fugitive from service 
 or labor is recaptured, would be a virtual denial 
 of justice to the claimant of such fugitive, and 
 would be tantamount to a positive refusal to exe- 
 cute the provision of the Constitution, the same 
 objections do not apply to such a trial in the State 
 from which he fled. In the slaveholding States. 
 full justice is administered, with entire fairness 
 and impartiality, in cases of all actions for free- 
 dom. The person claiming his freedom is allowed 
 to sue in forma panperix ; counsel is assigned 
 him ; time is allowed him to collect his witnesses 
 and to attend the sessions of the court; and his 
 claimant is placed under bond and security, or is 
 divested of the possession during the progress of 
 the trial, to insure the enjoyment of these privi- 
 leges ; and, if there be any leaning on the part 
 of courts and juries, it is always to the side of 
 the claimant for freedom. 
 
 In deference to the feelings and prejudices 
 which prevail in non-slaveholdinf' States, the 
 Committee propose such a trial in the State from 
 which the fugitive tied, in all cases where he de- 
 clares to the officer giving the certificate for his 
 return that he has a right to his freedom. Ac- 
 cordingly, the Committee have prepared, and 
 report herewith, (marked C), two sections which 
 they recommend should be incorporated iu the 
 fugitive bill, pending iu the Senate. According 
 to these sections, the claimant is placed under 
 bond, and required to return the fugitive to that 
 county in the State from which he fled, and there 
 to take him before a competent tribunal, and al- 
 low him to assert and establish his freedom, 
 if he can, affording to him for that purpose all 
 needful facilities. 
 
 The Counnittee indulge the hope that if the 
 Fugitive bill, with the proposed amendments, 
 shall be psissed by Congress, it will be eftectual 
 to secure the recovery of all fugitives from ser- 
 vice or labor, and it will remove all causes of 
 complaint which have hitherto been experienced 
 on that irritating subject. But. if in iis practi- 
 cal operation it shall be found insuflicient, and if 
 no adequate remedy can be devised for the res- 
 toration 10 their owners of fugitive slaves, those 
 owners shall have a just title to indemnity out 
 of the Treasury of the United States. 
 
 It remains to report upon the resolutions in 
 relation to Slavery and the SlaveTrado in the 
 District of Cnhnnbia. Without discussing the 
 power of Congress to abolish Slavery within the 
 District, in regard to which a diversity of opin- 
 ion exists, Uie Counnittee are of opinion that it 
 ought not to be abolished. It could not be done 
 ■witiiout indispensable conditions, which are not 
 
 likely to be agreed to. It could not be done with- 
 out exciting great apprehension and alarm in tho 
 Slave States. If the power were exercised with- 
 in this District, they would apprehend that, under 
 some pretext or another, it might hereafter be 
 attempted to be exercised within tbe slaveholding | 
 Slates. It is true that, at present, all such power 
 within those States is almost unanimously disa- 
 vowed and disclaimed in the Free States. But, ex-: i ! 
 perience in public affairs has too often shown ^ I 
 that where there is a desire to do a particular i, 
 thing, the power to accomplish it, sooner or later, :' 
 will he found or assumed. 
 
 Nor does the number of Slaves within the Dis- 
 trict make the abolition of Slavery an object of 
 any such consequence as appears to be attached 
 to it in some parts of the Union. Since the retro- 
 cession of Alexandria county to Virginia on the 
 south side of the Potomac, the District now con- 
 sists only of Washington county on the north 
 side of that river ; and the returns of the decen- 
 nary enumeration of the peojile of the United 
 States show a rapidly progressing decrease in 
 the number of slaves in Washington county. 
 According to thi' census of 1S30, the number was 
 4,.505 ; and in 18-10, it was reduced to 3,3i20 ; show- 
 injj a reduction in ten years of nearly one-third. 
 If It should continue in the same ratio, the num- 
 ber, according to the census now about to be 
 taken, will be only a little upward of two thou- 
 sand. 
 
 But a majority of the Committee think differ- 
 ently in regard to the Slave-Trade within the 
 District. By that trade is meant the introduc- 
 tion of slaves from adjacent States into the Dis- 
 trict, for sale, or to be placed in depot for tho 
 purpose of subsequent sale or transportatioii to 
 other and distant markets. That trade, a majori- 
 ty of the Committee are of opinion, ought to be 
 abolished. Complaints have always existed 
 against it, no less on the part of members of 
 Congress from the South than on the part of 
 members from the North. It is a trade some- 
 times exhibiting revolting spectacles, and one in 
 which the people of the District have no inter- 
 est, but, on the contrary, are believed to be de- 
 sirous that it should be discontinued. Most, if 
 not all, of the slaveholding States have, either ia 
 their constitutions or by penal enactments, pro- 
 hibited a trade in slaves as merchandise within 
 their respective jurisdictions. Congress, stand- 
 ing in regard to this District, on this subject, in 
 a relation similar to that of the State Leg^islatures, 
 to the people of the States, may safely follow the 
 example of the States. The Committee have pre- 
 pared, and herewith report, a bill for the aDoli- 
 tion of that trade (marked D), the passage of 
 which they recommend to the Senate. This bill 
 has been framed after the model of what the law 
 of Maryland was when the General Government 
 was removed to Washington. 
 
 The views and recommendations contained in 
 this report may be recapitulated in a few words : 
 
 1. The admission of any new State or States 
 formed out of Texas to be postponed until they 
 shall hereafter present themselves to be received 
 into the Union, when it will be the duty of Con- 
 gress fairly and faithfully to execute the com- 
 pact with Texas, by admitting such new State or 
 States ; 
 
 2. The admission forthwith of California into 
 the Union, with the boundaries which she has pro- 
 posed ; 
 
 3. The establishment of territorial governments, 
 without the Wilmot Proviso, for New-Mexico 
 anil Utah, embracing all the territory recently 
 acquired by the United States from Mexico, not 
 contained in the boundaries of California; 
 
 4. The combination of these two last-mention- 
 ed measures in the same bill ; 
 
 5. The establishment of tho western and north- 
 
THE COMPROMISE OF 1850. 
 
 65 
 
 em boundarioa of Toxns, nnd tlio oxfhiHion from 
 Ler jlu•i^^lll(•lion of all Ncw-Moxico, witii (lu- 
 grant to Toxns of n pccuiiiiirv oriuiviiloiit ; (uul 
 the scc-tion for tlint i>\ir))OHe to'be incorporated in 
 the bill adinittinj,' (.'alifornin and cHtablisliiny: ter- 
 ritorial gijvernniciits for Utah and Ncw-JIex- 
 ic'O ; 
 
 li. More ollVotual onnctmcntB of law to seeure 
 (he prompt delivery of prrnons bound to serviec 
 or labor in one State, under tlie laws thereof, 
 who escape into another Stale ; and, 
 
 7. Absiainiiij,' from alioiishing Slavery; but, 
 under a heavy peinilty, ]irohibitiii{; the slavo-lrudo 
 ill the District of Columbia. 
 
 If sueh of Iheso several mcnaurcs ne> require 
 leffislation should bo carried out by suitable acts 
 of Coiifrress, all controversies to which our late 
 territorial ucnuisitioiie hiivo f;iven rise, and all 
 existing questious eonnecti^d with the institution 
 of Shivery, whether resultinj^ from those acquisi- 
 tions, or trom its existence in the Stales and the 
 District of Columbia, will be amicably settled 
 and adjusted, in a inanni-r, it is eoiitidently be- 
 lieved, to },nve {general satisfaction to an over- 
 whelmiutr majority of the people of the United 
 States. Con^'ress will have tuUilied its whole 
 duty in re^^ard to the vast country which, hav- 
 ing'been ceded by Mexico to the United States, 
 has fallen under" their dominion. It will have 
 extended to it protection, jirovided for its several 
 parts the inestimable blessinj^ of free and regular 
 govermnent, adapted to tlieir various wants, and 
 placed the whole under the banner and the fla^ 
 of the United States. Jleetinj; courageously its 
 clear and entire duty. Congress will escape the 
 unmerited reproach of liaving, from considera- 
 tions of doubtful policy, abandoned to an unde- 
 served fate territories of boundless extent, with a 
 sparse, incongruous, and alien, if not unfriendly 
 population, speaking dift'erent languages, and 
 accustomed to ditVerent laws, whilst that popula- 
 tion is making irresistible appeals to the new 
 sovereignty to which they have been transferred 
 for protection, for government, for law, and for 
 order. 
 
 The Committee have endeavored to present to 
 the Senate a comprehensive plan of adjustment, 
 ■which, removing all causes of existing excite- 
 ment and agitation, leaves none open to divide 
 the country and disturb the general harmony. 
 The nation has been greatly convulsed, not by 
 measures of general policy, but by questions of 
 a sectional character, and, therefore, more dan- 
 gerous, and more to be deprecated. It wants re- 
 pose. It loves and cherishes the Union. And it 
 IS most cheering and gratifying to witness the 
 outbursts of deep and abiding attachment t6 it, 
 which have been exhibited in all parts of it, 
 amidst all the trials through which we have pass- 
 ed, and are passing. A people so patriotic as 
 those of the United States, will rejoice in an ac- 
 commodation of all troubles and difliculties by 
 ■which the safety of that Union might have been 
 brought into the least danger. And, under the 
 blessing of that Providence who, amidst all vicis- 
 situdes, has never ceased to extend to tiiem His 
 protecting care, His smiles. His blessings, they 
 will continue to advance in population, power, 
 and prosperity, and work out triumphantly the 
 glorious problem of man's capacity for self-gov- 
 erunieut. 
 
 The Senate proceeded to debate from day to 
 day the provisions of the principal bill thus 
 reported, commonly termed " the Omnibus." 
 
 June 'iSth. — Mr. Soule of Louisiana moved 
 that all south of 30'^ 30' be cut otf from Cali- 
 fornia, and formed into a territory entitled 
 South California, and that said territory 
 
 " shall, when ready, able, and willing to bo- 
 come a State, and deserving to be such, be ad- 
 mitted with iir without Slavery, as the I)eo)do 
 thereof shall desire, and make known through 
 their Constitutiun.'' 
 
 This was rejected : Yeas I'J (ail Southern); 
 Nays :{(;. 
 
 Jn/i/ ] Otii. — Tiie discu,«si(in wit's int('rfui)ted 
 by tlie death of I'residciit Tuyior. Millard 
 Fillmore succeeded to the 1 'residency, and 
 William U. Kiiifif of Alai)ama was cliosea 
 President of the Senate, pro tempore. 
 
 Jnlij \\i(lt. — 'I'lu! bill was reported to the 
 Senate and amended so as to substitute " that 
 Coii<;re.ss shall make no law establishiiif; or 
 ])roliil)iting'' Slavery in the new territories, 
 instead of " in respect to" it. Yeas 27 ; 
 Nays 25. 
 
 Mr. Seward moved to add at the end of 
 the 37th section : 
 
 '• IJut neither Slavery nor involuntary servi- 
 tud(^ shall be allowed in either of tlu! Territiu'ies 
 of Kevv-Mexico or Utah, except on legal convic- 
 tion for crime." 
 
 Which was negatived ; Yeas and Nays not 
 taken. 
 
 July 11th. — The Senate resumed the con- 
 sideration of the •' Omnibus bill.'' 
 
 IMr. Benton moved a change in tlie pro- 
 posed boundary between Texas and New- 
 Mexico. Rejected : Yeas 18 ; Nays 3G. 
 
 Mr. Foote moved that the 34th iiarallel of 
 north latitude be the northern boundary 
 of Texas throughout. Lost : Yeas 20 ; 
 Nays 34. 
 
 July 19///. — Mr. King moved that the 
 parallel of 3.0'^ 30' be the southern boundary 
 of the State of California. Rejected : Yeas 
 20; Nays 37. 
 
 Mr. Davis of Mississippi moved 36° 30'. 
 Reijected : Yeas 23 ; Nays 32. 
 
 July 23d. — Mr. Turney of Tenn. moved 
 that the people of California be enabled to 
 form a new State Constitution. Lost : 
 Yeas 19 ; Nays 33. 
 
 Mr. Jeff. Davis of Mississippi moved to 
 add : 
 
 " And that all laws and usages existing in said 
 Territory, at the date of its acquisition by the 
 United States, which deny or obstruct the right 
 of any citizen of the United States to remove 
 to, and reside in, said Territory, with any species 
 of property legally held in any of the States of 
 this Union, be, and are hereby declared to bo, 
 null and void.' 
 
 This wasrt;jected : Yeas 22 ; Nays 33. 
 YEAS — For Davis's amendment : 
 
 Messrs. Atchison, Mo. 
 
 Barnwell, S. C. 
 Bell, Tenn. 
 Berrien, Ga. 
 Butler, S. C. 
 Clemens, Ala. 
 Davis. Jliss. 
 Dawstm, Ga. 
 Downs, La. 
 Houston, Texas, 
 Huuter, 'N'a. 
 
 King, Ala. 
 JIangum, N. C. 
 Mason, Va. 
 Jlorton, Fla. 
 Pratt. Md. 
 Kusk, Texas, 
 Sebastian, Ark. 
 Soule, La. 
 Tuniey, Tenn. 
 Underwood, Ky. 
 Yuiee. Flu.— 22. 
 
66 
 
 THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 
 
 NAYS — Asrainst Davis's amendment . 
 
 Messrs. Badger, N. C. 
 Baldmn, Conn. 
 Benton, Mo. 
 Bradbury, Me. 
 Bright, Ind. 
 Cass, Mich. 
 Chase, Ohio. 
 Clarke. R. I. 
 Clay, Ky. 
 Cooper, Pa. 
 Davis, Mass. 
 Dayton, N. J 
 Dickinson. N. 'i 
 Dodge, Wise. 
 Dodge, Iowa, 
 Felch, Mich. 
 
 Footc, Miss. 
 Greene, K. I. 
 Hale, N. H. 
 Hamlin, Me. 
 Jones, Iowa, 
 Miller, N. J. 
 Norris, N. H. 
 Pearce, Md. 
 Seward, N. Y. 
 Shields, 111. 
 Smith, Conn. 
 Spruance, Del. 
 Sturgeon, Pa. 
 Upham, Vt. 
 Wales, Del. 
 Walker, Wise. 
 
 Whitcomb, Ind. — 33. 
 
 Jidi/ 24M. — ]\[r. Rusk moved that the 
 Rio Grande del Norte be the western bound- 
 ary of Texas througliout, as defined in her 
 statute of limits. Rejected : Yeas 18 (all 
 Southern); Nays 34 (Douglas not voting). 
 
 Juhj 25th. — Mr, Hale moved that the true 
 boundary of Texas be ascertained and con- 
 formed to, without prejudice on account of 
 aD-^-thiug contained in this bill. Rejected : 
 Teas 23 ; Nays 30. 
 
 Mr. Benton moved an amendment intended 
 to exclude from Texas every portion of New- 
 Mexico. Rejected : Teas 16 ; Nays 38. 
 
 July 26th. — Mr. Seward moved that 
 New-Mexico be admitted as a State into 
 the Union. Rejected : Teas 1 (Seward) ; 
 Nays 42. 
 
 July 29?/;.— Mr. Dayton of N. J. moved 
 that the true northern boundary of Texas be 
 ascertained and settled by an amicable suit 
 before the Supreme Court. Rejected : Teas 
 18 ; Nays 34. 
 
 Mr. Mason of Virginia moved that the pro- 
 posed commissioners to settle the boundary 
 of Texas be authorized, in case the true legal 
 boundary be found impracticable, to agree on 
 and fix a convenient compromise boundary. 
 Lost, by a tie : Teas 29 ; Nays 29. 
 
 Mr. Turney moved that no pecuniary con- 
 sideration be given for any change from the 
 rightful boundary of Texas. Rejected : Teas 
 20 ; Nays 31. 
 
 July ^Qth. — Mr. Walker of Miss, moved 
 that this bill do lie on the table. Lost : 
 Teas 2.5 ; Nays 32. 
 
 Mr. Dawson of Ga. now moved the fol- 
 lowing additional section : 
 
 ._ " And be it further enacted, That, until such 
 time as the boundary line between the State of 
 Te.\as and the territory of the United States be 
 agreed to by the Legislature of the State of 
 Texiis and the government of the United States, 
 the Territorial government authorized by thi.s 
 act shall not go into operation ea.st of the Kio 
 Grande, nor shall any State be established for 
 New-Mexico, embracing any territory east of the 
 Rio Grande." 
 
 This prevailed by the following vote — 30 
 to 28— and gave the death-blow to the 
 "Omnibus Bill." 
 
 YEAS — For Dawson'' s amendment: 
 
 Messrs. Atchison, Houston, 
 
 Badger, Hunter, 
 
 Barnwell, Jones, 
 
 Bell, King, 
 
 Berrien, Mangura, 
 
 Butler, Mason, 
 
 Clay, Morton, 
 
 C'lemens, Phelps, 
 
 Cooper, Pratt, 
 
 Davis, Miss. Rusk, 
 
 Dawson, Sebastian, 
 
 Dickinson, Soule, 
 
 Dodge, Iowa, Sturgeon, 
 
 Downs, Turney, 
 
 Footer Yulee— 30. 
 
 NA YS — Against Dawson's amendment : 
 
 Messrs. Baldwin, Hamlin, 
 
 Benton, Miller, 
 
 Bradbury, Norris, 
 
 Bright, Pearce, 
 
 Chase, Seward, 
 
 Clarke, Shields, 
 
 Davis, Mass. Smith, 
 
 Dayton, Spruance, 
 
 Dodge of Wise. Underwood, 
 
 Douglas, Upham, 
 
 Ewing, Wales, 
 
 Felch, Walker, 
 
 Greene, Whitcomb, 
 
 Hale, Winthrop— 28. 
 
 Mr. Bradbury's amendment, thus amend- 
 ed, prevailed by a similar vote : Teas 30 ; 
 Nays 28. 
 
 [It provided for the appointment of com- 
 missioners to determine, in connection with 
 commissioners to be chosen by Texas, the 
 Northern boundary of that State.] 
 
 July 3\st. — Mr. Norris of N. H. moved 
 to strike from the bill the words, " nor estab- 
 lishing nor prohibiting African Slavery" 
 (which words deny to the Territorial Legis- 
 latures the power to establish or prohibit 
 Slavery) . Carried : Teas 32 ; Nays 20. 
 (Nays all Southern, but Ewing of Ohio and 
 Whitcomb of Ind. — Cass, Clay, Dayton, 
 Dickinson, Douglas, Seward, etc., in the 
 affirmative.) 
 
 Mr. Pearce of Md. now moved to strike 
 from the bill so much thereof as provides a 
 Territorial Government for New-Mexico, 
 and for settling the boundary between her 
 and Texas. Carried : Teas 33 (including 
 all the opponents of a compromise, whether 
 from the North or the South, and all those 
 averse to paying Texas ten millions of dol- 
 lars for relinquishing her pretensions to ab- 
 sorb New-Mexico, with some who would 
 not vote in this conjunction ibr the portions 
 of "the Omnibus" severally disapproved of ;) 
 Nays 22 : 
 
 YEAS — For breaking up "the Omnibus" : 
 
 Messrs. Baldwin, Hunter, 
 
 Barnwell, Mason, 
 
 Benton, Miller, 
 
 Berrien, Morton, 
 
 Butler, Pearce, 
 
 Chase, Phelps, 
 
 Clarke, Seward, 
 
 Davis, Mass. Shields, 
 
 Davis, Miss. Smith, 
 
THE COMPROMISE OF 1850. 
 
 67 
 
 Daylon, 
 
 
 Soldo, 
 
 Dodpo, Wise. 
 
 Tiirnoy, 
 
 Doiitflns, 
 
 
 Uixlcrwood , 
 
 Ewiiifj, 
 
 
 l'i)liftni, 
 
 (Jrtcno, 
 
 
 Wiiles, 
 
 lliilo, 
 
 
 Wiilitcr, 
 
 Ilainlin, 
 
 
 Wiuthrop, 
 
 
 Yuleo— 33. 
 
 JV J YS^Against 
 
 breaking up " 
 
 
 nib us 
 
 " ; 
 
 Messrs. Atchison, 
 
 
 Houston, 
 
 15(i(lt,'er, 
 
 
 Jon<*, 
 
 lilifrht, 
 
 
 Kinfj, 
 
 t'llHS, 
 
 
 Mim^iim, 
 
 Clay, 
 
 
 N orris, 
 
 demons, 
 
 
 Priilt, 
 
 Diuvson, 
 
 
 Husk, 
 
 Dickinson 
 
 , 
 
 Sebiistian, 
 
 Doil^c of Iowa, Si)ruance, 
 Downs, Stnrfioon, 
 
 Poote, Whiiconib — 22. 
 
 Mr. Pearce moved a substitute for the 
 sections so stricken out. 
 
 Mr. Ilale moved that the bill be postponed 
 indefinitely. Negatived : Yeas 27 ; Nays 32. 
 
 Mr. Douglas moved an amendment to Mr. 
 Pearce 's substitute, providing that the Ter- 
 ritorial Government thereby provided for 
 New-Mexico shall not go into operation 
 until the boundary of Texas be adjusted. 
 Lost : Yeas 24 ; Nays 33. 
 
 Mr. Turney of Tenn. moved that the bill 
 be iudefiuitely postponed. Lost : Yeas 29 ; 
 Nays 30. 
 
 Mr. Underwood of Ky. moved to strike 
 out so much of Mr. Pearce 's substitute as 
 postponed the organization of a Territorial 
 Government in New-Mexico to the 4th of 
 March ensuing. Lost: Yeas 25; Nays 32. 
 
 Mr. Yulee moved to strike out so much 
 of said substitute as provided for the ap- 
 pointment of commissioners to settle the 
 boundary between Texas and New-Mexico, 
 and with it the section just struck at by 
 Mr. Underwood. Carried : Yeas 29 ; 
 Nays 28. 
 
 ^Ir. Chase now moved that the bill be 
 postponed indefinitely : Lost ; Yeas 28 ; 
 Nays 29. 
 
 The Senate now refused to adopt Mr. 
 Pearce's substitute as amended : Yeas 25 ; 
 Nays 28. 
 
 Mr. Davis of Miss, moved a new boundary 
 line for Utah, which was rejected : Yeas 22 ; 
 Nays 34. 
 
 Mr. Walker moved to strike out all that 
 remained of the bill except so much as pro- 
 vides for the admission of California : Lost; 
 Yeas 22 ; Nays 33. 
 
 Mr. Phelps of Vt. moved the indefinite 
 postponement of the bill : Lost : Yeas 28 ; 
 Nays 30. 
 
 Mr. Atchison of Mo. moved to strike 
 out so much of the bill as relates to Califor- 
 nia : Li>Kt by a tie ; Yeas 29 ; Nays 29. 
 
 Mr. Winthrop of Mass. moved a recon- 
 sideration of this vote: Carried ; Yea£ 33; 
 Nays 26. 
 
 Mr. Clemens (tf Alabama moved that the 
 bill Ik- i)ost|)()nui to the next session : LoKt ; 
 Yeas 25 ; Nays 30. 
 
 Mr. Atclii.son's rcK-oiwidercd motion, to 
 strike California out of tiie bill, now pre- 
 vailed : Yeius 31 ; Naj-s 25. 
 
 The bill l)ciiig now rnliiccd so a.s to pro- 
 vide merely for tin; org:uiiziiti(m of the Ter- 
 tory of Utah, Mr. J>ougla« proposed to 
 amend so aa to make its southern boundurv' 
 the parallel of 3G"^ 30' instuul of 38*^ north 
 latitude : LoBt ; Yeas 2G ; (all Southern 
 but Dickiason of N. Y. and Donghis of 
 111.) Navs 27 ; (all Northern but Spruance 
 and Wales of Delaware — Mr. Clay not pres- 
 ent). 
 
 After some further attempts to amend, 
 adjourn, etc., the lull, providing only for the 
 organization of the Territory of Utah, was 
 passed to its third reading : Yea.s 32 ; Nays 
 18. [Nays all Northern but Bell of Ten- 
 nessee.] 
 
 Aug. 1st. — Said bill passed its third read- 
 ing without a division. 
 
 Mr. Douglas now called up the original 
 bill providing for the admission of Califor- 
 nia, which was again made a six'cial 
 order. 
 
 Aug. 2nd. — Mr. Foote of Miss, again 
 moved "that the line of 3G° 30' be the 
 southern boundary of said State: Lost; 
 Yeas 23 (all Southern) ; Nays 33. 
 
 Aug. Gill. — Mr. Turney move<l " that the 
 line of 3G" 30', commonly known as the Mis- 
 souri Compromise line, be, and the same 
 hereby is, extended to the Pacific ocean." 
 He proposed to admit California with one 
 representative, on her assent, by convention, 
 to this boundary ; rejected : Yeas 24 (all 
 Southern); Nays, 32 (including Benton, Ln- 
 derwood, Walker, Spruance, and Wales, 
 from Slave States ; the rest Northern). 
 
 Various motions to adjourn, postpone, etc., 
 were now made and voted down ; finally, 
 the Senate was, by the withdrawal of South- 
 ern Members, left without a quorum, and 
 adjourned. 
 
 Aug. "ith. — The game of moving to post- 
 pone, adjourn, etc., consumed all this day 
 also. 
 
 Meantime (August 5th), Mr. Pearce of 
 Md. had introduced a bill to settle the 
 Northern and Western boundaries of Texas, 
 (a part of the old overturned " Omnil)u,«,") 
 which was also sent to the Committee of 
 the Whole. 
 
 Aug. Gth. — President Fillmore sent ^ 
 Message announcing that Gov. Bell of Texas 
 had notified the (lovernmont of his deter- 
 mination to extend the authority and juris- 
 diction of Texas over all New->Iexico cast 
 of the Rio Grande. Tlie President consid- 
 ers himself bound to resist this pretension 
 — if neccBsary. by force — does not believe 
 anytliing would be effected by commission- 
 cia to adjust the boundary, as the facts in 
 
C8 
 
 THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 
 
 the case are already generally understood, 
 but intimates that — 
 
 " The Govenmient of the Uuited States would 
 be justitied, hi my opiniou, in allowhigaii indeiii- 
 iiity to TexaiS, not iinroasonnble or cxtravafjaiit, 
 but fair, liberal, and awarded in a just spirit of 
 accomuiodatioii." 
 
 He urges Congress not to adjourn without 
 settling this boundary question, and says : 
 
 " I think no event would be hailed with more 
 gratitieation by the people of the United States 
 than the amicable adjustment of questions of 
 difficulty which have now for a long time agi- 
 tated the country, and occupied, to the exclusion 
 of other subjects, the time and attention of Con- 
 gress." 
 
 The Texas boundary bill being now put 
 ahead of the bill admitting California, Mr. 
 Dayton moved (Aug. 8th), that Texas be 
 required to cede her public lands to the 
 United States in consideration of the pay- 
 ment to her of Si 0,000,000 herein given her 
 for the relinquishment of her claim to New- 
 Mexico. After the United States shall 
 have been repaid the .flO, 000,000 out of 
 the proceeds of these lands, the residue to 
 revert to Texas : Rejected ; Yeas 17 (all 
 Northern) ; Nays 32. 
 
 Aug. 9th. — Mr. Underwood moved that 
 the Northern boundary of Texas run due 
 east from a point on the Eio Grande, twen- 
 ty miles above El Paso, to the Red River 
 of Louisiana : Rejected ; Yeas 24 ; (all 
 Northern, but Wales, Spruance, and Under- 
 wood ;) Nays 2.5. 
 
 Mr. Mason of Va. moved the giving up 
 to Texas of all New-Mexico east of the Rio 
 Grande : Lost : Yeas 14 ; Nays 37. 
 
 IVIr. Sebastian moved that the (J*lew- 
 Mexican) Territory, surrendered by Texas in 
 pursuance of the provisions of this bill, shall 
 be admitted in due time as a State, with or 
 ■without Slavery, as its people may deter- 
 mine : Rejected: Yeas 19 ; (all Southern but 
 Dodge of Iowa ;) Nays 29 — (including Bad- 
 ger of N. C, Cass and Dickinson — Clay 
 absent — Douglas, who voted just before and 
 just after, did not vote on this.) 
 
 The bill was now engrossed : Yeas 27 ; 
 Nays 24 ; and finally passed : Yeas 30 ; 
 Nays 20. 
 
 Aug. 10th. — The California bill was now 
 taken up. Mr. Yulee of Fla. moved a sub- 
 stitute, remanding California to a territorial 
 condition, and limiting her southern bound- 
 ary : Rejected ; Yeas 12 (all Southern) ; 
 Nays 35. 
 
 Mr. Foote moved a like project, cutting 
 off so much of California as lies south of 
 3G deg. 30 min., and erecting it into the 
 territory of Colorado : Rejected ; Yeas 13 
 (ultra Southern) ; Nays 29. 
 
 Aug. 12th. — Still another proposition to 
 limit California southwardly, by the line of 
 3G deg. 30 min., was made by Mr. Turney, 
 and rejected : Yeas 20 (all Southern); Nays 
 30. After defeating Southern motions to 
 
 adjourn, postpone, and lay on the table, the 
 bill M'as engrossed for a third reading : 
 Yeas 33 ; (all the Senators from Free States, 
 with Bell, Benton, Houston, Spruance, 
 Wales and Underwood;) Nays 19; (all 
 from Slave States. Mr. Clay still absent — 
 endeavoring to restore his failing health.) 
 
 Aug. I'Sth. — The California bill passed 
 its third reading : Yeas 34 ; Nays 18 ; (all 
 Southern.) 
 
 Aug. lith. — The Senate now took up the 
 bill organizing the Territories of New- 
 Mexico and Utah, (as it was originally re- 
 ported, prior to its inclusion in Mr. Clay's 
 " Omnibus.") 
 
 Mr. Chase of Ohio moved to amend the 
 bill by inserting : 
 
 " Nor shall there be in said Territory either 
 Slavery or involuntary ser\'itude, otherwise than 
 in the punishment of crimes whereof the party 
 shall have been duly convicted to have been 
 personally guilty." 
 
 Which was rejected : Yeas 20 ; Nays 25. 
 
 YEAS— For Prohibiting Slavery : 
 
 Messrs. Baldwin, Hamlin, 
 
 Bradbury, Miller, 
 
 Bright, Norris, 
 
 Chase, Phelps, 
 
 Cooper, Shields, 
 
 Davis, of Mass. Smith, 
 
 Dodge, of Wise. Upham, 
 
 Felch, Walker, 
 
 Greene, Whitcomb, 
 
 Hale, Wiuthrop— 20. 
 
 NAYS — Against Prohibiting Slavery: 
 
 Messrs. Atchison, Hunter, 
 
 Badger, Jones, 
 
 Bell, Kiugi 
 
 Benton, Mangum, 
 
 Berrien, Mason, 
 
 Cass, Morton, 
 
 Davis of Miss. Pratt, 
 
 Dawson, Rusk, 
 
 Dodge of Iowa, Sebastian, 
 
 Downs, Soule, 
 
 Foote, Sturgeon, 
 
 Houston, Underwood, 
 Yates— 25. 
 
 The bill was then reported complete, and 
 passed to be engrossed. 
 
 Aug. Ibtfi. — Said bill had its third read- 
 ing, and was finally passed : Yeas 27 ; 
 Nays 1 0. 
 
 [The Senate proceeded to take up, con- 
 sider, mature, and pass the Fugitive Slave 
 bill, and the bill excluding the Slave-Trade 
 from the District of Columbia ; but the 
 history of these is but remotely connected 
 with our theme.] We return to the House. 
 
 Aug. 19th — The several bills which we 
 have been watching on their tedious and 
 dubious course through the Senate, having 
 reached the House, Mr. William J. Brown 
 of Ind. moved that they be taken off the 
 Speaker's table, and made the special order 
 for to-morrow : Defeated ; Yeas 87 ; Nays 
 98. 
 
THE COMPROMISE OF 18;J0. 
 
 69 
 
 Mr. Asliiiiun of Mass. made a similar I 
 motion, wliich was likewise beaten : Yeas ] 
 94 ; Nays 'J-1. 
 
 An;j;. 28///. — The California bill was takfu 
 up, read twice, and committed. 
 
 The Texas bill cominjif up, Mr. Inj^e of 
 Ala. objcetetl to it, and a vote wa.s taken on 
 its rejection : Yeas 34 ; Nays 1C8 ; so it 
 was not rejected. 
 
 Mr. Boyd of Ky. moved to amend it so 
 as to create and define thereby the territo- 
 ries of New-Mexico and Utah, to be slave- 
 hoMiiifiT or not as their people sliuU deter- 
 mine when they shall come to form State 
 gdvernnients. [In other words, to apjjcnd 
 the bill or<ranizing tlie territory of New- 
 Mexico to the Texas bill.] 
 
 Mr. Meade of Va. raised the qvicstion of 
 order ; but the Speaker ruled the amend- 
 ment in order, and his rulinp: was sustained 
 by the House : Yeas 122 ; Nays 84. 
 
 ^!(^. 29//(. — The Texas bill was taken 
 up. Mr. Clingman of N. C. moved to 
 amend so as to limit California by the line 
 of 30 deg-. 30 miu., and establish the Terri- 
 tory of Colorado. 
 
 The Speaker ruled this amendment in or- 
 der, and the House sustained him — 122 to 
 07.' 
 
 Mr. McCleruand of 111. moved the bill to 
 the Committee of the Whole, to which Mr. 
 Root of Ohio moved to add instructions, to 
 exclude Slavery from all the Territory 
 acquired from Mexico, east of California 
 (which had already taken care of itself). 
 
 Sept. 2nd. — This bill was, by a two-third 
 vote, made a special order henceforth. 
 
 Sept. 3rd. — Mr. McClernand withdrew 
 his motion, (and Mr. Root's fell with it). 
 
 Sept. 4tk.—Mi: R. M. McLane called the 
 Previous Question, which was seconded, and 
 the main question ordered. — Yeas 133 ; Nays 
 68. 
 
 The bill was then committed ; Yeas 101 ; 
 Nays 99. 
 
 Mr. Walden of N. Y. moved a reconsider- 
 ation. 
 
 Mr. Root moved that this do lie on the 
 table : Yeas 103 ; Nays 103. The Speaker 
 voted Nay ; so the motion was not laid on 
 the table. 
 
 The motion to reconsider prevailed : Yea.s 
 104; Nays 101. The House then refused 
 to commit : Yeas 101 ; Nays 103. 
 
 Mr. Clingman's amendment, creating the 
 Territory of Colorado out of Southern Cali- 
 fornia and Utah, was now defeated : Yeas 
 69 ; Nays 130. 
 
 Mr. Boyd's amendment was then beaten : 
 Yeas 98; Nays 106. 
 
 Mr. Boyd moved a reconsideration, which 
 prevailed : Yeas 131 ; Nays 7.5. 
 
 Mr. Wentworth of 111. moved to commit 
 the bill, with instructions to provide for the 
 exclusion of Slavery from all the territory 
 ceded by Mexico : Lost : Yeas 80 ; Nays 119. 
 
 Mr. Tondis of Ca. having moved, a.s an 
 amendment to .Mr. 15oyd's, that the Consti- 
 tution of the United States and such statutes 
 thereof as may not be locally inapplicable, 
 and the connnon law as it existed on the 
 4th of July, 1770, should be the exclusive 
 laws of said territory, until alleriHl by tiic 
 ])roper authority, it was vutcd down : 
 Yeas Gr> ; Nays 132. 
 
 Mr. Boyd's amendment prevailed : Yeas 
 
 107 ; Nays 99. 
 
 Tlie question was now taken on the en- 
 grossment of the bill, and it was defeated: 
 Yeas 99 ; Nays 107. 
 
 Mr. Howard of Texas moved a recon- 
 sideration. 
 
 'I'he Speaker decided it out of order, the 
 bill having already ijeen once reconsidered. 
 
 Mr. Howard appealed, and the House 
 ov(M-ruled the Speaker's decision : Yeas (to 
 sustain) 82 ; Nays 124. 
 
 The vote rejecting the bill was recon- 
 sidered : Yeas 122 ; Nays 84. 
 
 Mr. Howard again moved the Previous 
 Question, which was seconded, and the Main 
 Question ordered: Yeas 11.5; Nays 97; 
 and the bill was ordered to a third reading : 
 Yeas 108 ; Nays 98. It was then passed 
 (us amended on motion of Mr. Boyd) : Yeas 
 
 108 ; Nays 97. 
 
 Sept. 1th. — The California bill now came 
 up. Mr. Boyd moved his amendment al- 
 ready moved to the Texas bill. Mr. Vinton 
 of Ohio declared it out of order. The Speak- 
 er aijain ruled it in order. Mr. Vinton ap- 
 pealed, and the House overruled the Speaker : 
 Yeas (to sustain) 87 ; Nays 115. 
 
 Mr. Jacob Thompson of Miss, moved to 
 cut off from California all below 36" 30' : 
 Rejected : Yeas 76 : Nays 131. 
 
 The bill was now ordered to a third read- 
 ing : Yeas 151 ; Nays 57, and then passed : 
 Yeas 150 ; Nays 56 (all Southern). 
 
 The Senate bill organizing the Territory 
 of Utah (without restriction as to Slavery) 
 was then taken up, and rushed through the 
 same day : Yeas 97 ; Nays 85. ['I'he Nays 
 were mainly Northern Free Soil men ; but 
 some Southern men, for a different reason, 
 voted with them.] 
 
 Sept. 9th. — The House having returned 
 the Texas Boundary bill, with an amend- 
 ment (Linn Boyd's), including the bill or- 
 ganizing the Territory of New-Mexico 
 therein, the Senate proceeded to consider 
 and agree to the same : Yeas 31 ; Nays 
 10, namely : 
 
 Messrs. Baldwin, Conn. Ewing, Ohio, 
 Benton. Mo. Hamlm, Me. 
 
 Cliaso, Ohio, Seward, N. Y. 
 
 D.'ivis, Mnss. Uiihain, Vt. 
 
 Dodge, Wise. Wiuthrop, Mass. 
 
 So all the bills originally included in Mr. 
 Clay's " Omnibus" were passed — two of 
 them in the same bill — after the Senate bad 
 once voted to sever them. 
 
70 
 
 THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 
 
 These acts are substantially as follows : 
 
 ADMISSION CF CALIFORNIA. 
 
 An Act for the admission of the State of California 
 into the Union. 
 
 Whereas, the people of California Lave pre- 
 sented a Constitutiou and asked admission into 
 the Union, which constitution was submitted to 
 Congress by the President of the United States, 
 by message, dated February 13th, 1850, which, 
 on due examination, is found to be republican in 
 its form of government — 
 
 Jie it enacted by the Senate a7id House of Rep 
 rc.-iciUativcs of the United States of America 
 in Congress assembled. That the State of Cali- 
 fornia shall bo one, and is hereby declared to be 
 one, of the United States of America, and ad- 
 mitted into the Union on an equal footing with 
 the original States, in all respects whatever. 
 
 Sec. '2. And be it further enacted. That until 
 the Representatives in Congress shall be appor- 
 tioned according to an actual enumeration of the 
 inhabitants of the United States, the State of 
 California shall be entitled to two representatives 
 in Congress. 
 
 Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That the 
 eaid State of California is admitted into the 
 Union upon the express condition that the people 
 of said State, through their legislature or other 
 ■wise, shall never interfere with the primary dis- 
 posal of the public lands within its limits, and 
 shall pass no law, and do no act, whereby the title 
 of the United States to, and right to dispose of, 
 the same, shall be impaired or questioned ; and 
 they shall never lay any tax or assessment of any 
 description whatsoever on the public domain 
 of the United States ; and in no case shall 
 non-resident proprietors, who are citizens of 
 the United States, be taxed higher than resi- 
 dents ; and that all the navigable waters within 
 the said State shall be common higliways, and 
 for ever free, as well to the inhabitants of 
 said State as to the citizens of the United States, 
 without any tax, duty, or impost therefor: 
 Provided, that nothing herein contained shall 
 te construed as recognizing or rejecting the 
 propositions tendered by tlie people of Cali- 
 fornia as articles of compact in the ordinance 
 adopted by the Convention which formed the 
 constitution of that State. 
 
 Approved, Sept. 9, 1850. 
 
 THE TEXAS BOUNDARY. 
 
 An Act propo.sing to the State of Texas the establish- 
 ment of her Northern and Western Boundaries, the 
 relinquishment by the said State of all territory 
 claimed by her exterior to said boundaries, and of 
 all her claims upon the United States, and to estab- 
 lish a Teiritorial Uovernmeut for New-Mexico. 
 
 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Rep- 
 resentatives of die United States of America 
 in Congress assembled , that the following propo- 
 sitions shall be, and the same hereby are, offered 
 to the State of Texas ; which, when agreed to by 
 the said State, in an act passed by tlie General 
 Assembly, shall be binding and obligatory upon 
 the United States, and upon the said State of 
 Texas : Provided, Tliat said agreement by the 
 said General Assembly shall be given on or be- 
 fore the first day of December, eighteen hundred 
 and fifty. 
 
 Fi rst. — The State of Texas will agree that her 
 boundary on the North shall commence at the 
 point at which the meridian of one hundred de- 
 grees west from Greenwich is intersected by the 
 parallel of thirty-six degrees, and thirty minutes 
 north latitude, and shall run from said point due 
 West to the nunidiau of one hundred and three 
 degrees west from Greenwich ; hence her bound- 
 ary shall run due south to the thirty second de- 
 gree of north latitude ; thence on the said parallel 
 
 of thirty-two degrees of north latitude to the Rio 
 IJravo del Norte ; and thence with the channel of 
 said river to the (Jnlf of Mexico. 
 
 Second.— 'Vhe Slate of Texas cedes to the 
 United States all her claims to territories exte- 
 rior to the limits and boundaries, which she 
 agrees to establish by the first article of this 
 agreement. 
 
 Third. — The State of Texas relinquishes all 
 claim upon the United States for liability for the 
 debts of Texas, and for compensation or indem- 
 nity for the surrender to the United States of her 
 ships, forts, arsenals, custom houses, custom- 
 house revenue, arms and munitions of war, and 
 public buildings, with their sites, which bec^ame 
 the property of the United States at the time of 
 the Annexation. 
 
 Fourth. — The United States, in consideration 
 of said establishment of boundaries, cession of 
 claims to territory, and relinquishment of claims, 
 will pay to the State of Texas the sum of ten 
 millions of dollars, in a stock bearing five per 
 cent, interest, and redeemable at the end of four- 
 teen years, the interest payable half-yearly at the 
 Treasury of the United States. 
 
 Ffth. — Immediately after the President of the 
 United States shall have been furnished with an 
 authentic copy of the act of the general assembly 
 of Texas, accepting these propositions, he shall 
 cause the stock to be issued in favor of the State 
 of Texas, as provided for in the fourth article of 
 this agreement. 
 
 Provided also, That no more than five millions 
 of said stock shall be issued until the creditors of 
 the State, holding bonds and other certificates 
 of stock of Texas, for which duties on imports 
 were specially pledged, shall first file, at the 
 treasury of the United States, releases of all claims 
 against the United States for or on account of 
 said bonds or certificates, in such form as shall 
 be prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury, 
 and approved by the President of the United 
 States. 
 
 ORGANIZATION OF NEW-MEXICO. 
 
 The second section of this act enacts, that all 
 that portion of the territory of the United States, 
 bounded as follows, to wit: beginning at a point 
 on the Colorado river where the boundary line 
 of the republic of Mexico crosses the same ; thence 
 eastwardly with the said boundary line to the 
 Rio Grande ; thence following the main channel 
 of said river to the parallel of the thirty- 
 second degree of north latitude; thence eastwardly 
 with said degree to its intersection with the one 
 hundred and third degree of longitude west from 
 Greenwich; thence north with said degree of 
 longitude to the parallel of the thirty eighth de- 
 gree of north latitude ; thence west with said 
 parallel to the summit of the Sierra Madre ; 
 thence south with the crest of said mountains to 
 the thirty-seventh parallel of north latitude ; 
 thence west with the said parallel to its intersec- 
 tion with the boundary line of the State of Cali- 
 fornia ; thence with the said boundary line to the 
 place of beginning, be, and the same is hereby, 
 erected into a temporary government by the 
 name of the Territory of New-Mexico ; Provided, 
 That nothing in this act contained shall be con- 
 strued to inhibit the Government of the United 
 States from dividing said Territory into two or 
 more territories, in such manner and at such 
 times as Congress shall deem convenient and 
 proper, or from attaching any portion thereof to 
 any other Territory or State; Provided further, 
 That when admitted as a State, the said Territory, 
 or any portion of the same, shall be received into 
 the (Jnion, with or without Slavery, as their 
 Constitution may prescribe at the time of their 
 admission. 
 
 The eighteenth section enacts, that the pro- 
 
THE KANSAS-NEBRASKA STRUGGLE. 
 
 71 
 
 visions of this act be Ruspcndcd uiifil the bound- 
 nry between the United Stntea nnd Iho Stiito of 
 Texas kIimII lie iidjimti'd, and wlieii pueli adjust. 
 ment shall have Uvi\ etfected, tlie President of 
 the United Mates sliall issue liis pmclaniation 
 deehiiins lliis aet to be in lull force and opera 
 tion. and shall proeeed to appoint the ..theers 
 herein provided to bo nppoiuted tor the said 
 Territory. 
 
 Approved 8i'|it. 9, 1860. 
 
 ORGANIZATION OF UTAH. 
 
 An Act to cstablibh a Territorial Government for 
 Utah. 
 Be it enacted bu the Senate and House "f Re- 
 presentatives of the United States of America in 
 Conisress asscmb/cd. That all that part of the 
 Territory of the United .States ineluded within 
 (he following; limits, to wit ; bounded on Iho west 
 by the State of California, on the north by the 
 Territory of Oretjon, on the east by the sunmiit 
 of the Hoeky Mountains, and on tlie south by the 
 tliirtyseventh parallel of north latitude, be, and 
 the "same is hereby, created into a temporary 
 government, by the name of the Territory of 
 Utah ; and, when admitted as a State, the said 
 Territory, or any portion of the same, shall be 
 received' into the Union, witli or without Slave- 
 ry, as Uieir constitution may prescribe at the 
 time of their admission : Provided, That nothing 
 in this aet contained shall be construed to pro- 
 hibit the govermnent of the United States from 
 dividing said Territory into two or more territo- 
 ries, in such manner and nt such time as Con- 
 gress shall deem convenient and proper, or from 
 attaching any portion of said Territory to any 
 other State or Territory of the United States. 
 
 [The act proceeds to provide for the appoint- 
 ment of a territorial governor, secretary, mar- 
 shal, judges, etc., etc., and for the election of a 
 couiieil of thirteen, and a house of representatives 
 of tweuty-si.x members ; also for a delegate in 
 Congress. All recognized citizens to be voters.] 
 The governor shall receive an annual salary ot 
 fifteen hundred dollars as governor, and one 
 thousand dollars us superintendent of Indian 
 aftairs. The chief justice and associate justices 
 shall each receive an annual salary of eighteen 
 hundred dollars. The secretary shall receive an 
 annual salary of eighteen hundred dollars. The 
 said salaries shall be paid quarter-yearly, at the 
 Treasury of the United States. The members of 
 the legislative assembly shall be entitled to re- 
 ceive eacli three dollars per day during their at- 
 tendance at the sessions thereof, and three dol- 
 lars each for every twenty miles' travel in going 
 to and returning from said sessions, estimated 
 according to the nearest usually traveled route. 
 Sec. t^ And be it further enacted , That the le- 
 gislative power of said Territory shall extend to 
 all rightful subjects of legislation, consistent 
 •with the Constitution of the United States and 
 the provisions of this act ; but no law shall be 
 passed interfering with the primary disposal of 
 tlie soil ; no tax shall be imjjosed upon the pro- 
 perty of tlie United States; nor shall the lands 
 or other property of non-residents be taxed 
 higher than the lands or other property of resi- 
 dents. All the laws passed by the legislative as- 
 sembly and Governor shall be submitted to the 
 Congress of the United States, and, if disap- 
 proved, shall be null and of uo effect. 
 
 Sec. 17. And be it furtlwr enacted, That the 
 Constitution and laws of the United States are 
 hereby extended over, and declared to be in 
 force in, said Territory of Utah, so far as the 
 same, or any provision tliereof, may be applica- 
 ble. 
 Approved Sept. 9, 1850. 
 
 [We have omitted several matter ofcoursc pro- 
 viaions.] 
 
 XIV. 
 
 TIIK KANSAS-NKUIIASKA STttl'GGI.E. 
 
 Oi'T of tli(! Ixmi.-^iiuui 'I'tTritory, siiioe the 
 iidinis.si()ii lirst of Louisiana and tlit'ii of .Mi.'^- 
 souri an Slave 8tatc.><, there had Ixvn foriiKMl 
 the Territories of Arkaii.'^a.'^, Iowa, and Miii- 
 iiosola ; tlie finst without. atid the two otln-rs 
 willi. Congressional iiiliiWition of Slavery. 
 Arkansas, in due eour.se, lieeaine a Slave, 
 and Iowa a Free, State ; Minnesota was and 
 is foUowiiifj surely in the track of Iowa. The 
 destiny of one tier of States, frontinu- ui)oii, 
 and westward of, the Missis-siiipi, was thus 
 settled. What should be the late of the 
 ne.\t tier ? 
 
 The rei^ion lying immediately westward of 
 Missouri, with much territory north, as well 
 as a more elearly defined distriet south of 
 it, was lonfj since dedicated to the uses of 
 the Aboriii-ines — not merely tho.se who had 
 originally iiihal)ited it, but the tribes from 
 time to time removed from the State.-! east- 
 ward of the Mississippi. Very little, if any, 
 of it was legally open to settlement by 
 Whites; and, with the exception of the few 
 and small military and trading posts thinly 
 scattered over its surface, it is probable that 
 scarcely two hundred white families were 
 located in the spacious wilderness bounded 
 by Missouri, Iowa, and Minnesota on the 
 east, the British pos.sessions on the north, 
 the crest of the Rocky Mountains on the 
 west, and the settled portion of New-Mexico 
 and the line of .36^ 30' on the south, at the 
 time wlien Mr. Douglas first, at the session 
 of 1852-3, submitted a bill organizing the 
 Territory of Nkbra.ska, by which title the 
 region above bounded had come to be vague- 
 ly indicated. 
 
 This region was indisputably included 
 within the scope of the exclusion of Slavery 
 from all Federal territory north of M^ 30', 
 to which the South had assented by the 
 terms of the Missouri compact, in order 
 thereby to secure the admission of Missouri 
 as a Slave State. Nor was it once inti- 
 mated, during the long, earnest, and search- 
 ing debate in the Senate on the Compromise 
 measures of 1850, that tht adoption of those 
 measures, whether together or separately, 
 would involve or imply a repeal of the Mis- 
 souri Restriction. Wc have seen in our last 
 chapter how ]SIr. Clay's original suggestion 
 of a compromi.se, which wtus substantially 
 that ultimately adopted, was received by the 
 Southern Senators who spoke on its intro- 
 duction, with hardly a qualification, as a vir- 
 tual surrender of all that the South had ever 
 claimed with respect to the new territories. 
 And, from the beginning to the close of the 
 long and able discu.ssion which followed, 
 neither friend nor foe of the Compromises, 
 nor of any of them, hinted that one effect of 
 their adoption would be the lifting of the 
 Missouri restriction from the territory now 
 
72 
 
 THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 
 
 covered by it. When the Compromises of 
 1850 were accepted in 1852 by the Na- 
 tional Conventions of the two great parties, 
 as a settlement of the distracting contro- 
 versy therein contemplated, no hint was 
 added that the Nebraska region was opened 
 thereby to Slavery. 
 
 Several petitions for the organization of 
 a Territory westward of Missouri and Iowa 
 were presented at the session of 1851-2, but 
 no decisive action taken thereon until the 
 next session, when, 
 
 Dec. 13^/(.— Mr. W. P. Hall of Mo., pur- 
 suant to notice, submitted to the House a 
 bill to organize the Territory of Platte, 
 •which was read twice, and sent to the Com- 
 mittee on Territories. From that Com- 
 mittee, 
 
 Feb. 2d, 1853.— Mr. W. A. Riclmrdson of 
 111. reported a bill to organize the Territory 
 of Nebraska, which was read twice and 
 committed. 
 
 Feb. 'Jth. — The bill was ordered to be 
 taken out of Committee, on motion of W. 
 P. Hall. 
 
 Feb. 10th. — The bill was reported from 
 the Committee of the Whole to the House, 
 with a recommendation that it do not pass. 
 
 Mr. Richardson moved the previous ques- 
 tion, which prevailed. 
 
 Mr. Letcher of Va. moved that the bill do 
 lie on tlie table : Lost ; Yeas 49 (mainly 
 Southern) ; Nays 107. 
 
 The bill was then engrossed, read a third 
 time, and passed ; Yeas 98 ; Nays 43, (as 
 before), 
 
 Feb. llth. — The bill reached the Senate 
 and was referred to the Committee on Terri- 
 tories. 
 
 Feb. 11th.— Mr. Douglas reported it with- 
 out amendment. 
 
 March 2nd. — (Last day but one of the 
 session), Mr. Douglas moved that the bill be 
 taken up : Lost : Yeas 20 ; (all Northern 
 but Atchison and Geyer of Mo.) ; Nays 25 ; 
 (21 Southern, 4 Northern). 
 
 March 3 )•(/.— ]\lr. Douglas again moved 
 that the bill be talien up. 
 
 Mr. Borland of Ark. moved that it do lie 
 on the table : Carried : Yeas 23 ; (all South- 
 ern but 4;) Nays 17; (all Northern but 
 Atchison and Geyer). So the bill was put 
 to sleep for the session. 
 
 On the motion to take up — Mr. Rusk of 
 Texas objecting— Mr. Atchison said : 
 
 " I must ask the indulgence of tlie Senate to 
 say one word in relation to this matter. Perhaps 
 there is not a Stale in the Union more deeply in 
 tcrcsted in this question than the State of Mis- 
 Eouri. If not the largest, I will say the best, 
 jyortion of that Territory, perhaps tHfe only por- 
 tion of it that in half a century will become a 
 State, lies immediately west of the State of Mis- 
 souri. It is only a question of time, whether 
 we will organize the territory at this scssiou of 
 Congress, or whether wc will do it at the uext 
 
 session; and, for my own part, I acknowledge 
 now that, as the Senator from Illinois well knows, 
 when I came to this city, at the beginning of the 
 last session, 1 was perhaps as much opposed to 
 the proposition, as the Senator from Texas now 
 is. The Senator from Iowa knows it ; and it wan 
 for rea.fons ivhich I will not now mention or snff- 
 prest. But, sir, I have from reflection and inves- 
 tigation in my own mind, and from the opinions 
 of others — my constituents, whose opinions I am 
 bound to respect — come to the conclusion that 
 now is the time for the organization of thi^ Ter- 
 ritory. It is the most propitious time. The trea- 
 ties with the various Indian tribes, the titles to 
 whose possessions must be extinguished, can 
 better be made now than at any future time ; for, 
 as the question is agitated, and as it is under- 
 stood, white men, speculators, will interpose, and 
 interfere, and the longer it is postpoiK'd the more 
 we will have to fear from them, and the more diffi- 
 cult it will be to extinguish the Indian title in that 
 country, and the harder the terms to be imposed. 
 Therefore, Mr. President, for this reason, without 
 going into detail, I am willing now that the ques- 
 tion shall he taken, whether we will proceed to 
 the consideration of the bill or not." 
 
 The meaning is here diplomatically veiled, 
 yet is perfectly plain. Gen. Atchison had been 
 averse to organizing this Territory until he 
 could procure a relaxation of the Missouri 
 Restriction as to Slavery ; but, seeing no 
 present hope of this, he Avas willing to 
 waive the point, and assent to an organiza- 
 tion under a bill silent with respect to 
 Slavery, and of course leaving the Missouri 
 Restriction unimpaired. 
 
 Gen. Pierce was inaugurated President 
 on the 4th March, 1853 ; and, in his Inaugu- 
 ral Address, referred to the discussions con- 
 cerning Slavery and the Compromises of 
 1850 in the following terms : 
 
 " I believe that involuntary servitude, as it ex- 
 ists in different States of this confederacy, is re- 
 cognized by the Constitution. I believe that it 
 stands like any other admitted right, and that the 
 States where it exists are entitled to eiticientreme- 
 dics to enforce the constitutional provisions. I 
 hold that the laws of IS.'ifl, commonly called the 
 •' Compromise Measures," are strictly constitu- 
 tional, and to be unhesitatingly carried into etfect. 
 I believe that the constituted authorities of this 
 Republic are bound to regard the rights of the 
 South in this respect, as they would view any 
 other legal and constitutional right, ani^that the 
 laws to enforce them should be respected and 
 obe^'ed, not with a reluctance encouraged bj' ab- 
 stract opinions as to their propriety in a different 
 state of society, but cheerfuily, and according 
 to the decisions of the tribunal to which their ex- 
 position belongs. Such have been, and are, my 
 convictions, and upon them shall I act. I fer- 
 vently hope that the question is at rest, and that 
 no sectional, or ambitious, or fanatical excitement 
 may again threaten the durability of our institu- 
 tions, or obscure the light of our prosperity." 
 
 The XXXIIId Congress assembled at 
 Washington, Dec. 5th, 1853, with a large 
 Administration majority in either House. 
 Linn Boyd of Ky. was chosen Speaker of 
 the House. The President's Annual Mes- 
 sage contained the following allusion to the 
 subject of Slavery : 
 " It is no part of my purpose to give promi- 
 
THE KANSAS-NEBRASKA STRUGGLE. 
 
 73 
 
 ncnrc to any sulyiH^t which mnv properly be ro- 
 panled (is «ot at rest by llio di'libcriito juilfrnu'iit 
 of tlio pcnpli'. lUU. whih) tho i)rosi'nt is bri^'lit 
 witli promiKo, ritul the tiilurc full of ilcmaiKl and 
 iiuliicfinciilrt fur the oxt-rcisu of active inlcl- 
 li^joiicc, the past can never t)c without nscfiii Ics 
 Son:* of aihiumitiuii and instniction. Ifil!<daii- 
 Hei-s S(■r^^• nut as bcai'onH, thoy will ovidcntly 
 fail til fullill the olycct of a wise desi;;ii. When 
 the (^rave («hall have closed over all, who are now 
 cndeuvorinf; toineol the obli^'ation:^ of duty, the 
 year IX'ti) will bo recurred to an a period tilled with 
 anxioim apprehension. A suct'cssfiil war hud 
 juft terininale<i. I'eacc brouj^ht with it a vast 
 uuj,'nient«lion of territory. Distiirhiiij; ipiestioii.s 
 aro.se, Ix'uiiii}^ ujxin the domestic iiif litulions of 
 one portion of the confederacy, and iiividvin-^ 
 the ciin.slitutional rij:;ht.s of the Stales. Hut. not- 
 wilhstandin;^ ditferences of opinion and seiitimeiit 
 which then existed in relation to details and 
 specific jirovisions, the aeiiuieseeneo of distin- 
 guished citizens, whoso devotion to tho Union 
 ctui never be doubted, lian f,'iveii renewed vi^or 
 to our institutions, and restori'd a sense of repo.-c 
 and security to the public mind throughout the 
 confederacv. That this repose is to sutler no 
 shock during my oflicial term, if I have power 
 to avert it, those who placed me hero may be as- 
 8Uix;d."' 
 
 Dec. loth. — Mr. A. C. Dodge of Iowa sub- 
 mitted to the Senate a bill (No. 22) " To 
 organize the Territory of Nebraska," which 
 was read twice, and referred to the Com- 
 mittee oil Territories. 
 
 Jan. 4//i. — Mr. Douglas, from said Com- 
 mittee, reported said bill with amendments, 
 which were printed. The following is the 
 accompanying Report : 
 
 The Comniittec on Territories, to whom was re- 
 ferixHl a bill for au act to establish the Terri- 
 tory of Nebraska, have given the same that 
 serious and deliberate consideration which its 
 great importance demands, and beg leave to 
 report it back to the Senate with various amend- 
 ments, in the form of a substitute for the bill : 
 
 The principal amendments which your com- 
 mittee deem it their duty to commend to the fa- 
 vorable action of the Senate, in a special report, 
 are those in which the principles established by 
 the Compromise Measures of 18.50, so far as they 
 are applicable to territorial organizations, are 
 proposed to bo affirmed and carried into practi- 
 cal operation within the limits of the new Terri- 
 tory. 
 
 The wisdom of those measures is attested, not 
 less by their salutarv and beneficial eft'ects, in 
 allaying sectional agitation and restoring peace 
 and luuniony to an irritated and distracted peo- 
 ple, than by the cordial and almost universal 
 approbation with which they have been received 
 and sanctioned by the whole country. In the 
 judgment of your Committee, those measures 
 were intended to have a far more comprehensive 
 and enduring efl'ect than tlie mere adjustment of 
 difficulties arising out of the recent acquisition 
 of Mexican territory. Tiiey were designed to 
 establish certain great principles, which would 
 not only furnish adequate remedies for existing 
 evils, but, in all time to come, avoid the perils ot 
 similar agitation, by withdrawing the question of 
 Slavery from the Halls of Congress and the po- 
 litical arena, and committing it to the arbitration 
 of tliose who were immediately interested in, and 
 alone responsible for, its eoiiseiiueiices. With a 
 view of i-outonuiiig their action to \\hiit they re- 
 gard as tho settled policy of the Government, sanc- 
 
 tioned by tho approving Voire of the Amoriran 
 People, yoin- Committee have deemed it thcirdiily 
 to incorporati' and ]icr|ietuafe, in their territorial 
 bill, theprincipjen andN|iirit of tliOH<' iriea.»ureH If 
 any other ('onsidrration were necessary to render 
 the pro|priety of this course imperative iijion the 
 (Nmmiillee, Ilu y may lie found in the fact that tho 
 Nebraska coiinliy occupies the i<aino relative 
 position to the Slavery question, as did New- 
 Alexico and Utah, when thoBo Territories were 
 organized. 
 
 It was a disputed point, whctlier Slavery wna 
 prohibited by law in the country accjiiirerf from 
 Mexico. On the one hand, it was contended, ae 
 a legal ipro|)osition, that Slavery, having been 
 prohibited by the eiiactinents of Mexico, necoru- 
 ing to the laws of nations, we received the country 
 with all its local laws and domestic iiistitutionn 
 attiiche<l to the soil, so far as they did not confliet 
 with the Constitution of the United States ; and 
 that a law either protect ing or prohibiting Shi very, 
 was not repugnant to that instrument, as wa.i 
 evidenced by tiie fact that one-half of the States 
 of the Union tolerated, while tin; other half pro- 
 hibited, the institution of Slavery. On lln; other 
 hand, it was insisted that, by virtue of the Con- 
 stitution nt' tho United States, every citizen had 
 a right to remove to any Territory of the Union, 
 and carry his property with him'iinder the pro- 
 tection of law, whether that projierty consisted 
 of persons or things. The difficulties arising 
 from this diversity of opinion, were greatly ag- 
 gravated !)}• tho fact that there were many per- 
 sons on both sides of the legal controversy, who 
 were unwilling to abide the decision of the courts 
 on tho legal mattens in disjiute ; thus, among 
 those who claimed that the Mexican laws were 
 still in force, and, consequently, that Slavery was 
 already prohibited in those Territories by valid 
 enactment, there were many who insisted ujion 
 Congress making the matter certain, by enacting 
 another prohibition. In like miinner, some of 
 those who argued that Mexican law had ceased 
 to have any binding force, and that the Constitu- 
 tion tolerated and protected Slave projperty in 
 those territories, were unwilling to trust the deci- 
 sion of the courts u|)on the point, and insisted 
 that Congress should, by direct enactment, re- 
 move all legal obstacles to the introduction of 
 Slaves into tliose Territories. 
 
 Such being the character of the controversy in 
 respect to the territory acquired from Mexico, a 
 similar question has arisen in regard to the right 
 to hold slaves in the Territory of Nebraska, when 
 the Indian laws shall be withdrawn, and the 
 country thrown open to emigration and setlle- 
 nient. By the 8lli section of " an act to autlmrize 
 the people of Missouri Territory to form a Con- 
 stitution and State Government, and for the ad- 
 mission of such State into the Union on an ecpial 
 footing with the original States, and to prohibit 
 Slavery in certain Territories," ajiproved March 
 6th, J820, it was ])roviiled; "That in all that ter- 
 riU'ry ceded by Fiance to the United States under 
 the name of Louisiana, which lies north of 36 
 degrees 30 minutes north latitude, not included 
 within the limits of the State contemplated by 
 this act. Slavery and involuntary servitude, 
 otherwise than in the punishment of crimes 
 whereof the parties shall have been duly con- 
 victed, shall be, and are hereby, prohibited : Pro- 
 vidcil ir/irtii/s, That any person escajiing into the 
 same, from whom labor or service is lawfully 
 claimed in any State or Territory of the United 
 States, such fugitive may be lawfully reclaimed, 
 and conveyed to the persons claiming his or her 
 labor or service, as aforesaid." 
 
 Under this section, as in the caseof the Mexican 
 law in Ntw-Mexico and Utah, it is a disputed 
 point whether Shivery is juohibited in the Ne- 
 braska country by valid enactment. The deci- 
 
74 
 
 THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 
 
 sion of this question involves the constitutional 
 power of Conj,'rcss to pass laws prescribing and 
 regulating the domestic institutions of the vai-ious 
 Territories of the Union. In the opinion of those 
 eminent stsitcsinen who hold that Congress is 
 invested with no rightful authority to legislate 
 upon the subject of Slavery in the Territories, 
 the 8th secti('n of the act preparatory to the ad- 
 mission of Missouri is null and void; while the 
 prevailing sentiment in large portions of the 
 Union sustains the doctrine that the Constitu- 
 tion of the United States secures to every citizen 
 an inalienable right to move into any of the 
 Territories with his property, of whatever kind 
 and description, and to hold and enjoy the same 
 under the sanction of law. Your Connnittee do 
 not feel themselves called upon to enter upon the 
 discussion of these controverted questions. They 
 involve the same grave issues which produced 
 the agitation, the sectional strife, and the fearful 
 struggle of J 850. As Congress deemed it wise 
 and prudent to refrain from deciding the matters 
 in controversy then, either by affirming or repeal- 
 ing the Mexican laws, or by an act declaratory 
 of the true intent of the Constitution, and the 
 extent of the protection atibrded by it to Slave 
 property in the Territories, so your Committee 
 are not prepared to recommend a departure from 
 the course pursued on that memorable occasion, 
 either by affirming or repealing the 8th section 
 of the Missouri act, or by any act declaratory of 
 the meaning of the Constitution in respect to the 
 legal points in dispute. 
 
 Your Committee deem it fortunate for the 
 peace of the country, and the security of the 
 Union, that the controversy then resulted in the 
 adoption of the Compromise Measures, which 
 the two great political parties, with singular 
 unanimity, have affirmed as a cardinal article of 
 their faith, and proclaimed to the world as a 
 final settlement of the controversy and an end 
 of the agitation. A due respect, therefore, for 
 the avowed opinions of Senators, as well as a 
 proper sense of patriotic duty, enjoins upon your 
 Committee the propriety and necessity of a strict 
 adherence to the principles, and even a literal 
 adoption of the enactments of that adjustment, 
 in all their territorial bills, so far as the same are 
 not locally inapplicable. Those enactments em- 
 brace, among other things, less material to the 
 matters under consideration, the following pro- 
 visions : 
 
 When admitted as a State, the said Territory, 
 or any portion of the same, shall be received into 
 the Union, with or without Slavery, as their cou- 
 etitution may prescribe at the time of their ad- 
 mission ; 
 
 That the legislative power and authority of 
 said Territory shall be vested in the Governor 
 and a Legislative Assembly ; 
 
 That tlie legislative power of said Territory 
 shall extend to all rightful subjects of legislation, 
 consistent with the Constitution of the United 
 States, and the provisions of this act ; but no 
 law shall be passed interfering with the primary 
 disposal of the soil ; no tax shall bo imposed 
 upon the property of the United States ; nor 
 shall the lands or other property of non-residents 
 be taxed higher than the lands or other property 
 of residents. 
 
 _ Writs of error and appeals from the final deci- 
 sions of Said Supreme Court shall be allowed, 
 and may be taken to the Supreme Court of the 
 United States in the .same manner and under the 
 Eamc- regulations as from the Circuit Courts of 
 the United States, where the value of the pro- 
 perty or amount in controversy, to be ascertained 
 by the oath or affirmation of either party, or 
 other competent witness, shall exceed one thou- 
 sand dollars ; except only that, in all cases involv- 
 ing title to slaves, the said writs of error or ap- 
 
 peals shall be allowed and decided by the said 
 Supreme Court, without regard to the value of 
 the matter, property, or title in controversy ; and 
 except, also, that a writ of error or appeal shall 
 also be allowed to the Supreme Court of the 
 United States from the decisions of the said 
 Supreme Court by this act, or of any judge 
 thereof, or of the district courts created by this 
 act, or of any judge thereof, upon any., writ of 
 habcnx corpus involving the question of personal 
 freedom; and each of the said district courts 
 shall have and exerci.se the same jurisdiction, in 
 all cases arising under the Constitution and 
 laws of the United States, as is vested in the 
 circuit and district courts of the United States ; 
 and the said supreme and district courts of the 
 said territory, and the respective judges thereof, 
 shall and may grant writs oi habeas corpun, in all 
 cases in which the same are granted by the 
 judges of the United States in the District of 
 Columbia. 
 
 To which may be added the following proposi- 
 tion affirmed by the act of 1850, known as the 
 fugitive slave law . 
 
 That the provisions of the " act respecting 
 fugitives from justice, and persons escaping from 
 the service of their masters," approved Febru- 
 ary 12, 1793, and the provisions of the act to 
 amend and supplementary to the aforesaid act, 
 approved September 18, 1850, shall extend to, 
 and be in force in, all the organized Territories, 
 as well as in the various States of the Union. 
 
 From these provisions, it is apparent that the 
 Compromise Measures of 1850 affirm, and rest 
 upon, the following propositions : 
 
 First. — That all questions pertaining to 
 Slavery in the Territories, and the new States 
 to be formed therefrom, are to be left to the deci- 
 sion of the people residing therein, by their ap- 
 propriate representatives, to be chosen by them 
 for that purpose. 
 
 Second. — That " ail cases involving title to 
 slaves," and " questions of personal freedom," 
 are to be referred to the adjudication of the local 
 tribunals, with the right of appeal to the Supreme 
 Court of the United States. 
 
 Third. — That the provisions of the Constitu- 
 tion of the United States, in respect to fugitives 
 from service, is to be carried into faithful exe- 
 cution in all " the original Territories," the same 
 as in the States. 
 
 The substitute for the bill which your Com- 
 mittee have prepared, and which is commended 
 to the favorable action of the Senate, proposes to 
 cai-ry these propositions and principles into prac- 
 tical operation, in the precise language of the 
 Compromise Measures of 1850. 
 
 Jan. 2Uh. — The bill thus reported was 
 con.sidered in Committee of the Whole aud 
 postponed to Monday next, when it was 
 made the order of the day. 
 
 The bill was further considered Jan. 31st, 
 Feb. 3rd, Feb. 5th, and Feb. 6th, when an 
 amendment reported by Mr. Douglas, de- 
 claring the Missouri Restriction on Slavery 
 " inoperative and void," being under consid- 
 eration, Mr. Chase of Ohio moved to strike 
 out the assertion that said llestriction 
 
 " was superseded by the principles of the legis- 
 lation of 1850, commonly called the Compromise 
 Measures." 
 
 This motion was defeated by Yeas 13; 
 Nays 30, as follows : 
 
TUE KANSAS-NEDRASKA STRUGGLE. 
 
 75 
 
 YEAS— To strike out. 
 
 Messrs. Allen, Ohio, 
 Cn88, Mirk. 
 ChiiKO, Ohio, 
 Everett, Mass. 
 Fish, iV. Y. 
 Foot, Vf 
 
 Ilainlin, Me. 
 Sowiird, .V. V. 
 Smith, I'onn. 
 Stuart, Milk. 
 Smniicr, Mass. 
 WiuU\ Ohio, 
 
 Wiilkcr, H7sr.— 13. 
 
 NA YS— Against 
 
 Messrs. Admno, Miss. 
 Aloiiifton, Mo. 
 l{u(l;,'t>r, .V. C. 
 Kiivuni, Jh-l. 
 Ueil, Tain. 
 Ik'iijiiiiiiii, La. 
 lirh^M, Ind. 
 Uroillicncl, Pa. 
 Hutler, N. C. 
 Cluy, (C. C.) Ala. 
 Dawson, (ia. 
 Di.xon, Ky. 
 l)o(if;o, loira, 
 l)ou,<,'la8, ///. 
 Evaus, S. C. 
 
 striking out : 
 Fitzpatrick, Ala. 
 (^.cyor, Mo. 
 Hunter. Va. 
 Jones, (,I. C.) Tcnn. 
 MttUory, Fla. 
 Mason. ]'a. 
 Norris. .V. //. 
 Pettit, In,l. 
 Sebiintian, Ar/c. 
 Shit'lils, ///. 
 Slidi'll. La. 
 Thompson, Ky. 
 Toueey, Conn. 
 Weller, CaL 
 Williams, N. H. 
 
 30. 
 
 Feb. \v)lh. — The bill having been dis- 
 cussed daily until now, Mr. Douglas moved 
 to strike out of his amendment the words 
 above quoted (which the Senate had re- 
 fused to strike out on Mr. Chase's motion,) 
 and insert instead the following : 
 
 " Which, bcinn; inconsistent with the principle 
 of non-iuterventiou by Congress with Slavery in 
 the States and Territories, as recof^uized by the 
 legislation of IS.jO, (commonly called the Com- 
 promise Pleasures,) is hereby declared inopera- 
 tive and void ; it being the true intent and mean- 
 ing of this act not to legislate Slavery into any 
 Territory or State, nor to exclude it therefrom, 
 but to leave the people thereof perfectly free to 
 form and regulate tlieir domestic institutions in 
 their own way, subject only to the Constitution 
 of the United States" — 
 
 ■which prevailed — Yeas 35 ; Nays 10 — as 
 follows : 
 
 YEAS — For Dous:la3's new Amendment : 
 
 Messrs. Adams, 
 Atdiison, 
 Bavard, 
 Biil, 
 
 Benjamin, 
 Brodheud, 
 Brown, 
 Butler. 
 Cass, 
 Clayton, 
 Dawson, 
 Dixon, 
 
 Dodge of Iowa, 
 Douglas, 
 Evans, 
 Fitzpatrick, 
 Goyer, 
 
 Williams 
 
 Gwin, 
 Hunter, 
 Johnson, 
 Jones of Iowa, 
 Jones of Teun. 
 Mason, 
 Morion, 
 Norris, 
 Pearcc, 
 Pettit, 
 Pratt, 
 Sebastian 
 Slidell, 
 Stuart, 
 
 Thomnson of Ky. 
 Toombs, 
 Wellcr, 
 -35. 
 
 NA YS — Against said Amendment : 
 
 Messrs. Allen, Foot, 
 
 Chase, lloifston. 
 
 Dodge of Wise. Seward, 
 
 Everett, Sunnier, 
 
 Fish, Wade— 10. 
 
 [Note. — Prior to this move of Mr. Douglas, 
 Mr. Dixon (Whig) of Ky. had moved to insert a 
 clause directly and plainly repealing the Mis- 
 
 Kouri H<^triction. Mr. Di.xon thought if that was 
 the object, (am! ho was in favor of it), it nhould 
 bo approached in a direct and ninnly way. Ho 
 was assailed for this in The Union new«pa])er 
 next morning ; but his suggeolion was substau- 
 tially adopted by Douglas, after a brief hesita- 
 tion. Mr. Di.von'rt propoHition, Laving been 
 made in Committee, docs not appear in the Jour- 
 nal of the Senate, or it would here be given in 
 terais.] 
 
 The bill was further di.scus-sed daily until 
 March 2tul, when the vote was taken on Mr. 
 Chiu-^e's amendment, to add to yec. 14 the 
 following words : 
 
 " Under irhirh the people of the Territory, 
 throiiick thiir appropriate representatives, may, 
 if they scejit,pruhibil tlie existence of Slavery 
 therein" — 
 
 which was rejected : Yeas 10 ; Nays 30, as 
 follows : 
 
 YEAS — For Mr. Chase's Amendment: 
 
 Messrs. Chase, 
 
 Dodge of Wise. 
 
 Fcssendcn, 
 
 Fish, 
 
 Foot, 
 
 Hamlin, 
 Seward, 
 Smith, 
 Sumner, 
 Wade— 10. 
 
 NA YS — Against Cliase's Amendment : 
 
 Hunter, 
 
 Johnson, 
 
 Jones of Iowa, 
 
 Jones of Tcnn. 
 
 Ma^on, 
 
 Morion, 
 
 Norris, 
 
 Pettit, 
 
 Pratt, 
 
 Kusk, 
 
 Sebastian, 
 
 Shields, 
 
 Slidell, 
 
 Stuart. 
 
 Messrs. Adams, 
 Atchison, 
 Badger, 
 Bell, 
 
 Benjamin, 
 Brodhead, 
 Brown, 
 Butler, 
 Clay, (C. C.) 
 Clayton, 
 Dawson, 
 Dixon, 
 
 Dodge of Iowa, 
 Douglas, 
 Evans, 
 Fitzpatrick, 
 Gwin, 
 Houston, 
 
 Toucey, 
 Walker, 
 Wellcr, 
 Williams — 36. 
 
 ]\Ir. Badger of N. C. moved to add to the 
 aforesaid section : 
 
 " Provided, That nothing herein contained 
 shall be construed to revive or put in force any 
 laic or regulation which may have c.visted prior 
 to the act tf^th of March, l'6.iQ, either protecting, 
 establishing, prohibiting, or abolishing Sla- 
 very." 
 
 Carried ; Yeas 35 ; Nays 6, as follows : 
 YEAS — For Badger's Amendment : 
 
 Messrs. Atchison, 
 Badger, 
 Bell, 
 
 Benjamin, 
 Brodhead, 
 Butler, 
 Clay, 
 Dawson, 
 Di.xon, 
 
 Dodge of Iowa, 
 Douglas, 
 Evans, 
 Fish, 
 Fitzpatrick, 
 
 Houston, 
 
 Hunter, 
 
 Jones of Iowa, 
 
 Jones of Tenn. 
 
 Mason, 
 
 Morton, 
 
 Norris, 
 
 Pettit, 
 
 Pratt, 
 
 Seward, 
 
 Shields, 
 
 Slidell, 
 
 Smith. 
 
 Stuart, 
 
76 
 
 THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 
 
 Foot, Toucey, 
 
 Gwin, Walker, 
 
 Hamlin, ' Weller, 
 
 Williams — 35. 
 
 NAYS — Against said Amoidment : 
 
 Messrs. Adams, Johnson, 
 
 Brown, Rusk, 
 
 Dodj,'e of Wise. Sebastian — 6. 
 
 Mr. Clayton now moved to strike out so 
 much of said Douglas amendment as per- 
 mits emigrants from Europe, who shall have 
 declared their intention to become citizens, 
 to vote : Carried ; Yeas 23 ; Nays 21 — 
 as follows: 
 
 YEAS — For Clayton's Amendment : 
 Messrs. Adams, Dixon, 
 
 Atchison, Evans, 
 
 Badger, Fitzpatrick, 
 
 Bell, Houston, 
 
 Benjamin, Hunter, 
 
 Bro'dhead, Johnson, 
 
 Brown, Jones of Tenn. 
 
 Butler, Mason, 
 
 Clay, Morton, 
 
 Clayton, Pratt, 
 
 Dawson, Sebastian, 
 
 Slidell— 23. 
 
 NAYS — Against Clayton'' s Amendment : 
 
 Messrs. Chase, Norris, 
 
 Dodge of Wise. Pettit, 
 
 Dodge of Iowa, Seward, 
 
 Douglas, Shields, 
 
 Fessenden, Smith, 
 
 Fish, Stuart, 
 
 Foot, Sunmer, 
 
 Gwin, Toucey, 
 
 Hamlin, Wade, 
 
 Jones of Iowa, Walker, 
 
 Williams— 21. 
 Mr. Chase moved to amend, by provid- 
 ing for the appointment of three Commis- 
 sioners residing in the Territory to organ- 
 ize the Territory, divide it into election 
 districts, notify an election on the first Mon- 
 day in September then ensuing, etc., at 
 Vi'hich election the people should choose 
 their own Governor, as well as a Territo- 
 rial Legislature — the Governor to serve for 
 two years, and the Legislature to meet not 
 later than May, 1855. 
 
 This extension of the principle of 
 " Squatter Sovereignty" was defeated — 
 Teas 10 ; Nays 30 — as follows : 
 YEAS— To enable the People of the Territo- 
 ry to choose their own Governor, etc. 
 
 Messrs. Chase, Seward, 
 
 Fessenden, Shields, 
 Foot, Smith, 
 
 Hamlin, Sumner, 
 
 Norris, Wade — 10. 
 
 NAYS — Against said proposition: 
 
 Messrs. Atchison, 
 Badger, 
 Bell, 
 
 Benjamin, 
 Brodhead, 
 Brown, 
 Butler, 
 Clay, 
 Dawson, 
 Dixon, 
 
 Gwin, 
 
 Houston, 
 
 Hunter, 
 
 Johnson, 
 
 Jones of Iowa, 
 
 Jones of Tenn. 
 
 Mason, 
 
 Morton, 
 
 Pettit, 
 
 Pratt, 
 
 Dodge of Wise. 
 Dodge of Iowa, 
 Douglas, 
 Evans, 
 Fitzpatrick, 
 
 Rusk, 
 Sebastian, 
 Slidell, 
 Stuart, 
 Williams— 30. 
 
 Mr. Chase then moved to amend the 
 Boundary section of Mr. Douglas's amend- 
 ment, so as to have but one Territory 
 named Nebraska, instead of two, entitled 
 respectively, Nebraska and Kansas ; which 
 was defeated — Yeas 8 ; Nays 34 — as fol- 
 lows : 
 
 YEAS — For having but one Territory ; 
 
 Messrs. Chase, Seward, 
 
 Fessenden, Smith, 
 
 Foot, Sumner, 
 
 Hamlin, Wade— 8. 
 
 NA YS — For severing 
 
 Nebraska fr 
 
 Kansas 
 
 
 Messrs. Adams, 
 
 Houston, 
 
 Atchison, 
 
 Hunter, 
 
 Badger, 
 
 Johnson, 
 
 Bell, 
 
 Jones of Iowa, 
 
 Benjamin, 
 
 Jones of Tenn. 
 
 Brodhead, 
 
 Mason, 
 
 Brown, 
 
 Morton, 
 
 Butler, 
 
 Norris, 
 
 Clay, 
 
 Pettit, 
 
 Dawson, 
 
 Pratt, 
 
 Dixon, 
 
 Kusk, 
 
 Dodge of Wise. 
 
 Sebastian, 
 
 Dodge of Iowa, 
 
 Shields, 
 
 Douglas, 
 
 Slidell, 
 
 Evans, 
 
 Stuart, 
 
 Fitzpatrick, 
 
 Walker, 
 
 Gwin, 
 
 Williams— 34. 
 
 Mr. Douglas's amendment was then 
 agreed to, and the bill reported from the 
 Committee of the Whole to the Senate. 
 
 A motion to strike out the amendment, 
 allowing emigrant aliens who have declared 
 their intention to become citizens to vote, 
 was agreed to — Yeas 22 ; Nays 20 — as 
 follows : 
 
 YEAS — To strike out said provision : 
 
 Messrs. Adams, 
 Atchison, 
 Badger, 
 Bell, 
 Benjamin, 
 
 Brodhead, 
 
 Brown, 
 
 Butler, 
 
 Clay, 
 
 Dawson, 
 
 Dixon, 
 
 Evans, 
 
 Fitzpatrick, 
 
 Houston, 
 
 Hunter, 
 
 Johnson, 
 
 Jones of Tenn. 
 
 Mason, 
 
 Morton, 
 
 Pratt, 
 
 Sebastian, 
 
 Slidell— 22. 
 
 NA YS — Against striking out : 
 
 Messrs. Chase, Norris, 
 
 Dodge of Wise. Pettit, 
 
 Dodge of Iowa, Seward, 
 
 Douglas, Shields, 
 
 Fessenden, Smith, 
 
 Fish, Stuart, 
 
 Foot, ' Sumner, 
 
 Hamlin, Wade, 
 
 James, Walker, 
 
 Jones of Iowa, Williams — 20. 
 
 The question on the engrossment of the 
 bill was now reached, and it was carried — 
 Yeas 29 ; Nays 12 — as follows : 
 
THE KANSAS-NEBRASKA STRUGGLE. 
 
 77 
 
 YEAS— To engross the bill for its third 
 reading : 
 
 Messrs. Adams, 
 
 
 Gwin, 
 
 AlcliiKon, 
 
 
 lluiitLr, 
 
 Hiidj^or, 
 
 
 Jolinsoii, 
 
 lieiijiiinin, 
 
 
 Jones of Iowa, 
 
 limdbeud, 
 
 
 Jones of Tunu. 
 
 Urmvii, 
 
 
 Mason, 
 
 IJiitler, 
 
 
 Morton, 
 
 C'liiy, 
 
 
 N orris, 
 
 Dawson, 
 
 
 I'eltit, 
 
 Dixon, 
 
 
 I'ratt, 
 
 Dod^'o of Iowa, 
 
 Sebastian, 
 
 Doiit,'la8, 
 
 
 Sliiflds, 
 
 Evans, 
 
 
 Slidoll, 
 
 Fitzputridc, 
 
 
 Stuart, 
 
 W 
 
 lliains- 
 
 -•-I'd. 
 
 NAYS — Against the engrossment : 
 
 Messrs. Clinse, 
 
 
 James, 
 
 Dodgo of Wise. 
 
 Seward, 
 
 Fesiioiiden, 
 
 
 Smith, 
 
 Fish, 
 
 
 Sumner, 
 
 Foot. 
 
 
 Wade, 
 
 liiuiilin. 
 
 
 Wallver— 12. 
 
 March 'inL — The rule assigning Fridays 
 for the consideration of private bills, liaving- 
 been suspended, on motion of Mr. Badger, 
 the Senate proceeded to put the Nebraska- 
 Kansas bill on its final passage, when a long 
 and earnest debate ensued. At a late hour 
 of the night, Mr. Seward of N. Y. ad- 
 dressed the Senate, in opposition to the bill, 
 as follows : 
 
 Jlr. I'liEsiDKNT :— I rise with no purpose of 
 further resistin;^ or even dehiying the passage 
 of tliis bill. Jjct its advocates" have only a lit- 
 tle patience, an<l they will soon reach the object 
 for which they have strutrijlcd so earnestly and 
 BO lou^'. The sun has set for the last time upon 
 the guaranteed and certain liberties of all the un- 
 settled and unorganized portions of the Ameri- 
 can continent that lie within the jurisdiction of 
 the United States. To-morrow's sun will rise in 
 dim eclipse over them. How long that obscu- 
 ration shall last, is known only to the Power 
 that directs and controls all huma\i events 
 For myself, I know only this— that now no hu- 
 man power will prevent its coming on, and that 
 its passing off will bo hastened and secured by 
 others than those now here, and perhaps by only 
 those belonging to future generations. 
 
 Sir, it would be almost factious to offer fur- 
 ther resistance to this measure here. Indeed, suc- 
 cessful resistance was never expected to be made 
 in this Hall. The SenateHoor is an old battle- 
 ground, on which have been fought many con- 
 tests, and always, at least since 18-20, with for- 
 tune adverse to the cause of equal and universal 
 freedom. We were only a lew here who engaged 
 in that cause in the beginning of this contest. 
 All that we could hope to do— all that we did 
 hope to do — was to organize and to prepare the 
 issue for the House of Keprescntatives, to which 
 the country would look for its decision as authori- 
 tative, and to awaken the country that it might 
 be ready for the appeal which would be made, 
 whatever the decision of Congress might be. We 
 are no stronger now. Only fourteen at the first, 
 it will be fortunate if, among the ills and acci- 
 dents which surround us, we shall mainUiin that 
 number to the end. 
 
 We are on the eve of the consummation of a 
 great national transaction — a transaction which 
 will close a cycle in the historv of mn- country — 
 and it is impossible not to desn-e to pause a mo- 
 ment and survey the eceue around us, and the 
 
 prospect before ua. However obscure wo may 
 nidivi<lually be, our connection with this great 
 transaction will perpetuate our names for tho 
 nraise or for the cen^uro of future ages, and iier- 
 liaps in regions fur remote. If, then, wo liuu no 
 other nu)tivc for our actions but that of an hon- 
 est desire for a just fame, we could not lie indif- 
 I'eient to that scene and lliat prospect. Hut indi- 
 vidual interests anct ambition sink into insignifi- 
 cance in view of the interests of our country and 
 of maidiind. Tliest! interests awaken, nt least in 
 me, an intense nolicilude. 
 
 It was said by some in the be^^'inning, and it 
 has been said by others later in this debate, that 
 it was doubll'nl whether it would be the cause 
 of Slavery or tlu^ cause of Freedom that would 
 gain advantages from the passage of this bill. I 
 do not liiid it necessary to be censorious, nor 
 even unjust to others, in order that my r)wn 
 course nuiy bo approved. 1 am sure that tho 
 honorable Senator from Illinois [Mr. Douglas] 
 did not mean that the Slave States should gain 
 an advantage over the Free Slates; for he dis- 
 claimed it wlien he introduced the bill. I believe, 
 in all candor, that the honorabh; Senator from 
 (ieorgia [Air. Toombs], who comes out at tho 
 close of the battle as one of the chiefest leaders 
 of the victorious ptu'ty, is sincere in declaring his 
 own opinion that the Slave States will tjain no 
 unjust advantage over the Free States, becau.se 
 he disclaims it as a triumph in their behalf. Not- 
 withstanding all this, however, what has occur- 
 red here and in the country, during this contest, 
 has compelled a conviction that Slavery will gain 
 somelliing, and Freedom will endure a severe, 
 though 1 hope not an irretrievable, loss. The 
 slaveholdiiig States are pa.ssive, quiet, content, 
 and satisfied with the prospective boon, and tho 
 Free .States are excited and alarmed with fearful 
 forebodings and apprehensions. The impatience 
 for the speedy passag(^ of the bill, manifested by 
 its friends, betrays a knowledge that this is the 
 condition of public sentiment in the Free States. 
 They thought in the beginning that it was neces- 
 sary to guard the measure bj' inserting the Clay- 
 ton amendment, which would exclude unnatur- 
 alized foreign iidiabitants of the Territories from 
 the right of suffrage. And now they seem willing, 
 with almost perfect unanimity, to relinquish that 
 safeguard, rather than to delay the adoption of 
 the principal measure for at most a year, per- 
 hai)s for only a week or n day. Suppose that 
 the Senate should adhere to that condition, which 
 so lately was thought so wise and so important 
 — what then '/ The bill could only go back to 
 the House of Eopresentatives, which nuist either 
 yield or insist ! In the one ease or in the other, 
 a decision in favor of the bill would be secured; 
 for even if the House should disagree, the Senate 
 would have time to recede. But the majority 
 will hazard nothing, even on a prospect so cer- 
 tain as this. They will recede at once, without 
 a moment's further struggle, from the condition, 
 and thus secure the passage of this bill now, to- 
 night. Why such haste? Even if the question 
 were to go to the country before a final dc<ision 
 here, what would there be wrong in that ? There 
 is no man living who will say that the country 
 anticipated, or that he anticipated, tho agitation 
 of this measure in Congress, when this Congress 
 was elected, or even when it assembled in De- 
 cember last. 
 
 Under such circumstances, and in the midst of 
 agitation, and excitement, and debates, it is only 
 fair to say, that certainly the country has not 
 decided iii favor of the bill. Tho refusal, then, to 
 let the question go to the country is a conclusive 
 proof that the Slave States, as represented hero, 
 expect from the jiassage of this bill what the Free 
 Stales insist that they will lose by it — an advan- 
 tage, a material uUvautage, uud uot a Uicro al> 
 
78 
 
 THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 
 
 stractiou. There are men in the Slave States, as 
 in the Free States, who insist ahvays too pertina- 
 ciously upon mere abstractions. But that is not 
 the policy of the Slave States to-day. They are 
 in earnest in seeking for, and securing, an ob- 
 ject, and an important one. I believe they arc 
 going to have it. I do not know how long the 
 advantage gained will last, nor how great or 
 comprehensive it will be. Every Senator who 
 agrees with me in opinion must feel as I do — 
 that under such circumstances he can forego 
 nothing that can be done decently, with due 
 respect to diflVrence of opinion, and consistently 
 witn the constitutional and settled rules of legis- 
 lation, to place the true merits of the question be- 
 fore the country. Questions sometimes occur 
 which seem to have two right sides. Such were 
 the questiou.s that divided the Enghsh nation be- 
 tween Pitt and Fox— such the contest between 
 the assailant and the defender of Quebec. The 
 judgment of the world was suspended by its 
 Bympathies, and seemed ready to descend in fa- 
 vor of him who should be most gallant in con- 
 duct. And so, when both fell with equal chival- 
 ry on the same field, the survivors united in 
 raising a common monument to the glorious but 
 rival memories of Wolfe and Montcalm. But 
 this contest involves a moral question. The 
 Slave States so present it. They maintain that 
 African Slavery is not erroneous, not unjust, not 
 inconsistent with the advancing cause of human 
 nature. Since they so regard it, I do not expect 
 to see statesmen representing those States indif- 
 ferent about a vindication of this system by the 
 Congress of the United States. On the other 
 hand, we of the Free States regard Slavery as er- 
 roneous, unjust, oppressive, and therefore abso- 
 lutely inconsistent with the principles of the 
 American Constitution and Government. \yho 
 •will expect us to be indifferent to the decisions 
 of the American people and of mankind on such 
 an issue ? 
 
 Again : there is suspended on the issue of this 
 contest the political equilibrium between the 
 Free and the Slave States. It is no ephemeral 
 question, no idle question, whether Slavery shall 
 go on increasing its influence over the central 
 power here, or whether Freedom shall gain the 
 ascendancy. I do not expect to see statesmen 
 of the Slave States indifferent on so momentous 
 a question, and as little can it be expected that 
 those of the Free States will betray their own 
 great cause. And now it remains for me to declare, 
 in view of the decision of this controversy so near 
 at hand, that I have seen nothing and heard no- 
 thing during its progress to change the opinions 
 which at the curliest proper period I deliberately 
 expressed. Certainly, I have not seen the evi- 
 dence then promised, that the Free States would 
 acquiesce in the measure. As certainly, too, I 
 may say that I have not seen the fulfillment of the 
 promise that the history of the last thirty years 
 would be revised, corrected, and amended, and 
 that it would then appear that the country, dur- 
 ing all that period, had been resting in prosperity, 
 and contentment, and peace, not upon a_ valid, 
 constitutional, and irrevocable compromise be- 
 tween the Slave States and the Free States, but 
 upon an unconstitutional and false, and even iu- 
 famou.s, act of Congressional usurpation. 
 
 On the contrary, I am now, if possible, more 
 than ever satisfied that, after all this debate, the 
 history of the country will go down to posterity 
 just as it stood before, carrymg to them the ever- 
 lasting facts, that until 1820 the Congress of the 
 United States legislated to prevent the introduc- 
 tion of Slavery into new Territories whenever 
 that object was [jracticable ; and that in that year 
 they so far modified that policy, under alarming 
 apprehensions of civil convulsion, by a constitu- 
 tional enactment in the character of a compact, 
 
 as to admit Missouri a new Slave State, but 
 ujion the express condition, stipulated in favor 
 of the Free States, that Slavery should be forever 
 prohibited in all the residue of the existing and 
 unorganized Territories of the United States 
 lying north of the parallel of 3G deg. 30 min. north 
 latitude. Certainly, I find nothing to win my 
 favor toward the bill in the proposition of the 
 Senator from Maryland [Mr. Pearce] to restore 
 the Clayton amendment, which was struck out 
 in the House of Kepresentatives. So far from 
 voting for that proposition, I shall vote against 
 it now, as I did when it Avas under consideration 
 here before, in accordance with the opinion 
 adopted as early as any political opinions I ever 
 had, and cherished as'long, that the right of suf- 
 frage is not a mere conventional right, but an 
 inherent natural right, of which no government 
 can rightly deprive any adult man who is subject 
 to its authority, and obligated to its support. 
 
 I hold, moreover, sir, that inasmuch as every 
 man is, by force of circumstances beyond his 
 own control, a subject of government some- 
 where, he is, by the very constitution of human 
 society, entitled to share equally in the confer- 
 ring of political power on those who wield it, if 
 he is not disqualified by crime ; that in a despotic 
 government he ought to be allowed arms, in a 
 tree government the ballot or the open vote, as 
 a means of self protection against unendurable 
 oppression. I am not likely, therefore, to restore 
 to this bill an amendment which would deprive 
 it of an important feature imposed upon it by the 
 House of Kepresentatives, and that one, perhaps, 
 the only feature that harmonizes with my own 
 convictions of justice. It is true that the House 
 of Representatives stipulates such sutVrage for 
 white men as a condition for opening it to the 
 possible proscription and slavery of the African. 
 1 shall separate them. I shall vote for the foi-mer 
 and against the latter, glad to get universal suf- 
 frage of white men, if only that can be gained 
 now, and working right on, full of hope and con- 
 fidence, for the prevention or the abrogation of 
 Slavery in the Territories hei'eafter. 
 
 Sir, "l am surprised at the pertinacity with 
 which the honorable Senator from Delaware, 
 mine ancient and honorable friend, [Mr. Clay- 
 ton,] perseveres in opposing the granting of the 
 right of suffrage to the unnaturalized foreigner 
 in the Territories. Congress cannot deny uim 
 that right. Here is the third article of that con- 
 vention by which Louisiana, including Kansas 
 and Nebraska, was ceded to the United States : 
 
 "The inhabitants of the ceded territory shall 
 be incorporated in the Union of the United 
 States, and admitted as soon as possible, accord- 
 ing to the principles of the Federal Constitution, 
 to the enjojTnent of the rights, privileges, and 
 immunities of citizens of the United States ; and 
 in the mean time they shall be maintained and 
 protected in the free enjoyment of their liberty, 
 property, and the religion they profess." 
 
 The inhabitants of Kansas and Nebraska are 
 citizens akeady, and by force of this treaty must 
 continue to be, and as such to enjoy the right of 
 suffrage, whatever laws you may make to the 
 contrary. My opinions are well known, to wit: 
 That Slavery is not only an evil, but a local one, 
 injurious and ultimately pernicious to society, 
 wherever it exists, and in conflict with the con- 
 stitutional principles of society in this country. 
 1 am not willing to extend nor to permit the ex- 
 tension of that local evil into regions now free 
 within our empire. I know that there are some 
 who differ from me, and who regard the Constitu- 
 tion of the United States as an instrument which 
 sanctions Slavery as well as Freedom. But if I 
 could admit a proposition so incongruous with 
 the letter and spirit of the Federal Constitution, 
 and the luiown sentiments of its illustrious found- 
 
THE KANSAS-NEBR^Vaiwi STRUGGLE. 
 
 79 
 
 ore, nnd so should coiu-ludo that Slavery wan 
 natioual, I iiuihI wtill oliciinli the opinion Ihiit it 
 in ail fvil ; and lucauso it in a national oni', I am 
 the more tirnily held anil bonnd to i)ri'vtnt an in- 
 crease of it, tendinj,', a« I think it manifestly does, 
 to the woakeninff nnd ultimato overthrow of the 
 CoHBtitution itHclf, and therefore to the injury of 
 nil mankind. 1 know tlieie have hueii States 
 vhieli liave endured Ion;,', and achieved much, 
 whieh tolerated .Slavery ; but that wan not the 
 Slavery of easto, like African Slavery. Such 
 Slavery tends to demoralize eiiually the nuhjecl- 
 cd race and the superior one. It has Ijei^n the 
 absence of such Slavery iVoni Kuropo that has 
 given her nations their superiority over other 
 countries in liiat heniisi)hero. Shiverv, where- 
 over it exists, be;,'ets fear, and fear is tlie parent 
 of weakness. W'hat is tlie secret of that eternal, 
 fcleepless au.xicty in the kjjislalive hulls, and even 
 at the Ih-esides of the Slave States, always asking; 
 new stipulations, new compromises and abroj^'a- 
 lion of compromises, new as.sumptions of power 
 and abnegations of power, but fear ? It is the 
 apprehension, that, even if safe now, they will 
 not always or long be secure against sonic inva- 
 sion or some aggression from the Free States. 
 Wiiat is llie secret of the humiliating part wiiicli 
 proud old Spain is acting at this day, trembling 
 Letween alarms of American intrusion into Cuba 
 on one side, and British dictation on the other, 
 but the fact that she Las cherished Slavery so 
 long and still cherishes it, in the last of her Ameri- 
 can Colonial possessions .' Thus far Kansas and 
 Nebraska are safe, under the laws of 1820, 
 against the introduction of thi.s element of na- 
 tioual debility and decline. The bill before us, 
 as we are assured, contains a great principle, a 
 glorious principle ; and yet that principle, when 
 luUy ascertained, proves to be nothing less than 
 the subversion of that security, not only within 
 the Territories of Kansas aiid Nebraska, but 
 ■within all the other present and future Territo- 
 ries of the United States. Thus it is quite clear 
 that it is not a principle alone that is involved, 
 but that those who crowd this measure with so 
 much zeal and earnestness must expect that 
 either Freedom or Slavery shall gain something 
 by it iu those regions. The case, then, stands 
 thus iu Kansas and Nebraska : Freedom may 
 lose, but certainly can gain nothing ; while Sla- 
 very may gain, but as certainly can lose no- 
 thing. 
 
 So far as I am concerned, the time for looking 
 on the dark side has passed. I feel quite sure 
 that Slavery at most can get nothing more than 
 Kansas ; while Nebraska — the wider northern 
 region — will, under existing circumstances, es- 
 cape, for the reason that its soil and cUmate are 
 uncongenial with the staples of slave culture- 
 rice, sugar, cotton, and tobacco. Moreover, 
 since the public attention has been so well and so 
 eflectuaily directed toward the subject, I cher- 
 ish a hope that Slavery may be prevented even 
 from gaining a foothold in Kausras. Congress 
 only gives consent, but it does not and cannot 
 introduce Slavery there. Slavery will be em- 
 barrassed by its own overgrasping spirit. No 
 one, 1 am sure, anticipates the possible re-estab- 
 lishment of the African Slave-trade. The tide of 
 emigi-ation tu Kansas is therefore to be supplied 
 there solely by the domestic fountain of slave pro- 
 duction. But Slavery has also other regions be- 
 sides Kansas to be filled from that fountain. There 
 are all of New-Mexico and all of Utah already 
 within the United States ; and then there is Cuba 
 that consumes slave labor and life as fast as any 
 one of the slaveholding States can supply it ; and 
 besides these regions, there remains all of Mexi- 
 co down to the Isthmus. The stream of slave 
 labor flowing from so small a tountain, and bro- 
 ken into several divergent channels, will not 
 
 cover 80 great a field ; nnd it is reasonably to bo 
 hoped that Iho imrt of it nearosl to the North 
 I'ole will he the last to bo inundated. But Af- 
 riean slave emigration is to ctimpeto with free 
 emigration of while nu-n, nnd the Hource of this 
 latter tide is as ample as the civilization of Iho 
 two <-ntire <-ontinenlH. The lionorable Senator 
 from Delaware meiifioned, as if it were a start- 
 ling fact, tlial twenty tliouKMnil KurojK-aii immi- 
 grants anivid in New-York in one monili. Sir, 
 he has stated the fact with too much moderation. 
 On my return to the eajiital a day or two ago, 
 1 met twelve thousand of these emigrants who 
 had arrived in New - York on one innrnin)?, 
 aird who had thronged lhec-hureln-s on llie follow- 
 ing Sabbath, to return thanks for delivt-raiico 
 from the perils of the sea, and for their arrival in 
 the land, not of Slavery but of Liberty. I also 
 thank (Jod for their escaj)e, and fur their coming. 
 They are now on their way westward, and the 
 news of the jiassage of this bill, preceding thern, 
 will si)eed many of them towards Kansas and 
 Nebraska. Such arrivals are not exlraordinary 
 — tliey occur almost every week ; and the immi- 
 gration from Germany, from (Ireaf Britain, and 
 from Norway, and from Sweden, during the Eu- 
 ropean war, will rise to six or seven hundred 
 thousand souls in a year. And with this tide is to 
 be mingled one rapidly swelling from Asia nnd 
 from the islands of the South Seas. All the im- 
 migrants under this bill, as the House of Kcpre- 
 sentatives overruling you have ordered, will be 
 good, loyal. Liberty-loving, Slavery-fearing citi- 
 zens. Come on, then, gentlemen" of the Slave 
 States. Since there is no escaping your chal- 
 lenge, I accept it in behalf of the cause of Free- 
 dom. We will engage in competition for the 
 virgin soil of Kansas, and God give the victory 
 to the side which is stronger in numbers as it is 
 iu right. 
 
 There are, however, earnest advocates of this 
 bill, who do not expect, and who, 1 suppose, do 
 not desire, that Shiverv shall gain possession of 
 Nebraska. \Vhat do tliey expect to gain ? The 
 honorable Senator from Indiana [iMr. Pettit] 
 says that by thus obliterating the Missouri Com- 
 promise restriction, they will gain titaliula rasa, 
 on which the inhabitants of Kansas and Nebras- 
 ka may write whatever they will. This is the 
 great principle of the bill, as he understands it. 
 Well, what gain is therein that? You obliter- 
 ate a Constitution of Freedom. If they write a 
 new Coiistitulion of Freedom, can the new be 
 better than the old ? If they write a Constitu- 
 tion of Slavery, will it not be a worse one ? I 
 ask the honorable Senator that. But the honor- 
 able Senator says that the people of Nebraska 
 will have the prnilege of establishing institutions 
 for themselves. They have now the privilege of 
 establishing free institutions. Is it a privilege, 
 then, to esiablish Slavery? If so, what a mock- 
 ery are all our Constitutions, which prevent tho 
 inhabitants from capriciously subverting free 
 institutions and establishing institutions of Sla- 
 very ! Sir, it is a sophism, a subtlety, to talk of 
 conferring upon a country, already secure in the 
 blessings of Freedom, the power of self-destruc- 
 tion. 
 
 What mankind everywhere want, is not the 
 removal of the Constitutions of Freedom which 
 they have, that they may make at their pleasure 
 Constitutions of Slavery or of Freedom, but tho 
 privilege of retaining Constitutions of Freedom 
 when tliey already have them, and the removal 
 of Constitutions of Slavery when they have them, 
 that they may establish Constitutituis of Freedom 
 in their place. We hold on tenaciously to all 
 existing Constitutions of Freedom. \Vbo de- 
 nounces any man for diligently adhering to such 
 Constitutions? \\'ho would dare to denounce 
 any one for disloyalty to our existing Coastita- 
 
80 
 
 THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 
 
 tions, if tlioy wore Constitutions of Despotism 
 and Slnvci-v ? But it is supposed by some thiit 
 this priiui|ile is less important in regard to Kan- 
 sas and Nebraska tliau as a general one — a general 
 principle applicable to all other present and 
 tuture Territories of the United States. Do ho- 
 norable Senators then indeed sup))Ose they arc 
 establishing a principle at all? If so, I think they 
 cgregiously err, whether the principle is either 
 good or bad, right or wrong. They are not esta- 
 blishing it, and cannot establish it in this way. 
 You subvert one law capriciously, by making 
 another law in its place. That is all. Will your 
 law have any more weight, authority, solemnity, 
 or binding force on future Congresses, than the 
 first had ? You abrogate the law of your prede- 
 cessors — others will have equal power and equal 
 liberty to abrogate yours. You allow no barriers 
 around the old law, to protect it from abrogation. 
 You erect none around your new law, to stay the 
 hand of future innovators. 
 
 On what ground do you expect the new law to 
 stand ? If you are candid, you will confess that 
 you rest your assumption on the ground that the 
 Free States will never agitate repeal, but always 
 acquiesce. It may be that you are right. I am 
 not going to predict the course of the Free States. 
 I claim no authority to speak for them, and still 
 less to say what they will do. But I may venture 
 to say, that if they shall not repeal this law, it 
 will not be because they are not strong enough to 
 do it. They have power in the House of Repre- 
 sentatives greater than that of the Slave States, 
 and, when they choose to exercise it, a power 
 greater even here in the Senate. The Free States 
 are not dull scholars, even in practical political 
 sti-ategy. When you shall have taught them that 
 a compromise law establishing Freedom can be 
 abrogated, and the Union nevertheless stand, you 
 will nave let them into another secret, namely : 
 that a law permitting or establishing Slavery can 
 be repealed, and the Union nevertheless remain 
 finn. If you inquire why they do not stand by 
 their rights and their interests more firmly, I will 
 tell you to the best of my ability. It is because 
 they are conscious of their strength, and, there- 
 fore, unsuspecting, and slow to apprehend danger. 
 The reason why you prevail in so many contests, 
 is because you are in perpetual fear. 
 
 There cannot be a convocation of Abolitionists, 
 however impracticable, in Faneuil Hall or the 
 Tabernacle, though it consists of men and women 
 who have sei)arated themselves from all effective 
 political parlies, and who have renounced all 
 political agencies, even though they resolve that 
 they will vote for nobody, not even for them- 
 selves, to carry out their purposes, and though 
 they practice on that resolution, but you take 
 alarm, and your agitation renders necessary such 
 compromises as those of 1820 and of 1850. We 
 are young in the arts of politics ; you are old. 
 We are strong ; you are weak. We are, there- 
 fore, over-confident, careless, and indifferent ; 
 you are vigilant and active. Those are traits 
 that redound to your praise. They are mentioned 
 not in your disparagement. 1 say only, that 
 there may be an extent of intervention, of aggres- 
 sion on your side, which may induce the North, 
 at some time, cither in this or in some future 
 generation, to adopt your tactics and follow your 
 example. Remember now, that by unanimous 
 consent, this new law will be a repealable statute, 
 exposed to all the chances of the Missouri Com- 
 promise. It stands an infinitely worse chance of 
 endurance than that compromise did. 
 
 The Missouri Compromise was a transaction 
 which wise, learned, patriotic statesmen agreed 
 to surround and fortify with the principles of a 
 compact for mutual considerations, passed and 
 executed, and therefore, although not irrepeal. 
 able ia fact, yet irrepealablo ijj honor and con. 
 
 science, and down at least until this very session 
 of the Congress of the United States, it has had 
 the force and authority not merely of an act of 
 Congress, but of a covenant between the Free 
 States and the Slave States, scarcely less sacred 
 than the Constitution itself Now then, who are 
 your contracting parties in the law establishing 
 Governments in Kansas and Nebraska, and ab- 
 rogating the Missouri Compromise? What are 
 the equivalents in this law ? What has the North 
 given, and what has the South got back, that 
 makes this a contract ? Who pretends that it is 
 anything more than an ordinary act of ordinary 
 legislation? If, then, a law which has all the 
 forms and solemnities recognized by common 
 consent as a compact, and is covered with tra- 
 ditions, cannot stand amid this shuffling of the 
 balance between the Free States and the Slave 
 States, tell me what chances this new law that 
 you are passing will have ? 
 
 You are, moreover, setting a precedent which 
 abrogates all compromises. Four years ago, you 
 obtained the consent of a portion of the Free 
 States — enough to render the effort at immediate 
 repeal or resistance alike impossible — to what we 
 regard as an unconstitutional act for the surren- 
 der of fugitive slaves. That was declared, by the 
 common consent of the persons acting in the 
 name of the two parties, the Slave States and the 
 Free States in Congress, an irrepealable law — not 
 even to be questioned, although it violated the 
 Constitution. In establishing this new principle, 
 you expose that law also to the chances of repeal. 
 You not only so expose the fugitive slave law, 
 but there is no solemnity about the articles for 
 the annexation of Texas to the United States, 
 which does not hang about the Missouri Com- 
 promise ; and when you have shown that the 
 Missouri Compromise can be repealed, then the 
 articles for the annexation of Texas are subject 
 to the will and pleasure and the caprice of a tem- 
 poraiy majority in Congress. Do you, then, ex- 
 pect that the Free States are to observe compacts, 
 and you to bo at liberty to break them ; that 
 they are to submit to laws and leave them on the 
 statute-book, however unconstitutional and how- 
 ever grievous, and that you are to rest under no 
 such obligation ? I think it is not a reasonable 
 expectation. Say, then, who from the North 
 will be bound to admit Kansas, when Kansas 
 shall come in here, if she shall come as a Slave 
 State 1 
 
 The honorable Senator from Georgia, [Mr. 
 Toombs,] and I know he is as sincere as he is 
 ardent, says if he shall be here when Kansas 
 comes as a Free State, he will vote for her ad- 
 mission. I doubt not that he would ; but he will 
 not be here, for the veiy reason, if there be no 
 other, that ho would vote that way. When 
 Oregon or Minnesota shall come here for admis- 
 sion — whhin one year, or two years, or three 
 years from this time — we shall then see what 
 your new principle is worth in its obligation upon 
 the slaveholding States. No; you establish no 
 principle, you only abrogate a principle which 
 was established for your own security as well as 
 ours; and while you think you are abnegating 
 and resigning all power and all authority on this 
 subject into the hands of the people of the Terri- 
 tories, you are only getting over a difficulty in 
 settling this question in the organization of two 
 new Territories, by postponing it till they come 
 here to be admitted as States, slave or free. 
 
 Sir, in saying that your new principle will not 
 be established by this bill, I reason from obvious, 
 clear, well settled principles of human nature. 
 Slavery and Freedom are antagonistical elements 
 in this country. The founders of the Constitution 
 framed it with a knowledge of that anta^'onism, 
 and suffered it to continue, that it might work 
 out its own ends. There is a commercial anta- 
 
THE KANSAS NEBRASKA STRUGGLE. 
 
 81 
 
 gouism, nil inT><'nii('ilal)lo one, bctwoon tlio eys- 
 toiiis i)f free liibm- iiml hIiivo labor. Thev Imve 
 been nt war with eacli other ever Binci; the (io 
 vermiK'iit w.is estahlished, and that war is to 
 eontiuuo forever. Tlie eoiitesf, wlieii it ripens 
 between tlie.se two antaf,'0ni8tic elenionts, is to be 
 eettiod soniewliero; it is to be settled in tho seat 
 of central power, in the Federal Li'i,'islature. 
 The Constitnlion makes it Uio duty of the central 
 Government to dotorminc queslions, as often as 
 they shall arise, in favor of ono^ or the other 
 party, and refers tho decision of them to the 
 majoritv of tho votes in tho two Houses of Con- 
 press, "it will come back here, then, in Bi)ito of 
 all the elVorts to escape from it. 
 
 This anta'^onism must end cither in a soiiara- 
 tion of the anlniionistic parties— the Slaveholdini,' 
 States ami the Free States — or, secondly, in tiie 
 coniploto establishment of the inllueni'e of the 
 Slave power over tho Free — or else, on the other 
 hand, in the establishnient of the superior inlin- 
 onco of Freedom over tho interests of Slavery. 
 Il will not be terminated by n voluntary secession 
 of either party. Commercial interests bind the 
 Slave States and the Free States together in liidis 
 of pold that are riveted with iron, and they can- 
 not be broken by pa.ssion or by ambition. Either 
 party will submit to the aseenilancy of the other, 
 rather than yield the commercial advantaj^es of 
 this Tnion. Piditical tics bind tho Union to- 
 gether — a common necessity, and not merely a 
 common necessity, but the commi>u interests of 
 empire — of such empire as the world has never 
 before seen. Tlie control of the national power 
 is the control of the threat Western Continent; 
 and tho control of this continent is to be, in a 
 very few years, the controUinsi intiuenco in the 
 ■world. Who is there, North, that hates Slavery 
 so much, or who, South, that hates emaneii)ation 
 so intensely, that he can attempt, with any hope 
 of success, to break a Union thus forf^ed and 
 welded toy;eiher ? I have always heard, with 
 e([ual pity and disgust, threats of disunion in the 
 Free States, and similar threats in the Sluve- 
 liolding States. I know that men may rave in 
 the heat of passion, and under great political cx- 
 citement ; but I know that when it comes to a 
 question whether this Union shall stand, either 
 with Freedom or with Slavery, the masses will 
 uphold it, and it will stand until some inherent 
 vice in its Constitution, not yet disclosed, shall 
 cause its dissolution. Now, entertaining these 
 opinions, there are for me only two alternatives, 
 VIZ. : either to let Slavery gain unlimited sway, 
 or 80 to exert what little power and intlueuce I 
 may have, as to secure, if I can, the ultimate pre- 
 dominance of Freedom. 
 
 In doing this, I do no more than tlioso who 
 believe the Slave Power is rightest, wisest, and 
 ])est, are doing, and will continue to do, with mv 
 free consent, to establish its complete supremacy. 
 If they shall succeed, I still shall be, as I have 
 been, a loyal citizen If we succeed, I know they 
 ■will be loyal also, because it will be safest, wisest, 
 and best for them to bo so. The question is one, 
 not of a day, or of a year, but of many years, and, 
 for aught I know, many generations. Like all 
 other great political questions, it will be attended 
 sometimes by excitement, sometimes by passion, 
 and sometimes, perhaps, even by faction ; but it 
 is sure to be settled in a constitutional way, with- 
 out any violent shock to society, or to any of its 
 great interests. It is, moreover, sure to be settled 
 riglitly; because it will be settled under tho 
 benign influences of liepublieaiiism and Chris- 
 tianity, ai'cording to the princii)lcs of truth and 
 justice, as ascertained by human reason. In pur- 
 suing such a course, it seems to me obviously as 
 wise as it is necessary to save nil existing laws 
 and Constitutions which are conservative of 
 Freedom, and to permit, as fm- as possible, the 
 6 
 
 CKtablishmcnt of no now ones in favor of Slavery ; 
 and thus to turn away the thoughts of the .StutOH 
 which tolerate Slavery, tVom political etVorts to 
 perpetuate what in its naturu cannot be jierpot- 
 ual, to the moro wiso and benign policy <il emuu- 
 cii)atioii. 
 
 This, in my hnmblo judgment, is the simple, 
 easy path of duty tor the American Statesman. 
 I will not contemplate that other alternative — the 
 greater aseenilancy of tlie .Slave Power. I boliove 
 that if it shall ever come, tho voice of Freedom 
 will cease to be heard in these Halls, whatever 
 niay bo tho evils and dangers which Slavery shall 
 produce. I say this without disrespect for i{epro- 
 sentatives of Slave States, and 1 say it becaUHO 
 the rights of petition and of debate on that are 
 etleetiially suppressed — necessarily suiipresscd — 
 in all the Slave States, and because they me not 
 always lii'ld in reverence, even now, in the two 
 Houses of C<jngress. When freedom of speech 
 on a subject of such vital interest shall have 
 ceased to exist in Congress, then I shall expect 
 to see Slavery not only luxuriating in all new 
 Territories, but stealthiiy creeping even into the 
 Free States themselves. Relieving this, and be- 
 lieving, also, that complete responsibility of the 
 (ioverimient to the people is essential to public 
 and private safety, and that decline and ruin are 
 sure to follow, always, in the train of Slavery, I 
 am sure that this will be no longer a laml of 
 Freedom and constituticnial liberty when Slavery 
 shall have tlius become paramount. Aufcrre 
 tnicidare fahix iwininihus imprriuin afquc, ubi 
 solitudiium faciuitt, paccm appcllnnf. 
 
 Sir, I have always said that I should not de- 
 s])ond, even if this fearful mea-surc should be 
 efi'ectod : nor do I now despond. Although, rea- 
 soning from my present convictions, 1 should 
 not have voted for the compromise of 18'J0, I 
 have labored, in the very spirit of those who es- 
 tablished it, to save the landmark of Freedom 
 which it a.ssigned. I have not spoken irrever- 
 ently even of the compromise of 1850, which, as 
 all men know, I opposed earnestly and with dili- 
 gence. Nevertheless, I have always preferred 
 the compromises of the Constitution, and have 
 wanted no others. I feared all others. This waa 
 a leading ptinciple of the great statesman of the 
 South, [Mr. Calhoun]. Said he: 
 
 " I sec my ■way in tho Constitution ; I cannot 
 in a compromise. A compromise is but an act 
 of Congress. It may be overruled at any time. 
 It gives us no security. But the Constitution is 
 stable. It is a rock on which wo can stand, and 
 on which we can meet our friends from the non- 
 slaveholding States. It is a firm and stable 
 ground, on which we can better stand in opposi- 
 tion to fanaticism than on the shifiing sanils of 
 compromise. Let us be done with coniproniises. 
 Let us go back and stand upon the Couc-titu- 
 lion." 
 
 I stood upon this ground in 1850, defending 
 Freedom upon it as Mr. Calhoun did in defend- 
 ing Slavery. I was overruled then, ami I have 
 waited since without proiwsing to abrogate any 
 compromises. 
 
 It has been no proposition of mine to abro-jate 
 them now; but tlic proposition has come from 
 another quarter — from an adverse tnie. It is 
 about to prevail. The shifting sands of compro- 
 mise are pa.ssing from under my feet, and tney 
 are now, without agency of my own, taking hold 
 again on the rock of the Constitution. It shall be 
 no fault of mine if they do m)t remain firm. This 
 seems to me auspicious of better days and wi-ser 
 legislation. Through all the darkness and gloom 
 of the present hour, bright stars are breaking, 
 that insi)ire me with hope, and excite me to per- 
 severance. Thev show that the day of compro- 
 mises has past forever, and that henceforward 
 all great questions between Freedom and Slaverj 
 
82 
 
 THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 
 
 legitimately coming here — and none other can 
 come— i^liail be decided, as they ought to be, upon 
 their merits, by a fair exercise of legislative 
 power, and not by bargains of equivocal pru- 
 dence, if not of doubtful morality. 
 
 Tlie House of Kepresentntives has, and it al- 
 ways will have, an increasing majority of mem- 
 bers from the Free States. On this occasion, that 
 House has not been altogether faithless to the in- 
 terests of the Free States; foralthough it has taken 
 away the charter of Freedom from Kansas and 
 Nebraska, it has, at the same time, told this proud 
 body, in language which compels acquiescence, 
 that in submitting the question of its restoration, 
 it would submit it not merely to interested citi- 
 zens, but to the alien inhabitants of the Terri- 
 tories also. So the great interests of humanity 
 are, after all, thanks to the House of Represent- 
 atives, and thanks to God, submitted to the 
 voice of human nature. 
 
 Sir, I see one more sign of hope. The great 
 support of Slavery in the South has been its alli- 
 ance with the Democratic party of the North. 
 By means of that alliance, it obtained paramount 
 inilueuce in this Government about the year 1800, 
 which from that time to this, with but few and 
 slight interruptions, it has maintained. While 
 Democracy in the North has thus been support- 
 ing Slavery in the South, the people of the North 
 have been learning more profoundly the princi- 
 ples of republicanism and of free government. 
 It is an extraordinary circumstance, which you, 
 6U-, the present occupant of the chair, [Mr. Stu- 
 art], I am sure will not gainsay, that at this mo- 
 ment, when there seems to be a more complete 
 divergence of the Federal Government, in favor 
 of Slavery, than ever before, the sentiment of 
 Universal Liberty is stronger in all Free States 
 than it ever was befoi'e. With that principle, 
 the present Democratic party must now come 
 into a closer contest. Their prestige of Democra- 
 cy is fast waning, by reason of the hard service 
 which their alliance with their slaveholding 
 brethren has imposed upon them. That party 
 perseveres, as indeed it must, by reason of its very 
 constitution, in that service, and thus comes into 
 closer conflict with elements of true Democracy, 
 and for that reason is destined to lose, and is fast 
 losing, the power which it has held so firmly and 
 long. That power will not be restored until the 
 principle established here now shall be reversed, 
 and a Constitution shall be given, not only to 
 Kansas and Nebraska, but also to every other 
 national Territory, which will be not a tabula 
 rasa, but a Constitution securing equal, univer- 
 sal, and perpetual Freedom. 
 
 Mr. Douglas closed the debate, reiterating 
 and enforcing the views set forth in his Re- 
 port already given ; and at last the vote 
 was taken, and the bill passed : Yeas 37 ; 
 Nays 14 ; as follows : 
 
 YEAS— For the Kansas-Nebraska bill : 
 
 Messrs. Adams, 
 
 Atchison, 
 
 Badger, 
 
 Bayard, 
 
 Benjamin, 
 
 Brodhead, 
 
 Brown, 
 
 Butler, 
 
 Cass, 
 
 Clay, 
 
 Dawson, 
 
 Dixon, 
 
 Hunter, 
 
 Johnson, 
 
 Jones of Iowa, 
 
 Jones of Tenn. 
 
 Mason, 
 
 Morton, 
 
 Norris, 
 
 Pettit, 
 
 Pratt, 
 
 Rusk, 
 
 Sebastian, 
 
 Shields, 
 
 Dodge of Iowa, Slidell, 
 Douglas, Stuart, 
 
 Evans, Thompson of Ky. 
 
 Fitzpatrick, Thomson of N. J. 
 
 Geyer, Toucey, 
 
 Gwin, Weller, 
 
 Williams — 37. 
 
 NAYS— Against the said bill ; 
 
 Messrs. Bell, Houston, 
 
 Chase, James. 
 Dodge of Wise. Seward, 
 
 Fessenden, Smhh, 
 
 Fish, Sumner, 
 
 Foot, Wade, 
 
 Hamlin. Walker — 14. 
 
 So the bill was passed, and its title de- 
 clared to be " An Act to organize the Ter- 
 ritories of Nebraska and Kansas," and the 
 Senate adjourned over to the Tuesday fol- 
 following. 
 
 In the House, a bill to organize the Ter- 
 ritory of Nebraska had been noticed on the 
 first day of the session, by Mr. John G. 
 Miller of Mo., who introduced it December 
 22nd. 
 
 Jan. 2ith. — Mr. Giddings gave notice of 
 a bill to organize said Territory. 
 
 Jan. 30th.— Ur. Pringle of N. Y. en- 
 deavored to have the bill passed at the last 
 session (leaving the Missouri Restriction 
 intact), reported by the Committee on Ter- 
 ritories ; but debate arose, and his resolution 
 lay over. 
 
 Jan. 31st. — Mr. Richardson of 111., chair- 
 man of the Committee on Territories, re- 
 ported a bill " To organize the Territories 
 of Nebraska and Kansas," which was read 
 twice and committed. 
 
 Mr. Richardson's bill was substantially 
 Mr. Douglas's last bill, and was accompa- 
 nied by no report. Mr. English of Ind. 
 submitted the views of a minority of said 
 Committee on lY'rritories, proposing, with- 
 out argument, the two following amend- 
 ments : 
 
 1. Amend the section defining the bound- 
 ary of Kansas, so as to make " the summit 
 of the Rocky Mountains" the western bound- 
 ary of said Territory. 
 
 2. Strike out of the 14th and 34th sec- 
 tions of said bill all after the words •' Uni- 
 ted States," and insert in each instance (the 
 one relating to Kansas, and the other to Ne- 
 braska) as follows : 
 
 Provided, That nothing in this act shall be so 
 construed as to prevent tlie peojile of said Terri- 
 tory, through the properly-constituted legislative 
 authority, from passing such laws, in relation to 
 the institution of Slavery, as they may deem 
 best adapted to their locality, and most condu- 
 cive to their happiness and welfare ; and so much 
 of any existing act of Congress as may conflict 
 with the above right of the people to regulate 
 their domestic institutions in their own way, be, 
 and the same is hereby, repealed." 
 
 This appears to have been an attempt to 
 give practical effect to the doctrine of 
 Sfiuatter Sovereignty ; but it was not suc- 
 cessful. 
 
TUE KANSAS-NERllASKA STRUGGLE. 
 
 83 
 
 May Stit. — On motion of Mr. Richard- 
 son, the IIouso — Yeas 109 ; Nays 88 — 
 resolved itself into a Committee of the 
 Whole, and took up the bill (House No. 
 23G) to organize tlie Territories of Xcbrius- 
 liu and Kansas, and discussed it — Mr. Olds 
 of Ohio in the ehair. 
 
 On coming out of Committee, Mr Georjre 
 W. Jones of Tcnn. moved that the rules be 
 susjUMuled so as to enable him to move the 
 ])riiitin!i: of Senate bill (No. 2'2, ))asscd the 
 Senate iis aforesaid) and tlie amendment 
 now pending to the House bill. No (juo- 
 rnm voted — adjourned. 
 
 Mai/ 9th. — This motion prevailed. Af- 
 ter debate in Committe<? on the Kansas-Ne- 
 bniska bill, the Cunnnittee found it.self 
 without a (juorum, and thereupon rose and 
 reported the fact to the House — only 100 
 Jklembers were found to be present. After 
 several fruitless attemjits to adjourn, a call 
 was ordered and a quorum obtained, at 'J 
 P. M. At 10, an adjournment prevailed. 
 
 May lOtli. — Debate iu Committee con- 
 tinned. 
 
 3Iuy lltli. — Mr. Richardson moved that 
 all debate iu Conmiittee close to-morrow at 
 Qoon. 
 
 Mr. English moved a call of the House : 
 Refused ; Yeas 88 ; Naj's 97. 
 
 Mr. Mace moved that Mr. Richardson's 
 motion be laid on the table : Defeated ; 
 Yeas 9:i ; Nays 100. 
 
 Mr. Edgerton of Ohio moved a call of 
 the House : Refused ; Yeas 45 ; Nays 80. 
 
 [The day was spent in what has come 
 to i)e called •' Filil)ustering" — that is, the 
 minority moving adjournments, calls of the 
 House, asking to be excused from voting, 
 taking appeals, etc., etc. In the midst of 
 this, Mr. Richardson withdi-ew his original 
 motion, and moved instead that the debate 
 iu Connnittee be closed in five minutes after 
 the House shall have resumed it. 
 
 The hour of noon of the I'ith having ar- 
 Bived, Messrs. Dean and Banks raised points 
 of order as to the termination of the legisla- 
 tive day. The Speaker decided that the 
 legislative day could only be terminated by 
 the adjournment of the House, except by 
 constitutional conclusion of the session. ^Ir. 
 Banks appealed, but at length withdrew his 
 appeal. 
 
 Finally, at 11 J o'clock, P. M., of Friday, 
 12th, after a continuous sitting of thirty- 
 six hours, the House, on motion of Mr. Rich- 
 ardson, adjourned. 
 
 May 13th. — The House sat but two 
 hours, and efifected nothing. 
 
 3Iay I'Hh. — Mr. Richardson withdrew his 
 demand for the Previous Question on clos- 
 ing the debate, and moved instead that the 
 debate close at noon on Friday the 19th in- 
 stant, 'i'liis he finally modified by substi- 
 tuting Saturday the 20th ; and in ttiis shape 
 his motion prevailed by a two-thirds majori- 
 
 ty—Yeas 137 ; Nays CG— the following op- 
 ponents of the Ijill voting for the motion, 
 namely : 
 
 R[aink. — ThuiiinH ,J. 1). Kuller, Siiniui'l May- 
 nil— 1>. 
 
 NKwIlA.Mr.sniuF..— fJco. W. Kittreilge, Geo. 
 \V. Morrisdii — 2. 
 
 Massachusktts.— Xatlmnicl 1*. IJankH, jr.— 1. 
 
 Co.NNKcTicuT.— ()ri;;ou S. Soyniour— 1. 
 
 Xew-Yokk.— Gilbert Deuii, Churlt-B Hughes 
 
 I'KXNSYLVANiA.— Michiiol C. Trout— 1. 
 
 Ohio. — Alfred 1*. Kil;;i'rt(»n, Iliirvoy H. .John- 
 son, Andrew ICiiisoii, Williinii I). Liiidhlcy, Thom- 
 ns Kicliey — .'>. 
 
 Indiana. — Andrcu'.I. llinlnii, Daniel Maco— 2. 
 
 Illinois.— Jolin Wont worth— 1. 
 
 Michigan. — David A. Noble, llentor L. Ste- 
 veiiH — 2. 
 
 Wisconsin. — .Toliii 15. Macy — 1. 
 
 ViiUiiNiA. — John S. Millsou — 1. 
 
 Total— 21. 
 
 Mr. Richardson, having thus got in his 
 resolution to close the debate, put on the 
 previous question again, and the House — 
 Yeas, 113 ; Nays, 59 — agreed to close the 
 debate on the 20th. 
 
 Debate having been closed, the opponents 
 of the measure expected to defeat or crip- 
 ple it by moving and taking a vote in Com- 
 mittee on various propositions of amend- 
 ment, kindred to those moved and rejected 
 in the Senate ; some of which it was be- 
 lieved a majority of the House would not 
 choose (or dare) to vote down ; and. though 
 the names of those voting on one side or 
 the other in Committee of the Whole are 
 not recorded, yet any proposition moved and 
 rejected there, may be renewed in the House 
 after taking the bill out of committee, and is 
 no longer cut off by the Previous Question ; 
 as it formerly was. But, when the hour for 
 closing debate in Committee had arrived, 
 Mr. Alex. H. Stephens moved that the en- 
 acting clause of the hill he stricken out ; 
 which was carried by a rally of the friends 
 of the bill, and of course cut off all amend- 
 ments. The bill was thus reported to the 
 House with its hea<l off; when, after a long- 
 struggle, the House refused to agree to the 
 report of the Committee of the Whole — 
 Yeas (for agreeing) 97 ; Nays 117 — bring- 
 ing the House to a direct vote on the en- 
 grossment of the bill. 
 
 Mr. Richardson now movctl an amend- 
 ment, which was a substitute for the whole 
 bill, being substantially the Senate's bill, 
 with the clause admitting aliens, who have 
 declared their intention to become citizens, 
 to the right of suffrage. He thereupon 
 called the Previous Question, which the 
 House sustained — Yeas IK!; Nays 90 — 
 when the House adopted his amendment — 
 Yeas 115 ; Nays 95 — and proceeded to en- 
 gross the bill— Yeas 112 ; Nays 99 — when 
 he put on the Previous Question again, and 
 pa.-sed the bill finally — Yeas 113; Nays 
 100 — as follows ; 
 
84: 
 
 THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 
 
 YEAS— 113. 
 
 FROM THE FKEE STATES. 
 
 Maine — Moses McDonald — 1. 
 
 N K w- H A M I' SH I R E — H.iiTy li ibbnrd — 1 . 
 
 CoNNKCTicUT — Colin M. IngersoU — 1. 
 
 Vermont — None. Massachusetts — None. 
 
 Rhode Island — None. 
 
 Kew-York— Thomas W. Cumming, Francis 
 B. Cutting, Peter Rowc, John J. Taylor, Wil- 
 liam M. Tweed, Hiram Walbridgc, William A. 
 Walker, Mike Walsh, Thco. R. Westbrook— 9. 
 
 Pennsylvania — Samuel A. Bridges, John L. 
 Dawson, Thomas B. Florence, J. Glancy Jones, 
 William H. Kurtz, John McNair, Asa Packer, 
 John Robbins, Jr., Christian M. Straub, Wilham 
 H. Witte, Hcndrick B. Wright— 11. 
 
 New-Jeusey— Samuel Lilly, George Vail— 2. 
 
 Ohio- David T. Disnev, Frederick W. Green, 
 Ed.son B. Olds, Wilson Shannon- 4. 
 
 Indiana— John G. Davis, Cyrus L. Dunham, 
 Nonnan Eddy, William H. English, Thomas A. 
 Hendi-icks, James H. Lane, Smith Miller— 7. 
 
 Illinois— James C. Allen, Willis Allen, Wm. 
 A. Richardson — 3. 
 
 Michigan— Samuel Clark, David Stuart— 2. 
 
 Iowa — Bernhart Henn — 1. 
 
 Wisconsin — None. 
 
 California— Milton S. Latham, J. A. McDou- 
 gaU— 2. Total 44. 
 
 FROM THE SLAVE STATES. 
 
 Delaware— George R. Riddle— 1. 
 
 Maryland— William T. Hamilton, Henry 
 May, Jacob Shower, Joshua Vansant— 4. 
 
 Virginia— Thomas H. Bayly, Thomas S. Bo- 
 cock, John S. Caskic, Henry A. Edmundson, 
 Charles J. Faulkner, William O. Goode, Zede- 
 kiah Kidwell, John Letcher, Paulus Powell, 
 William Smith, John P. Snodgrass— IL 
 
 North Carolina- William S. Ashe, Burton 
 Craige, Thomas L. Clingmau, John Kerr, Thos. 
 Ruftin, Henry M. Shaw— 6. 
 
 South Carolina— William W. Boyce, Pres- 
 ton S. Brooks, James L. Orr— 3. 
 
 Georgia— David J. Bailey, Elijah W. Chas- 
 tain, Alfred H. Colquitt, Junius HiUyer, David 
 A Reese, Ale.x. H. Stephens— 6. 
 
 Alabama— Ja?»es Abercromhie, Wilhamson 
 R W. Cobb, James F. Dowdell, Sampson W. 
 Harris, George S. Houston, Philip PhUlips, \\ il- 
 liam R. Smith— 7. - — 
 
 Mississippi— William S. Ban-y, Wilham 
 Barksdale, Otho R. Singleton, Daniel B. Wright 
 — 4 
 
 Louisiana— William Dunbar, Roland Jones, 
 John Perkins, Jr. — 3 . , , o 
 
 Kentucky— John C. Breckeundge, James S. 
 Chrisman, Leander M. Cox, Clement S. Hill, 
 John M. Elliot, £««;. E.Grey, WiUiam Pres- 
 ton, Richard H. Stanton— 8. 
 
 Tennessee— William M. Churchwcll, George 
 W. Jones, Charles Ready, Samuel A. Smith, 
 Frederick P. Stanton, Felix K. Zollicoffer—b. 
 
 Missouri— Alfred W. Lamb, James J. Ltnd- 
 ley, John G. Miller, Mordecai Oliver, John S. 
 
 Arkansas— Alfred B. Greenwood, Edwin A. 
 Warren — 2. 
 
 Florida— Augustus E. Maxwell— 1. 
 Texas— Peter H. BeU, Geo. W. Smyth— 2 
 
 Total— 69. 
 
 Total, Free and Slave States— 113. 
 NAYS— 100. 
 
 FREE STATES. 
 Mmsf.— Samuel P. Benson, E. Wilder Far- 
 lev, Tiiomas J. D. Fuller, Samuel Mayall, Israel 
 Washburn, Jr. — 5. 
 
 I New-Hampshire — George W. Kittredge, 
 George W. Morrison — 2. 
 
 Massachusetts — Nathaniel P. Banks, Jr., 
 Samnel L. Crocker, Alex. De Witt , Edxeard, 
 Dickinson, J. Wiley Edmands, Thomas D. 
 Eliot, John Z. Goodrich, Charles W. Upham, 
 Samuel H. Walley, Tappan Wentworth — 10. 
 
 Rhode Island— Thomas Davis, Benjamin B. 
 Thurston— 2. 
 
 Connecticut— Nathan Belcher, James T. 
 Pratt, Origeu S. Seymour — 3. 
 
 Vermo.nt — James Meacham, Alvah Sabin, 
 Andrew Tracy — 3. 
 
 New-York — Henry Bennett, Davis Carpen- 
 ter, Gilbert Dean, Caleb Lyon, Reuben E. Fen- 
 ton, Thomas T. Flashier, George Hastings, Solo- 
 mon G. Haven, Charles Hughes, Daniel T. Jones, 
 Orsamus B. Matteson, Edwin B. Morgan, 
 William Murray, Andrew Oliver, Jared V. Peck, 
 Rufus W. Peckham, Bishop Perkins, Benjamin 
 Pringle, Russell Sage, George A. Simmons, 
 Gerrit Smith, John Wheeler — 22. 
 
 New-Jersey — Alex. C. M. Pennington, 
 Charles Skelton, Nathan T. Stratton— 3. 
 
 Pennsylvania — Joseph R. Chandler, Carlton 
 B. Curtis, John Dick, Augustus Drum, William 
 Everhart, James Gamble, Galusha A. Grow, 
 Isaac E. Hicster, Thomas M. Howe, John Mc- 
 Culloch, Ncr Middleswarth, David Ritchie, 
 Samuel L. Russell, Michael C. Trout— 14. 
 
 Ohio— Edward Ball, Lewis D. Campbell, 
 Alfred P. Edgerton, Andrew Ellison, Joshua R. 
 GiddingS, Aaron Harlan, John Scott Harri- 
 son, H. H. Johnson, William D. Lindsley, M. H. 
 Nichols, Thomas Richey, William R. Sapp, 
 Andrew Stuart, John L. Taylor, Edward Wade 
 —15. 
 
 Indiana— Andrew J. Harlan, Daniel Mace, 
 Samuel W. Parker — 3. 
 
 Illinois — James Knox, Jesse O. Norton, 
 Elihu B. Washburne, John Wentworth, Richard 
 Yates— b. 
 
 Michigan— David A. Noble, Hestor L. Ste- 
 vens — 2. 
 
 Wisconsin— Benjamin C. Eastman, Daniel 
 Wells, Jr.— 2. 
 
 Iowa — None. California— Vo'te. Total— 91. 
 
 SOUTHERN STATES. 
 
 Virginia— John S. Millson- 1. 
 
 North Carolina — JRic/tarci C. Puryear, 
 Sion H. Rogers—^. ,,,.„. ^ , 
 
 Tennessee— i^oieri! M. Bugg, William Cul- 
 lom, Emerson Etheridge, Nathaniel G. Tay- 
 lor— 'i. 
 
 Louisiana — Theodore G. Hunt — 1. 
 
 Missouri- Thomas H. Benton— I. 
 
 Other Southern States— Ao?jc. Total— 9. 
 
 Total, Free and Slave States— 100. 
 
 ABSENT, OR NOT VOTING— 21. 
 
 N. England States— mV/Zam Appleton of 
 Mass. — 1. ^ ,, 
 
 New- York— Geo. W. CAase, James Maurice 
 2 
 
 Pennsylvania— iVowe. New-Jersey— iVone. 
 
 Ohio— George Bliss, Moses B. Convin—2. 
 
 Illinois— Wm. H. Bissell— 1. 
 
 California — Nojie. 
 
 Indiana— Eben M. Chamberlain- 1. 
 
 Michigan— iV<j?»e. Iowa— John P. Cook— I. 
 
 W iscoNsiN— John B. Macy— 1. 
 
 Total from Free States— 9. 
 
 Maryland— Jo/m R. Franklin, Augustus R. 
 Sollcrs—'i. 
 
 Vi RGiNi A— Fayette McMullon— 1. 
 
 North Carolina — A'ojjc. Delaware — 
 No7ie. 
 
THE KANSAS-NEBRASKA STRUGGLE. 
 
 85 
 
 South Cauomna— Win. Aikeu, Lawrence M. 
 Keitt, John iMcQiircn— 3. 
 
 (jKoKcii A— Wni. IJ. W. Ucnt, Jmiic-s L. Seward 
 —2. 
 
 Alabama — Noiif. 
 
 Mississippi — Wiley P. Harris — 1. 
 
 Kentucky— Liun Boyd, (SiHJtiker,) Presley 
 Ewiiiff — 2. 
 
 M isso I' n I — Sam uel Carufh<'rs — 1 . 
 
 Arkansas— A'o/i<?. Fi.okida — Xonc. 
 
 Tkxas — yonc. Texnkssek — Xone. 
 
 Lo u I s I a n a — Xone. 
 
 'J'otal from Slave States— 12. 
 
 Wliig« in Ildlics. Abolitionists in SMALL CAPITALS. 
 Semocrat8 in Eoman. 
 
 May 2'.i(L — The bill being thus sent to 
 the Senate (not as a Senate but as a House 
 bill), was sent at once to the Committee of 
 the Whole, and there briefly considered. 
 
 3Iaij2itli. — Mr. Pearce of Md. moved to 
 strike out the clause in sec. 5 which ex- 
 tends the right of suffrage to 
 
 '' those who ehall have declared on oath their 
 intention to become such, [citizens] and shall 
 have taken an oath to support the Constitution 
 of the United States, and tiie provisions of tliis 
 act." 
 
 Negatived — Yeas ; Bayard, Bell, Brod- 
 hcad, Brown, Clayton, Pearce, and Thomp- 
 son of Ky Nays 41. 
 
 The bill was then ordered to be engrossed 
 for a third reading — Yeas 35 ; Nays 13, as 
 follows : 
 
 YEAS — For Engrossing : 
 
 Messrs. Atchison, Mo. Ma.'ion, Vn. 
 
 Bndr^er, N. C. Morton, Fla. 
 
 Benjamin, La. Norris, N. II. 
 
 Brodhead, Pa. Pearce, Md. 
 
 Brown, Miss. Pcttit, lud. 
 
 Butler, S. C. Pratt, Md. 
 
 Cass, Mich. Rusk, Texas, 
 
 Clay, Ala. Sebastian, Ark. 
 
 Dawson, Ga. Shields, 111. 
 
 Douglas, 111. Slidell, La. 
 
 Fitz.patnck, Ala. Stiuirt, Mich. 
 
 Gwin, Cal. Thompson, Ky. 
 
 Hunter, Va. Thomson, N. J. 
 
 Johnson, Ark. Toombs, Ga. 
 
 Jones, Iowa, Toucey, Ct. 
 
 Joncx, Tenn. Weller, Cal. 
 
 Mallory, Fla. Williams, N. H. 
 Wright, N. J.— 35. 
 
 NAYS — Against Engrossing : 
 Messrs. Allen, R. L Gillette, Ct. 
 
 Bel/, Tenn. Hamlin, Me. 
 
 Chase, Ohio, James, R. I. 
 
 Clayton, Del. Hcieanl, X. Y. 
 
 Finh, N. Y. Sum.ver, Mass. 
 
 Foot, Vt. Wade, Ohio, 
 
 Walker, Wise— 13. 
 
 DemocratR in Roman ; Whigs in Italics ; Free Demo- 
 crats in Small Caps. 
 
 The bill was then passed without further 
 division, and, being approved by the Presi- 
 dent, became a law. Its provisions are as 
 follows : 
 
 An Act to organize the Territories of Nebraska and 
 Kansan. 
 Be it enacted hy the Senate and Houne of Rep- 
 resentatives of the United States of America in 
 Congress assembled : That all that part of the 
 
 Territory of the United States included within the 
 followinglimitH,«'Xcept nu<-li))ortioiiH tin rcofasare 
 liereinaClt-r expre»Mly c.xcniplfil from the oj)era- 
 tionH of thin act, to wit : b(')rinnin(; at a point in 
 the MiHHouri river where the fortieth pariillel of 
 north latitude ltohki-h tlit-Hanie; thence Wf«t on 
 said parallel to tlie eiiht boundary of the Territory 
 of Utah on the siiinniit of the Kocky Mountains; 
 thence on waid Hununit northward to tin- forty- 
 ninth puralk-l of north latitude; thence caxt on 
 said parallel to the western Itoundary of the Ter- 
 ritory of MiiMicHota ; thence southward on Kttid 
 boundary to the Missouri river : tlieiic<; down the 
 main <-haunel of said river to lli<; place of Ite^in- 
 ninj;, bo, and the SHnu; is hereby creute(| into a 
 tenij)()rary },'overninent by the nimie of th<' Terri- 
 tory of Nebraska ; and when admitted as a State 
 or States, the said Teiritory, or any i)orti<jn of the 
 same, shall be received into the Union with or 
 without Slavery, as their constitution may pre- 
 scribe at the time of their admission : Provided, 
 That nolhin}; in this act contained shall be con- 
 strued to inhibit the (,'ovcrnmeut of the United 
 Stales from dividin;,' said Territory into two or 
 more territories, in such irumner and at such times 
 as Congi'ess shall deem convenient and proper, or 
 from attaching any portion of said Territory to 
 any other State or Territory of the United States: 
 Provided further. That nothing in this act con- 
 tained shall be construed to impair the rights of 
 iierson or property now pertaining to the Indians 
 m said Territory, so hmg as such rights shall re- 
 main unextinguished by treaty between the Uni- 
 ted States and such Indians, or to include any 
 Territory which, by treaty with any Indian tribe, 
 is not, without the consent of said tribe, to be in- 
 eluded within the territorial limits or jurisdiction 
 of any State or Teiritory ; but all such Territory 
 shall be excepted out of the boundaries, iuid con- 
 stitute no part of the Territory of Nebraska, until 
 said tribe shall signify their assent to the Presi- 
 dent of the United States to be included within 
 the said Territory of Nebraska, or to aftect the 
 authority of the government of the United States 
 to make any regulations respecting such Indians, 
 their lands, property, or other rights, by treaty, 
 law, or otheiTvise, which it would have been 
 competent to the government to make if this act 
 had never passed. 
 
 Sec. 2. That the executive power and authori- 
 ty in and over said Territory of Nebraska shall 
 be vested in a governor, who shall hold his office 
 for four yeai-8, and until his successor shall be 
 appointed and qualilied, unless sooner removed 
 by the President of the United States. The gov- 
 ernor shall reside within said Territory, and shall 
 be communder-in-chief of the militia thereof, lie 
 may grant pardons and respites for oftenses 
 against the laws of said Territory, and reprieves 
 for oftenses a^^ainst the laws of the United States, 
 until the decision of the President can be made 
 known thereon ; he shall commission all officere 
 who shall be appointed to office under the laws 
 of the said Territory, and shall take care that the 
 laws be faithfully executed. 
 
 Sec. 3. That there shall be a secretary of said 
 Territory, who shall reside therein, and hold his 
 office for five years, unless sooner removed by 
 the President of the United States ; he shall re- 
 cord and i)reserve all the laws and proceedings 
 of (he legislative assembly hereinafter constitut- 
 ed, and all the acts and jniicf ediiigs of the govern- 
 or in his executive deparinieiit ; he shall Irar.s- 
 mit one copy of the laws and journals of the le- 
 gislative assembly, within thirty davs after the 
 end of each session, and one copy ot the execu- 
 tive proceedings and official con'cspondence 
 semi-annually on the tirst davs of January and 
 July in each year, to the President of the United 
 States, and two copies of the laws to the Presi- 
 dent of tL£ Senate and to the JSpeaker of the 
 
86 
 
 THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 
 
 House of Eeproseutatives, to be deposited in the 
 libniries of Congress ; and, in ease of the death, 
 removal, vesication, or absence of tlie governor 
 from the Territory, the secretary shall be, and he 
 is hereby authorized and re(iuired to execute and 
 perform all the powers and duties of the governor 
 during such vacancy or absence, or until another 
 governor shall be duly appointed and qualified to 
 fill such vacancy. 
 
 Skc. 4. That the legislative power and authori- 
 ty of said Tcrritoi-y shall be vested in the governor 
 and a legislative assembly. The legislative as- 
 sembly shall consist of a council and house of 
 representatives. The council shall consist of 
 thirteen members, having the qualifications of 
 voters as hereinafter prescribed, whose term of 
 service shall continue two years. Tho house of 
 representatives shall, at its first session, consist 
 of twenty-six members, possessing the same 
 qualifications as prescribed for members of the 
 council, and whose term of service shall continue 
 one year. The number of representatives may 
 be increased by the legislative assembly, from 
 time to time, in proportion to the increase of 
 qualified voters ; Provided^ That the whole num- 
 ber shall never exceed thirty-nine ; an apportion- 
 ment shall be made as nearly equal as practica- 
 ble, among the several counties or districts, for 
 the election of the council and representatives, 
 giving to each section of the territory representa- 
 tion in the ratio of its qualified voters as nearly 
 as may be. And the members of the council and 
 of the house of representatives shall reside in, and 
 be inhabitants of, the district or county, or coun- 
 ties, for which they maybe elected, respectively. 
 Previous to the first election, the governor shiiU 
 cause a census, or enumeration of the inhabitants 
 and qualified voters of the several counties and 
 districts of the territory, to be taken by such 
 persons and in such mode as the governor shall 
 designate and appoint ; and the persons so ap- 
 pointed shall receive a reasonable compensation 
 therefor. And the first election shall be held at 
 such times, and places, and be conducted in 
 such manner, both as to the persons who shall 
 superintend such election, and the returns there- 
 of, as the governor shall appoint and du'eet ; and 
 he shall at the same time declare the number of 
 members of the council and house of representa- 
 tives to which each of the counties or districts 
 shall be entitled under this act. Tho ^lersons 
 having the highest number of le^al votes in each 
 of said council districts for members of the coun- 
 cil, shall b^-declared by the governor to be duly 
 elected to the council; and the persons having 
 the highest number of legal votes for the house 
 of representatives, shall be declared by the 
 governor to be duly elected members of 
 said house: Provided, That in case two or 
 more persons voted for shall have an equal 
 number of votes, and in case a vacancy 
 shall otherwise occur in either branch of the 
 legislative assembly, the governor shall order a 
 new election ; and the persons thus elected to the 
 legislative assembly shall meet at such place and 
 on such day as the governor shall appoint ; but 
 thereafter, the time, place, and manner of holding 
 and conducting all elections by the people, and 
 the apportioning the representation in the 
 several counties or districts to the council and 
 house of representatives, according to tho num- 
 ber of qualified voters, shall bo prescribed by 
 law, as well as the day of the commencement of 
 the regular sessions of the legislative assembly : 
 Provided , That no session in any one year shall 
 exceed tho term of forty days, except the first 
 session, which may continue sixty days. 
 
 Skc. f). That every free white male inhabitant 
 above the ago of twenty-one years, who shall be 
 an actual resident of said teiTitory, and shall 
 possess the qualifications hereinafter prescribed. 
 
 shall be entitled to vote at the first election, and 
 shall be eligible to any ofiice within the said ter- 
 ritory ; but the qualifications of voters, and of 
 holding office, at all subsequent elections, shall 
 be such as shall be prescribed by the legislative 
 assembly : Provided, That the right of suffrage 
 and of holding oflice shall be exercised only by 
 citizens of the United States and those who shall 
 have declared on oath their intention to become 
 such, and shall have taken an oath to support 
 the Constitution of the United States and the 
 provisions of this act: Aiid provided further, 
 That no officer, soldier, seaman, or marine, or 
 other person in the army or navy of the United 
 States, or attached to troops in the service of the 
 United States, shall be allowed to vote or hold 
 office in said territory, by reason of being on 
 service therein. 
 
 Sec. 6. That the legislative power of the terri- 
 tory 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 pri- 
 mary disposal of the soil ; no tax shall be imposed 
 upon the property of the United States ; nor shall 
 the lands or other property of non-residents be 
 taxed higher than the lands or other property of 
 residents. Every bill which shall have passed 
 the council and house of representatives of the 
 said territory, shall, before it become a law, be 
 presented to the governor of the territory ; if he 
 approve, he shall sign it; but if not, he shall re- 
 tm-n it with his objections, to the house in which 
 it 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 shaU 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, to be entered on the journal of each 
 house respectively. If any bill shall not be re- 
 turned by the governor, within three days (Sun- 
 days excepted) after it shall have been presented 
 t(i him, the same shall be a law in like manner as 
 if lie hud signed it, viuless the assembly, by ad- 
 journment, prevent its return, in which case it 
 shall not be a law. 
 
 Sec. 7. That all township, district, and county 
 officers, not herein otherwise provided for, shall 
 be appointed or elected, as the case may be, in 
 such manner as shall be provided by the gov- 
 ernor and legislative assembly of the Tcrritoi'y 
 of Nebraska. The governor shall nominate, and, 
 by and with the advice and consent of the legis- 
 lative council, appoint all ofiicers not herein 
 otherwise provided for ; and in the first instance 
 the governor alone may appoint all said officers, 
 who shall hold their offices until the end of the 
 first session of the legislative assembly ; and shall 
 lay oft' the necessary districts for members of the 
 council and house of representatives, and all 
 other officers. 
 
 Sec 8. That no member of the legislative as- 
 sembly shall hold, or be appointed to, any office 
 which shall have been created, or the_ salary or 
 or emoluments of which shaUhavebeen increased, 
 while he was a member, during the term for 
 which he was elected, and for one year after the 
 expiration of such term; but this restriction shall 
 not be applicable to members of Ihe first legisla- 
 tive assembly ; and no person holding a commis- 
 sion or appointment under the United States, ex- 
 cept postmasters, shall be a member of the legis- 
 lative assembly, or shall hold any office under 
 the government of said territory. 
 
 Sec. 9. That the judicial power of said Territo- 
 ry shall be vested in a supreme com't, district 
 courts, probate courts, and in justices of tho 
 
TUE KANSAS-NEBRASKA STRUGGLE. 
 
 BT 
 
 poaco. The sunrcino court hIuiII consist of n 
 chief juKticc iiiKl two iiHsociiito justices, any two 
 of wl'ioiii sliiiU .ouMtituto (I iiiionim, niul wlio 
 shall hokl II Icnii at tho scat of t;ovcnmifnt ot 
 Bail! Territory unuually, and tlicy shall hokl their 
 offices durinj,' tlio period of four yeius, and until 
 thoir succc«s(U-s shall be appointed and ciualilied. 
 Tlio saidTcrritorv shall he divided into tliiee judi- 
 cial districts, and a district court shall he held in 
 each of said districts by one of the justices ol tho 
 supreme court, at sudi times and \>l«ces as may 
 bo proscribed by law ; and the said jud^jes shall, 
 after their appointments, resiicclively, reside in 
 tlio disti-ict which shall be assi^'ned them. The 
 jurisdiction of tho several courts herein provided 
 i'or, both appellate and orit;iiial, and that of tho 
 j)robate courts and of justices of the peace, shall 
 be as limited by law: I'rotiilnl, That justices of 
 the peace shall not have jurisdiction of any mat- 
 ter m controversy when the title ov boundaries 
 of land may bo in dispute, or where the debt or 
 sum claimed shall exceed one hundred dollars ; 
 and tho said supremo and district courts, re- 
 spectively, shall possess chancery us well as com- 
 mon law jurisdiction. Each districtt court, or the 
 jud'^o thereof, shall appoint its clerk, who sliall 
 also be the rey;i8ter in chancery, and shall kcej) 
 liis olHce at tiie place where tho court may be 
 held. Writs of error, bills of e.\ce(jtiou, and ap- 
 peals shall be allowed in ail cases from tho final 
 decision of said district courts to tho supreme 
 court, under such rejj^ulatious as may bo i)ro- 
 scribed by law ; but iu no case removed to the 
 supremo court shall trial by jury be allowed in 
 said court. Tho supremo court, or the justices 
 tliereof, shall appoint its own clerk, and every 
 clerk sliall liold his office at tho pleasure of tho 
 court for which he sliall have been appointed. 
 Writs of error, and appeals from the linal decision 
 of said supreme court, shall be allow^ed, and inay 
 bo taken to tho supreme court of the United 
 States, in tho same manner and under the same re- 
 gulations as from the circuit courts of tho United 
 States, where the value of the property, or the 
 amount in controversy, to be ascertained by the 
 oath or aflirmatiou of either party, or other com- 
 peteut witness, shall exceed one thousand dol 
 lars ; except only that in all cases involving title 
 to slaves, the said writs of error or appeals shall 
 be allowed and decided by tho said supreme 
 court, without regard to the value of the matter, 
 property, or title iu controversy ; and except also 
 that a writ of error or appeal shall also be allowed 
 to the supreme court of the Uiiitetl States, from 
 the decisions of the said supreme court created 
 by this act, or of any judge tliereof, or of the dis- 
 trict courts created by this act, or of any judge 
 thereof, upon any writ of habeas corpus, involv- 
 ing the question of personal freedom ; Provided, 
 That nothing herein contained shall be construed 
 to apply to or affect the provisions of the " act 
 respectmg fugitives from justice, and persons es- 
 caping from the service of their masters," ap- 
 proved February twelfth, seventeen hundred and 
 ninety-three, and the " act to amend and supple- 
 mentary to the aforesaid act," approved Septem- 
 ber eighteenth, eighteen hundred and fifty ; and 
 eacUoi the said district courts shall have and ex- 
 ercise the same jurisdiction in all cases arisiii}' 
 under tho Constitution and laws of tlio United 
 States, as is vested in tho circuit and district 
 courts of the United States ; and tho said supreme 
 and district courts of the said Territory, and the 
 respective judges thereof, shall and may ^rant 
 writs of habeas corpus in all cases in which the 
 same are granted by tlie judges of the United 
 States in the District of Columbia ; and the first 
 six days of i-very tenu of said courts, or so much 
 thereof as shall be necessary, shall be appropriat- 
 ed to the trial of causes arising under the said 
 Constitution and laws, and writs of error and ap- 
 
 peal in all such cases shall bo made to tho su- 
 preme court of said Territory, tho samo as in 
 otlier cases. The said clerk sfiail ri'<eive ill all 
 such cases the .sumo fees which the clerks of tho 
 district courts of Utah Territory now receive for 
 similar services. 
 
 Skc. 10. That the provisions of an act entitled 
 " An act respecting fugitives from justice, and 
 jicrsons escaping from tho service of their mas- 
 ters," approved February twelve, seventeen 
 hundred and ninety-three, and the provisions of 
 the act entitled " An act to aiiu-nd, ami siipplc- 
 mentary to, the aforesaid act," approved Septem- 
 ber eighteen, eighteen liundicd and lifty, be, and 
 tho same arc hereby, declared to extend to, and 
 bo in full force within, the limits of said TeiTitory 
 of Nebraska. 
 
 Skc. 11. That thoro shall bo appointed an at- 
 torney for said Territory, will) shall continue in 
 ollice for four years, and until his successor shall 
 be appointed and mialified, unless sooner re- 
 moved by the President, and who shall receive 
 the same fees and salary as the attorney of tho 
 United States for the present Territory of Utah. 
 There shall also bo a marshal for the Territory 
 ajipointed, who shall hold his ollice for four 
 years, and until his successor shall bo apoointed 
 and ([ualified, unless sooner removed by tlie Pre- 
 sident, and who shall execute all processes issu- 
 ing from tlio said courts when exercising their 
 jurisdiction as circuit and district courts of the 
 'United States; he shall porfonn tho duties, be 
 subject to the same regulations and penalties, 
 and be entitled to tho same fees as the marshal of 
 the district court of the United States for the 
 present Ten-itory of Utah, and shall, in addition, 
 be paid two hundred dollars annually as a com- 
 pensation for extra services. 
 
 Skc. 12. That the governor, secretary, chief 
 justice, and associate justices, attorney and mar- 
 shal, shall bo nominated, and, by and with tho 
 advice and consent of tho Senate, appointed by 
 the President of tho United States. Tlio govern- 
 or and secretary to bo appointed as aforesaid, 
 shall, before they act as such, respectively take 
 an oath or affirmation by the laws now in force 
 therein, or before the chief justice or some asso- 
 ciate justice of tho Supreme Court of the United 
 States, to support the Constitution of the United 
 States, and faithfully to discharge tho duties of 
 their respective offices, which said oaths, when 
 so taken, shall bo certified by the person by 
 whom the same shall have boon taken ; and such 
 certificates shall be received and recorded by the 
 said secretary among tho executive ])roccedings : 
 and the chief justice and associate justices, and 
 all other civil officers in said Territory, before 
 they act as sucli, shall take a like oath or affirm- 
 ation before the said governor or secretary, or 
 some judge or justiceof the peace of the territory 
 who may be duly commissioned and qualified, 
 which said oath or affirmation shall be certified 
 and transmitted by the person taking the same to 
 tho secretary, to be by him recorded as afore- 
 said ; and a'fterwards "the like oath or aliirnm- 
 tion shall be taken, certified, and reiorded. in 
 such manner and form as may bo prescribed by 
 law. The governor shall receive an annual sala- 
 ry of two thousand five hundred dollars. The 
 cliief justice and as.xociate justices shall receive 
 an annual salary of two thousand dollars. Tho 
 secretary shall receive an aiinnnl salary of 
 two tluuisand dollars. The said salaries shall 
 be paid quarter-yearly, from the dates of the re- 
 spective appointments, at tho Treasury of the 
 United States ; but no such pnyinent shall bo 
 made until said officers shall have entered upon 
 the duties of their respective appoiiilments. Tho 
 iiieinbers of the legislative assembly shall bo 
 entitled to receive three dollars each jjcr day du- 
 ring their attendance nt the sessions thereof, and 
 
88 
 
 THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 
 
 three dollars each for every twenty miles' travel 
 in going to, and returuinff from, the said sessions, 
 estimated according to tlie nearest usually-trav- 
 eled route; and an additional allowance of three 
 dollars shall be paid to the presiding otRcer of 
 each house for each day he shall so preside. And 
 a chief cieik, one assistant clerk, a sergeant at- 
 arnis, and door keeper may be chosen for each 
 house ; and the chief clerk shall i-eceive four dol- 
 lars per day, and the said other officers three dol- 
 lars per day, durini,^ tlu^ session of the legislative 
 assembly ; but no other ofiicer shall be paid by 
 the United States : Provided, That there shall be 
 but one session of the legislature annually, un- 
 less, on an exlraordinary occasion, the governor 
 shall think proper to call the legislature together. 
 There shall be appropriated, annually, the usual 
 sum, to be expended Dy the governor to defray 
 the contingent expenses of the territory, includ- 
 ing the .salary of a clerk of the executive depart- 
 ment; and there shall also be appropriated annu- 
 ally, a sufficient sum. to bo expended by the 
 secretary of the Territory, and upon an estimate to 
 be made by the secretary of the Treasury of the 
 United States, to defray the expenses of the legis- 
 lative assembly, the printing of the laws, and 
 other incidental expenses ; and the governor and 
 secretary of the Territory shall, in the disburse- 
 ment of all moneys intrusted to them, be govern- 
 ed solely by the instructions of the secretary of 
 the Treasury of the United States, and shall, semi- 
 annually, account to the said secretary for the 
 manner in which the aforesaid moneys shall have 
 been expended ; and no expenditure shall be 
 made by said legislative assembly for objects not 
 specially authorized by the acts of Congress 
 making the appropriations, nor beyond the sums 
 thus appropriated for such objects. 
 
 Sec. 13. That the legislative assembly of the 
 Territory of Nebraska shall hold its first session 
 at such time and place in said Territory as the 
 governor thereof shall appoint and direct ; and at 
 said first session, or as soon thereafter as they 
 shall deem expedient, the governor and legisla- 
 tive assembly shall proceed to locate and estab- 
 lish the seat of government for said Territory at 
 such place as they may deem eligible ; which 
 place, however, shall thereafter be subject to be 
 changed by the said governor and legislative as- 
 sembly. 
 
 Sec. 14. That a delegate to the House of Rep- 
 resentatives of the United States, to servo for the 
 term of two years, who shall be a citizen of the 
 United States, may be elected by the voters quali- 
 fied to elect members of the legislative assembly, 
 who shall be entitled to the same rights and privi- 
 leges as are exercised and enjoyed by the delegates 
 from the several other territories of the United 
 States to the said House of Representatives ; but 
 the delegate first elected shall hold his seat only 
 during the term of the Congress to which he shall 
 be elected. The first election shall be held at 
 such time and places, and be conducted in such 
 manner, as the governor shall appoint and di- 
 rect; and at all subsequent elections, the times, 
 places, and manner of holding the elections shall 
 be prescribed by law. The person having the 
 greatest number of votes shall be declared by the 
 governor to be duly elected, and a certificate 
 thereof shall be given accordingly. That the 
 Constitution and all the laws of the United 
 States which are not locally inapplicable, shall 
 have the same force and eft'ect within the said 
 Territory of Nebraska as elsewhere within 
 the United States, except the eighth section 
 of the act ju'eparatory to the admission of Mis- 
 souri into llio Union, approved March sixth, 
 eighteen liuu<hed and twenty, which being in- 
 consistent with the principle of non intervention 
 by Congress with Slavery in the States and Ter- 
 ritories, as recognized by tho legislation of eight- 
 
 een hundred and fifty, commonly called the Com- 
 promise Measures, is hereby declared inoperative 
 and void ; it being the true intent and meaning 
 of this act not to legislate Slavery info any Ter- 
 rit(jry or State, nor to exclude it therefrom, but 
 to leave the people thereof perfectly free to form 
 and regulate their domestic 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 iu 
 force any law or regulation which may have ex- 
 isted prior to the act of si.xth of March, eighteen 
 hundred and twenty, either protecting, establish- 
 ing, prohibiting or abolishing. Slavery. 
 
 Sec 15. That there shall hereafter be appro- 
 priated, as has been customary for the territorial 
 governments, a sufficient amount, to be expended 
 under the direction of the said governor of the 
 Territory of Nebraska, not exceeding the sums 
 heretofore appropriated for similar objects, for 
 the erection of suitable public buildings at the 
 seat of government, and for the purchase of a 
 library to be kept at the seat of government for 
 the use of the governor, legislative assembly, 
 judges of the supreme court, secretary, marshal, 
 and attorney of said territory, and such other 
 persons, and under such regulations as shall be 
 prescribed by law. 
 
 Sec 16. That when the lands in the said ter- 
 ritory shall be survej'ed under the direction of 
 the government of the United States, prepara- 
 tory to bringing same into market, sections num- 
 bered sixteen and thirty-six, in each township in 
 said territory, shall be, and the same are hereby, 
 reserved for the purpose of being applied to 
 schools in said teritory, and in the States and Ter- 
 ritories hereafter to be erected out of the same. 
 
 Sec 17. That, until otherwise provided by law, 
 the governor of said Territory may define the 
 judicial districts of said Territory, and assign the 
 judges who may be appointed for said Territory 
 to the several districts ; and also appoint the 
 times and places for holding courts in the several 
 counties or subdivisions iu each of said judicial 
 districts by proclamation, to be issued by him ; 
 but the legislative assembly, at their first, or anj 
 subsequent session, may organize, alter, or modi- 
 fy such judicial districts, and assign the judges, 
 and alter the times and places of holdmg tho 
 courts, as to them shall seem proper and con- 
 venient. 
 
 Sec 18. That all officers to be appointed by 
 the President, by and with the advice and consent 
 of the Senate, for the Territory of Nebraska, who, 
 by virtue of the provisions of any law now exist- 
 ing, or which may be enacted during the present 
 Congress, are required to give security for moneys 
 that may be intrusted with them for disburse- 
 ments, shall give such security, at such time and 
 place, and in sucti manner as the Secretary of the 
 Treasury may prescribe. 
 
 Sec 19. That all that part of the ten-itory of 
 the United States included within the following 
 limits, except such portions thereof as are here- 
 inafter expressly exempted from the operations 
 of this act, to wit : beginning at a point on the 
 western boundary of the State of Missouri, where 
 the thirty-seventh parallel of north latitude crosses 
 the same ; thence west on said parallel to the 
 eastern boundary of New-Mexico ; thence north 
 on said boundary to latitude tliirty-eight ; thence 
 following said boundary westward to the east 
 boundary of the Territory of Utah, on the summit 
 of the Kocky Mountains; thence northward ou 
 said summit to the fortieth parallel of latitude ; 
 thence east on said parallel to the western bound- 
 ary of tho State of Missouri ; thence south with 
 the western boundary of said State to the place 
 of beginning, bo, and the same is hereby, created 
 into a temporary government by the name of tho 
 Territory of Kansas; and when admitted as a 
 
THE KANSAS-NEBRASKA STRUGGLE. 
 
 89 
 
 State or Rtntos, tho said Tciiitdry, or any por- 
 tion of the siimc, hIiiiU ho rccoivod iiit" llio Union 
 witli or Willi. .ut Siuvfrv, ns tlicir < N.iiwlitiifion 
 may orcscrilio at tlio tinio ol" tlu'ir aihnisKion : 
 Provided, That notiiin;,' in llii.-< act conlaiiird 
 shall bo coimtrin-il to inhibit the (lovennncnt i.f 
 Iho Unili'd StalcH tVoni diviilin^' naid Territory 
 into two or more territories, in hiicIi inimner and 
 at siieh tinien as Con.i,'re«K shall deem eonveiiieiit 
 nnd nroper, or from attaehin;,' any porlioii of said 
 Terrilorv to any other (State or Territory of the 
 United Slates: Provided fiir//ifr, That nolhinj,' 
 in thin aet ooiitaiucd shall bo bo construed as to 
 impair tho ri^jhts of person or prop<'rty now per- 
 tainiii;,' to the Indians in said Territory, so Ion;; 
 tts such rii,'hts shidl remain unexlin;,'uisiie(l hy 
 Ireuly between the Uiuted States and such Indians, 
 or lo include any territory which, hy treaty with 
 any Indian Irihe, is not, wiliiout the consent of 
 Raid tribe, to be included within tho territorial 
 Ihnits or jurisdiction of any State or Terrilorv ; 
 but all 6uch territory shall bo excepted out of the 
 boundaries, and constitute no part of tho Terri- 
 tory of Kansas, until said tribe shall siijnify their 
 assent to the President of the United Sljites to ho 
 included wilhiu tho said Territory of Kansas, or 
 to atfecl the authority of tho Government of the 
 United Slates to make any rc;;ulation respecting 
 such Indians, thoirlands.property, or other rights, 
 by treaty, law, or othei-wiso, which it would have 
 been competent to the Government to make if 
 this act had never passed. 
 
 [The next scvonteca sections substantially re- 
 peat the foregoing, save that their provisions 
 apply to Kansas iu.stead of Nebraska. The final 
 section refers to both Territories, as follows :] 
 
 Skc. 37. And be it further enacfod, that nil 
 treaties, laws, and other engagements made by 
 the Government of the United States with tho 
 Indian tribes inhabiting the teiTitories embraced 
 ■within this act, shall be faithfully nnd rigidly 
 observed, notwithstanding anything contained in 
 this aet ; and that the existing agencies and su- 
 perintendencies of said Indians bo continued with 
 tho same powers and duties which are now pro- 
 scribed by law, except that the President of the 
 United States may, at his discretion, change the 
 location of the office of superintendent. 
 
 No action of any moment with regard to 
 Slavery in the Territories was taken in 
 either House at the Second (short) Session 
 of this Congress. 
 
 KANSAS ORGANIZED, 
 
 The struggle respecting Slavery in 
 Kansas which followed the organization of 
 that Territory, under the Provisions of the 
 act just recited, is yet too recent and incom- 
 plete to justify an attempt to write its his- 
 tory. All that can be prudently done as 
 yet, is to collect and arrange the most im- 
 portant documents in which its incidents 
 are detailed, and its principles discussed, and 
 this we now proceed to do, without attempt- 
 ing to reconcile the gloomy discrepancies 
 between the statements submitted on the 
 one side and on the other, respectively. 
 Though it will not be possible in this 
 course to avoid repeated statements of the 
 same fact, and an occasional devotion of 
 undue space to a point undeserving of such 
 
 I elaborate treatment, yet, tlie measurable 
 ! aiitliciiticity of statement, thus secured, and 
 the iiglit cast on the genera! tlieme by the 
 coiiiiictiiig views tlms presented, serve to 
 give this the preiereiice over any other 
 mode of narrating so nearly cotcmporaneous 
 with their ciiroiiicle a.s the.se. We proceed, 
 then, with our record, which must hence- 
 fortli consist mainly of ]Miblic ducumentfi, 
 submitted to the current ('(ingress, connect- 
 ed by the merest thread of narrative. 
 
 Dec. 3rd, IHf);').— The XXXI Vth Con- 
 gress convened at the Capital, in Wiushing- 
 ton, — Je.sse D. Uright of Iiid. holding over 
 a.s I'resident pro tempore of the Senate, in 
 place of Vice-President William R. King 
 of Alaiiama, deceast^l. A quorum of 
 either Hou.se was found to be present. 
 
 But the IIou.sc found il.self unable to or- 
 ganize by tlie choice of a Speaker, initii after 
 an unprecedented struggle of nine weeks' 
 duration. Finally, on Saturday, Feb. 20th, 
 1850, the plurality-rule was adopted — Yeas 
 113 ; Nays 10-1 — and the House proceeded 
 under it to its one hundred and tlurtij-third 
 ballot for speaker, when Nathaniel P. 
 Banks, Jr., (anti-Nebraska) of Massachu- 
 sets, was chosen, having 103 votes to 100, 
 for William Aiken of South Carolina. 
 Eleven votes scattered on other persons did 
 not count against a choice. It was there- 
 fore resolved — Yeas 1.5.5 ; Nays 40 — that 
 Mr. Banks was duly elected Speaker, 
 
 But. during the pendency of this election, 
 the President had transmitted to both 
 Houses, first (Dec. 31st) his Annual Mes- 
 sage, and next (Jan. 24th) a special mes- 
 sage with regard to the condition of Kansas, 
 which is as follows : 
 
 MESSAGE OF THE PRESIDENT. 
 
 Washi.vgto.v, Jan. 24, 1856. 
 To the Senate and House of Representatives : 
 
 Circumstances have occurred to disturb the 
 course of governmental organization in the Ter- 
 ritory of Kansas, and produce there n condition 
 of things which renders it incumbent on me to 
 call your attention to the subject, and urgently 
 recommend the adoption by you of sucli measures 
 of legislation as the grave exigencies of the case 
 appear to require. 
 
 A brief exposition of the circumstances refer- 
 red to, and of their causes, will be necessary to 
 the full understanding of the recommendations 
 which it is proposed to submit. 
 
 Tho act to organize the Territories of Nebras- 
 ka and Kansas was a manifestation of tho legis- 
 lative opinion of Congress on two great pomts 
 of constitutional construction: One, that the de- 
 signation of the boundaries of a now Territory, 
 and provision for its political organization and 
 administration as a Ti^-ritory, arc meosures 
 which of right fall within the powers of tho Gene- 
 ral Government ; and the other, that the inhab- 
 itants of any such Territory, considered as an 
 inchoate State, are entitled, in the exercise of 
 self- government, to determine for themselves 
 whot shall be their own domestic institutions, 
 subject only to the Constitution and the laws duly 
 enacted by Congress under it, and to the power 
 of the existing States to decide, acoordiug to the 
 
90 
 
 THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 
 
 provieions and principles of the Constitution, at 
 •what time tlie Territory shall be received as a 
 State into the Union. Such are the great politi- 
 cal rights which are solemnly declared and afJirm- 
 ed by that act. 
 
 Based upon this theory, the act of Congress 
 defined for cacli Territory the outlines of repub- 
 lican government, distributing public authority 
 among the lawfully created agents — executive, 
 judicial and legislative — to be appointed either 
 by tiie (iencrui Govermiient or by the Territory. 
 The legislative functions were intrusted to a 
 Council and a House of Representatives, duly 
 elected and empowered to enact all the local laws 
 ■which they might deem essential to their pros- 
 perity, hap'piuess and good government. Acting 
 in the same spirit, Congress also defined the per- 
 sons who were in the first instance to be con- 
 sidered as the people of each Territory ; enact- 
 ing that evcrv free white male inhabitant of the 
 same above the age of twenty-one years, being 
 au actual resident thereof, and possessing the 
 qualifications hereafter described, should be en- 
 titled to vote at the first election, and be eligible 
 to any office within the Territory ; but that the 
 qualifications of voters and holding ofiice at all 
 subsequent elections should be such as might be 
 prescribed by the Legislative Assembly : Provi- 
 ded, hoicevcr, That the right of suffrage and of 
 holding office should be exercised only by citi- 
 zens ot the United States, and tho.se who should 
 have declared on oath theii- intention to become 
 such, and have taken an oath to support the 
 Constitution of the United States and the provi- 
 sions of the act : And provided, further, That no 
 officer, soldier, seaman or marme, or other per- 
 son in the army or navy of the United States, or 
 attached to troops in their service, should be al- 
 lowed to vote or hold office in either Territory by 
 reason of being on service therein. 
 
 Such of the public officers of the Territoriesas, 
 by the provisions of the act, were to be appoint- 
 ed by the General Government, including the 
 Governors, were appointed and commissioned in 
 due season — the law having been enacted on the 
 30th of May, 1854, and the commission of the 
 Governor of the Territory of Nebra-ska bein^ 
 dated on the 2ud day of August, 1854, and ot 
 the Territories of Kansas on the 29th day of 
 June, 1854. 
 
 Among the duties knposed by the act on the 
 governors, was that of directing and superintend- 
 ing the political organization of the respective 
 Territories. The Governor of Kansas was re- 
 quired to cause a census or enumeration of the 
 inhabitants and qualified voters of the several 
 counties and districts of the Territory to be taken, 
 by such persons and in such mode as he might 
 designate and appoint ; to aijpoint and direct the 
 time and places of holding the first elections, and 
 the manner of conducting them, both as to the 
 persons to superintend such elections, and the re- 
 turns thereof; to declare the number of the mem- 
 bers of the Council and House of Representatives 
 for each county or district ; to declare what per- 
 sons might appear to be duly elected; and to 
 ajipoiut the time and place of the first meeting of 
 the Legislative Assembly. lu substance, the 
 same duties were devolved on the Governor of 
 Nebraska. 
 
 While, by this act, the principle of constitu- 
 tion for each of the Territories was one and the 
 same, and the details of organic legislation re- 
 garding both were as nearly as could be identical, 
 and while the Territory of Nebraska was tran- 
 quilly anil succLBsl'uUy organized in the due 
 course of law, and its first Legislative Assembly 
 met on the luth of January, 1855, the organiza- 
 tion of Kansas was Ion" delayed, and has been 
 attended with serious diliiculties and embarrass- 
 meuts, partly the cousequenco of local mal- 
 
 administration, and partly of the unjustifiable 
 interference of the inhabitants of some of the 
 States, foreign by residence, interests, and rights 
 to the Terril:ory. 
 
 The Governor of the Territory of Kansas, com- 
 missioned, as before stated, on the SDtli of June, 
 1854, did not reach the designated seat of his 
 government until the 7fh of the ensuing October, 
 and even then failed to make the first step in its 
 legal organization — that of ordering the census 
 or enumeration of its inhabitants — until so late 
 a day that the election of the members of the 
 Legislative Assembly did not take place until 
 the 30th of March, 1855, nor its meeting until the 
 2d of July, 1855 ; so that, for a year after the 
 Ten-itory was constituted by the act of Congress, 
 and the officers to be appoint-ed by the Fetleral 
 Executive had been commissioned, it was without 
 a complete government, without any legislative 
 authority, without local law, and, of course, with- 
 out the ordinary guarantees of peace and public 
 order. 
 
 In other respects, the Governor, instead of ex- 
 ercising constant vigilance and putting forth all 
 his energies to prevent or counteract the tenden- 
 cies to illegality which are prone to exist in all 
 imperfectly-organized and newly-associated com- 
 munities, allowed his attention to bo diverted 
 from official obligation by other objects, and 
 himself set au example of the violation of law in 
 the performance of acts which rendered it my 
 duty, in the sequel, to remove him from the office 
 of chief executive magistrate of the Territory. 
 
 Before the requisite preparation was accom- 
 plished for election of a Territorial Legislature, 
 an election of delegate to Congress had been held 
 in the Territory on the 29th day of November, 
 1854, and the delegate took his seat in the House 
 of Representatives without challenge. I f iirrange- 
 ments had been perfected by the Governor so 
 that the election for members of the Legislative 
 Assembly might be held in the several precincts 
 at the same time as for delegate to Congress, any 
 question appertaining to the qualification of the 
 persons voting as people of the Territory, would 
 have passed necessarily and at once under the 
 supervision of Congress, as the judge of the va- 
 lidity of the return of the delegate, and would 
 have been determined before conflicting passions 
 had become inflamed by time, and before oppor- 
 tunity could have been afforded for systematic 
 interference of the people of individual States. 
 
 This interference, in so far as concerns its 
 primary causes and its immediate counneuce- 
 ineut, was one of the incidents of that pernicious 
 agitation on the subject of the condition of the 
 colored persons held to service in some of the 
 States, which has so long disturbed the repose of 
 our country, and excited individuals, otherwise 
 patriotic and law-abiding, to toil with misdb-ected 
 zeal in the attempt to propagate their social 
 theories by the perversion and abuse of the powers 
 of Congress. 
 
 The persons and parties whom the tenor of the 
 act to organize the Territories of Nebraska and 
 Kansas thwarted in the endeavor to impose, 
 through the agency of Congress, their particular 
 views of social organization on the people of the 
 future new States, now perceiving that the jjolicy 
 of leaving the inhabitants of each State to judge 
 for themselves in this respect was ineradicably 
 rooted in the convictions of the people of the 
 Union, then had recourse, in the pursuit of their 
 general object, to the extraordinary measure of 
 propagandist colonization of the Territory of 
 Kansas, to prevent the free and natural action 
 of its inhabitants in its internal organization, and 
 tiius to anticipate or to force the determination 
 of that question in this inchoate State. 
 
 With such views, associations were organized 
 iu some of the States, and their purpose was pro- 
 
THE KANSAS-NEBRASKA STRUGGLE. 
 
 91 
 
 I 
 
 clnimcil thioiif,'h tlio press in InngunRO extremely 
 irritaliiifj imd offcMmivo to those of wliom tin; 
 colonists wcretii beemne tlio neif;lil)i>rs. TIkisc 
 deai>;ns iiiul lut.-t liml the neceHsary ci>iiHe(iuciieo 
 to nwiik.n iniotioiis of intenno iiidijiiiutioii in 
 Stat.H iK-nr lo the Territory of KmiKiiH, nnd espe 
 cially in iIk' adjoining' State of Missouri, whose 
 donicstic pi'Mcc was thus tiie most directly en- 
 dan<;ereil: hnt Ihev ore far from justilyinf,' tlie 
 ille;,'al and reprelieuuible counter-niovementM 
 whieli ensued. 
 
 Under these inauspieious cireumntaneca, the 
 primary elections for members of the Legislative 
 Assembly were held in most, if not all, of the 
 preeinels, at the time and the places and by the 
 persons d<si;;nated and appointed by the Govern- 
 or, aecordin)^ to law. 
 
 An^'ry accusations that illc-jal votes had been 
 polled, "ahouniled on all sides, and imputations 
 were made both of fraud and violence. l?ut tiie 
 Governor, in the e.xerelse of the power and the 
 discharge of the duty eonf^rred and imposed by 
 law on him alone, officially received and eon- 
 eidereil the returns; declared a lar;;e niMuuity of 
 the members of the Council and the House of 
 Representatives -'duly elected;"' wilhheld certi- 
 ficates from others because of alle^jed illegality 
 of votes; appointed a new ele<ttion to supply the 
 place of the persons not eertitied; and thus, at 
 length, in all the forms of statute, and with his 
 own otficial authentication, complete legality was 
 iven to the first Legislative Assembly of the 
 erritory. 
 
 Those decisions of the returningofficers and of 
 the Governor are final, except that by the par- 
 liamentary usage of the country applied to the 
 organic law, it may be conceded that each House 
 of the Assembly must have been competent to do- 
 teiinine. in thelast resort, the qualilications and 
 the election of its members. The subj<ct was, by 
 its nature, one appertaining exclusively to the 
 jurisdiction of the local authorities of the Terri- 
 tory. Whatever irregularitii'S may have oc- 
 cuncd in the elections, it srcnis too late now to 
 raise that question as to which, neither now nor 
 at any previous time, has the least possible legal 
 authority been possessed by the Tre-sident of the 
 United States. For all present purposes the le- 
 gislative body, thus constituted and elected, was 
 the legitimate assembly of tlie Territory. 
 
 Accordingly, the Governor, by proclamation, 
 convened the Assembly thus elected to meet at 
 a place called I'awnee City. The two Houses 
 met, and were duly organized in the ordinary 
 parliamentary form ; each sent to and received 
 ti-om the fiovernor the official connnunications 
 usual on such occasions ; an elaborate Message 
 opeidug the session was communicated by tiie 
 Governor, and the general business of legislation 
 wa.? entered upon by the Legislative Assembly. 
 
 But, after a few days, the Assembly resolved to 
 adjourn to another place in the Territory. A law 
 •Was accordingly passed, against the consent of 
 tlie Governor, but in due form otherwise, to re- 
 move the seat of government temporarily to the 
 " Shawnee Manual-labor School' (or mission), 
 and thither the As.senibly proceeded. After this, 
 receiving a bill for the establishment of a ferrv at 
 the town of Kickapoo, the (rovernor refused to 
 sign it, and, by special message, assigned for 
 reason of refusal, not anything objectionable in 
 the bill itself, nor any pretense of the illegality 
 or incompetency of the Assembly as such, but 
 only the tact that the Assembly had, by its act, 
 transferred the seat of government temjjorarily 
 from I'awnee City to Shawnee ^Mission. For the 
 same reason he continued to refuse to sign other 
 bills, until, in the course of a few days, he, by 
 official Message, communicated to the Assembly 
 the fact that he had received notification of the 
 termination of his functions as Governor, and 
 
 that the dutien of the office were legally devolved 
 on the Secretary of the Territory ; thus lo tbo lust 
 rcco;;ni7.ing the body as a didycleeted and con- 
 stituted Legislative AsHcmbly. 
 
 It will be jjerceived that if any constitutional 
 defect attached to the legiHlativc nctB of the 
 Assend)ly, it is not pretended lo consist iu irregu- 
 larity of eh'ctioti or want of ipialification of the 
 mondjers, but only iu the chaTige of its place of 
 session. IIowev<r triviid the objection may 
 Bcem to be, it requires to be considered, because 
 upon it is founded all that superstructure of acts, 
 plainly against law, which now threatens the 
 peace not only of Uie Territory of Kansas but of 
 the Union. 
 
 Such an objection to the proceedingB of the 
 Legislative Assend^ly was of exceptionable ori- 
 gin, for the reason that, by the express terms of 
 the organic law, the seat of government of the 
 Territory was " located temj)orarily at Fort Lea- 
 venworth ;" and yet the Governor himself re- 
 mained there less" than two months, and of his 
 o^^Ti discretion transferred the seat of Govern- 
 ment to the Shawnee Mission, where it in fact 
 was at the time the Assembly were called to 
 meet at I'awnee City. If the (Jovernor had rfny 
 such right to change temporarily the seat of Gov- 
 ernment, still more had the Lej^islative Assembly. 
 The objection is of exceptional origin for the fur- 
 ther reason that the place indicated by the Gov- 
 ernor, without having an exclusive claim of pre- 
 ference in itself, was a proposed town-site only, 
 which be and others were attempting to locate 
 unlawfully upon land within a military reserva- 
 tion, and for participation in which illegal act the 
 connnandant of a post, a superior officer of the 
 Army, has been dismissed by sentence of court- 
 martial. 
 
 Nor is it easy to see why the Legislative Assem- 
 bly might not with propriety pass the Territorial 
 act ti-ansferriug its sittings to the Shawnee Mis- 
 sion. If it could not, that must be on account 
 of some prohibitory or incompatible provision of 
 act of Congress. IJut no such provisit)n exists. 
 The organic act, as already quoted, says " the 
 seat of Government is hereby located tempo- 
 rarily at Fort Leavenworth ;" and it then pro- 
 vides that certain of the public buildings there 
 " may be occupied and used under the directioa 
 of the Governor and Legislative Assembly." 
 These expressions might possibly be construed 
 to imply that when, in a previous section of the 
 act, it was enacted that " the first Legislative 
 Assembly shall meet at such place and on such 
 day as the Governor shall appoint," the word 
 " place" means place at Fort Leavenworth, not 
 place anywhere in the Territory. If so, the Gov- 
 ernor would have been the first to err in this mat- 
 ter, not only iu himself having removed the seat 
 of Government to the Shawnee Mission, but in 
 again removing it to I'awnee City. If there was 
 any departure from the letter of the law, there- 
 fore, it was his in both instances. 
 
 Bui, however this may be, it is most unrca.«on- 
 able to suppose that by the terms of the organic 
 act. Congress intended to do impliedly what it 
 has not done expressly — that is, to forbid to tLe 
 Legislative Assembly the power to choose any 
 j)lace it might see fit as the temporary seat of its 
 deliberations. That is proved by the significant 
 language of one of the subsequent acts of Con- 
 gress on the subject, that of March 3, 1855, which, 
 in making appropriation for public buildings 
 of the Territory, enacts that the same shall not 
 be expended " until the Legislature of said Ter- 
 ritory shall have fixed by law the permanent scat 
 of government." Congress, in these expressions, 
 does not profess to be granting the power to fix 
 the pennanent seat of government, but rccogniaes 
 the power as one already granted. But bow? 
 Undoubtedly by the comprcheusivc provision of 
 
92 
 
 THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 
 
 the organic net itself, which declares that " the 
 legislative j)ower of the Territory shall extend 
 to all rightful suhjects of legislatiou consistent 
 with the Constitution of the United States and the 
 provisions of this act." If, in view of this act, 
 the Legislative Assembly had the large power to 
 fix the permanent seat of government at any place 
 in its discretion, of course by the same enact- 
 ment it had the less and the included power to fix 
 it temporarily. 
 
 Nevertheless, the allegation that the acts of the 
 Legislative Assembly were illegal by reason of 
 this removal of its place of session, was brought 
 forward to justify the first great movement in 
 disregard of law within the Territory. One of 
 the acts of the Legislative Assembly provided 
 for the election of a Delegate to the present Con- 
 gress, and a Delegate was electea under that 
 law. But, subsequently to this, a portion of the 
 people of the Territory proceeded, without au- 
 thority of law, to elect another Delegate. 
 
 Following upon this movement was another 
 and more important one of the same general 
 character. Persons coufessedl>; not consfituting 
 the body politic, or all the inhabitants, but merely 
 a party of the inhabitants, and without law, have 
 undertaken to summon a convention for the pur- 
 pose of transfoiTning the Territory into a State, 
 and have framed a constitution, adopted it, and 
 under it elected a Governor and other officers, 
 and a representative to Congress. 
 
 In extenuation of these illegal acts, it is alleged 
 that the State of California, Michigan, and others, 
 were self-organized, and as such were admitted 
 into the Union, without a previous enabling act 
 of Congress. It is true that, while in a majority 
 of cases a previous act of Congress has been pass- 
 ed to authorize the Territory to present itself as a 
 State, and that this is deemed the most regular 
 course, yet such an act has not been held to be 
 indispensable, and in some cases the Territory has 
 proceeded without it, and has nevertheless been 
 admitted into the Union as a State. It lies with 
 Congress to authorize beforehand, or to confirm 
 afterward, in its discretion ; but in no instance 
 has a State been admitted upon the application 
 of persons acting against authorities duly consti- 
 tuted by act of Congress. In every case it is the 
 people of the Territory, not a party among them, 
 who have the power to form a constitution and 
 ask for admission as a State. No principle of 
 public law, no practice or precedent under the 
 Constitution of the United States, no rule of rea- 
 son, right, or common sense, confers any such 
 power as that now claimed by a mere party in 
 the Territory. In ftict, what has been done is of 
 revolutionary character. It is avowedly so in mo- 
 tive and in ami as respects the local law of the Ter- 
 ritory. It will become treasonable insurrection 
 if it reac-h the length of organized resistance by 
 force to the fundamental or any other federal law, 
 and to the authority of the General Government. 
 
 In such an event, the path of duty for the Exe- 
 cutive is plain. The Constitution requiring him 
 to take care that the laws of the United States be 
 faithfully executed, if they be opposed in the 
 Territory of Kansas, he may and should place at 
 the disposal of the marshal any public force of 
 the United States which happens to be within 
 the jurisdiction, to be used as a portion of the 
 posse comitatus ; and, if that do not suffice to 
 maintain order, then he may call forth tlie militia 
 of one or more States for that object, or employ 
 for the same object any part of the land or naval 
 force of the United States. So also if the ob- 
 Btruction be to the laws of the Territory, and it 
 be duly presented to him as a case of insurrec- 
 tion, he may employ for its suj)pression the mili- 
 tia of any State, or the land or naval force of the 
 United States. And if the Territory he invaded 
 by Die citizous of other States, whether for the 
 
 purpose of deciding elections or for any other, 
 and the local authorities find themselves unable 
 to repel or withstand it, they will be entitled to, 
 and upon the fact being fully ascertained, they 
 shall most certainly receive, the aid of the Gener- 
 al Government. 
 
 l?ut it is not the duty of the President of the 
 United States to volunteer interposition by force 
 to preserve the purity of elections either in a State 
 or Territory. To do so would be subversive of 
 public freedom. And whether a law be wise or 
 unwise, just or unjust, is not a question for him 
 to judge. If it be constitutional — that is, if it 
 be the law of the laud — it is bis duty to cause it 
 to be executed, or to sustain the authorities of 
 any State or Territory in executing it in opposi- 
 tion to all insurrectionary movements. 
 
 Our system affords no justification of revolu- 
 tionary acts ; for the constitutional means of re- 
 lieving the people of unjust administration and 
 laws, by a change of public agents and by re- 
 peal, are ample, and more prompt and effective 
 than illegal violence. These constitutio^ial means 
 must be scrupulously guarded— ^thts great pre- 
 rogative of popular sovereignty sacredly respect- 
 ed. \ 
 
 It is the undoubted right of the peaceable atid 
 orderly people of the Territory of Kansas to el^t 
 their own legislative body, make their own law^, 
 and regulate their own social institutions, without 
 foreign or domestic molestation. Interference, on 
 the one hand, to procure the abolition or prohii 
 bition of slave-labor in the Territory, has proJ 
 duced mischievous interference on the other ioi 
 its maintenance or introduction. One wrong be- 
 gets another. Statements entirely unfounded Or 
 grossly exaggerated, concerning events within 
 the Territory, are sedulously difl'used through re- 
 mote States to feed the flame of sectional ani- 
 mosity there ; and the agitators there exert them- 
 selves indefatigably in return tq^^eacburage and 
 stimulate strife within the T^enttory, 
 
 The inflammatory agitation, of which the pres- 
 entis but apart, has for twenty years produced no- 
 thing save unmitigated evil, Nortlr and South. 
 But for it the character of the domestic institu- 
 tions of the future new State would have been a 
 matter of too little interest to the inhabitants of 
 the contiguous States, personal or collectively, to 
 produce among them any political emotion. 
 Climate, soil, production, hopes of rapid ad- 
 vancement, and the pursuit of happiness on the 
 part of settlers themselves, with good wishes but 
 with no interference from without, would have 
 quietly determincMi the question which is at this 
 time of such disturbing character. 
 
 But we are constrained to turn our attention to 
 the circumstances of embarrassment as they now 
 exist. It is the duty of the people of Kansas to 
 discountenance every act or purpose of resist- 
 ance to its laws. Above all, the emergency ap- 
 peals to the citizens of the States and especially 
 of those contiguous to the Territory, neither by 
 intervention of non-residents in elections, nor by 
 unauthorized military force, to attempt to en- 
 croach upon or usurp the authority of the in- 
 habitants of the Territory. 
 
 No citizen of our country should permit himself 
 to forget that he is a part of its government, and 
 entilled to be heard in the determination of its 
 policy and its measures ; and that, therefore, the 
 highest considerations of personal honor and 
 patriotism require him to maintain, by whatever 
 of power or influence he may possess, the integ- 
 rity of the laws of the Republic. 
 
 Entertaining these views, it will be my impera- 
 tive duty to exert the whole power of the Federal 
 Executive to support public order in the Territo- 
 ry ; to vindicate its laws, whether Fediral or 
 local, against all attempts of organized resistance ; 
 and so to protect its people in the establishment 
 
THE KANSAS-NEBRASKA STRUGGLE. 
 
 93 
 
 oftheir own institutionH, undisturbed b^ encroach- 
 ment from witlimil, und in ttio full enjoyment nf 
 the rif,'lit.s of solf ;,'(>vornmciit afHiirt'il ti> llifni by 
 ILo ConstituliiMi and tlie i>r;;anic act of (NmtiiVKS. 
 
 Altli()U<,'h serious and Ihicatcninj,' dinturbanccM 
 in the Teniloi y of Kansas, announced to me by 
 tLe(;overnor,'in Deceniber last, were speedily 
 quieted without the etfudion of blood, and in n 
 Biilisfactory manner, there is, I regret to say, rea- 
 son to niiprchend that disorders will continue to 
 occur there, with increasing tendency to violence, 
 until some decisive measures be taken to dispose 
 of the (luestion itself which constitutes the in- 
 ducement or occasion of internal agitation and 
 of external interference. 
 
 This, it seems to mo, can best be accomidishcd 
 by providin)^ that, when the inhabitants of Kan- 
 sas nniy desire it, and shall be of sntTicient num- 
 bers to constitute a State, a conventiitn of dele- 
 gates, duly elected by the r|ualificd voters, shall 
 assemble to frame a Constitution, and thus to 
 prei)arc, throujih rej^ular and lawful means, for 
 its admission into the Union as a State. I re- 
 spectfully recommend the cnactmeut of a law to 
 that etlect. 
 
 I reconunend, also, that a special appropriation 
 bo made to defray any ex])ensc whicli may be- 
 come requisite in the e.\cculion of the laws or the 
 mainteuauce of public order in the Territory of 
 Kansas. Franklin Pierce. 
 
 March 12//j.— In Senate, Mr. Douglas of 
 Illinois, from the Committee on Territories, 
 made the following 
 
 REPORT : 
 The Committee on Territories, to whom was re- 
 ferred so much of the annual message of the 
 President of the United States as relates to ter- 
 ritorial atfairs, together with his special message 
 of the 24th day of January, 185G, in regard to 
 Kansas Territorj-, and his message of the 18th 
 of February, in compliance with the resolution 
 of the Senate of the 4th of February, 1856, re- 
 questing transcripts of certain papers relative 
 to the affairs of the Territory of Kansas, having 
 given the same that serious and mature delibe- 
 i ration which the importance of the subject de- 
 \ mands, beg leave to submit the following re- 
 port : 
 
 Your Committee deem this an appropriate oc- 
 casion to state briefly, but distinctly, the princi- 
 ples upon wliich new States may be admitted and 
 Territories organized under the authority of the 
 Constitution of the United States. 
 
 The Con.stitution (section 3, article 4) provides 
 that " new States may be admitted by the Con- 
 gress into this Union." 
 
 Section 8, Article 1 : " Congress shall have 
 power to make all laws which shall be necessary 
 and proper for carrying into execution the fore- 
 going powers, an<l all other powers vested by tliis 
 constitution in the government of the United 
 State.*, or in any depariment or oftice thereof" 
 
 10th amendnient : " The powers not delegated 
 to the United States by the Constitution, nor pro- 
 hibited by it to the States, are reserved to the 
 States respectively, or to the people." 
 
 A State of the Federal Union is a sovereign 
 power, limited only by the Constitution of the 
 United States. 
 
 The limitations which that instrument has im- 
 posed are few, specific, and uniform — applicable 
 alike to all the States, old and new. There is no 
 authority for putting a restriction upon the sove- 
 
 reignly of a new State, which tho Conatitu- 
 tioii liMM not jilaced on tho original States. In- 
 deed, if such a restriction could be imposed on 
 any Stiile, it would iiiittanily cease to he a State 
 within the meaning of tin; F«'ileral (.'onslilution, 
 and, in iiinsetiuence of the ine(|uidity, would as- 
 similate to the condition of a province or depend- 
 ency. Hence, eiiuality among all the States of 
 the Union is a fundamental jirinciple in our fede- 
 rative system — a i)rinciplo embodied in tho Con- 
 stitution, as tho basis upon which tho American 
 Union rests. 
 
 African Slavery existed in all tho ccdonies, un- 
 der the sanction of (he liritisli government, prior 
 to the Dcciuiiitiini of Indeiiendeiice. When the 
 Constitution of the United Stales was adopted, it 
 became tho supreme law and bond of uinon bo- 
 twe<-n twelve slaveholding Slates and (uio non- 
 slavehidding State. Each State reserved the 
 right todeci<lothe question of Slavery for itself — 
 to continue it as a domestic institution so longaa 
 it pleased, and to abolish it when it chose. 
 
 In pnisnanco of this reserved right, six of tho 
 original slaveholding States have since abolish- 
 ed and [jrohibiled Slavery within their limits re- 
 spectively, without consulting Congress or their 
 sister States ; while tho other six have retained 
 and sustained it as a domestic institution, which, 
 in their opinion, had become so firmly engrafted 
 on their social systems, that the relation between 
 the master and slave could not be dissolved 
 with safely to either. In tho mean time, eighteen 
 new States have been admitted into the Union, 
 in obedience to the Federal Constitution, on an 
 equal footing with the original States, including, 
 of course, the right of each to decide the (juestiou 
 of Slavery for itself In deciding this question, 
 it has so lijippened tliat nine of these new States 
 have abolished and prohibited Slavery, while the 
 other nine have retained and regulated it. That 
 the.se new States had at tho time of their admis- 
 sion, and still retain, an equal right, under the 
 Federal Constitution, with tho original States, to 
 decide all questions of domestic policy for them- 
 selves, including that of African Slavery, ought 
 not to be seriously <iuostioncd, and certaitdy can- 
 not be succosslully controverted. 
 
 They are all subject to the same supremo 
 law, which, by the consent of each, constitutes 
 the only limitation upon their sovereign author- 
 ity- 
 
 Since we find the right to admit new States 
 enumerated among the powers expressly dele- 
 gated in the Constitution, the question arises, 
 Whence does Congress derive authority to 
 organize temporary governments for the Terri- 
 tories preparatory to their admission into tho 
 Union on an equal footing with the original 
 States ? Your Committee are not prepared to 
 adopt the reasoning which deduces the power 
 from that other clause of the Constitution, which 
 says : 
 
 " Congress shall have power to dispose of and 
 make all needful rules and regulation respecting 
 the territory or other property belonging to the 
 United States." 
 
 The language of this clause is much more ap- 
 propriate when applied to property than to per- 
 sons. It would seem to have been employed for 
 the purpose of conferring upon Congress the pow- 
 er of disposing of the public lands and other 
 property bvlousrinix to the United Statcx, and 
 to make all needful rules and regulations for that 
 purpose, rather than to govern the people who 
 might j)urchase those lands from the United 
 States and become residents thereon. The word 
 "territory" was an appropriate expression to 
 designate that large oroa of public lands of which 
 tho L'nited States had become the owner by vir- 
 tue of the revolution and the cession by tho 
 several States. Tho additional words, " or other 
 
u 
 
 THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 
 
 r, 
 
 Toperty Ijelonging to the United States," clenr- 
 y elioTT that the term " ten-itory" was used in 
 its ordinary ffcograijhical sense to designate the 
 public domain, and not as descriptive of the 
 whole body of the people, constituting a distinct 
 political cdinmunity, who have no rejtrcsentatiou 
 ni Conjrress, and consequently no voice in mak- 
 ing the laws upon which all then" riRlits and liber- 
 ties would depend, if it were conceded that Con- 
 gress had the general and unlimited power to 
 make all " needful rules and reirulations con- 
 cerning" their internal affairs and domestic con- 
 cerns. It is under this clause of the constitu- 
 tion, and from this alone, that Congress derives 
 authority to provide for the surveys of the pub- 
 lic lands, for securing pre-emption rights to actual 
 settlers, for the establishment of land offices in 
 the several States and Territories, for exposing 
 the lands to private and public sale, for issuing 
 patents and confirmiug titles, and, in short, for 
 making all needful rules and regulations for pro- 
 tecting and disposing of the public domain and 
 other property belonging to the United States. 
 
 These needful rules and regulations may be 
 embraced, and usually are found, in general laws 
 applicable alike to States and Territories, wher- 
 ever the United States may be the owner of the 
 lands or other property to be regulated or dis- 
 posed of. It can make no difference, under this 
 clause of the Constitution, whether the " territory, 
 or other property, belougintj to the United 
 States," shall be situated in Ohio or Kansas, in 
 Alabama or Minnesota, in California or Oregon. 
 The power of Congress to make needful rules 
 and regulations is the same in the States and 
 Territories, to the extent that the title is vested 
 in the United States. Inasmuch as the right of 
 legislation in such cases rests exclusively upon 
 the fact of ownership, it is obvious it can extend 
 only to the tracts of land to which the United 
 States possess the title, and must cease in respect 
 to each tract the instant it becomes private pi-op- 
 erty by purchase from the United States. It will 
 scarcely be contended that Congress possesses 
 the power to legislate for the people of those 
 States in which public lauds may be located, in 
 respect to their internal affairs and domestic con- 
 cerns, merely because the United States may be 
 so fortunate as to own a portion of the territory 
 and other property within the limits of those 
 States. Yet it should be borne in mind that this 
 clause of the Constitution confers upon Congress 
 the same power (o make needful rules and regu- 
 lations in the States as it does in the Territories, 
 concerning the territory or other property belong- 
 ing to the United States. 
 
 In view of these considerations, your Commit- 
 tee are not prepared to affirm that Congress de- 
 rives authority to institute governments for the 
 people of the Territories, from that clause of the 
 Constitution which confers the right to make 
 needful rules and regulations concerning the ter- 
 ritory or other property belonging to the United 
 States ; mucli less can we deduce the power from 
 any supposed necessity, arising outside of the 
 Constitution and not provided for iu that instru- 
 ment. The federal government is one of dele- 
 {j'uted and limited powers, clothed with no right- 
 lul authority which does not result directly and 
 necessarily from the Constitution. Necessity, 
 when experience shall have clearly demonsti-ated 
 its existence, may furnish satisfactory reasons 
 for enlarging the authority of the federal govern- 
 ment, by aun-ndments to the Constitution, in the 
 mode prescribed ui the instruiuent ; but cannot 
 afford the slightest excuse for the assumption of 
 powers not delegated, and which, by the tenth 
 amendment, are expressly " reserved to tho 
 States respectively, or to the people." Hence, 
 
 before the po>\er can bo safely exorcised, the 
 CJongress to organize Territories, by in- 
 
 right of Coni 
 
 stituting temporary governments, must be traced 
 directly to some provision of the Constitution 
 conferring the authority iu express terms, or as a 
 means necessary and proper to carry into effect 
 some one or more of the powers which are speci- 
 fically delegated. Is not the organization of a, 
 Territory eminently necessary and proper as a 
 means of enabling the people thereof to form and 
 mould their local and domestic institutions, and 
 establish a Stale government under the authority 
 of the Constitution, preparatory to its admission 
 into the Union ? If so, the right of Congress to 
 pass the organic act for the temporary govern- 
 ment is clearly included in the provision which 
 authorizes the admission of new States. This 
 power, however, beiiicr an incident to an express 
 grant, and resulting from it by necessary impli- 
 cation, as an appropriate means for carrying it 
 into effect, must be e.\ercised in harmony with 
 the nature and objects of the grant from which it 
 is deduced. The organic act of the Tc^rritory, 
 deriving its validity from the power of Congress 
 to admit new States, must contain no provision 
 or restriction which would destroy or impair tho 
 equality of the proposed State with the original 
 States, or impose any limitation upon its eovo- 
 reignty which the Constitution has not placed 
 on all the States. So far as the organization of a 
 Territory may be necessary and proper as a 
 means of carrying into effect the provision of the 
 Constitution for the admission of new States, and 
 when exercised with reference only to that end, 
 the power of Congress is clear ami explicit ; but 
 beyond that point the authority cannot extend, 
 for the reason that all " powers not delegated to 
 the United States by the Constitution, nor pro- 
 hibited by it to the States, are reserved to tho 
 States respectively, or to the people." In other 
 words, the organic act of the Territory, conform- 
 ing to the spirit of the grant from which it re- 
 ceives its validity, must leave the people entirely 
 free to form and regulate their domestic institu- 
 tions and internal concerns in their own way, 
 subject only to the Constitution* of the United 
 States, to the end that when they attain the 
 requisite population, and establish a State gov- 
 ernment in conformity to the Federal Constitu- 
 tion, they may be admitted into the Union on an 
 equal footing with the original States in all re- 
 spects whatsoever. 
 
 The act of Congress for the organization of the 
 Territories of Kansas and Nebraska, was design- 
 ed to conform to the spirit and letter of the Fede- 
 ral Constitution, by preserving and maintaining 
 the fundamental principle of equality among all 
 the States of the Union, notwithstanding the re- 
 striction contained in the 8th section of the act of 
 March 6, 1820, (preparatory to the admission of 
 Missouri into the Union,) which assumed to deny 
 to the people forever the right to settlethe ques- 
 tion of Slavery for themselves, provided they 
 should make their homes and organize States 
 north of thirty-six degrees and thirty minutes 
 north latitude. Conforming to the cardinal prin- 
 ciples of State equality and self-government, in 
 obedience to the Constitution, the Kansas-Ne- 
 braska act deekired, in the precise language of 
 the Compromise Measures of 1850, that, " when 
 admitted as a State, the said Territory, or any 
 portion of the same, shall be received into the 
 Union, with or without Slavery, as their consti- 
 tutions may prescribe at the time of their admis- 
 sion." Again, after declaring the said 8th section 
 of the Missouri act (sometimes called theMis- i 
 souri Compromise, or Missouri Restriction) inop- i 
 erative and void as being repugnant to these ' 
 principles, the purpose of Congress, in passing' 
 the act, is declared in these words: "It being 
 the true intent and meaning of this act not to 
 legislate Slavery into any State or Territory, nor 
 to exclude it therefrom, but to leave the people 
 
TUE KANSAS-NEBR.VSKA STRUGGLE. 
 
 96 
 
 thereof perfortly free to form niid rcffukto llicir 
 domestic iiislitulionN in lluir own way, suhjecl 
 only to the (."niiHtitiilion ofilie riiileil Statt^'M.' 
 
 The p«HrtU;;o of the Kaiixas NilnnHkn aet was 
 Btreiiuously resisted by all jiersons who thiniKht 
 it a less evil to deprive tlie iieoplo of luw States 
 and Territories of the ri^dit of State eciuality and 
 Pch'L'iivt-nniuuif under tiie Conslitution, than ti> 
 nllow iIkmii to deeido the Shivery <iuesti<>n for 
 tlieniselves, as every Slate of the Union had 
 done, and must retain tlie undeniable ri'dit to 
 do, so lont; as tlie Constitution of the t*iiited 
 Slates shall be maintained as the sui)rcnie law 
 of the land. Findin^' opposition to the principles 
 of Ihi' aet unavailin;; in the halls of Con^^riss 
 and under tho forms of the Constitution, com- 
 binations wore immediately entered info in some 
 portions of the Union to control the political 
 destinies, and t'orm and rej^ulate the (htniestie 
 institutions, of those Territories and future 
 States, throuich the machinery of cmi;;rant aid 
 Bocicties. In order to i^ivc consistency and efli- 
 ciency to the movement, and surround it with 
 the color of legal authority, lui act of incorpora- 
 tion was i>rocured from the lc;;islature ot the 
 State of Massachusetts, in which it was provid- 
 ed, in the first section, that twenty persons there- 
 in named, and their " asaociatcs, successors, and 
 assigns, are hereby made a corporation, by the 
 name of the Massachusetts Emigrant Aid Com- 
 pany, for tho purpose of assisting emigrants to 
 settle in the West ; and for this purpose they 
 ehall have all tho poivera and privileges, and be 
 subject to all the duties, restrictions, and liabili- 
 ties set forth in the 38th and -llih chapters of the 
 revised statutes" of Massachusetts. 
 
 The second section limited the capital stock of 
 the company to five millions of dollars, and au- 
 thorized the whole to be invested in real and per- 
 sonal estate, with the proviso that " the said cor- 
 poration shall niit hold real estate in this com- 
 monwealth (Massachusetts) to an amount ex- 
 ceeding twenty thousand dollai-s." 
 
 The third section provided for dividing the 
 capital stock <d" the corporation into shares of 
 one hundred dollars each, and prescribed the 
 mode, time, and amounts in which assessments 
 might be made on each share. 
 
 The fourth and lust section was in these 
 words : 
 
 "At all meetings of the stockholders, each 
 stockholder shall bo entitled to cast one vote for 
 each share held by him ; pruciiled, that no stock- 
 holder shall be entitled to east more than fifty 
 votes on shares held by liimself, nor more than 
 fifty votes by proxy." 
 
 Although the act of incorporation docs not dis- 
 tinctly declare that the company was fonned for 
 the purpose of controlling the domestic institu- 
 tions of tho Territory of Kansas, and forcing it 
 into the Union with a prohibition of Slavery in 
 her constitution, regardless of the rights and 
 ■wishes of the ])eople as guarantied by the Consti- 
 tution of tho United States, and secured by their 
 organic law, yet the whole history of the move- 
 ment, the circumstances in which it had its origin, 
 and the professions and avowals of all engaged 
 in it, render it certain and undeniable that such 
 was its object. 
 
 To remove all doubt upon this point, your 
 committee will here present a few extracts from 
 a pamphlet published by the company soon 
 after its organization, under tho foUowiug cap- 
 tion : 
 
 " Organization, objects, and plan of operations of 
 the Emigrant Aid Cumpany; also, a description of 
 Kansas, lor the information of emigrants. 
 
 '■ Truslcs—Km'-A A. Lawrpnce, Huston ; J. M. S. 
 Wiliiains. C;uul)riilgo ; l.ly Thayer, Worcester. 
 
 " Trecuurcr. Amos A Lawreuce. 
 
 " Secretary, Thomas H. Webb, Boston. 
 
 " For the purpostt of answering nnmrrons commnni- 
 CBtlunH ciincernin'^ ths plan of operation* of the Emi- 
 gritnt Aid CompiiTiy, and the r--8uurci'ii of Kansas Tor- 
 rltiiry. which it in proposed now to settle, the secre- 
 tary (if Iho cniiipiiiiy has deomi-d It expedient to 
 |)ul)li.'<li tlio fiillowiiig deliuitu information in regard 
 to lliis larticulur: » • • • 
 
 "For tlHse piiriiogrH it In recnmmendod. 1st. That 
 the trnstei-s contract Immediafi-ly witli tinnie one of 
 till- couipetlei|{ linc^ of travel for tlie coiiveyanco of 
 20,000 persons from Massiclnisetts to tliat place in 
 thi' West which the trustees sliall select for their flt«t 
 settlement." * ♦ • » • 
 
 "It i.i reoonunond''d that the company's agents 
 locate and take up for the cunpany's honellt, the sec- 
 tions of laud in which the hoardintf-houMcs ami mills 
 ate located, and no others. And further, whuuerer 
 the Ti-rntorv shall be org^nizfd an a free State, the 
 trustees shall dispose of all its interests thern. replace 
 by the sales tho money laid out, declare a dividend to 
 tho stockliolilcrs, and that they then select a now 
 Hold, and make similar arrangementK for the settle- 
 ment and organisation of another free State of this 
 Union." » ♦ # ♦ 
 
 " With the advantage."! attained by such a system of 
 effort, the territory selected as the scene of operations 
 would, it is believed, be filled up witli free inhabit- 
 ants. ♦ # ♦ » # 
 
 ■' There is reason to suppose several ttiousand men 
 of New-England origin propose to emigrate under the 
 auspices of some such arrangement, this very i>um- 
 nier. Of the whole emigration from Europe, amount- 
 ing to .some 400,000 persons, there can lie no difllculty 
 in inducing some thirty or forty thousand to take the 
 same direction." » ♦ ♦ 
 
 " Especially will it prove an advantage to Massa- 
 chusetts, if she create the new ."^tate by her fure.sight, 
 Bup(dy the necessities of its inhabitants, and open in 
 the outset communications between their homes and 
 her ports and factories." * * ♦ 
 
 " ft determines in the riifht way the institutions of 
 the unsettled Territories, in less time than the dis- 
 cussion of them has required in Congress." 
 
 Ilavitig thus secured from the Stale of Mas-^a- 
 chusctts the color of legal authority ti> sanction 
 their proceedings, in perversion of the jilnin pro- 
 visions of an aet of Congress passed in pursuance 
 of the Constitution, the company conniienced itg 
 oi)crations by receiving subscriidions to its capi- 
 tal stock, aii"d exerting its whole power to har- 
 monize, combine, and direct, in the clmniiel it 
 .slniuld mark out, all the elements of opposition 
 to (he principles of the Kansas and Nebr,i.-<ka act. 
 The iilaii adopted was to make it the interest of 
 a large body of men, who sympathized with them 
 in the objects of the corporation, to receive their 
 aid and protection, and, under the auspices of the 
 company, to proceed to Kanstts, and acquire 
 whtitever residence, and do whatever acts, might 
 be found necessary to enable them to vote at the 
 elections, and through the ballot-box, if possible, 
 to gain control over the legislation of the Terri- 
 tory. This movement is justified by thi>se who 
 originated and control the plan, upon the ground 
 that the persons whom they sent to Kansas were 
 free men, who, under the Constitution and laws, 
 had a perfect right to emigrate to Kansas or any 
 other Territory; that tho act of emigration was 
 entirely voluntary on their part ; and when fliey 
 arrived in the Territory as actual settlers, they 
 had as good a right as any other citizens to vote 
 at the elections, and participate in the control of 
 the government of the Territory. This would 
 undoubtedly be true in a case of ordinary emi- 
 gration, such as luus filled up our new States and 
 Territories, where each individual has gone, on 
 his own account, to improve his condition and 
 that of his family. But it is a very difTerent thing 
 where a State creates a vast moneyed coriioration 
 for the purpose of controlling the domestic insti- 
 tutions of a distinct political community fifteen 
 hundred miles distant, and sends out the emi 
 grants only as a means of nccomi)lishing its 
 paramount" politi.al <dijcets. When a powcrfid 
 corporation, with a capital of five millions of 
 dollars invested in houses and lands, in merchau- 
 
96 
 
 THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 
 
 dise and mills, in cannon and rifles, in powder 
 and lead — in all tlie implements of art, ag-ricul- 
 ture, and war, and employing a correspondinsr 
 number of men, all under the manaLjement and 
 control of non-resident directors and stockholders, 
 who are authorized by their charter to vote by 
 proxy to the extent of fifty votes each, enters a 
 distant and sparsely settled Territory with the 
 fixed purpose of wielding all its power to control 
 the domestic institutions and political destinies 
 of the Territory, it becomes a question of fearful 
 import, how far the operations of the company 
 are compatible with the rights and liberties of the 
 people. Whatever may be the extent or limit of 
 congressional authority over the Territories, it is 
 clear that no individual State has the right to 
 pass any law or authorize any act concerning or 
 afi'ecting the Territories, which it might not enact 
 in reference to any other State. 
 
 If the people of any State should become so 
 much enamored with their own peculiar institu- 
 tions as to conceive the philanthropic scheme of 
 forcing so great a blessing on their unwilling 
 neighbors, and with that view should create a 
 mammoth moneyed corporation, for the avowed 
 purpose of sending a sufiioient number of their 
 young men into the neighboring State, to remain 
 long enough to acquire the right of voting, with 
 the fixed and [laraniount object of reversing the 
 settled piilicy and chanfrintj the domestic institu- 
 tions ot such State, wiiuld it not be deemed an 
 act of aggression, as offensive and flagrant as if 
 attempted by direct and open violence ? It is a 
 well-settled principle of constitutional law, in this 
 country, that while all the States of the Union are 
 united in one, for certain purposes, yet each State, 
 in respect to everything which affects its domestic 
 policy and internal concerns, stands in the I'ela- 
 tion of a foreign power to every other State. 
 
 Hence, no State has a right to pass any law, or 
 do or authorize any act, with the view to influ- 
 ence or change the domestic policy of any other 
 State or Territory of the Union, more than it 
 would with reference to France or England, or 
 any other foreign State with which we are at 
 peace. Indeed, every State of this Union is under 
 higher obligations to observe a friendly forbear- 
 ance and generous comity towards each other 
 member of the Confederacy, than the laws of 
 nations can impose on foreign States. While 
 foreign States are restrained from all acts of ag- 
 gression and unkindness only by that spirit of 
 comity which the laws of nations enjoin upon all 
 friendly powers, we have assumed the additional 
 obligation to obey the Constitution, which secures 
 to every State the right to control its own internal 
 afi'airs. If repugnance to domestic Slavery can 
 justify Massachusetts in incorporating a mam- 
 moth company to influence and control that 
 question in any State or Territory of this Union, 
 the same principle of action would authorize 
 France or England to use the same means to ac- 
 complish the same end in Brazil or Cuba, or in 
 fifteen States of this Union ; while it would license 
 the United States to interfere with serfdom in 
 Russia, or polygamy in Turkey, or any other ob- 
 noxious institution in any part of the world. 
 The same principle of action, when sanctioned 
 by our example, would authorize all the king- 
 doms, and empires, and despotisms in the world, 
 to engage in a common crusade against republic- 
 anism in America, as an institution quite as ob- 
 noxious to them as domestic Slavery is to any 
 portion of the people of the United States. 
 
 If our obligations arising under the laws of 
 nations are so imperative as to make it our duty 
 to enact neutrality laws, and to exert the whole 
 power and authority of the executive branch of 
 the governniont, including tlie army and navy, 
 to enforce them, in restraining our citizens from 
 interfering with the internal concerns of foreign 
 
 States, can the obligations of each State and 
 Territory of this Union be less imperative, under 
 the Federal Con.^titution. to observe entire neu- 
 trality in respect to the domestic in.^titutions of 
 the several States and Territories ? Non-interfer- 
 ence with the internal concerns of other States is 
 recognized by all civilized countries as a funda- 
 mental principle of the laws of nations, for the 
 reason that the peace of the world could not be 
 maintained for a single day without it. IIow, then, 
 can we hope to ])ioscrve peace and fraternal feel- 
 ings among the diflVrenl portions of this republic, 
 unless we yield implicit obedience to a prmciple 
 which has all the sanction of patriotic duty as 
 well as constitutional obligation? 
 
 When the emigrants sent out by the Massa- 
 chusetts Emigrant Aid Company, and their affili- 
 ated societies, passed through the State of Mis- 
 souri in large numbers on their way to Kansas, 
 the violence of their language, and the unmis 
 takable indicatiims of their determined hostility 
 to the domestic institutions of that State, created 
 apprehensions that the object of theciunpany was 
 to abolitionize Kansas as a means of prosecuting 
 a relentless warefare upon the institutions of 
 Slavery within the limits of Missouri. These ap- 
 prehensions increased and spread with the pro- 
 gress of events, until they became the settled con- 
 victions of the people of that portion of the State 
 most exposed to the danger by their proximity 
 to the Kansas border. The natural consequence 
 was, that immediate steps were taken by the peo- 
 ple of the western counties.of Missouri to stimu- 
 late, organize, and carry into efiect a system of 
 emigration similar to that of the Massachusetts 
 Emigrant Aid Company, for the avowed pur- 
 pose of counteracting the effects, and protecting 
 themselves and their domestic institutions from 
 the consequences of that company's operations. 
 
 The material difference in the character of the 
 two rival and conflicting movements consists in 
 the fact that the one had its origin in an aggres- 
 sive, and the other in a defensive policy. The 
 one was organized in pursuance of the pro- 
 visions and claiming to act under the authority 
 of a legislative enactment of a distant Stale, whose 
 internal prosperity and domestic security did not 
 depend upon the success of the movement , 
 while the other was the spontaneous action of 
 the people living in the immediate vicinity of 
 the theatre of operations, excited by a sense of 
 common danger to the necessity of protecting 
 their own firesides from the apprehended horrors 
 of servile insurrection and intestine war. Both 
 parties, conceiving it to be essential to the success 
 of their respective" plans that they should be upon 
 the field of operations prior to the first election in 
 the Territory, selected principally young men, 
 persons unencumbered by families, and whose 
 conditions in life enabled them to leave at a mo- 
 ment's warning, and move with great celeritjr, 
 to go at once, and select and occupy the most eli- 
 gible sites and l^ivored locations in the Territory, 
 to be held by themselves and their associates who 
 should follow them. For the successful prosecu- 
 tion of such a scheme, the Missourians who lived 
 in the immediate vicinity, possessed peculiar ad- 
 vantages over their rivals from the more remote 
 portions of the Union. Each family could send 
 one of its members across the line to mark out 
 his claim, erect a cabin, and put in a small crop, 
 sufficient to give him as vidida right to be deem- 
 ed an actual settler and qualified voter as those 
 who were being imported by the Enugrant Aid 
 Societies. In an unoccupied Territory, where 
 the lands have not been surveyed, and where 
 there were no marks or lines to indicate the 
 boundaries of sections and quarter-sections, and 
 where no legal title could be had until after llie 
 surveys should be made, disputes, quarrels, vio- 
 lence,'' and bloodshed might have been expected as 
 
THE KANSAS-NEBRASKA STRUGGLE. 
 
 97 
 
 llicnntunil.indinovitnblofoiiKeriuonccBofguchcx- 
 tniorilinary systems nf iiniy:niluin, wliii-li ilividod 
 and nrriiycd "tlic nctllcTB into two f,'ri'at IicikIiIo 
 piirfit'f, onoli litiviiin iiii induceiiu'iit to clniin mom 
 thnn wasliis iif,'lit, in order to liold it for soiiio 
 now comer of liis own imrty, und iit the sumo 
 time prevent permins belonging to the opposite 
 piirtv from settlint; in tlio iiciKl'borhood. Ab a 
 result of this state of tliiiiKS, tlie Kreiit, mnss of 
 emi^rranls from the northwest and from other 
 Stales wlio wont there on liieir own neeoiint, 
 with no otlier objoet and infliionco, by no other 
 motives llian to improve llioir eoiiditiou and so- 
 euro t;>"'d homes for tlieir families, were ct)mpel- 
 lod to array themselves under the banner of one 
 of those hostile parties, in order to insure protec- 
 tion to thouiselvca and tlieir claims against the af;- 
 grossions and violence of the other. 
 
 At Ihelirst cleetion hohl in the Territory, on 
 the'J9ili day of Novendior, 1S5J, for a delegate 
 to Congres's, J. W. \Vhilli<'I(l was chosen by an 
 overwhelming,'- majority, having received tho 
 votes of men of all parties who wore in favor of 
 the principles of tho Kansas-Nebraska act, and 
 opposed to placing tho political destinies of tho 
 IVrritory in tho keeping of the Abidition party 
 of tho northern States, to bo managed through 
 tho machinery of their emigrant Aid Compa- 
 nies. No sooner was tlie result of the election 
 known, than the defeated party proclaimed 
 throughout the length and breadih of the repub- 
 lic, that it had been proiluced by the invasion of 
 tJio Territory by a Missouri nmb, which had over- 
 awed and outnumbered and outvoted the Luna 
 fide settlers of the Territory. By reference to 
 tho executive journal of tho Territory, which 
 will be found in the papers furnished by the 
 President of the Unitoil Slates in response to a 
 call of the Senate, it will bo found that Governor 
 Eeeder, in obedience to what he considered to be 
 a duty enjoined on him by the act of Congress or- 
 ganizing the Territory, on the 10th day of Novem- 
 ber, 1854, issued a proclamation, prescribing the 
 time, place, and niorlo of liolding tho election, and 
 appointing by name tliree citizens of the Territory, 
 residing in each election district, to conduct the 
 election, in FUch district, together with the follow- 
 ing oath, which was tak(;n by the judges before 
 entering on their duties, to wit : 
 
 "We do severally swear that wo will perform our 
 duties as judges of the election, to beheld this day, 
 
 in the district of the Territory of Kansas, to 
 
 the best of our judjrment and ability ; that we will 
 keep a correct and fdithful record or list of persons 
 who shall vote at said election; that wo will poll no 
 ticke's from any person who is not an actual bona fide 
 resident and inhabitant of said Territory on the day 
 of election, and whom wc shall not honestly believe to 
 be a qualified voter according to the act of Congress 
 organizing said Territory ; that wewill reject the votes 
 of nil and every non-resident who:n we shall believe 
 to have ci>me into the Territory f(jr the mere purpose 
 of voting; that in all cases where we are ignorant of 
 the voter's ri^ht, we will require legal evidence 
 thereof, by his own oath or otherwise ; that we will 
 makca true and faithlul return of the votes which 
 shall be polled to the governor of the said Terri- 
 tory." 
 
 The same proclamation pointed out in detail 
 the mode in which the election should be conduct- 
 ed ; and, among other things, that the polls will 
 be opened for reception of votes between eight 
 and ten o'clock, a. m., and kept open continually 
 until si.x o'clock, p. m. ; that the judges will keep 
 two corresponding list.s of persons who sholl vote, 
 numbering each name : that when a dispute 
 arises as to the qualitications of a voter, thejudgea 
 shall examine the voter or any other persons, un- 
 der oatii, upon the subject, and the decision of 
 a majority of tho board will be conclusive; that 
 when the election shall close, the judges shall 
 open and count the votes, and keep two corre- 
 7 
 
 snonding tally liHtB, and if llic tally-liflfs sliall agree, 
 tne judnes sliall then publicly jiroelnim the result, 
 and shall nnike up and sign duiilii'ate eerlificatcB 
 in tho form iirescrilx-d ; niiil sliall certify, under 
 their oaths, that Ihe certificato is a true and cor- 
 rect return of tlie votes [lolled by lawful resident 
 voters. 
 
 The iiroclamation also provides that the tickets 
 or votes polled shall, after beiii;; counlc<l, bo 
 again deiiositcd in the bo.\, togother with ono 
 copy of the oath, and ono list of llio voters, and 
 Olio tally list, and ono certificate of return: and 
 that the judges shall seal them up in the bo.x,and 
 carefully preserve the same until called for by 
 the governor of said Territory, in tin; event of 
 its correctness being coutosted : and that the re- 
 maining cojiy fif the oath, list of voti-rs, tally list, 
 and return, will be taken by one of the judges, 
 who shall deliver the same in person to the gov- 
 ernor. 
 
 The proclamation also provides that, " In case 
 any jierson or persons shall dispute Ihe fairness 
 or correctness of tho return of any electiondis- 
 trict, they shall make a written slatenient, direct- 
 ed to the governor, and setting forth the specific 
 cause of complaint or errors in tho conducting or 
 returning of the election in said district, signed 
 by not less than ten qualitiod voters of the Terri- 
 tory, and with an aflidavit of one or more quali- 
 fied voters to the truth of the fact therein stated ; 
 and tho said complaint and aflidavit shall be 
 presented to the governor on or before the fourth 
 day of December ne.xt, when the proper proceed- 
 ings will be taken to hear and decide such com- 
 plaint." 
 
 By reference to the executive journal of the 
 Territory, we find the following entry : 
 
 " Dectmber 4, 1854.— The judgeg of the several elec- 
 tion distiicts made return of the votes polled at tho 
 election held on the 29th day of November last, for a 
 dclegatt* to the IIou^e of Representatives of the United 
 States; from which it appeared that tho votes in the 
 said several districts were as follows, to wit :" 
 
 Here follows a list of the votes cast for each 
 candidate in each of the seventeen districts of the 
 Territorv, showing that 
 
 J. W. Whitfield had received Sji.^iS votes. 
 
 All other persons received 575 " 
 
 And on the same page is tho following entry : 
 
 "December 5, 1854. — On examining and collating 
 tho returns. J. W. Whitfield is declared by th*- govern- 
 or to be duly elected delegate to the House of Repre- 
 sentatives of the United States, and the same day the 
 certificate of the governor, under the seal of the 
 Territory, issued to said J. W. Whitfield of his elec- 
 tion." 
 
 It nowhere appears that Gen. Whitfield's right 
 to a seat by virtue of that election was ever con- 
 tested. It does not appear that " ten qualified 
 voters of the Territory" were ever found who 
 were willing to make the " written statement di- 
 rected to the ijoveriior, with an allidavit" of one 
 or more qualified voters to tho " truth of the facts 
 therein stated," to " dispute the fairness or cor- 
 rectness of the returns," or to " set forth specific 
 cause of complaint or errors in the conducting or 
 returning of the election," in any one of tho sev- 
 enteen districts of the Territory. Certain it is, 
 that there could not have been a system of fraud 
 and violence such as has been charged by the 
 agents and sujiporters of the emigrant aid socie- 
 ties, unless tho governor and judges of election 
 were parties to it ; and your committee arc not 
 prepared to assume a fact so disreputable to them, 
 and so improbable upon the state of facts pre- 
 sented, without specific charges antl direct proof. 
 In the absence of all proof and probable truth, 
 the charge that the .ALissourians had invaded the 
 Territory and controlled the congressional elec- 
 tion by fraud and violence, was circulated 
 tla-oui'hout the Free States, and made the basis 
 
98 
 
 THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 
 
 of the most mflamniaton- appeiils to nil men op- 
 posed to the principles of the Kansas-Nebraska 
 act to emigrate or send emigrants to Kansas, for 
 the purpose of repelling the invailers, and assist- 
 ing their friends who were then in the Territory 
 in putting down the slave power, and prohibiting 
 Slavery iii Kansas, with the view of making it a 
 Free State. E.xaggerated accounts of the large 
 number of emigrants on their way under the 
 auspices of the emigrant aid companies, with tiic 
 view ot controlling the elect ion for m embers of 
 the territorial legislature, which was to take 
 place on the 30th of March, 1S.J5, were published 
 and circulated. These accounts bemg repub- 
 lished and believed in Missouri, where the ex- 
 citement had already been inflamed to a fearful 
 intensity, induced a corresponding effort to send 
 at least an equal number, to counteract the ap- 
 prehended result of this new importation. Your 
 committee have not been able to obtain definite 
 and satisfactory information in regard to the al- 
 leged irregularities in conducting the election, 
 and the number of illegal votes on the 30th of 
 March: but, from the most reliable sources of 
 information accessible to your committee, in- 
 cluding various papers, documents, and state- 
 ments, kindly furnished by Messrs. Whitfield 
 and Eeeder, rival claimants of the delegate's seat 
 in Congress for Kansas Territory, it would seem 
 that the facts are substantially as follows : 
 
 The election was held in obedience to the pro- 
 clamation of the governor of the Territory, which 
 prescribed the mode of procecxling, the form of 
 the oath and returns, the precautionary safe- 
 guards against illegal voting, and the mode of 
 contesting the election, which were, in substance, 
 the same as those already referred to in con- 
 nection with the congressional election. When 
 tlie period arrived for the governor to canvass the 
 returns, and issue certificates to the persons 
 elected, it appeared that protests had been filed 
 against the fairness of the proceedings and the 
 correctness of the returns, in seven out of the 
 eighteen election-districts into which the Terri- 
 tory had been divided for election purposes, al- 
 leging fraudulent and illegal votinir by persons 
 who were not actual settlers and qualifietf voters 
 of the Territory. It also appears, that in some of 
 these contested cases, the form of the oath ad- 
 ministered to the judges, and of the returns made 
 by them, were not in conformity to the proclama- 
 tion of the governor. After a careful investiga- 
 tion of the facts of each case, as presented by 
 the returns of the judges, and the protests and 
 allegations of all persons who disputed the fair- 
 ness of the election and the correctness of the 
 returns, the governor came to the conclusion 
 that it was his duty to set aside the election in 
 these seven disputed districts ; the effect of which 
 was, to create two vacancies in the council, and 
 nine in the House of Representatives of the Terri- 
 tory, to be filled by a new election ; and to change 
 the result so far as to cause the certificate for one 
 councilman and one representative to issue to 
 different persons than those returned as elected 
 by the judges. Accordingly the governor issued 
 his writs for special elections, to be held on the 
 24th of May, to fill those vacancies, and, at the 
 same time, granted certificates of election to 
 eleven councilmen and seventeen representatives, 
 whose election had not been contested, and whom 
 ho adjudged to have been fairly elected. At the 
 special election to fill these vacancies, three of 
 the persons whose election on tlic 30th of March 
 had been set aside for the reasons already stated, 
 were re-elected, and in the other districts different 
 persons were returned ; and the governor having 
 adjudged them to have been duly elected, ac- 
 cordingly granted them certificates of election, 
 thus making the full complement of thirteen 
 councilmen and twenty-six representatives, of 
 
 whom, by the organic law of the Territory, the 
 legislature was to be composed. On the 17th 
 day of April the governor issued his proclama- 
 tion, sunuiHUiiiig llicsc thirteen councilmen and 
 twenty-six representatives, whom he had com- 
 missioned as having been fairly elected, to assem- 
 ble at Pawnee City on the 2nd day of July, and 
 organize as the legislature of the Territory of 
 Kansas. 
 
 It appears from the journal that the two 
 Houses did assemble, in o'bedience to the Gover- 
 nor's proclamation, at the time and place ap- 
 pointed by him ; and, after the oath of office had 
 been duly administered by one of the judges of 
 the supreme court of fhe'Territory, to each of 
 the members who lield the Governor's certificate, 
 proceeded to organize their respective houses by 
 the election of their officers ; and each notified 
 the other, by resolution, that they were thus duly 
 organized. Also, by joint resolution, aj)pointe"d 
 a committee who waited on the Governor, and 
 informed him that " the two houses of the Kan- 
 sas Lef'/.s/fl/i/re are organized, and are now ready 
 to proceed to business, and to receive" such 
 communication as he may deem necessary. 
 
 In response to this joint resolution, " a message 
 from the Governor, by Mr. Higgins, his private 
 secretary, transmitting his message, was received, 
 and ordered to be read." 
 
 The message commences thus : 
 
 " To the Honorable the Council and House of Repre- 
 sentatives of the Territory of Kansas : 
 
 "Having been duly notified tliat your respective 
 bodies have organized for the performance of your of- 
 ficial functions, I herewith submit to you the usual 
 executive communication relative to .suf'jects of legis- 
 lation, which univer,sal and long-continued usai;e in 
 analogous cases would seem to d'-roand. altliough no 
 express requirement of it i.s to be f.)und in the act of 
 Congress which has brought us into official existence, 
 and prescribed our official dutie.i. 
 
 " The position which we occupy, and the solemn 
 trust which is confided to us for originating the law.s 
 and institutions, and moulding the destinies of a new 
 republic in the very geographical centre ni our vast 
 and magnificent confederation, cannot but impress us 
 with a deep and solemn sense (f the heavy responsi- 
 bility which we have as.sumed. and admonish us to 
 lay aside all sefish and equivocal motives, to discard 
 all unworthy ends, and, in the spirit of justice and 
 charity to each other, with jiure henrts, tem- 
 pered feelings, aud sober judgments, to address cur- 
 selves to our tnsk, and so perform it in the fear and 
 reverence of that God who oversees our work, that 
 the star that we exp.ct to add to the national banner 
 shall be dimmed by no taint or tarnish of dishonor, 
 and be subject to no reproach save that which springs 
 from the inevitable fallibility of just and upright 
 men." 
 
 The Governor, with the view to the " ascertain- 
 ment of the existing law" in the Territory, pro- 
 ceeds to trace the history of all legislation affect- 
 ing it since the country was acquired from 
 France, and advises the legislature to pass such 
 laws as the public interest might require upon all 
 appropriate subjects of legislation, and particix- 
 larly the Slavery question, the division of the 
 Territory into counties, the organization of coun- 
 ty courts, the election of judicial and ministerial 
 officers, education, taxes, revenues, the location 
 of the pennanent seat of government, and the or- 
 ganization of the militia, as subjects worthy of 
 their immediate attention. 
 
 From this message, as well as from all the of- 
 ficial acts of the Governor preceding it, having 
 reference to the election and return of the mem- 
 bers and the convening of the two houses for le- 
 gislative business, the conclusion is irresistible, 
 that up to this period of time the Governor had 
 never conceived the idea — if, indeed, he has since 
 entertained it — that the two houses were spurious 
 and fraudulent assemblies, having no rightful 
 
TUB KANSAS-NEBRASKA STRUGGLE. 
 
 99 
 
 BUtliority to jinss laws whidi wduM )»• binding 
 upon tlic i>t'c>|ilt( of KansMH. On the lirnt duy ol 
 the i'es>iiin, anil iinmeilialoly aflcr lli>' or^iinizu- 
 tioii of tin- liiiuso WMH trtcctl'd, llic I'lilluwinj,' Uc- 
 solutiuu WU8 udofited : 
 
 " Rfsolr^d. Tlmt all persons who in;iy lie-in- to con- 
 test till- .si-Kt« of ftnv ptTMoiis now liulUiiig certilicaU-H of 
 olectidii ua nirniberi* ol' tliin limise. may pr'-Ht-nl thi-ir 
 pr<>to-t8 lo tlit'ciimniitti'B on cre'lootials, and tliat no- 
 tic llier-'of shall b« giveu to tho peisons boMiug 
 such certificates." 
 
 On tlio ith day of .Tuly, (boiiip^ tlic tliiid day 
 of the »osi»ion,) tho niajonty of tlu' connnittoo, in- 
 chulini; four of tho five nicnibcrs, reiiorloil llint, 
 
 " IHVIVG HKAItl) ASO KXAMINEI) AI.I. THK KVI- 
 DKNCE TOUCIUjNc; THE MATlKIl OK I.N<iUIUY 1!E- 
 
 FORK TilKM, and takintj tho orj,'anic hiw ot' Con- 
 pross, passed on the 'JOih day of May, in tlio year 
 1851, or^^anizini^ the Tirriturios of Kansas and 
 Nebraska," a.s their guidinjj star, they have ar- 
 rived at tiic conclusions wliieh tliey proceed to 
 elucidate and enforce in a lentrthy report. From 
 this reptu't, it appears that tifteen out of twenty- 
 two members present wore permitled to retain 
 their seals by unanimo\is consent, no one appear- 
 in;; to contest or disiiute the fairness uf tho elec- 
 tion, or re^'ularity or truthfulness of the return, 
 in either of their cases. Hence the contest wa.s 
 reduced to the claims of one nn'mber who re- 
 ceived the certificate under the general election 
 of the 30th of JIarch, and the si.\ members prc- 
 eeiit who received certificates under the special 
 election of the 24fh of May. In the first case the 
 decision of the Governor was* reversed, and tlu; 
 Beat awarded to the candidate who received the 
 liiy:hest number of votes at the election of the 
 3Uth of March, and from whom the certificate had 
 been withheld by the Governor, upon the ground 
 of irregularity in the election and returns from 
 one precinct, the exclusion of which poll gave 
 the majority to the opposing candidate. In tlie 
 other six cases, the sitting mendjers were depriv- 
 ed of their seats; and the candidates receiving 
 the highest number of votes at the general elec- 
 tion on the 3l)lli of March, were awarded their 
 places, ap(vi the ground that the special election 
 on tho 2-lih of May was illegal and void, the Gov- 
 ernor not being authorized, by tho organic law 
 of the Territory, to go behind the returns, and 
 set aside the election held on the 30th of March. 
 The minority report dissents from the reason- 
 ing, and protests against the conclusions of the 
 majority, and affirms the right of the sitting mem- 
 ber to retain their seats, upon the ground that 
 the governor's certificate was not merely prima 
 facit evidence, but was conclusive, in respect to 
 tlie rights of all claimants and contestants; and 
 Hence the house could not go behind the certifi- 
 cates of election to inquire whether there had 
 been a previous election in those districts on the 
 30th of March, and who had received the highest 
 number of legal votes at that election. The 
 proposition is thus stated in the minority report : 
 "I cannot agree that this body has the right to 
 go behind the decisions of the governor, who, by 
 virtue of his otlico, is the organizing federal arm 
 of the general government, to evolve and man- 
 age a new government for this Territory, for tho 
 obvious reason that Congress makes him the sole 
 judge of the qualifications for membership." It 
 IS true that the minority report, alludes to " evi- 
 dence before the conmiittec of great deficiencies, 
 not in the form of couductini; tlie elections, but in 
 the manner of holdini; them, both as to the quah- 
 fications of the judges who presiilid, and the re- 
 turns made oiit by them," and s.-iys there is 
 " no doubt that these illegal proceedings on the 
 one hand induced the governor to withiiold cer- 
 tificates from some who,' from the nmnber of votes 
 returned in their favor, might at the same time 
 appear to have been properly elected, and on the 
 
 other, to have been tho ground on which he pre- 
 xented a certificate in one instance, nnd in un- 
 oiluT ordered a new elertion in reference to 
 other ilistriclK." Hut while the minority report 
 atlirniH the right of the governor to go behind 
 the returns and investi^'ale irregularities and ille- 
 gal votiii;,' at the election, as well as deficiencies 
 in the forms of the rclurns, and axHcrts that he 
 did exercise this riuht in each case in which lie 
 granted or withheld a certificate, it maintains 
 Itiat the governor's decision, on evinced by his 
 certificate, was final and con<dusive and <'ould 
 not he reviewed, nnicli less reversed, by either 
 branch of the Territorial legislature. So far 0,» 
 the question inv(dvcs the legality of the Kansas 
 legislature, and the validity of its acts, it is en- 
 tirely immaterial whether we ado[)t the reasoning 
 and conclusions of the minority or majority re- 
 ports ; for each proves that the legislature was 
 legally anil duly constituted. The minority re- 
 port establishes the fact, by the position that the 
 governor's certificate was conclusive, and that 
 he granted eertifieates to ten out of the thirteen 
 councilmen, and to seventeen out of the twenty- 
 six representatives who fiiudly held their seats, 
 which was largidv more than a (|uor\im of each 
 branch of the legislaturi-. 'I'he majority r<port 
 establishes the sanir- fact, by the position that 
 after going behind the governor's ci-rtificate, 
 and carefully examining the facts, they con- 
 firmed these same ten councilmen and seven- 
 teen representatives in their seats, and then 
 awarded the scats of the other three councilmen 
 and nine representatives to the candidates whom 
 they believed to have been legally elected at the 
 general election on the 30th ofJlarch. 
 
 The house, by eighteen votes in the affinnative 
 to one vote in the negative, passed a resolution 
 adopting the majority report, and declaring that 
 the contestants " having been duly elected on the 
 30th of March, 1855, are entitled to their seals as 
 members of this house." Whereupon four of the 
 sitting membcps, whose seats were vacated by the 
 adoi)tion of the majority report, signed a protest, 
 and asked that it be spread on the journal of the 
 house, which was accordingly done in the follow- 
 ing words : 
 
 " Protest. 
 
 "We, the undersigned, members of the House of 
 Representatives of Kansas Torrilory, bL'lieve the or- 
 ganic act organizing ilie said Territory gives this 
 liouse uo power lo oust any member frcjm this house 
 who has received a certiticate from thegmernor; that 
 this house cannot go behind an elrction called by the 
 governor, and consider any claims based on a prior 
 election. We would therelore protest against such a 
 proceeding, and ask this protest to be spread upon 
 the journal of this house. 
 
 "JOHN' HUTCHINSON', 
 WIl.LIA.M JESSEK, 
 AltilTSTUS WATTLES, 
 E. D. LADU." 
 
 Under date of July 6, the journal contains 
 a message from the governor to the " house of 
 representatives of the Territory of Kansas," re- 
 turning " house bill entitled ' An act to remove 
 the seat of government temporarily to the Shaw- 
 nee Manual Labor School, in tho Territory of 
 Kansas,' together with his objections.'' While 
 the governor, in assigning his reasons for return- 
 inac the bill, labors to prove that the legislature 
 had transcended its authority under the organic 
 act, in adopting this particular measure, and ar- 
 gues against its expediency, on the score of the 
 loss of time and money in removing to a difTer- 
 ent place during the session, he clearly and dis- 
 tinctly recognizes the council and house of repre- 
 sentatives as constituting the legislature of the 
 Territory of Kansas, elected and organized in 
 conformity to the act of Congress creating the 
 Territory. 
 
 Tho reasons of tho governor for returning the 
 
100 
 
 THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 
 
 bill, was spread upon the journal, auil upon ro- 
 cousideration, it was passed by a two thirds' vote 
 in each branch of the legislature, and tlufa be- 
 came the law of the land, " the objections of the 
 governor to the contrary notwitlistandin;,^." 
 
 On the same day the following resolution was 
 adojjted by both houses : 
 
 " Itesotved hy the Huusf. of Representatives of the 
 Tenilwy of Kun^aa, (the Council cuniyurriTtg therein,) 
 TUat tlie legisla'ure of said Territory do adjourn on 
 the 6th day of July, A. D. 1855. to meet again on 
 Monday, the 16th day of July, 1>55, at 2 o'clock, p. M., 
 at the Shawnee Manual-labor School, in the said Ter- 
 ritory." 
 
 And ou the same day the following resolution 
 was also adopted by both houses : 
 
 •' Resolved, That a Commiitee of three be appointed 
 on the part of the Council, tn act in conjuniition with 
 a Comniittfe on the part of the Ilou-e of Representa- 
 tives, to inform his excellency the Governor th<t the 
 Legislative Assembly wi'l adjourn this afternoon, to 
 meet on Monday, the 16th instant, at the Shawnee 
 Manual-labor School, in the Territory of Kansas." 
 
 On the 16th of July, tho two houses assembled, 
 in pursuance of the adjournment, at the Shawnee 
 Manual labor School, known as Sliawuee Mission, 
 and proceeded to the discharge of their legisla- 
 tive duties. In the mean time the Governor had 
 also repaired to Shawnee Mission, it being the 
 place of his residence in the Territory, and the 
 seat of the executive offices as established and 
 continued by himself, during the whole period he 
 exercised the executive functions. 
 
 On the 21st of July, a message was received 
 from the Governor, by his private secretary, Mr. 
 Lowry, directed " To the House of Representa- 
 tives of the Territory of Kansas," in which he 
 says: "I return to your House, in which they 
 originated, the bill entitled 'An act to prevent 
 the sale of intoxicating liquors, and games of 
 chance, within one mile of the Shawnee Manual- 
 labor School, in the Territory of Kansas,' and 
 the bill entitled 'An act to establish a ferry at 
 the town of Atchison, in Kansas Territory,' 
 without my approval. I see nothing in the bills 
 themselves to prevent nry sanction of them, and 
 my reasons for disapproval have been, doubtless, 
 anticipated by you, as necessarily resulting 
 from the opinion expressed in my message of 
 the 6th instant." 
 
 The Governor then proceeds to argue the 
 question at great length, whether the legislature 
 is now in session at a place which can be recog- 
 nized as a seat of govcrnmciif, where the business 
 of legislation can be legally or legitimately car- 
 ried on. 
 
 He does not question the fairness and legality 
 of the election of the members composing the 
 legislature ; nor the regularity and validity of 
 their organization; nor their competency as a 
 legislature to pass all laws which they may 
 deem necessary and proper for the best interests 
 of the people of Kansas, /^/-oy/zZtv? it shall be done 
 at the right place. Upon this point he says : 
 
 "It seems to be plain that the legislature now in 
 session, so far as the place is concerned, is in contra- 
 vention of the act of Congress, and where they have 
 no right to sit, and can make no valid legislation. 
 Entertaining these views, I can give no sanction to 
 any bill that may be passed ; and if my re;isons are 
 not satisfactory to the Legislative A.ssembly, it follows 
 that we must act independently of each other." 
 
 In conclusion tho Governor says : 
 
 "If I am right in these opinions, and our Territory 
 shall derive no fruits from the meeting of the present 
 Legislative Assembly, I shall at least have the satis- 
 faction of recollecting that I called the attention of 
 the Assembly to the point before they removed, and 
 that the responsibility, therefore, rests not oa the 
 Kxecutive." 
 
 The Governor having thus suspended all offi- 
 cial intercourse with the two branches of the 
 
 legislature, refusing to examine their acts with 
 a view of either approving or disapproving 
 them, they appointed a joint committee of the 
 two houses to drtiught a memorial to the Presi- 
 dent of the United States, asking his removal 
 from the office of governor; which memorial 
 was signed by the presiding officers and mem- 
 bers in joint session. The memorialists, after 
 reviewing the causes which had led to such 
 serious difficulties, and vindicating the right of 
 the legislature, under the organic act, to remove 
 the seat of government from Pawnee City to 
 Shawnee Mission, concluded as follows: 
 
 "In conclusion, we charge the Governor, A. H. 
 Reeder, with willful neglect of the interests of the 
 Territory ; with endeavoring, by all means in his power, 
 to subvert th" ends and objects intended to be accom- 
 plished by the "Kansas and Nebraska bill,' by neglect- 
 ing the public interests and making them subservient 
 to private speculation; by aiding and encuraging 
 persons in factious and treasonable opposition to the 
 wishes of the majority of the citizens of the Territory, 
 and the laws of the United States in force in said 
 Territory ; by eucouraging persons to violate the laws 
 of the United States, and set at defiance the com- 
 mands of the general Governoient ; bv inciting persons 
 to resist the laws which may be passed by the present 
 Legislative Assembly of this Territory. For these, 
 and many other reasons, we respectfully pray your 
 excellency to remove tue said A. H. Reeder from the 
 exercise of the functions now held by him in said 
 Territory ; and represent that a continuance of the 
 same will be prejudicial to the best interests of 
 the said Territory And, as iu duty bound, we will 
 ever pray," etc., etc. 
 
 [ Signed by the officers and members of both houses. ] 
 
 On the 15th of August, Governor Reeder ad- 
 dressed a note to the Department of State, 
 acknowledging the receipt of a communication 
 from the acting Secretary, under date of the 28th 
 July, in which he was notified that " in conse- 
 quence of your [Governor Reeder's] purchase 
 of Kansas half-breed hinds," and "more espe- 
 cially the undertaking of sundry persons, your- 
 self included, to lay out new cities on military 
 or other reservations in the Temtory of Kan- 
 sas," and "more particularly, as you have sum- 
 moned the Legislative Assembly of the Temtory 
 to meet at one of the places referred to, deno- 
 minated in your official proclamation ' Pawnee 
 City,' I have, therefore, by the direction of the 
 President, to notify you that your functions and 
 authority as Governor of the Territory of Kansas 
 are hereby terminated." 
 
 On the 16th of August, the journal of the 
 House of Representatives says: 
 
 " The following message was received from Gover- 
 nor A. H. Reeder, by Mr. Lowry, his private secre- 
 tary : 
 
 " To the honorable the members of the Council and 
 House of Representatives of the Territory of Kansas : 
 
 "Gentlemen : Although, in my message to your 
 bodies under date of the 21st instant, (ult.) I stated 
 that I was unable to convince myself of the legality 
 of your session at this pl.ice, for reasons then given ; 
 and although that opinion still remains unchanged, 
 yet, inasmuch as my reasons were not satisfactory to 
 your body, and the bills passed by your houses have 
 been up to this time sent to me for approval, it is 
 proper that I should inform you that alter your ad- 
 journment of yesterday I received oiBcial cotification 
 that my functions as governor of the Territory of 
 Kansas were terminated. No successor having ar- 
 rived. Secretary Woodson will of course perform the 
 duties of the office as acting governor. 
 
 "A. H. Reeder." 
 
 Inasmuch as Governor Reeder dissolved his 
 official relations with the legislature, and denied 
 the validity of their acts, solely upon the ground 
 ttiat they were enacted in the wrong place, it be- 
 comes material to inquire whether it was com- 
 petent for them, under the organic act, to remove 
 the seat of government temi)Orarily from " Paw- 
 nee City'' to tho Shawnee Mission. The 24th 
 
THE KANSAS-NEBRASKA STRUGGLE. 
 
 101 
 
 eoctioii of tin: nri,'imic net ]>rovidcs " flint tlio 
 ]c|,'iKl!itivi> ixiwcr III' the Tcnitury shall cxttiid 
 to all ri;,'liltiil ^iilijcctH of l<->;iHliitioii coiiKiHfoiit 
 Willi tlif ( 'oiislitutum of tliu United Stiiti-s uiid tlio 
 provisions of this net." 
 
 Tliiit till- loiiiiioii of tho sent of povornmont, 
 and the rhiiii-rini; of tlio sumo whenever the pub- 
 lic interests and eonvenienee mny reiiiiire it, is a 
 " rightful snhjeet of legislation," is tiio plain to 
 ndniil of aif,'iinieiit ; hence the power is clearly 
 inehuled in this peneial arrant, and may be exer- 
 cised at pleasure by the leRislutiire, unless it 
 phall be made to appear that Conjiress, by soino 
 other provision, has imposed rcstrictiouB or con- 
 ditions upon its exercise. 
 
 The tlnrty first section of the orfimiie net pro- 
 vides " that tlie tempornry seat of frovcrnment 
 of said Territory is lierehy located at Fort Lenv- 
 eiiworth ; and that such portions of the public 
 buildings ns may not be act nail v usimI and need 
 ed for military purposes uiay do occupied and 
 used, under the direction of the governor and 
 legislative assembly, for such public purposes ns 
 may be required under the provisions of this 
 act";" and the twenty-second section of tlie same 
 act provides that " the persons thus elected to 
 the legislative as.-embly shall meet at such place 
 and on such day as the governor shall appoint' 
 for the first meeting. These two provisions, be- 
 ing parts of the same act, and having reference 
 to tlio enmo subject-matter, must be taken to- 
 gether, and receive such a construction as will 
 give full eftect to each, and not render cither 
 nusratory. While, therefore, the governor was 
 autliorized to convene the legislature, in the lirst 
 instance, nt such place as he should aitpoiiit, still 
 he was required, by that provision which made 
 Fort Leavenworth the temporary seat of govern- 
 ment, with the view of using some of the public 
 buildings, to designate as tiie i)lace some one of 
 the public buildings within the military resen-a- 
 tion of Fort Leavenworth. Had not Congress, 
 in the mean time, interposed and changed the law, 
 as here presented, the governor would not have 
 been autliorized to liave convened tiie legislature 
 at " Pawnee City," nor at any other place in the 
 Territory than some one of the public bnildinjjs 
 at Fort Leavenworth, as provided in the organic 
 act. 
 
 In view of the fact that the Secretary of War 
 had intimated an opinion that all of the public 
 buildings at Fort Leavenworth were needed for 
 military purposes, and that the location of the 
 Beat of government, even temporarily, within 
 the lines of a military reservation, where the 
 military law must necessarily prevail, would be 
 inconvenient, if not injurious to the public ser- 
 vice, the following provision was adopted in the 
 appropriation bill of the 6th of August, 1854, for 
 the purpose of enabling the governor to erect 
 buildings for the temporary seat of government 
 at some more suitable and convenient point in 
 the Territory: " That, in the event that the Sec- 
 retary of War shall deem it inconsistent with the 
 interest of the military .service to furnish a sufH- 
 cieut portion of the military buildings at Fort 
 Leavenworth for the use of the Territorial gov- 
 ernment of Kansas, the sum of twenty-five thou- 
 sand doUar.s shall be, and in that contingency is 
 hen'by, appropriated, for the erection of public 
 buildings for the use of the legislature of the 
 Territory of Kansas, to be expended under the 
 diiecti<ui of the governor of said Territory." 
 
 Under this provision, taken in connection 
 with that clause of the organic act which au- 
 thorized the governor to convene the hgislature 
 at such place as he should ajipoint, he would 
 have had the right to establi,-h tin- t<>niporary 
 seat of government and erect the i)ublic build- 
 ings at Pawnee City, or any other place he 
 might have selected in the Territory, instead 
 
 of Fort Leav<-nworth. but for the fact that on 
 the :)d of Man-h, IK.'j.'i, and before any Jioilion 
 of the moni'v had l>i-eii expen<led, or even the 
 site selected, Congress made a furth<-r ajipro- 
 in-iation of twenty live thiuisnnd dollars for ])ub- 
 lic buildings, with the proviso "that said mon- 
 ey, or any part lli<ri of, or any (lortion of the 
 money heretofori- ap]propriated" for this piirjiosc 
 shall not be expenilcd until tin- legislature of 
 said Territory shall liav4' tlx<-d bv law the per- 
 mnncnt seat of governiiient." 'iNiis proviHioii 
 (lid not confer uiion the legislature any power 
 ill respect to the location of the seat of "govern- 
 ment, either temporarily or permanently, which 
 it did not previously possess ; for thegeiieral 
 grant, extending to all " rightful subjects of 
 legislation," necessarily inelude(l tin- right to 
 determine the ]dace of lioMing its si'ssions. 
 The tdijcct, as well as legal effect, of this provi- 
 sion, was, to restrain the governor from expend- 
 ing the api)ropriation until the voice ot the 
 peoi)|e of Kansas shouhl be exju-essed, through 
 their legislature, in the selection of the jdace; 
 leaving the governor to perform his whole 
 duty under the 22il section of the organic act, 
 by appointing the ]dace and day of tlu; first 
 meeting of tlie legislature, and of exjiending 
 the money ajipropriated bj' Congress for the 
 erection of punlie buildings, at such iiluce as 
 the legislature should designate for the perma- 
 nent seat of government of the Territory. 
 
 Under this view of the subject, it is evident 
 that the legislature was clothed with legitimate 
 authority to enact the law in obedience to which 
 its session was adj(uirned fmin Pawnee City to 
 Shawnee Mission ; and that its enactments, made 
 at the latter place, must have the same force and 
 validity that they would have possessed had not 
 the removal taken place. 
 
 Those who seek to find some tenable ground 
 upon which to destroy the validity of the legisla- 
 tive acts of Kansas, seeing that they cannot 
 safely rely upon the alleged irregularity of the 
 elections, nor upon the alisenee of legal authori- 
 ty in the legislature to remove the seat of Gov- 
 ernment, flatter themselves that they have re- 
 cently discovered a new fact which will extricate 
 them from their difficulty, and enable them to 
 accomplish their purpose. It is, that by the 
 treaties of November /, 18'25, and of August 8, 
 1.S31, with the Shawiues of Jlissouri and Ohio, 
 a large tract of lan<i, including the Shawnee 
 Mission, where the legislature held its session, 
 and the governor established the executive of- 
 fices, was secured to those Indians, with the 
 guaranty 0!>the ]>art of the United States "that 
 said lands shall never be within the bounds of 
 any State orTen-itory, nor subject to the laws 
 thereof;" and that the I9th section of the Kan- 
 sas-Nebraska act provides that " nothing in this 
 act contained shall be construed to include any 
 temtory which, by treaty with any Imlian tribe, 
 is not, without the consent of said tribe, to be 
 included within the territorial limits or jurisdic- 
 tion of any State or Territory ; but all such ter- 
 ritory shall be excepted out of the boundaries, 
 and constitute no jiart of the Territory of Kan- 
 sas." Upon the authority of these clauses of 
 the treaties, and of the act of Congress organ- 
 izing the Territory, it is assumed that the 
 Shawnee Mission, where the legislature enacted 
 those laws, was not within the limits or jurisdic- 
 tion of tlie Territory of Kansas, and hence they 
 Were null and void. Without admitting, even 
 by implication, that the place where the legis- 
 lature should enact its laws would to any ex- 
 tent impair tlnir validity, it is proper to call 
 the attention of the Senate to the fact reconled 
 on its journal, that on the 10th of May, 185-}, 
 (only a few days before the jiassage of the Kan- 
 sas-Nebraska act,) a treaty was made with 
 
102 
 
 THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 
 
 these Seimc Imliiiiis, by the first article of which 
 all the lands jjranti-d to them by the said trea- 
 ties of ISaS and 1831 were ceded to the United 
 States, and, being thus exempted from the ope- 
 ration of the guaranties in those treaties, were, 
 by the tenns of the organic act of Kansas, in- 
 cluded within the limits, and rendered subject 
 to the jurisdiction of said Ten-itory. 
 
 The second article granted the house in 
 which the legislature afterwards held its ses- 
 sions, and the land upon which tlie house stood, 
 to the missionary society of the Methodist Epis- 
 copal Church South, in these words : " Of the 
 lands Iving east of the parallel line aforesaid, 
 there sliall first be set apart to the missionary 
 society of the Methodist Episcopal Church 
 South, to include the improvements of the In- 
 dian Manual-labor School, three sections of land ; 
 to tile Friends' Shawnee Labor-school, including 
 the improvements there, three hundred and 
 twenty acres of land ; and to the American 
 Baptist Union, to include the improvements 
 where the superintendent of the school now re- 
 sides, one hundred and sixty acres of land ; and 
 also five acres of land to the Shawnee Methodist 
 Church, including the meetinghouse and grave- 
 yard ; and two acres of land to the Shawnee 
 Baptist Church, including the meeting-house 
 and grave-yard." 
 
 The other articles of the treaty provide for 
 the survey of those lands, and for gi-anting two 
 hundred acres to each Shawnee Indian, to be 
 held as pi-ivate property, subject to such condi- 
 tions as Congress should impose, and recognize 
 the right of the legislature to lay out roads and 
 public highways across the Indian lands, on the 
 same terms as the law provides for their loca- 
 tion through the lands of citizens of the United 
 States. The Rev. Thomas Johnson, who was 
 president of the Kansas legislative council, and 
 also agent of the Missionary society of the Me- 
 thodist Episcopal Church, to which the lands and 
 improvements belonged, authorized the legis- 
 lature to use and occupy such portions of the 
 buildings of which he held the lawful posses- 
 sion as they should find convenient in the exer- 
 cise of their legislative functions. 
 
 Upon a cai-etul review and examination of 
 all the facts, laws, and treaties, bearing upon 
 the point, your committee are clearly of the 
 opinion that the Shawnee Manual-labor School 
 was a place to which the legislature might 
 lawfully adjourn and enact valid laws in pursu- 
 ance of the organic act of the Territory. 
 
 We do not deem it necessary to inquire into 
 the expediency of the removal of the seat of 
 government, for the reason that it cannot affect 
 the validity of the legislative proceedings. It 
 is sufficient to state, that the reasons assigned 
 by the Governor against the expediency ot the 
 nieasure were : first, " the loss of time (more 
 valuable because limited) which our organic 
 law allots to the legislative session ;" and se- 
 condly, •' because it will involve a pecuniary 
 loss, in view of the aiTangements which have 
 been made at this place for our accommoda- 
 tion." As an ofl'set to the unfortunate circum- 
 stance that the people of Kansas would be de- 
 prived, for the period of ten days, of all the 
 advantages and protection which were expect- 
 ed to result from the wholesome laws which 
 the governor had recommended them to enact 
 upon all rightful subjects of legislation, and to 
 tlie pecuniary losg, which would be sustained iu 
 consc<iuence of the removal from Pawnee City, 
 the members of the legislature, in theu' memo- 
 rial to (he President of the United States, askhig 
 him to remove tlie governor, state their reasons 
 as follows, for the alh gation that there was an 
 unnecessary loss of three months' time after 
 the election in convening the legislature,, aad. 
 
 that Pawnee was not a suitable place for them 
 to meet : 
 
 " After the contest was over, and the result 
 known, he delayed the assembling of the body 
 until the 2d day of July — jnore than three 
 months afterwards — and that, too, when the 
 whole Union was convulsed on account of al- 
 leged outrages in Kansas Territory, and yet no 
 law for the punishment or prevention of them. 
 When at last they did meet, upon the call of 
 the governor, at a point where they had pre- 
 viously, in an informal manner, protested 
 against being called, with an avowal of their 
 intention to adjourn to the point at which they 
 are now assembled, for the reasons that the re- 
 quisite accommodations could not be had ; where 
 there were no facilities for communication 
 with their families or constituents ; where they 
 could not even find the commonest food to eat, 
 unless at an enormous expense, there being no 
 gardens yet made by the squatters ; where the 
 house iu which we were expected to assemble 
 had no roof or floor on the Saturday preceding 
 the Monday of our assembling, and for the 
 completion of which the entire Sabbath day and 
 night was desecrated by the continual labor of 
 the mechanics ; where, at least, one-half of the 
 members, employes, and almost all others who 
 had assembled there for business or othei-wise, 
 had to camp out in wagons and tents during a 
 rainy, hot season, and where cholera broke out, 
 as a consequence of the inadequate food and 
 shelter; and when, under all of these circum- 
 stances of annoyance, they finally passed an act 
 adjourning to this point — Shawnee Manual-la- 
 bor School — where ample accommodations are 
 provided, and where the governor himself had 
 previously made it the seat of government, they 
 were met by his veto, which is herewith trans- 
 mitted." 
 
 Your committee have not considered it any 
 part of their duty to examine and review each 
 enactment and provision of the large volume of 
 laws adopted by the legislature of Kansas upon 
 almost every rightful subject of legislation, and 
 affecting nearly every relation and interest in 
 life, with a view either to their approval or dis- 
 approval by Congress, for the reason that they 
 are local laws, confined in their operation to the 
 internal concerns of the Territory, the control 
 and management of which, by the principles of 
 the Federal Constitution, as well as by the very 
 terms of the Kansas-Nebraska act, are confided 
 to the people of the Territory, to be determined 
 by themselves through their representatives in 
 their local legislature, and not by the Congress, 
 in which they have no representatives to give or 
 withhold their assent to the laws upon which 
 their rights and liberties may all depend. Under 
 these laws marriages have taken place, children 
 have been born, deaths have occurred, estates 
 have been distributed,, contracts have been made, 
 and rights have accrued which it is not compe- 
 tent for Congress to divest. If there can be a 
 doubt in respect to the validity of these laws, 
 growing out of the alleged irregularity of the 
 election of the members of the legislature, or the 
 lawfulness of the place where its sessions were 
 held, which it is competent for any tribunal to 
 inquire into with a view to its decision at this 
 day, and after the series of events which have 
 ensued, it must be a judicial question, over which 
 Congress can have no control, and which can be 
 determined only by the courts of justice, under 
 the protection and sanction of the Constitution. 
 
 When it was proposed in the last Congress to 
 annul the acts of the legislative assembly of Min- 
 nesota, incorporating certain railroad companies, 
 this committee reported against the proposition, 
 and, instead of annulling the local legislation of 
 the Tenitory, recommended the repeal of that 
 
THE KANSAS-NEBRASKA STRUGGLE. 
 
 103 
 
 clause of the oikuhu- net of Minnesota wliuh 
 restTVfs to Counn-ss tli.- n(.'lit to diHupprovL- its j 
 liiws. That rfi'oiiiiiunclation was based on tin- | 
 th<(.rv that tlu- jmo).!.' of fht- T.rntory, L.-niK I 
 citizens of the United States, wi-iv entitled to | 
 the nrivile>,'e of Helf-Koverninent in obedienee , 
 to the ("on.-titutioii; and if, in tlie exer.-ise ot 
 this ri-ht. th.v had made wise and just hiws, 
 thev ou^'llt to \>r permitted to enjov all tlf ad- 
 VantUL'es r.-sultiiiK from then.; while, on the 
 oontniry, if ihev had made unwise and unjust 
 laws, thev should abide the eoliseciuenees ot 
 their own nets until they diseovercd, ntkuow- ■ 
 led.'ed, and correeted their errors. 
 
 It has been alle^jed that f,'rosa niisrcprcsontn- 
 tions have been made in respect to tlii> chara(s j 
 ter of the laws enacted by the lcj,n>|ature ot I 
 Kansas, calculated, if not desit,'ned, to preju- 
 dice the public mind at a distance against those 
 who enacted them, and to create the impres- 
 sion that it was the duty of Con^,'ress to inter- I 
 fere and annul them. In view of the violent 
 Uiul insurrectionarv measures which were beiuf,' | 
 taken to r.sist the'laws of the Territory, a con- ^ 
 vention of d. lej^ates, r.'prescntin;,' almost every , 
 portion of the Territorv of Kansas, was held at j 
 the city of Leavenworth on the 14th of Noveni- j 
 Ler, 1805, at which men of all shades of political 
 opinions, " Whi^s, Democrats, I'ro-slavery i 
 men, and Free-state men, all met and harino- I 
 uized together, and forgot their former dift'er- 
 enees in the common danger that seemed to 
 threaten the peace, good order, and prosperity 
 of this conimunitv." This convention was pre- 
 sided over by the governor of the Territory, as- 
 sisted by a majority of the judges of the su- 
 preme court ; and the address to the citizens of 
 the United States, among other distinguished 
 uames, bears the signatures of the United 
 States district attorney and marshal for the 
 Territorv. 
 
 It is but reasonable to assume that the inter- 
 pretation which these functionaries have given 
 to the acts of the Kansas legislature in this ad- 
 dress will be observed in their otlicial exposi- 
 tion and execution of the same. In reference 
 to the wide-sjiread perversions and misrepre- 
 sentations of those laws, this address says: 
 
 " The laws passed by the legislature have been most 
 grosslj misrepresi-nttfd. with the view of prejudicing 
 the public against that bodj.andas an excuse for the 
 revolutionary movements in tlii.s Ti-rritory. The 
 limits of this addrets will not permit a correction (jf 
 all these misrepresentations; but we will notice s >me of 
 thom, that have h;id tlie most wide-spread circulation. 
 
 " It hii8 been charged and wid'-ly circulated tbut the 
 legislature, in order to perpetuate their rule, had pass 
 ed a law prescribing the qualification of voters, by 
 which it is oeclared • that any cue may vote who will 
 Bwoar allegiance to the fugitive-^lave law. the Kansas 
 and Nebraska bill, and pay one dollar.' Such la de- 
 clared to be the evidence of citizenship, such the 
 qual'fication of voters. In reply to this, we say that 
 no such law was over passed by the legislature. The 
 law prescribing the qualificat.on of voters expressly 
 provn'ics that, to entitle a person to vote, he must be 
 twenty-one years of age, an actual inhabitant of this 
 Territorv, and of the county or district in which ho 
 offers to vote, and shall have paid a territorial tax. 
 There is no law requiring him to pay a dollar-tax as 
 a qualiHcaiiou to vote, lie must pay a tax it is true, 
 [and this is by no means an unusual requirement in 
 the Stales ;] but whether this t^x is levied on his per- 
 gonal or real property, hi.s money at interest, or is a 
 poll-lax. makes no d fference ; the payment of any 
 teriitoriiil tax entitles the person to lote, provided 
 he has the other qualifications provided by law. The 
 act seems to be carefully drawn with the view of ex- 
 cluding all illegal and foreign votes. The voter must 
 be an inhabitant of the Territory, and of the coui.ty 
 or district in which he offers to vote, and he must 
 have paid a territorial tax. The judges and cleiks 
 are required to he sworn, and to keep duplicate poU- 
 Doxes; and ample provision is made for contesting 
 elections, and purging the polls of all illegal votes. 
 
 It ii dilllcuU to BW how a more guarded law could be 
 framed, for the purp' «n of pnitoclini; the puiity of 
 elections and the »aiiclily of the bullut-box. The 
 law does not require the voter to iiwenr to mipport 
 the funitive-Hlavo law, or the Kaiisua and Nebruhka 
 bill, unlrBS ho in challenged ; iu that cnae, he is re- 
 quired to take nil onth to suiiport each ol these law*. 
 As to the dollar law, (bo called.) it in nieielya poll- 
 tax, and has no iiii>re connection with the liKhtof 
 BufTuige than any other tax levied by the territorial 
 authority, and ih to be paid whether the party votes 
 or not. It is a mere temporary measure, having no 
 force beyond this year, and was resorted to as iiuch 
 to supply the territorial treasury with the uecc»i>arjr 
 means to carry on tbo government. 
 
 " It has also been charged against the legislature that 
 they elected all of the oUicers of the Territory for six 
 years. This is without any louudation. They elected 
 no oflicor for six years; and the only ci\il ollicera 
 they retain the election of, that occurs to uh at pre.s- 
 ent. are the auditor and treasurer of state, and the 
 district attorneys, who hold their ollices for four, and 
 not SIX years. Ily the organic act, the c< minis-iong 
 issued by the governor to the civil officers ol ilie Ter- 
 ritory all expired on the adjournmeut of the legisla- 
 laturo. To prevent a failure in tlio loc.il adiiiiniMlra- 
 tion, and from necessity, the legislature made a num- 
 ber of temporary appointments, such as probate 
 judge, and two county commissioners, and a r-henlfof 
 each county. The probate judge and county commis- 
 sioners constitute the tribunal for the transaction of 
 county business, and are invested with the power to 
 appoint justices of the peace, constable>, county sur- 
 veyor, recorder, and clerk, etc. Probate judgen, coun- 
 ty commissiouors, sherilfs, etc., are all temporary ap- 
 pointment-S and are made elective by the people at 
 the first annual election inlS57. The legislature could 
 not have avoided making some temporary appoint- 
 ments. No election could have been held without 
 them. There were no judges, justices of th^ peace, or 
 other officers to conduct an election of any kind, un- 
 til appointed by the legislature. It was the exercise 
 of a powcrwhich the first legislative assembly in every 
 Territory must, of necessity, exercise, in onler to put 
 ihe local government in motion. We see nothing in 
 this to justify revolution or a resort to force. The 
 law fur the protection of slave property has also been 
 much misunderstood. The right to pass such a law is 
 expressly staled by Governor Reedcr in bis inaugural 
 message, in which he says: ' A territorial legislature 
 may undoubtedly act upon the question to a limited 
 and partial extent, and may temporarily prohibit, tol- 
 erate or regulate slavery iu the Territory, and iu an 
 absolute or modified form, with all the force and ef- 
 lect of any other legislative act, binding until repeal- 
 ed by the same power that enacted it.' There is noth- 
 ing in the act itself, as h-is been charged, to prevent 
 a free discussion of tile subject of slavery, lis bear- 
 ing on society, its morality or expediency, or whether 
 it would be politic or impolitic to make this a slave 
 .-tate, can be discussed here as fn ely as in any State 
 in this Union, without infringing any of the provis- 
 iims of the law. To deny the right of a person to hold 
 slaves under the law in this Territory is made penal; 
 but beyond this, there is no restriction to the discus- 
 sion of the Slavery question, in any aspect iu which 
 it is capable of being considered. We ito not wish to 
 be understood as approving of all the laws | a.ssed by 
 the legislature; on the contrary, we would state that 
 there are some that w« do not approve of. and which 
 are condi mned by public opinion here, and which will, 
 no doubt, be repealed or modified at the meeting of the 
 next legislature. But this is nothing more than what 
 frequently occurs, both in the legislation of Congress 
 and of the various State legislatures. The remedy 
 for such evils is to be found in public orinion, to 
 which, sooner or later, in a government like ours, all 
 laws must conform." 
 
 A few days after Governor Reeder dissolved 
 his otHcial relations with the legislature, on ac- 
 count of the removal t>f the scat of government, 
 and while that body was still in session, a meet- 
 ing was called bv " many voters," to assemble 
 at Lawrence on tlie IJth nr 15th of August, 1855, 
 " to take into consideration the propriety of 
 calling ft Ten-itorial convention, preliminary to 
 I the formation of a State govennnent, and other 
 j subjects (if public interest." At that meeting 
 1 tlie following preamble and resolutions wera 
 j adopted with but one dissenting voice : 
 
104 
 
 THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 
 
 " Whereas the people of Kansas Territorj' have 
 been cilice its seitlemeiit, and nowaie, without any 
 law-making pon"?r : thia- fore, 
 
 " Jie il renu/ved. That we,- the people of Kansas Ter- 
 ritory, in maNs raeeliug asst-nibled, irrespective of par- 
 ty diMinctious, influenced by a common necessity, and 
 greath dcsiroux ol promoting the common good, do 
 hereby call npnn and request all bona fide citizens of 
 Kansas Territory, of whatev>r political view^aud predi- 
 lections, to cou>ult togetherin their respectiveelection 
 districts, and in mass convention or otherwise, elect 
 three dele^'ates fur each re|ireseiitative of tlie Ingisla- 
 tive assembly, by proclamation of Governor Reeder 
 of date 10th March, 1855. said delegates to assemble 
 in cnnven'ion at the town of Tnpeka, on the lyili day 
 of Seiitember, l^hb, then and there to consider and de- 
 termine upon all subjects of public interest, and par- 
 ticulai ly upon that having reference totbe spi-edy 
 formation of a .State constitution, with an intention 
 of an immediate application to be admitted as a State 
 into the Union of ttie United States of America." 
 
 This meeting, so far as your committee have 
 been able to ascerttiin was the first step in that 
 series of proceedinrf.s which resulted in the 
 adoption of a constitution and State govern- 
 ment, to be put in operation on the 4th of the 
 present month, in subversion of the Territorial 
 ffovernmeut established under the authority of 
 Congress. The right to set up the State gov- 
 ernment in defiance of the constituted authori- 
 ties of the Territory, is based on the assumption 
 " that the people of Kansas Territory have been 
 since its settlement, and now are, without any 
 law- making power ;" in the face of the well- 
 kuoTrn fact, that the Territorial legislature 
 were then in session, in pursuance of the procla- 
 mation of Governor Reeder, and the organic law 
 of the Territory. On the 5th of September, a 
 " Territorial delegate convention" assembled at 
 the Big Springs " to take into consideration the 
 present exigencies of political atfairs," at which, 
 among others, the following resolutions were 
 adopted : 
 
 "Resolved, That this Convention, in view of its 
 recent repudiatinn of the ac's of the so-called Kansas 
 legislative assembly, respond most heartily to the 
 call niiide bj' the people's convention of the 14th 
 ultimo, for a delegate convention of the people of 
 Kansas, to be held at Topeka, on the 19th instant, to 
 cons.der the propriety of the formation of a State 
 Constitution, and such matters as may legitimately 
 come before it. 
 
 " litsulved. That we owe no allegiance or obedience 
 to the tyrannical enactments of this spurious legis- 
 lature ; that their laws have no validity or binding 
 force upon the people of Kansas; and that every free- 
 man among us i.-t at full lilierty, consistently with his 
 obligations as a citizen and a man, to defy and resist 
 them if be choose so to do. 
 
 '■' liesolviid. That we will endure and submit to these 
 laws no longer ttian the best interests of the Territory 
 require as the least of two evils, and will resist them 
 to a bloody issue as soon as we ascertain that peace- 
 able reme lies shall fail, and forcible resistance shall 
 furnish any reasonable prospect of success ; and that 
 in the mean time we recommend to our friends 
 tbrougout the Territory, the organization and disci- 
 pline of volunteer companies, and the procurement 
 and preparation of arms." 
 
 With the view to a distinct understanding of 
 the meaning of so much of this resolution as 
 relates to the " org«,nization and discipline of 
 volunteer companies, and the procurement and 
 prepartition of arms," it may be necessary to 
 state, that there was at that time existing in the 
 Territory a secret military organization, which 
 had l)ct-n formed for political objects prior to 
 the iilli-ged invasion, at the election on the 30th 
 of Jliirili, and which held its tirst " Grand En- 
 ctimjiiiuut at Ltiwreuce, February 8th, 1855." 
 Your Committee luive been put in possession of 
 a small printed pamphlet, containing the " con- 
 Btitittion and ritual of the grand encampment 
 and regiments of the Kansas legion of Kansas 
 Territory, adopted April 4th, 1855," which, dur- 
 ing the recent disturbances in that Territory, 
 
 was taken on the person of one George F. War- 
 ren, who attempted to conceal and destroy the 
 same by thrusting it into his mouth, and biting 
 and chewing it. Although somewhat mutilated 
 by the " tooth prints," it bears internal evidence 
 of being a genuine document, authenticated by 
 the original signatures of " G. W. Hutchinson, 
 grand general," and " J. K. Goodwin, grand 
 quartermaster." On the last page was a charter 
 of the Kansas legion, authorizing the said 
 George F. WaiTen, from whose mouth the docu- 
 ment was taken, to form a new regiment, as 
 follows : 
 
 " Charier of the Kansas Legion. 
 
 "United States of America, ? 
 Territory of Ka7i,sas. ^ 
 
 "Know all men by these presents, that we, the 
 Graijd Encampment of the Kansas Legion of Kansas 
 Territory, have created, chartered, and empowered, 
 and by these presents do create, charter, and empower 
 George B'. Warren to be regiment 
 
 , No. , of the Kansas Legion ; and, as such, 
 
 they are hereby invested with all and singular the 
 authority and privileges with which each and every 
 regiment is invested, working under a charter from 
 the Grand Encampment. 
 
 '•In witness whereof, we have hereunto set our 
 hands, this sixteenth dxy of August, one thousand 
 eight hundred and fitty-five. 
 
 "G. W. HUTCHINSON, 
 
 Grand General. 
 "J. K. GOODWIN, 
 
 Grand Quartermaster," 
 
 The constitution consists of six articles, regu- 
 lating the organization of the " Grand Encamp- 
 ment," which is " composed of representatives 
 elected from each subordinate regiment existing 
 in the Territory, as hereafter provided. The 
 officers of the Grand Encampment shall consist 
 of a Grand General, Grand Vice-General, Grand 
 Quartermaster, Grand Paymaster, Grand Aid, 
 two Grand Sentinels, and Grand Chaplain. 
 
 "The Grand Encampment shall make all nomina- 
 tions for Territorial officers at large, and immediately 
 after such nominations shall have been made, the 
 Grand General shall communicate the result to every 
 regiment in the Territory." 
 
 The officers of the "Grand Encampment" 
 are. Grand General Rev. G. W. Hutchinson, 
 Lawrence, K. T. 
 
 Grand Vice-General, C. K. Holliday, Topeka, 
 
 Grand Quartermaster, J. K. Goodwin, Law- 
 rence, K. T. 
 
 Grand Paymaster, Charles Leib, M. D., Lea- 
 venworth city, K. T. 
 
 By "the constitution of the subordinate en- 
 campment," " the officers of each subordinate 
 regiment shall consist of a colonel, a lieutenant- 
 colonel, a quartermaster, aid, and two sentinels. 
 The regiment located in each and every election 
 district, shall make nominations for all candi- 
 dates for oflices in their respective districts ; 
 but where there shall be two or more regiments 
 in any one election district, of whatever kind, 
 these nominations shall be made by delegates 
 from the respective encampments within said 
 district." 
 
 The "ritual" continues the order of business 
 and modes of proceeding in the subordinate 
 encampment, under the following heads : 
 
 1st. Reading the minutes by the quarter- 
 master. 
 
 2d. Proposals for new recruits. 
 
 3d. Voting for same. 
 
 4th. Initiation of recruits. 
 
 5th. Reports of committees. 
 
 Gth. Unfinished business appearing on the 
 minutes. 
 
 7th. Miscellaneous business. 
 
 8th. Adjournment. 
 
TlIK KANSAS-NEBRASKA STRUGGLE. 
 
 105 
 
 The "opening ccronKiny" of the nuburdinute 
 enciunpniouts is iis fiillow.s: 
 
 "The c<'lcinoI. ruulfiiiiiit-colonel, qunrterniaBtiT, 
 pajiiiaster. aiil, mill HiniiiielH, being in their reiipoc- 
 tive places the n-giineiit nhull he called aud thus 
 addreNsod by the colonel : 
 
 " Colunel Kcllo* -ioldiorB in Ui« Free-State arinj : 
 The hour has arrived «h.-n we imist resume t'le duties 
 dovolviii|j; upon us. Let us each, with a heart de- 
 voted to jusiico patriotism, and liberty, attend close- 
 ly to all the reguluiioDs laid down for our povern- 
 meut and action ; ••ach laboriDp to make this review 
 pleasant anil profitable to ourselves, and ablcsoing to 
 our c< untry. Aid, are the sentinels at their pobt, with 
 closed iloors f 
 
 " Aid. They are- 
 
 " Culcni-I. Aid, you will now review the troops in 
 the reuiniont's pa»s-«ord«. 
 
 '• Aitl. (Alter examination. ) I have examined 
 tliem personally, and lind each correct. 
 
 " Culonel. I i)ronounco this regiment arrayed aud 
 ready for service.'' 
 
 Then follows the process of initiating new re- 
 cruits, who are properly vouclii'il for by mem- 
 bers of the order, till' preliiniiiary obliitiitioiis to 
 observe seerecy, tht? caticliism to which the 
 candidate is subjeeted, and the explanations of 
 the colonel in respect to the objects of the order, 
 which are thus stated : 
 
 " First, to secure to Kansas the blessing and pros- 
 perity of being a free State ; and, secondly, to protect 
 the ballot-bo.x trom the LKpnocs TOncu of iNrBiNCi- 
 
 FLKO MEN." 
 
 Tiiesc and all other questions being satisfac- 
 torily answered, the tiiuil oath is thus adminis- 
 tered: 
 
 "With these explanations upon our part, we shall 
 ask of you that you take with us an obligation placing 
 yourself iu the same altitude as before. 
 
 " OliLIGATIOS. 
 
 ' I, , in the most solemn manner, here 
 
 in the presence of Heaven and these witnesses, bind 
 myself that I will never reveal, nor cause to be re- 
 vealed, cither by word, look, or .sign, by writing, print- 
 ing, engraving, painting, or in any manner whatso- 
 ever, anv thing |ieitainiiig to this institiitiou, save to 
 persons duly qualified to receive the same. I will 
 never reveal the nature of the organization, the 
 place of meeiing, the fact that any person is a mem- 
 ber of the .same, or even the existence of the organi- 
 zation, except to persons legally qualified to receive 
 the same. Sh"uld I at any time withdraw, or be sus- 
 pended or cvpelled from this organization, I will keep 
 this obligatmn to the end of life. If any books, pa- 
 pers, or niou' ys belonging to this organization be in- 
 trusted to my care or keeping, I will faithfully and 
 completely deliver up the same to my successor in 
 office, or any one legally authorized lo receive them. 
 I will never knowingly propose a person lor member- 
 ship in this order who is not in favor of making 
 Kansas u free &'lale, and whom I feel BatisGed will 
 exert his entire influence to bring about this re.'ult. 
 I will support, maintain, anil abide by any honorable 
 movement male by the organization to secure this 
 great end, wl ich will not conflict with the laws of 
 the country and the Constitution of the United States. 
 I will unflinchingly vote for and support the candidates 
 nominated by this organization in preference to any 
 and all others. 
 
 "To all of this obligation I do most solemnly pro- 
 mise and affirm, binding my.self under the penalty of 
 being expelled from this organization, of having my 
 Dame published to the several Territorial encamp- 
 ments as a perjurer before Ileavon, and a traitor to 
 my country, of passing through life .scorned and re- 
 Tiled by man, frowned on by devils, forsaken by 
 angels, and abandoned by God." 
 
 The " closing ceremony" is as follows : 
 " Culonel. Fellow-soldiers: I trust this review has 
 been both pleasant and profitable to all. We met aa 
 frifnds ; let us pait as brothers, remembering that we 
 seek no wrong to any ; and our bond of union in 
 battling for the riglit must tend to make us better 
 men. bettor nei.'lihors, and better citizeii.s. Wo thank 
 you for your kindness and attention, and invite you 
 all to be present at our next review, to be holdon at 
 .on next, at o'clock P. m. Sonti- 
 
 nelH, you will open tbo doors, that our toldiera may 
 retire pleoiautly and iu order." 
 
 Yourconnnittee have doomed it important to 
 give this oiiiliiie of thi- " coiiftitution and ritual 
 of the grand eiieaiupnient and ri-ginients of the 
 Kaiisas li-gioii," as eoii.sliliitiiitj the secret or- 
 ganization, piilltical niid military, in obedience 
 to which the piiblie, d<■lill>Il^ll•at'ionH have been 
 made to subvert the uulhority of the Territorial 
 government established by Coii(jress, by setting 
 up a State governinent, either with or without 
 the assent of t'luigress, as circtmistniiees should 
 determine. The endorsement of this military 
 organization, and the recommindntiou by the 
 15ig Springs eonveiitiim for ''the prucurenient 
 and preparation of arms," aeciunpnnii'd with 
 the ilistinet declaration that " we will resist 
 them [the laws enacted by the Kansas legisla- 
 ttin-] lo a bloody issue, as soon as we ascertain 
 that peaceable remedies shall fail, ami forcible 
 resistance shall furnish any reasonable pros- 
 pect of success," would seem to admit of no 
 other interpretation tliiin that, in tlie event that 
 the courts of jiistici- shall su.stain tiie validity 
 of those laws, and Congriss shall refuse to utl- 
 mit Kansas as a State with the constitution to 
 be formed at Topeka, they will set up an inde- 
 pendent govemmeut iu detiance of the federal 
 authority. 
 
 Tlu; same purpose is clearly indicated by the 
 other proceedings of this convention, in which 
 it is declared tiiat " we with scorn repuiliate 
 the election-law, so called," and nominate Gov- 
 ernor Reeder for Congress, to be voted for on a 
 different day from that authorized bv law, at 
 an election to be held by judges and clerks not 
 appointed in pursuance of any legal authority, 
 and not to be sworn by tiny person auth<jrized 
 by law to administer oaths ; and the returns to 
 be mtide, aud result }iroclaimed, and eertiticate 
 granted, in a mode aud by persons not permitted, 
 to perform these acts by any law, in or out of the 
 Territory. 
 
 In accepting the nomination. Governor Rccder 
 addressed the convention as follows ; aud, among 
 other things, said: 
 
 '• In giving him this nomination in this manner, 
 they had strengthened his arms to do their work, and, 
 in return, he would now pledge to them a steady, un- 
 flinching |iertinacity of purpo.se, never-tiring industry, 
 dogged perseverance, and, in all the abilities with 
 which God had endowed him. to the righting of their 
 wrongs, and the final triumph of their cause. Ha 
 believed, from the circumstances which had for the last 
 eight months surrounded him, and which had. at the 
 same time, placed in his possession manv facts, and 
 bound him, heart and soul, to the oppressed voters of 
 Kansas, that he could do much towards obtaining a 
 redress of their grievances. 
 
 " He said that, day by day a crisis was coming upon 
 us ; that, in after-times, this would be to posterity a 
 turning-point, a marked period, as are to us the open- 
 ing of toe Kevolution, the adoption of tue Declaiation 
 of Independence, and the era of the alien and sedi- 
 tion laws ; that we should take each carefully, so that 
 each be a step of progress, and so that no violence bo 
 done to the tie which binds the American people to- 
 gether. Ue alluded to the unprecedented tyranny 
 under which we are and have been ; and said that, if 
 any one supposed that iustiluiions were to be im- 
 posed by force upon a free and enlightened people, 
 they never knew, or had forgotten, the history of our 
 fathers. American citizeu.i bear in their brta-ts too 
 much of the spirit of other and trying days, and have 
 lived too long amid the blessings of liberty, to sub- 
 mit to oppression from any quarter: and the man 
 who having once been free, cnuld tamely submit to 
 tyrannv. was fit to be a Slave. 
 
 " He urged the Free-State men of Kansas to forget 
 all minor issues, and pursue deteimiuedly the one 
 great iibj>ct, never swerving, but steadily pressing on, 
 as did the wise men who tollowed the star to the 
 manger, looking back only for fresh encoumgement. 
 Ho counseled that peaceful resistance be made to the 
 tyrannical and unjust laws of the spurious legislature; 
 
106 
 
 THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 
 
 that appeals to the courts, to the ballot-box, and to 
 Congress, be mii'le for relief from this oppreBsive load; 
 that violence sliould be ileprecated as long as a single 
 hope of penc'-able redress remained ; but if, at last, all 
 these should fail — if, in the proper tribunals, there is 
 no hope for our dearesf rights, outraged and profaned 
 ^if we are still to suffer, that corrupt men may leap 
 harvests watered bv our tears — then there is cue 
 more chance for justice. God has provided, in the 
 eternal frame of things, redress for every wrong ; and 
 tliere remains to us still the steady eye and the strong 
 arm, and we must conquer, or mingle the bodies of 
 the oppressors wiih those of the oppressed upon the 
 soil Mhich the Declaration of Independence no longer 
 protects. Bui he was not at all apprehensive that 
 such a crisis would ever arrive. lie believed that jus- 
 tice might be found far short of so dreadful an ex- 
 tremity ; and, even should an appeal to arms come, it 
 was his opinion, that if we are well prepared, that mo- 
 ment the victory is won." 
 
 In pursuance of the recommendation of the 
 mass meeting held at Lawrence on the 14th of 
 August, and endorsed by the convention held at 
 the Big Springs on the 5th and 6th of September, 
 a convention was held at Topeka on the 19th 
 and 20th of September, at which it was deter- 
 mined to hold another convention at the same 
 place on the fourth Tuesday of October, for the 
 purpose of forming a constitution and State 
 government; and to this end such proceedings 
 were had as were deemed necessary for giving 
 the notices, conducting the election of dele- 
 gates, making the returns, and assembling the 
 convention. With regard to the regularity of 
 these proceedings, your committee see no ne- 
 cessity for further criticism than is to be found 
 in the fact that it was the movement of a politi- 
 cal party instead of the whole body of the peo- 
 ple of Kansas, conducted without the sanction 
 of law, and in defiance of the constituted au- 
 thorities, for the avowed purpose of overthrow- 
 ing the territorial government established by 
 Congress. 
 
 The constitutional convention met at Topeka 
 on the fourth Tuesday of October, and organized 
 by electing Col. J. H. Lane president, who, in 
 returning his acknowledgments for the honor, 
 repudiated the validity of the territorial legisla- 
 ture and its acts in these words : 
 
 " Gentlemen of the convention : For the position 
 assigned me, accept my thanks. You have met, gen- 
 tlemen, on no ordinaiy occasion, to accomplish no 
 ordinary purpose. Yuu are the first legal representa- 
 tives the real settlers of Kansas have ever had. You 
 comprise the first legally-elected representative body 
 ever assembled in the Teriitory," etc. 
 
 "Friday, Oclober 26.— Mr Smith offered the fol- 
 lowing resolution, instructing the standing commit- 
 tees : 
 
 " Resolved, That the various committees of this 
 convention be, and they are hereby, instructed to 
 frame their work, having in view an immediate or- 
 ganization of a State government " 
 
 " October 30.— In the evening session the debates 
 ran high upon Mr. Smith's resolution in reference to 
 an immediate State organization. The mover of the 
 resolution was in favor of electing State officers at 
 once, lie would advise no hesitation , he would pre- 
 sent a bold front, and waver not at all. The Territory 
 was without laws ; life and property were unprotected. 
 The territorial government had broken down. He 
 would not leave it an hour for the action of Congress 
 after an application for admission, but would Bet up 
 an independent form of government," etc. 
 
 Mr, Emery said : 
 
 "Now, Mr. Chairman, what does this resolution 
 contemplatel What is proposed to be done? It first 
 proposes to supersede the pre.sent weak and inefficient 
 territorial govsrninent, and hence it enunciates the 
 fundamental iilea of the constitutional movement. 
 Ay, it does more. It proposes to prove into a fact the 
 leading idea of the Declaration of Independence, the 
 highest human authority in American politics, which 
 is this : whenever any form of government becomes 
 destructive of the ends for which it was instituted, it 
 is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to 
 
 institute a new government. It proposes to force 
 theories of human rights into facts, to practically ap- 
 ply this great principle to the wants and the necessi- 
 ties of the down-trodden people of Kanjias. I do not 
 question this liiiht of tlie people, and certainly no 
 gentleman on this floor will disagree with me. If he 
 does, he occupies a most extraordinary position, and 
 consistency would suggest that he withdraw from this 
 body. No, when we say that we will take measures to 
 supersede and render unnecessary that //(!>;§■ now ex- 
 tended over us called a territorial government — when 
 we say and maintain that we have a right guaranteed 
 by the Constitution, to have a form of government 
 resting on our own consent and free will, we are only 
 doing what, as American citiztns, we have a right to 
 do ; we only propose to carry out the doctrine, much 
 abused and grossly misrepresented as it has been — I 
 mean the doctrine of squatter sovereignty, under which 
 we are assembled here today, and in pursuance of the 
 principles of which we hope to extricate ourselves 
 from our present unhappy condition." 
 
 It is but just to state, that in another part of 
 this same speech, Mr. Emery declared himself 
 opposed to an immediate election " under the 
 new constitution, and an immediate session of 
 the general assembly, when all the wheels of 
 State government shall be put in motion, iire- 
 spective of the action of Congress, upon due ap- 
 plication for admission. Mr. E. presented his 
 objections to the position of Mr. Smith, and 
 maintained the views above indicated. He 
 contended that, inasmuch as the Territorial form 
 of government was recognized by the Supreme 
 Coiu-t of the United States, and hence a legal 
 form of government, no other government could 
 be substituted so long as that was in existence, 
 without risking the most serious consequences, 
 to say the least." 
 
 In reply to the advocates of immediate State 
 organization, Mr. Delahay, of Leavenworth, 
 said : 
 
 " Under the defined rights of squatter sovereignty, 
 as enunciated by the Kansas-Nebraska act, it seems 
 reasonable that the people have the right to take upon 
 themselves the burdens of a government, but I ques- 
 tion the right of the people of Kansas to organize a 
 new government if its authority is to come in conflict 
 with that ol the government created by Congress. 
 The gentleman from Lawrence [Colonel Lane] has 
 assumed as a fundamental position, in advocating an 
 immeoiate State organization, that neither govern- 
 m-nt nor local law exists in this Territory. Sir, 
 I must dissent from that position. I deny, Mr. 
 Chairman, that a Territorial government can be le- 
 gally abolished by the election of another govern- 
 ment. I hold, on the contrary, and I think that my 
 position would be supported by our highest legal au- 
 thorities, that the power of a Territorial government 
 ceases only by the enactment of the body which crea- 
 ted it ; in other words, that the government and 
 laws of Kansas can be abolished by Congress alone, 
 and are beyond the reach of this Territory, or any- 
 other power. I do not pretend to deny that, as all civil 
 power is derived from the people, they have the moral 
 right to abolish unjust laws, or to overthrow obnoxious 
 governments by force; but I do question the expedi- 
 ency of effecting a reform in Kansas by any overt act 
 of rebellion. For I must confess, Mr. Chairman, 
 while I cast not the shadow of suspicion on the mo- 
 tives of the advocates of this measure, that from the 
 point of view from which I regard this question, it 
 appears to me to be an act of rebellion." 
 
 Your committee have made these voluminous 
 extracts from the best authenticated reports 
 which they have been able to obtain of the 
 proceedings of the convention, for the purpose 
 of showing that it was distinctly understood on 
 all :^idt•s that the adoption of the proposition for 
 organizing the State government, before the as- 
 sent of Congress for the admission of the State 
 shoidd be obtained, was a decision in favor of 
 repudiating the laws, and overthrowing the Ter- 
 ritorial government in defiance of the authority 
 of Congress. By this decision as incorporated 
 into the schedule to the constitution, the vote on 
 the ratitlcatiou to the constitution was to be held 
 on the 15th of Pecember, 1855, and the election 
 
Tin: KANSAS-NEBRASKA STRUGGLE. 
 
 107 
 
 for all Stntc ofticf ra on tlic Ihinl Tuosday of Jiin- ' 
 uaiv, 18.jG. TLo third section of the schedule is 
 
 us tdlloWS ; 
 
 " Tlie ({'""eral asBombly i<lmll meet on tho 4tli j 
 day of March, A. D. lS6tJ«at the city of ToptUa, lU 
 lU in., ftt which tunc ami pliici- the governor, iicuten- 
 ant-Kovoniiir, Bfcrotury of stiUc, juiIkim of BU|ireme ' 
 court, triMsuror. au'lilor, Btiite printer, reporter. I 
 and clerk olHupremo court, and iittoriiey-geueriil, Hhall , 
 appear, tiilvo iho oath of olTico. and enter upon the j 
 di-ii-hHrRe c(f the dulioH of tlieir renpectivo oflices uu | 
 der this conslituiii'n; and hhall continue in ollieo in 
 the same manner, autl duiinK the same period, tliey 
 wuul 1 lirtvc di'uo had tbey been elected ou tho lirBt \ 
 Monday iu August, A. D. 1S50." i 
 
 Tho flcftioiis for all tlicso ofllccr.s won- held 
 at the tiiiH' fpcciticil ; anil on t\u- fdiirtli day of 
 tlio present month, the new j;overnnient wa.s to 
 have heeu put in operation, in conlliet with 
 the Territorial j^overnnient establi.-ihed by C<>n- 
 trre.-ss, and tor the avowed purpose ol" .suhvertinj^ 
 and overtlirowinir 'he same, without reference 
 to the aetiiui of ('(Uii^ress upon their applictt- 
 tion for admission into tho Union. _ i 
 
 Your couimittiMT are not aware of ftny case in 
 the history of our own country, which can_ be 
 fairly cited as an example, mueli less a justifica- ' 
 tiou," for these extraordinary proceedinj^'s. Cases 
 have occurred in whicli the inhabitants of jiar- 
 ticular Ten-itories have been permilted to form 
 constitutions, and take the initiatory steps for t lie 
 organization of State governments, jirejiaratory 
 to their ftdmisgion into the Union, without ob- 
 taining tho previous assent of Congress ; uut . 
 
 IN KVKKY INSTANCE THE PKOCKKDING HAS 
 ORIGI.NATED WITH, AND BKKN CONDUCTED IN 
 BUnoliniXATION TO, THK AUTHOHITY OF THE LO- 
 CAT, GO\ KKN.MENTS ESTAni.lsHED O li RtCOO- 
 NIZED UY THE GOVEKN.MENT OF THE UNITED 
 
 States. Jliehigan, Arkansas, Florida, and Cali- 
 fornia, are sometimes cited as cases in point. 
 Michigan was erected into a Territ(n-y in i)ur- 
 suance of the ordinance of the 13th of July, l7cS7, 
 as recognized anil cairied into effect by acts of 
 Congress subsequent to the adoption of the 
 Federal Constitution. In that ordinance it was 
 provided that tiie Territory northwest of the 
 Ohio river should be divided into not less than 
 three nor more than tive States ; " and, when- 
 ever any of said States shall have si.xty thou- 
 sand free inhabitants therein, such State shall 
 be adniittt'd, 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 con- 
 stitution and State govennnent." 
 
 In pursuance of this provision of their organic 
 law, tho legislature of the Territory of Mieliigan 
 passed an act providing for a convention of the 
 people to form a constitution and State govern- 
 ment, which was accordingly done in obedience 
 to the laws and constituted authorities of the 
 TeiTitory. The legislature of the Territory of 
 Arkansas, having ascertained by a census that 
 the Territory contained about tifty-one thousand 
 eight hundred inhabitants, at a time when the 
 ratio of representation in Congress awarded one 
 representative to each forty-seven thousand 
 seven hundred inhabitants, passed an act au- 
 tliorizing the people to form a constitution and 
 ask for admission into the Union, as they sup- 
 posed they had a right to do under the treaty 
 ai'quiriiig the TeiTitory from France, which 
 guarantied their admission as soon as nuiy be 
 consistent with the Federal Constitution. Upon 
 this point your committee adopt the legal opin- 
 ion of the Attorney-General of the United States, 
 (B. F. Butler,) as expressed in the following ex- 
 tract : 
 
 " But I am not prepared to say that all proccedingg 
 OD thi.i suliject ou the part of the citizens of Arkan- 
 sas, will be illegal. They, undoubtedly, possess the 
 
 ordinary priTllegeH and immonitios of citizens of the 
 United Stntei. Among these, !•< tho right to aimemble 
 and to petition tho government for thu redrvnn of 
 grievance^ ; in the exercise of this riglit. Uie inhabit- 
 ants of Arkannas may peaceably meet toj;ether lo 
 primary aaBumblies. or in conventions clioseu by such 
 ansemblieg, for the purpo.iie of petitioning Cungresa to 
 abrogate the Terriiotuil government, and to udmlt 
 them into the Union ua an indopondint i*late. The 
 particuhir form whicli they may give to th'ir petition 
 cannot be material, so long as they conlloe tlumHelvea 
 to the mere right of petitioning, and cuoiluct all their 
 proceedings in a peaceable manner. Audas ilic ponerof 
 Congress over the whole subject is phnary and nnlim- 
 ited they may accptaoy constitutnin.lmwever friuned, 
 which in their judgment meets ilie sci ge of tho peo- 
 ple to be alfected by it. If, therefore, the ciiizi'n.<) of 
 Arkansas think proper to accompany tbeir p<'tition 
 with a written constitution, framed and agn-cd on by 
 their primary assemblies, or by a convention of dele- 
 gates chosen by such aHSemhIies, I perceive no legal 
 objection to their power to do so, nor to any measure 
 which may be taken to collect the a-Mise of the people 
 in respect to it ; provided, alwavs. that such moasures 
 bo commenced and prosecuted in a peaceable rannner, 
 in strict subordination to tho existing Territorial gov- 
 ernment, and in entire subserviency to the power of 
 Congress to adopt, reject, or disregard them at their 
 pleasure. 
 
 "It is. however, very obvious, that all m>-asure9 com- 
 menced and p'owcuted with a de.sign to subvert the 
 Territorial govorninent, and to estaiilish and put in 
 force in its place a new government, without the con- 
 sent of Congress, will bo unlawiul. The laws estab- 
 lishing the I'erritorial government mu^t coniinue in 
 force uii'il abrogated ijy Congrrss; and, in the mean 
 time, it will be the duty of the governor, and of all 
 the Territorial olHcera. aa well as of the President, to 
 take care that they are faithfully executed." 
 
 On the lllh day of January, 18.39, a commit- 
 tee of the constitutional convention of Florida 
 addressed a memorial to Congress, in which 
 they state that, in 1837, tho Territorial council 
 j passed a law submitting to the people tho c^ues- 
 j tion of "State" or ''Territory," to be decided 
 at the election of delegates to Congress in the 
 month of I^Iay of that year; that a decided ma- 
 jority of the suffrages given at that election 
 was in favor of " .State ;" that tho legislative 
 council of 1838, in obedience to tho expressed 
 wishes of the people, enacted a law authoriz- 
 ing the holding ot a convention to form and 
 adopt a State constitution ; that the conven- 
 tion assembled on the 3d of December, 1838, 
 and continued in session until the 11th of Janu- 
 ary, 1839 : and that, on behalf of tho people of 
 Florida, they transmit the " constitution, or 
 form of government," and ask for admission into 
 the Union. It is also stated iu the memorial 
 that in 183S a census of the Territory wa3 
 taken, in obedience to a law pas.^ed by the Ter- 
 ritorial council, and that this census, although 
 taken during the ravages of Indian hostilities, 
 when a large portion of the inhabitants could 
 not be found at home, showed an aggregate 
 population of forty-eiglit thousand twoliunarcd 
 and twenty-three persons, which tho memorial- 
 ists insisted furnished satisfactory assurance of 
 a sufficient population to entitle them to admis- 
 sion, according to tho treaty acquiring tho 
 country from Spain, and the then ratio of repre- 
 sentation, which awarded a member of Congress 
 to each 47,700 inhabitants. Congress failing to 
 yield its assent to the admission of Florida for 
 more than six years after this constitution was 
 formed and application made, the people of Flo- 
 rida, during all that period, remained loyal to tho 
 Territorial government, and obedient to its laws, 
 and did not assume tho right to supersede the 
 existing government by putting into operation 
 a State government until the assent of Congress 
 was obtained in 18-1.5. 
 
 The circumstances connected with the forma- 
 tion of thoconstitution and State goviniiiicnt of 
 Cailtoriiia are peculiar. During Iho Mexican 
 war the country was conquered and occupied by 
 
108 
 
 THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 
 
 our troops, niul the civil government administer- 
 ed by the military authorities under the war- 
 power. Aeeurding to an official communication 
 of General Persifer F. Smith, acting governor of 
 California, to a committee of citizens of San 
 Francisco, under date of March 27, 1849, with- 
 holding his "recognition and concurrence" in 
 their proposition " to organize a legislative as- 
 sembly, and to appoint judges and other niiuis- 
 terial oiBcers, and to enact suitable laws to es- 
 tablish principles of justice and equity, and to 
 give protection to life, liberty, and property," it 
 appears that the President of the United States 
 (Mr. Pdlk) and his cabinet ofiicially promulga- 
 ted the tlillowing opinions as the decision of the 
 Executive on the points stated : 
 
 1st. That at the conclusion of the treaty with 
 Mexico, on the 30th of May, 1848, the military 
 government existing in California was a govern- 
 ment de facto. 
 
 2nd. Tliat it, of necessity, continue until Con- 
 gress provide another; because, if it cease, an- 
 archy must ensue : thus inferring that no power 
 but Congress can establish any government. 
 
 It also appears, from the proclamation of 
 General Riley, acting governor, to the people 
 of California, dated June 3d, 1849, that a gov- 
 ernment de facto was constituted as follows : 
 
 "A brief summary of the organization of the present 
 government may not be uninteresting. It consists — 
 First, of a governor appointed by the supreme govern- 
 ment ; in default of such appointraeut, tbe office is 
 temporarily vested in the comniauding military oifioer 
 of the department. The powers and duties of the gover- 
 nor are of a limited character, but fully defined and 
 pointed out bv the laws. Second, a secretary, whose du- 
 ties and powers are atso properly defined. Third, a terri- 
 torial or departmental legislature, with limited powers 
 to pass laws of a local character. Fourth, a s-uperior 
 court (tribunal superior) of the Territory, consisting 
 of four judges and a fiscal. Fifth, a prefect and sub- 
 prefect for each district, who are charged with the 
 preservation of the public order and the execution of 
 the laws ; their duties correspond, in a great measure, 
 with those of diNtrict marshals and sherilfs. Sixth, a 
 judge of first instance, for each district. This office is, 
 by a custom, not inconsistent with the laws, vested 
 in the first alcalde of the district. Seventh, al- 
 caldes, who have concurrent jurisdiction among thom- 
 Belves in the same district, but are subordinate to the 
 higher judicial tribunals. Eighth, local justices of 
 the peace. Ninth, ayuntamientos, or town councils. 
 The powers and functions of all these officers are ful- 
 ly defined in the laws of the country, and are almost 
 identical with those of the corresponding officers in 
 the Atlantic and Western States." 
 
 On the 3d of April, 1849, President Taylor ap- 
 pointed Thomas Butler King agent, for the pur- 
 pose of conveying important instructions to our 
 military and naval commanders who were in- 
 trusted with the adminisb'ation of the civil gov- 
 ernment de facto in California, and to make 
 known to the people his opinions and wishes in 
 respect to the formation of a constitution and 
 State government preparatory to their admis- 
 sion iuto the Union. What these opinions and 
 wishes were, are distinctly stated by the Presi- 
 dent iu the following extract from hia special 
 message to Congress on the 23d of January, 
 1850: 
 
 " I did not hesitate to espreBS to the people of those 
 Territories my desire that each Territory should, if 
 prepared to com]ily with the requisitions of the Con- 
 stitution of the ifnited States, foim a plan of a State 
 Constitution, ai.d submit the same to Congress, with 
 a prayer for admission into the Union as a State; but 
 I did not anticipate, suggest, or authorize the estab- 
 lishment of any such government without the assent 
 of Congress ; nor did I authorize any government- 
 agent or oDio-r to interfere with, or e.xercise any in- 
 fluence or control over the election of delegates, or 
 over any convention, in making or nrndifj-ing their 
 domestic institutions, or any of the provisions of their 
 proposed Constitution. On the contrarj', the instruc- 
 tioDB by my orders weret that all measures of domestic 
 
 policy, adopted by the people of California, ranst 
 originate solely with themselves ; that, while the 
 Executive of the United States was desirous to protect 
 them in the formation of any government republican 
 in its character, to be, at the proper time, submitted 
 to Congress, yet it was to ♦e distinctly understood that 
 the plan of such a government must, at the same 
 time, be the result of their own deliberate choice, and 
 originate with themselves, without the interference 
 of the E.Kecative." 
 
 On the 30th of June, 1850, General Riley, in 
 his capacity as civil governor of California, re- 
 ports to the government at Washington that : 
 
 " On the 3rd instant, I issued my proclamation to the 
 people of Californiiv, defining what was understood to 
 be the legal position of affairs here ; and pointing out 
 the course ii was deemed advisable to pursue in order 
 to procure a new political organization, better adapted 
 to the character and present condition of the country. 
 The course indicated in my proclamati'm will be 
 adopted by the people, almost unanimously ; and 
 there is now little or no doubt that the convention 
 will meet on the first of September next, and form a 
 State Constitution, to be submitted to Congress in 
 the early part of the coming session. 
 
 "A few prefer a Territorial organization; but I 
 think a majority will be in favor of a State govern- 
 ment, so as to avoid all further difficulties respecting 
 the question of Slaverj'. This question will probably 
 be submitted, together with the Constitution, to a 
 direct vote of the people, in order that the wishes of 
 the people of California may be clearly and fully ex- 
 pressed. Of course, the Constitution or plan of a Ter- 
 ritorial government formed by this convention, can 
 have no legal force till approved by Congress." 
 
 On the 12th day of October, General Riley, 
 acting governor, issued the following proclama- 
 tion : 
 
 " To the People of California. 
 
 "The delegates of the people, assembled iu conven- 
 tion, have formed a constitution which is now pre- 
 sented for your ratification. The time and ui.auner 
 of voting on this constitution, and of h'ddmg the first 
 general election, are clearly set forth in the schedule. 
 The whole subject is, therefore, left for your unbiased 
 and deliberate consideration. 
 
 "The prefect (or person exercising the fi^nctionS 
 of that office), of each district will designate the 
 places for opening the polls, and give due notice of 
 the election, in accordance with the provisions of the 
 constitution and schedule. 
 
 " The people are now called upon to form a govern- 
 meni for themselves, and to designate nich ofticers as 
 they de.sire to make and execute the laws. That their 
 choice may be wisely made, and that the government 
 so organized may secure the permanent welfare and 
 happiness of the people of the new State, is the sincere 
 and earnest wish of the pre-ent executive, who, if the 
 constitution be ratified, will with pleasure surrender 
 his powers to whomsoever the people may designate 
 as his successor. 
 
 " Criven at Montere.v, California, this twelfth day 
 of October, in the year of our Lord eighteen hundred 
 and forty-nine. 
 
 " B. Riley, 
 Brevet Brig. Gen. U. S. A., and Governor of Cali- 
 fornia. 
 " Official : H. W. Halleck, 
 
 Brevet Captain, and Secretary of Slate." 
 
 These facts and official papers prove oonclii- 
 sively that the proposition to the people of Cali- 
 fornia, to hold a convention and organize a State 
 government, originated with, and that all the pro- 
 ceedings were had in subordination to, the au- 
 thority and supremacy of the existing local gov- 
 ernment of the Territory, under the advice, and 
 with the approval, of the executive government 
 of the United States. Hence the action of the 
 people of California in forming their constitution 
 and State government, and of Congress in ad- 
 mitting the State into the Union, cannot be cited, 
 with the least show of justice or fairness, in jus- 
 tilication or palliation of the revolutionary move- 
 ments to subvert the gdveniment which Con- 
 gress has established in K.-uisas. 
 
 Nor can the insurgents derive aid or comfort 
 
THE KANSAS-NEBRASKA STRUGGLE. 
 
 109 
 
 from tlio \n.sltion ncsiiincil by tiflicr party to 
 the unl'ortii'.iatc coiitmvi'rsv wliicli arose in tli<- 
 State of IvIiimI.' 1.-1,111.1, n {rw years (if,'o, when 
 an elTort was nuule to ehunu'e the or|,'auie law, 
 and set up a Stat.' i^overanu-nt in opposition to 
 the one then in existence, under the <liartei* 
 grunted by Ciiarles the Second of En,!j;land. 
 Those who were cnt,'nj?ed in tliat unsuccesKtul 
 8trus;rli' assumed, as fundiimeiital truths in our 
 system of r^overnment, tliat Khode I>lund was 
 a Soverei;i:n State in all that pertained to h<'r ; 
 internal atf.iirs; that the ri^'ht to ehani^e their 
 organic law was an essential attribute o( sove- 
 reu'nty ; that, inasmuch as the eliarti-r under 
 whii'h" the existing govermnent was organized [ 
 containi'd no provi.-iou for changing or amend- 
 ing the same, and the people had not delef^ated 
 that rifjht to the lej;islature or any other tribunal, ] 
 it followeil, as a matter of course, that they had 
 retained it, and were at liberty to exercise it in I 
 such manner as to them should seem wise, just, [ 
 and proper. 
 
 Without deeming it necessary to express any 
 opinion on this occasion, in relbrence to the 
 merits of that controversy, it is evident that the ! 
 jiriiH'iples upon wliich it was conducted are not 
 luvolvi-d ill the revolutionary struir;i,-le now going 
 on in Ivansas; t'or the reason, that the sove- 
 rei;;iity of a Territiiry remains in abeyance, 
 6uspend.-d in the United State.s, in trust for the 
 peoph', until they shall be admitted into the 
 Union us u State. In the mean time, they are 
 entitled to enjoy and exercise all the privileges 
 and rights of selfgoverument, in subordination 
 to the Constitution of the United States, and in 
 obedienee to their organic law passi'd by Con- 
 gress in pursuunc(.' of that instrument. These 
 rights and privilejres are all derived from the 
 Constitution, through the act of Congress, and 
 must be exercised und enjoyed iu subjection to 
 all the limitations and restrictions which that 
 Constitution imposes. Hence, it is clear that 
 the people of the Ten-itory havi' no inherent 
 soverei<.jn right, under the Constitution of the 
 United :itates, to annul the laws and resist the 
 authority of the territorial i^overninent which 
 Congress has established iu obedience to the 
 Constitution. 
 
 In tracing, step by step, the origin and history 
 of these Kansas difficulties, your Committee 
 have been profoundly impressed with the sigiii- 
 ticant fact, that eai-li one has resulted from an 
 attempt to violate or'fircumvent the principles 
 anil iirovisions of the act of Congress for the or- 
 ganization of Kansas and NebraslvU. The leading 
 idea and fundamental principle of the Kansas- 
 Nebraska act, as expressed in the law itself, 
 was to Iccivii the actual settlers and bona-Jide in- 
 habitants of ench Territory " perfectly free to 
 form and rcgnlate their domestic institutions in 
 their own irni/, subject only to the Constitution 
 of the United .bVfffcs-." While this is declared to 
 bo " the true intent and meaning of the act," 
 those who were opposed to allowmi^ the people 
 of the Territory, preparatory to their admission 
 into the Union us a State, to decide the Slavery 
 question for themselves, failing to accomplish 
 their purpose in the halls of Congress, and under 
 the authority of the Constitution, immediiitely 
 resorted, in their respective States, to nnusual 
 and e.vtruordinary means to control the political 
 destinies and shape the domestic institutions of 
 Kansas, in defiance of the wishes, and regardless 
 of the rif^hts, of the people of that Territory, as 
 guaranteed by their organic law. Combinations, 
 m one section of the Union, to sthnulate an un- 
 natural and false system of emigration, with the 
 view of controlling the elections, and forcing the 
 domestic institutions of the Territory to assimi- 
 late to those of the iion-slaveholdini; States, were 
 followed, as might have been foreseen, by the 
 
 use of Bimilar meann in the Blnvoholdinp States, 
 to produce dire<-tly the opposite result. To those 
 causes, and to tlie"-e alone, in the opinion of your 
 Committee, may lie traced Iho oriirin and pro- 
 (.'resrt of all the" emit roversies ami (listurbaneeo 
 with wliich Kansas is now convulsed. 
 
 If these unfortunate troubles have rc«ulted, aa 
 natural eonse(iueiie»>H, from unauthorized and im- 
 proper schemes of foreign interforence with the 
 internal atluii-s and doini'stic concerns of the 
 Territory, it is a|(|mreiit that the n.-medy must 
 be souiiiil in a strut uilherenee to tlio prineildes, 
 and ri„'id enforcement of the ]irovlsioiis, ot tho 
 or;4anic law. In this connection, yoiirCoininittee 
 feel sincere satislaction in commeiidiiiL,' tho ni(!S- 
 sages anil j)roclamation of the I'resident of tho 
 United Stales, in which we liave the ^,'ratifyiiig 
 assurance that the supremacy of the laws will bo 
 maintained; that rebellion will bo crushed; that 
 insiirreetion will bo Huppres.sed; that a;j:;;ressivo 
 intrusion for the purpose of deciiling elections, 
 or any other purpose, will be rcpiiUed ; that un- 
 authorized intermeddling' in the local concerns 
 of the Territory, both from adjoining and distant 
 States, will be prevented; that the fede-ral and 
 local laws will bo vindicated aj^ainst all attempts 
 of organized resistance; and that the people of 
 the Territory will be protected in the establish- 
 ment of their own institutions, undisturbed by 
 encroachments from without, and in the full en- 
 joyment of the rights of selfjrovernment assured 
 to them by the Constitution and tho or;.;anie law. 
 
 In view of these assurances, given under tho 
 conviction that the existing laws confer all tho 
 authority necessary to the performance of tiicso 
 important duties, and that the whole available 
 force of the United States will be e.\erted to tho 
 extent required for their performance, your Com- 
 mittee rejiose in entire eontideiice tliat peace, 
 and security, and law, will prevail in Kansas. 
 If any further evidence were necessary to prove 
 that all the collisions and ditliculties in Kansas 
 have been produced by the schemes of foreign 
 interference which have been developed in this 
 report, in violation of the principles ami in eva- 
 sion of the provisions of the Kansas-Nebraska 
 act, it may be found iu the fact that in Nebraska, 
 to which the emigrant-aid societies did not ex- 
 tend their operations, aud into which the stream 
 of emigration was permitted to flow in its usual 
 and natural channels, nothing has occurred to 
 disturb the peace and harmony of the Ten-it.ny, 
 while the principle of selfgoverument, in obe- 
 dience to the Constitution, has had fair plaj', 
 aud is qnietly working out its legitimate results. 
 
 It now only remains for your Committee to 
 respond to tho two specific reeomineiulations of 
 the President, in his special message. They are 
 as follows : 
 
 " Tbis, it seems to me, can be best accomplishtd by 
 providing that, whea the inhabi'ants of Kansas may 
 ile-iiro it, Hiul shall be of suffli^ient numiiiTS to consti- 
 tute a State, a convcntiou of delegatt-a, duly elected 
 by the qualified voters, shall a-.sfiuble to frame a 
 CDiistitution, and thus prepare, through rei,'ular and 
 lawful means, fur its admission into the Uuiou as a 
 Slate. I respectfully recommend tlie eu.actment of a 
 law to that effect. 
 
 " I rtciiranicud, also, that a special appropriation be 
 made to defray any expense which m ly become requi- 
 site in the e.xecution of the laws, or tlie m<iutcnance 
 of public order iu the Territory of Kansas." 
 
 In compliance with the first recommendation, 
 your committee ask leave to report a liiU author- 
 iziiij,' the legislature of the Territory to provide 
 bv law for tlie election of delegates by the i)eople, 
 aiid the assemblinj.; of a cimventiou to form a 
 constitution and State government preparatory 
 to their a.bnission i«to the Union on an equal 
 footing' with the ori;,'Inal States, so soon as it shall 
 appear, by a census to bo taken under the direo- 
 tiou of the governor, by tho auUiority of tho legis- 
 
110 
 
 THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. ' 
 
 lature, that the Ten-itory contains ninety-three 
 thousand four liundred and twenty inhabitants — 
 that beinjjf tlie number required by the present 
 ratio of n'i»resentation fur a member of Con- 
 gress. 
 
 In compliance with the other i-eeommendntion, 
 your committee propose to offer to the appropria- 
 tion bill an amendment appropriating such sum 
 as shall be found necessary, by the estimates to 
 be obtained, for the purpose indicated in the re- 
 commendation of the President. 
 
 All of which is respectfully submitted to the 
 Senate by your committee. 
 
 Mr. Collamer of Vermont, the minority 
 member of said Committee, submitted the 
 following 
 
 MINORITY REPORT- 
 
 Views of the minority of the Committee on Tcrri- 
 toriex, (o ichom teas referred so much of the an- 
 nual mexsarre of the President as relates to 
 Territorial affairs, the message of the Presi- 
 dent of ^2-l/h January in relation to Kansas 
 Terriiort/, and the message of the President 
 of the ISlh February, m answer to the resolu- 
 tion of the Senate of the Ath February, rela- 
 tive to affairs in Kansas. 
 Thirteen of the present prosperous States of 
 this Union passed through the period of appren- 
 ticeship or pupilage of territorial training, under 
 the guardianship of Congress, preparatory to 
 assuming their proud rank of manhood as sove- 
 reign and independent States. This period of 
 their pupilage was, in every case, a period of the 
 good offices of parent and child, in the kind rela- 
 tionship sustained between the national and the 
 Territorial government, and may be remem- 
 bered with feelings of gratitude and pride. We 
 have fallen on different times. A Territory of 
 our government is now convulsed witli violence 
 and discord, and the whole family of our nation 
 is iu a state of exitement and an.xiety. The 
 national executive power is put in motion, the 
 army in requisition, and Congress is invoked for 
 interference. 
 
 In this case, as in all others of difficulty, it be- 
 comes necessary to inquire what is the true cause 
 of existing trouble, in order to apply effectiial 
 cure. It is but temporary palliatives to deal with 
 the external and more obvious manifestations 
 and developments, while the real, procuring 
 canse lies unattended to, and uncorrected, and 
 unremoved. 
 
 It is said that organized opposition to law ex- 
 ists in Kansas. That, if existing, may probably 
 be suppressed by the President, by the use of the 
 army ; and so, too, may invasions bj' armed bodies 
 from Missouri, if the "Executive be sincere in its 
 efforts ; but when this is done, while the cause 
 of trouble remains, the results will continue with 
 renewed and increased developments of danger. 
 Let us, then, look fairly and undisguisedly at 
 this subject, iu its true character and history. 
 Wherein does this Kansas Territory difi'er from 
 all our other Territories, which have been so 
 peacefully and successfully carried through, and 
 been developed into the manhood of independent 
 States ? Can that difference account for existing 
 troubles ? Can that difterence, as a cause of trou- 
 ble, be removed ? 
 
 The first and groat point of difTcronco between 
 the Territorial government of Kansas and that 
 of the thirteen Territorial governments before 
 mentioned, consists in the subject of Slavery — 
 the undoubted cause of presMit trouble. 
 
 The action of Congress iuTehition to all those 
 thirteen Territories was conducted on a uniform 
 and prudent principle, to wit: To settle, by a 
 
 clear provision, the law in relation to the subject 
 of slavery to be operative in the Territory, while 
 it remained such ; not leaving it in any one of 
 those cases to be a subject of controversy within 
 the same, while in the plastic gristle of its youtli. 
 This was done by Congress in the exercise of tho 
 same power which moulded the form of their or- 
 ganic laws, and appointed their executive and 
 judiciary, and sometimes their legislative officer.-:; 
 It was the power provided in the Constitution, iu 
 these words: "Congress shall have power to 
 dispose of and make all needful rules and re- 
 gulations respecting the Territory or other pro- 
 perty belonging to the United States." Settling 
 the subject of Slavery while the country remain- 
 ed a Territory, was no higher exercise of power 
 in Congress than the regulation of the functions 
 of the Territorial government, and actually ap- 
 pointing its principal functionaries. This prac- 
 tice commenced with this national government, 
 and was continued, with uninterrupted uniform- 
 ity, for more than sixty years. This practical 
 contemporaneous construction of the constitu- 
 tional power of this government is too clear to 
 leave room for doubt, or opportunity for skepti- 
 cism. The peace, prosperity, and success which 
 attended this course, and the results which have 
 ensued, in the formation and admission of the 
 thirteen States therefrom, are most conclusive 
 and satisfactory evidence, also, of the wisdom 
 and prudence with which this power was exer- 
 cised. Deluded must be that people who, in the 
 pursuit of plausible theories, become deaf to the 
 lessons, and blind to the results, of their own ex- 
 perience. 
 
 Let us next inquire by what rule of uniformity 
 Congress was governed, in the exercise of this 
 power of determining the condition of each Ter- 
 ritory as to Slavery, while remaining a Territory, 
 as manifested in those thirteen instances. An 
 examination of our history will show that this 
 was not done from time to time by agitation and 
 local or party triumphs in Congress. The rule 
 pursued was uniform and clear; and whoever 
 may have lost by it, peace and prosperity have 
 been gained. That rule was this: 
 
 Where Slavery was actually existing in a 
 country to any considerable or general extent, it 
 was (though somewhat modified as to further im- 
 portation in some instances, as in Mississippi and 
 Orleans Territories) suffered to remain. The 
 fact that it had been taken and existed there, was 
 taken as an indication of its adaptation and local 
 utility. Where Slavery did not iu fact exist to 
 any appreciable extent, the same was, by Con- 
 gress, expressly prohibited ; so that in either 
 case the country settled up without difficulty or 
 doubt as to the character of its institutions. In 
 no instance was this difficult and disturbing sub- 
 ject left to the people who had and who might 
 settle iu the Territory, to be there an everlasting 
 bone of contention, so long as the Territorial 
 government should continue. It was ever re- 
 garded, too, as a subject in which the whole 
 country had an interest, and, therefore, improper 
 for local legislation. 
 
 And though whenever the people of a Territory 
 come to form their own organic law, as an inde- 
 dependent State, they would, either before or 
 after their admission as a State, form and mould 
 their institutions, as a sovereign State, in their 
 own way, yet it must be expected, and has al- 
 ways proved true, that the State has taken the 
 character her pupilage has prepared her for, as 
 well in respect to Slavery as in other respects. 
 Hence, six of the thirteen States are free States, 
 because Slavery was prohibited in them by Con- 
 gress while Territories, to wit : Ohio, Indiana, 
 Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Iowa. Seven 
 of the thirteen are slaveholding States, because 
 Slavery was allowed in them by Congress while 
 
THE KANSAS-NEBRASKA STRUGGLR 
 
 111 
 
 they wore Trrriforion, to wit : Tennessee, Ala- | 
 biima, MiKsmsippi, Florida, Louisianu, Aikan«ii8 
 and Missouri. ! 
 
 On till! titli of Miircli, a. n. IWO, wiis passca 
 by CoiiuTL-ss Ihi! act prepiirnlnJ-v to tlio aiimissioii 
 ot the Sliilo of MiKsouii into tlie Tnioii. Miuh 
 coiitrovoisy and disc-iission aioso on IliiMiuoKtiou 
 wlK-tii.T a proliiliition of Slavery within said 
 Stato sliouid lie insortod, and it resulted in this : 
 that said State should bo admitted without such 
 piohiliitioii, but tliat Slavery should he forcvrr 
 ■vroluiiilf.i in tlie rust of tliat <<)uiitry eeded to us 
 by Kraiico IviiiR north ^ti"^ ;!!)' iiorlli latitude, 
 and it was so done. This eontraet is known ha 
 the .XJisxoiiri Coin promise. Under this arraii{,'e 
 nieiil, Missouri was admitted as a slavelioldinjjj 
 Stale, the same having been a slaveholdiiif,' Ter- 
 ritory. Arkansas, south of the line, was lornied 
 into a Territory, and Slavery allowi'd therein, 
 and aflorwards'ndinittedfts a slaveholdiiif,' Slate. 
 Iowa wa.-i luuilo a Territory, n<u-tli of tlie line, 
 uiid, under the operation "f tlie law, was settled 
 up without slaves, and admitted as n free State. 
 The eountry now niakin;,' the Territories of 
 Kansas and Nebraska, in 18-JO, was almost or 
 entirely uninhabited, and lay north of said line, 
 and whatever settlers entered the same before 
 IS.'il dill so under that law, forever forbi<idiiig 
 Slavery therein. 
 
 lu 18.') 4 Congress passed an net establishing 
 two new Territories — Nebraska and Kansas— in 
 this region of eountry, where Slavery had been 
 prohibited for more than thirty years; and, in- 
 stead of leaving said law against Slavery in 
 operation, or prohibiting or expressly allowing 
 or establishing Slavery, Congress left the sub- 
 ject in said Territories, to be discussed, agitated, 
 and legislated on, from time to time, and the elec- 
 tions in said Territories to be conducted with re- 
 ference to that subject, from year to year, so 
 long as they should remain Territories ; for, 
 whatever laws might be passed by the Territo- 
 ri;il legislatures on this subject, must be subject 
 to change or repeal by those of the succeeding 
 years. In most former Territorial governments, 
 It was provided by law that their laws were sub- 
 ject to the revision of Congress, so that they 
 would be made with caution. In these Terri- 
 tories that was omitted. 
 
 The provisiiui in relation to Slavery in Ne- 
 bra--<ku and Kansas is as follows : " The eighth 
 Bcctiou of the act preparatory to the admission 
 of Missouri into the Union (which being incon- 
 sistent with the principle of non-intervention by 
 Congress with Slavery in the States and Terri- 
 tories, as required by the legislation of 1851), 
 coinnionly called the compromise measures) is 
 hereby declared inoperative ami void ; it being 
 the true intent and meaning of this act not to 
 legislate Slavery into said Territory or State, nor 
 to exclude it therefrom, but to leave the people 
 thereof perferfli/ free to form and regulate their 
 domestic institutions in their own way, subject 
 only to the Constitution of the United Stale.-' : 
 Provided, That nothing herein contained shall 
 be construed to revive or put in f(U-ce any law 
 or regulation which may have existed prior to 
 the act of ()th March, IS'JO, either protecting, es- 
 tablishing, prohibiting, or abolishing Slavery." 
 
 Thus it was promulgated to the people of this 
 wliolc country that here was a clear field for 
 competition — an open course for the race of 
 rival-hip i the goal of which was, the ultimate 
 establi.-ihment of a sovereign State ; and the 
 jirizc, the reward of everlasting liberty and its 
 institutions on the one hand, or the periietuity 
 of Slavery and its concomitants on the other. 
 It is the obvious duty of this government, while 
 this law continues, to see this manifesto faith- 
 fully, and honorably, and honestly perlbrined, 
 even though its particular supporters may 
 
 see cause of u result unfavorable to their 
 
 hiilies. 
 
 It is further to bo obsen-ed, that in the per- 
 fonnioico of this novel ex])erimeiit, it was pro- 
 vided that all white men who beeaiiie inhabit- 
 ants in Kansas were enlilleii to vote without 
 regard to tlndr time nf residence, usually provid- 
 ed in other Territories. Nor was this right of 
 voting confined to American citizeiiK, but in- 
 cluded all .such aliiiis as hn<l declared, or would 
 declare, on nath their inteiilinn to bi-cdinc citi- 
 zens. Thus was the procbiniiitiiui to the world 
 to become inhabitants of Kaiisn^*, and enlist in 
 this great eiiter])rise, by the force of iiumberH, 
 by vote, to decide for it the great <|iie.stion. 
 Was it to bo expected that this great proclama- 
 tion fortho political tournament wouM be listen- 
 ed to with indifVercnce and ai)atliy / Was it 
 prepared and presented in that spirit ? Diil it 
 relate to a subject on wliiili the people were 
 coed or iiirlirt'erent ? A larg(! part of the jieople 
 of this country hxdt on domestic Slavery as 
 " only evil, and that continually," alike to mas- 
 ter and to slave, and to the community ; to bo 
 left alone to the niaiiagenient or enjoyment of 
 the people of the States where it exists, but not 
 to be extended, more especially a.s it gives, or 
 may give, jiolitical supremacy to a minority of 
 the'people of this eountry in "the United States 
 government. On the other hand, many of the 
 people of another part of the United States re- 
 gard Slavery, if not in the abstract a blessing, 
 at leost as now existing, a condition of society 
 best for both white and black, while they exist 
 together ; while others regard it as no evil^ but 
 as the highest state of social condition. These 
 consider that they cannot, with safety to their 
 interests, permit political ascendancy to be 
 largely in the hands of those unfriendly to this 
 pcculinr institution. From these conflicting 
 views, long and violent has been the contro- 
 versy, and experience seems to show it inter- 
 minable. 
 
 Many, and probably a large majority of this 
 nation, lovers of quiet, entertained the hope, 
 that, after 1850, the so-called Compromise Mea- 
 sures, even though not satisfactory to the Free 
 States, would be kept by their su)iporters, and 
 made by them what they were professeil to be, 
 a finality on the subject of the extent and limita- 
 tions of slave territory ; more especially Jitter the 
 assurances contained in the Inaugural Address 
 of President I'ierce. This hope wius fortified with 
 the eonsi(leniti(ni that at that tune Congress had, 
 by dilfereut provisions, settled by law the con- 
 dition of Freedom or Slavery for all the territory 
 of the United States. These hopes have been 
 disappointed, and from this very iirovision for 
 repose has been extracted a princtple for disturb- 
 ing the condition of things on which its founda- 
 tion of finality rested— that is, the permanence 
 and eoutinuance of the then existing condition of 
 legal provisions. The establishment of the terri- 
 torial govermiients for Utah and Xew-.Me.\ico, 
 without a prohibition of Slavery, was sustained 
 by many on the ground that no such provision 
 was required for its exclusion, as the condition 
 of the country and its laws were a suflicient bar- 
 rier ; and therefore they sustained them, because 
 it would complete the series, and finish the pro- 
 visions as to Slavery in all our territory, and 
 make an end of controversy on that subject : yet, 
 in 1854, it was insisted by tlie friend.^ and sup- 
 porters of the laws of ISoO, and it is actually as- 
 serted in the law e^ablishing the territorial gov- 
 ernment of Kansas, that the laws for New-Mexico 
 and Utah, being of the Compromise Measures, 
 adopt and contain Mprivciv/c utterly at war with 
 their great and professed object of finality ; and 
 that, instead of completing and ending the provi- 
 sions of cougreosiouid action for the Territories 
 
112 
 
 THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 
 
 as to Slavery, it ronlly declared a principle wliich 
 V7ixcltlcil all those wliere Slavery li.'id been pro- 
 hibited, mid rendered it proper, and only proper, 
 to declare such prohibitions all " inoprrative and 
 void." The spirit and feeling whieh thus per- 
 verted those Compromiste lawn, and made them 
 the dircet instrument of renewed disturbance, 
 could not be expected then to leave the result to 
 the decision of the people of Kansas with entii'c 
 inactivity and indifl'erence. 
 
 The slavelioldiii!:,' States, in 1820, secured the 
 admission of ^Missouri as a slaveliolding State, 
 and all the region south of 30° 30' to the same 
 purpose, by agreeing and enacting that all north 
 of that lino should be forever free ; and by this 
 they obtained only a suiRcient number of votes 
 from the Free States, as counted with theirs, to 
 adopt it. In 1850, they agreed that if New-Mexico 
 and Utah were made Territories, without a pro- 
 hibition of Slavery, it would, with the laws al- 
 ready made for the rest of our territory, settle 
 forever the whole subject. This proposition, for 
 such a termination, also secured votes from the 
 Free States, enough, with their own from the 
 slaveholding States, to adopt it. In 1854, in utter 
 disregard ot these repeated contracts, both these 
 arrangements were broken, and both these com- 
 promises disregarded, and all their provisions for 
 freedom declared inoperative and void, by the 
 vote of the slaveholding States, with a very few 
 honorable exceptions, and a minorityof the votes 
 of the Free States. After this extraordinary and 
 inexcusable proceeding, it was not to be expected 
 that the people of the slaveholding States would 
 take no active measures to secure a favorable 
 result by votes in the Territory of Kansas. Nei- 
 ther could it be expected that the people of the 
 Free States, who regarded the act of 1854 as a 
 double breach of faith, would sit down and make 
 no effort, by legal means, to correct it. 
 
 It has been said that the repeal of this provision 
 of the Missouri Compromise, and breach of the 
 Compromise of 1850, should not be regarded as a 
 measure of the slaveholding States, because it 
 was presented by a Senator from a Free State. 
 
 The actions or votes of one or more individual 
 men cannot give character to, or be regarded as 
 fixing a measure on, their section or party. The 
 only true or honest mode of determining whether 
 any measure is that of any section or party is, to 
 ascertain whether the majority of that section or 
 party voted for it. Now, a largo majority — in- 
 deed, the whole, with a few rare exceptions — of 
 the representatives from the slaveholding States 
 voted for that repeal. On the other hand, a ma- 
 jority of the representatives from the Free States 
 /voted against it. 
 / This subject of Slavery in the Territories, 
 which has violently agitated the country for 
 many years, and which has been attemi^ted to be 
 settled twice by compromise, as before stated, 
 does not remain settled. The Missouri Com- 
 \ \ promise and the supposed finality by the acts of 
 ' •> 1850, are scattered and dissolved by the vote of 
 the slaveholding States ; and it is not to be dis- 
 guised that this uncalled for and disturbing meas- 
 ure has produced a spirit of resentment, from a 
 feeling of its injustice, which, while the cause 
 continues, will be difficult to allay. 
 
 This subject, then, which Congress has been 
 unable to settle iu any such Avay as the Slave 
 States will sustain, is now turned over to those 
 who have or shall become inhabitants of Kansas 
 to arrange ; and all men are invited to partici- 
 pate in the experiment, regardless of their charac- 
 ter, political or religious views, or place of na- 
 tivity. 
 
 Now, what is the right an# the duty of the 
 people of this country in relation to this matter ? 
 Is it not the right of all who believe in the bless- 
 ings of slaveliolding, and regard it as the best 
 
 condition of society, either to go to Kansas as tn- 
 hahitantit, and by their Voles to help settle this 
 good condition of that Territory ; or if they can- 
 not so go and settle, is it not their duty, by all law- 
 ful menus in their power, to promote this object 
 by inducing others like-minded to go ? This 
 right becomes a duty to all who follow their con- 
 victions. All who regard an establishment of 
 Slavery in Kansas as best for that Territory, or 
 as necessary to their own safety by the political 
 weight it gives in the national government, 
 should use all lawful means to secure that result ; 
 and clearly, the inducing men to go there to be- 
 come permanent inhabitants and voters, and to 
 vote as often as the elections occur in favor of 
 the establishment of Slavery, and thus control 
 the elections, and preserve it a Slave State for- 
 ever, is neither unlawful nor censurable. It is, 
 and would be highly praisewrn'lhy and commenda- 
 ble, because it is using lawful means to carry for- 
 ward honest convictions of public good. All law- 
 fully-associated effort to that end is equally 
 commendable. Nor will the application of op- 
 probrious epithets, and calling it propagaiidism, 
 change its moral or legal character fi-om whatever 
 quarter or source, official or otherwise, such epi- 
 thets may come. Neither should they deter any 
 man from peaceably performing his duty by fol- 
 lowing his honest convictions. 
 
 On the other hand, all those who have seen and 
 realized the blessings of universal liberty, and be- 
 lieve that it can only be secured and promoted by 
 the prohibition of domestic Slavery, and that the 
 elevation of honest industry can never succeed 
 where servitude makes labor degrading, should, 
 as iu duty bound, put forth all reasonable exer- 
 tions to advance this great object, by lawful 
 means, whenever permitted by laws of their coun- 
 try. When, therefore, Kansas was presented, 
 by law, as an open field for this experiment, and 
 all were invited to enter, it became the right and 
 duty of all such as desired, to go there as inhabit- 
 ants for the purpose, by their numbers and by their 
 votes lawfully cast, from time to time, to carry or 
 control, in a legal way, the elections there for 
 this object. This could only be lawfully effected 
 by permanent residence, and continued and re- 
 peated effort, during the continuance of the Ter- 
 ritorial government, and permanently remaining 
 there to form and preserve a Free-State constitu- 
 tion. All those who entertained the same senti- 
 ments, but were not disposed themselves to go, 
 had the right and duty to use all lawful means to 
 encourage and promote the object. If the pur- 
 pose could be best effected by united efforts, by 
 voluntary associations or corporations, or by 
 State assistance, as proposed in some Southern 
 States, it was all equally lawful and laudable. 
 This was not the officious intermeddling with the 
 internal afl'airs of another nation, or State, or the 
 Territory of another people. The Territory is 
 the property of the nation, and is, professedly, 
 open to the settlement and the institutions of 
 every part of the United States. If lawful means, 
 so extensive as to be effectual, were used to peo- 
 ple it with a majority of inhabitants opposed to 
 Slavery, is now considered as a violation of, or 
 an opposition to, the law establishing the Terri- 
 tory, then the declarations and provisions of that 
 law were but a premeditated delusion, which not 
 only allowed such measures, hut actually invited 
 them, by enacting that the largest number of the 
 settlers should detennine the condition of the 
 country; thus inviting efforts for numbers. Such 
 an invitation must have been expected to pro- 
 duce such efforts on both sides. 
 
 It now becomes necessary to inquire what has 
 in fact taken place. If violence has taken place 
 as the natural, and, perhaps, unavoidable, conse- 
 quences of the nature of the experiment, bringing 
 into dangerous contact and collision infiamma- 
 
TUE KANSAS-NEBRASKA STRUGGLE. 
 
 113 
 
 ble clfini'iits, it wiw (lie vice of ii inistiikou liiw, 
 tintl iiiiincilialo inuasurcs mIiduIiI 1>o lakoii by 
 Con^Mosrt to com cf such law. Il' force ami vio- 
 loucc iiave liccii siitistitutcil for iioacdiil iiica«- 
 uro8 thorc, le;,'al provisioii.s hIiouIiI Im- iiiado ami 
 executcil to correct all tlio wroiij,' mich violence 
 huH prodiiceil, ami to jircvciit tlicir leHiurreuce, 
 and lliiis nooiro u fair fiiltilhnent of the experi- 
 ment by jHiiccful nicanrt, as originally professed 
 and i>icsciilid in the law. 
 
 A succinct staleuicnt of tlio exercise and pro- 
 gress of the material events in Kansas is this : 
 After tlio passH^je of tills law, establishin;; tin- 
 Territory of Kansas, a lar;;o body of settlers rap- 
 idly entered into said Territory with a view to 
 lieruianent inlialiittincy therein. iMost of these 
 were I'roni the Free States of the West and North, 
 who probably intended by their yotes and inllu- 
 euco to establish there a Free State, ajfreeablo to 
 the law which invited them. Some part of those 
 from the Xorllurn States had been encouruj^'ed 
 and aided in this enterprise by the Kmi;,'rant Aid 
 Soeiety formed in Massachusetts, wliieii put 
 forth some exertions in this laudable object, l)y 
 open and public measures, in providinjj facilities 
 for transportation to all peaceable citizens who 
 desired to become permauent settlers in said Ter- 
 ritory, and pio\idii){j therein hotels, mills, etc., 
 for the public accommodation of that new eoun- 
 try. 
 
 The f^overnor of Kansas, having, m pursuance 
 of law, divided llio Territory into districts, and 
 procured a census thereof, is.-ued his proclama- 
 tion for the election of a le<,'islative assembly 
 therein, to take place on the 30lh day of March, 
 1855, and directed how the same should be con- 
 ducted, and tlie returns made to him af^recablo 
 to the law eslablishing said Territory. On the 
 day of election, large bodies of armed men from 
 the Slate of Missouri appeared at the polls in 
 most of the districts, and by most violent and tu- 
 multuous carriage and demeanor overawed the 
 defenseless inhabitants, an<l by their own votes 
 elected a large majority of the members of both 
 bouses of said assembly. On the returns of said 
 election being made to the governor, protests 
 and objections were made to liim in relation to 
 a part of said ilistricts ; and as to them, he set 
 aside such, and such only, as by the returns ap- 
 jicared to be bad. In relation to others, cover- 
 ing, in all, a majority of the two houses, equally 
 vicious in fact, but a)iparcntly good by formal 
 returns, the inliabitanis tiiereof, borne down by 
 said violeiico and iiitiMiidatioii, scattered and dis- 
 couraged, and laboring under apprehensions of 
 personal violence, refrained and desisted from 
 presenting any protest to the governor in rela- 
 tion thereto ; and he, then uniuformeil in relation 
 thereto, issued certificates to the members who 
 appeared bv said formal returns to have been 
 elected. 
 
 In relation to those districts which the govern- 
 or so set aside, orders were by him issued for 
 new elections. In one of these districts the same 
 proeee(liiig8 were repeated by men from Missou- 
 ri, and in others not, and certificates were issued 
 to the persons elected. 
 
 This legislative assembly, so elected, assem- 
 bled at Pawnee, on the second day of July, 1855, 
 that being the time and place for holding saiil 
 meeting, as fixed by the governor, by authority 
 of law. Oil assembling, the said houses pro- 
 ceeded to set aside and reject those members 
 so elected on said second election, excejit in 
 the distri<'t where the men from Missouri had, 
 at said election, chosen the same persons they 
 had elected at the said first elcetiim, and they 
 adimttcd allot the said fir.st-elected members. 
 
 A legislative assembly, so created bv military 
 force, by a foreign invasion, in violati'on of the 
 organic law, was but a usurpation. No act of 
 
 its own, no act or neglect of th«' gov inor, could 
 legiili/,e or sanctify it. Its own dici.-ioii-t as to 
 its own legality are like its laws, Imt ilie fruits 
 of its own usurpation, which no govt riior could 
 legitimate. 
 
 They passed an act altering the pl.tcc of tho 
 temporary seat of government to tlic Sliawneo 
 Mission, on tliei>order <d', and in neui- proximity 
 to, Missouri. This net the governor i. gaided us 
 a violation of the organic law establi. hiiig tho 
 Territory, which fixi-d the temper.iiy -eat of 
 govirnment, and ])rohibited the hgi.li.live as- 
 sembly from doing anything incii i-t. lit with 
 said act. lie, tli<-refore, and fur limt cause, 
 vetoed said bill ; Init said assembly repassed 
 the same by a two-thirds majority, noi withstand- 
 ing said veto, and removed to Miiil Sliawneo 
 Mission. They then proceeded to pa.-^s laws, 
 and thi- {governor, in writing, dc-( liiicd further 
 to recognize them as a legitimute as-i inbly, sit- 
 ting at that jilact-. Tln^y eoiitiniud passing 
 laws there, troiii the llith day of .July to the 
 3ist day of August, 185.5. 
 
 On the 15th (lay of August last, the governor 
 of said Territory was dismissed from oilice, and 
 tlu! duties devolved upon the seci tary of the 
 Territory ; and how many of the; laws passed 
 with his oflieial approbation does not appear, 
 tht! laws as now presented being without date 
 or authentication. 
 
 As by tho law of Congress organizing said 
 Territory it w;is expres.sly jirovided, that the 
 l)eople of the Territory were to be " left perfect- 
 ly free to form and regulate their domestic in- 
 stitutions in their own way," and among tlie.so 
 institutions Slavery is included, it was, of course, 
 implied that that subject was to be open and 
 free to public and private discussion in all its 
 bearings, rights, and relationships. Among 
 these must, of course, be the (jut stion, What 
 was the state oi tlw existing laws, ami the modi- 
 fications that might be required on that subject? 
 Tlie law had declared that its " true intent and 
 meaning was not to legislate Slavery into the 
 Territory, or exclude it therefrom." Tliis would, 
 of course, leave to that peoi)le the inquiry, 
 What, then, are the existing rights under the 
 Constitution ? Can slaves be holden in the ab- 
 sence of any law on the subject ? This question, 
 about whicdi so much dift'erenee of opinion ex- 
 ists, and which Congress and the courts have 
 never settled, was thus turned over to the peo- 
 ple there, to discuss and settle for themselves. 
 
 This territorial legislature, so created by 
 force from Missouri, utterly refused to pennit 
 discussion on the subject ; but, assuming that 
 Slavery already exi.sted there, and that neither 
 C()ngress nor the people in the Territory, under 
 the authority of Congress, had or could prohibit 
 it, passed a law which, if enforced, utterly pro- 
 hibits all discKssiun of the question. The elev- 
 enth and twelfth sections of that act are as fol- 
 lows : 
 
 "Sec. 11. If any per.soD print, write, introduce into, 
 publiad or circulate, or cause to be brought iuto, 
 printed, written, published or circulattii, or shall 
 Knowingly aid or assist in bringing into, printing, 
 publishing or circulating within this Territory, any 
 book, piiper. pamphlet, magazine, hand-bill or circular, 
 containing any statements, arguments, opinions, 
 sentiments, doctrines, advice or innuendo, calcalated 
 to promote a disorderly, dangerous or rebellious dis- 
 affection among the slaves in this Territory, or to 
 induce such slaves to escape from the service of their 
 masters or to resist theirauthority, he shall be guilty 
 of a R'lony. and be punished by impri-sonmeut and 
 hard labor for a term not le.'<8 than five yearj. 
 
 "Sf.C. 12. If any free person, by speaking or by 
 writing, assert or maintain that persons have not the 
 right to hold sl.ives in this Territory, or shall intro- 
 duce iuto this Territory, print, publlsn, write, circu- 
 late, or cause to be introduced iuto this Territory, 
 written, printed, publiahej or circulated in thia Ter- 
 
114 
 
 THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 
 
 ritory, any hook, paper, magazine, pamphlet or circu- 
 lar, containing any denial of the right of persons to 
 hold slaves in ihia Territory, such persoQ shall be 
 deemed guil'y of felony, and punished by imprison- 
 ment at hard labor for a terra of not less than two 
 years." 
 
 And furtli'T providing^, that no person " con- 
 Bcientitm^^ly opposed to holding slaves" shall sit 
 as a juror in the trial of any cause founded on a 
 breach of the foregoing law. They further pro- 
 vided, that all officers and attorneys should be 
 eworu not only to support the Constitution of the 
 United .State.s, but also to support and sustain 
 the organic law of th(^ Territory, and the fugi- 
 tive slave laws ; and that any person ottering to 
 vote shall be presumed to be entitled to vote 
 until the contrary is shown, and if any one, 
 ■when required, shall refuse to take oath to sus- 
 tain the fugitive-slave laws, he shall not be per- 
 mitted to vote. Although they passed a law 
 that none but an inhabitant, who had paid ata.x, 
 Ehould vote, yet they required no time of rcsi- 
 dtnce necessary, and provided for the immediate 
 payment of a poll-tax ; so providing, in effect, 
 that on the eve of an election the people of a 
 neighboring State could come in. in unlimited 
 numbers, and, by taking up a residence of a day 
 or an hour, pay a poll-tax, and thus become 
 legal voters, and then, after voting, return to 
 their own State. They thus, in practical effect, 
 provided for the people of Missouri to control 
 elections at their pleasure, and permitted such 
 only of the real inhabitants of the Territory to 
 vote as are friendly to the holding of slaves. 
 
 They permitted no election of any of the offi- 
 cers in the Territory to be made by the people 
 thereof, but created the offices and tilled them, 
 or appointed officers to fill them for long periods, 
 and provided that the next annual election should 
 be holden in October, 1856, and the assembly to 
 meet in January, 1857 ; so that none of these 
 laws could be changed until the lower house 
 ■might be changed, in 1856 ; but the council, 
 which is elected for two years, could not be 
 changed so as to allow a change of the laws or 
 officers until the session of 1858, however much 
 the inhabitants of the TeiTitory might desire it. 
 These laws, made by an assembly created by 
 a foreign force, are but a manifestation of the 
 spirit of oppression which was the parent of the 
 whole transaction. No excuse can be found for 
 it in the pretense that the inhabitants had carried 
 with thein into said Territory a ([uantity of 
 Sharp's rifles — first, because that, if true, formed 
 no excuse ; secondly, it is untrue, as their 
 Sharp's rifles were only obtained afterwards, 
 and entirely for the purpose of self defense, the 
 necessity for which, this invasion and other acts 
 of violence and threats clearly demonstrated. 
 These laws were obviously made to oppress and 
 drive out all who were inclined to the exclusion 
 of Slavery ; and if they remained, to silence them 
 on this subject, and subject them to Ihe will and 
 control of the people of Missouri. These are the 
 laws which the President says must be enforced 
 by the army and the whole power of this nation. 
 The people of Kansas, thus invaded, subdued, 
 oppressed, and insulted, seeing their territorial 
 government (such only in form) perverted into 
 an engine to crush them in the dust, and to de- 
 feat and destroy the professed olijeet of their or- 
 ganic law, by depriving them of the " perfect 
 freedom'' therein provided ; and finding no 
 ground to hope for rights in that organization, 
 they prtieeeded, under the guaranty of the 
 United Slates Constitution, "peaceably to as- 
 semble to iietition the government for the re- 
 dress of (their) grievance.-*." They saw no 
 earthly source of relief but in the formation of a 
 State government by the peopl(',and Ihe uccept- 
 auce and ratification llu'reof by Congress. 
 It is true that iu several instances in our po- 
 
 litical history, the people of a Temtory have 
 been authorized by an act of Congress to form 
 a State constitution, and after so doing, were 
 admitted by Congress. It is quite obvious that 
 no such authority ciuild be given by the act of 
 the territorial government. Thai clearly has no 
 powerto create another government, paramount 
 to itself It is equally true, that, in numeroua 
 instance.s in our history, the people of a Territo- 
 ry have, without any previous act of Congress, 
 proceeded to call a convention of the people by 
 their delegates ; have formed a State constitu- 
 tion, which has been adopted by the people, 
 and a State legislature assembled under it, and 
 chosen Senators to Congress, and then have 
 firesinted said constitution to Congress, who has 
 approved the same, and received the senators 
 and members gf Congress who were chosen un- 
 der it before Congress had approved the same. 
 Such was the case of Tennessee ; such was the 
 case of Michigan, where the people not only 
 formed a State constitution without an act of 
 Congress, but they actually put their State gov- 
 ernment into full operation and passed laws, and 
 it was approved by Congress by receiving it as 
 a State. The people of Florida foniied their 
 constitution without any act of Congress there- 
 for, six years before they were admitted into the 
 Union. When the people of Arkansas were 
 about forming a State constitution without a pre- 
 vious act of Congress, in 1835, the territorial 
 governor applied to the President on the subject, 
 who referred the matter to the Attorney-Gene- 
 ral, and his opinion, as then expressed and pub- 
 lished, contained the following : 
 
 " It is not in the power of the general asssrably of 
 Arkansas to pas^ any law for the purpose of electing 
 members to a convention to form a Con-ititution and 
 State government, uor to do any other act, direitly 
 or indirectly, to create such government. Every such 
 law, even though it were approved by the governor of 
 the Territory, would be null and void ; if passed by 
 them notwithstanding his veto, by a vote of two- 
 thirds of each branch, it would still be equally void." 
 
 He further decided that it was not rebellious 
 or insurrectionary, or even unlawful, for the 
 people peaceably to proceed, even without an 
 act of Congress, in forming a constitution, and 
 that the so forming a State constitution, and so 
 far organizing under the same as to choose the 
 officers necessary for its representation in Con- 
 gress, with a view to present the same to Con- 
 gress for admission, was a power which fell 
 clearly within the right of the people to assem- 
 ble and petition for redress. The people of 
 Arkansas proceeded without an act of Congress, 
 and were received into the Union accordingly. 
 If any rights were derived to the people of Ar- 
 kansas from the terms of the French treaty of 
 cession, they equally extended to the people of 
 Kansas, it being a part of the same cession. 
 
 In this view of the subject, in the first part of 
 August, 1855, a call was published in the public 
 papers for a meeting of the citizens of Kansas, 
 UTespective of party, to meet at Lawrence, in 
 said Ten-itory, on the 15th of said August, to 
 take into consideration the propriety of calling 
 a convention of the people of the whole Territo- 
 ry, to consider that subject. That meeting waa 
 held on the 15th day of August last, and it pro- 
 ceeded to call such convention of delegates to 
 be elected, and to assemble at Topeka, in said 
 Territory, on the 19th day of September, 1855, 
 not to form a constitution, but to consider the 
 propriety of calling, formally, a convention for 
 that purpose. The proceedings of this meeting 
 of the 15th of August were as follows : 
 
 State Constitutiijn. 
 " Lawkenck, Kansas Territory, 
 August 15, 1855. 
 " Pursuant to a published call, signed ' Many Citi- 
 
THE KANSAS-NEIJRASKA STRUGGLE. 
 
 115 
 
 BCnn.' * to ttike into consideration the propriety of 
 callinfc a Territorial cotivciiti<<n, prrlimiiiHry to tliu 
 lorniiiiion of a .-tutu goviriiiiuiit, nud other 8iiliji-ci» 
 of iiiililii; iiitoic»t,' u coiivciitiuii of thu citizens of 
 KaiiKas Terrii.'.rv. irrcs/iecfirf of party, met. and upon 
 motion of (!. K Ilidlid iv. Dr. A. IlmitinK was called to 
 the chair. <:. W. Browii. E. I). l.«dd. 0. K. lllood, I, V. 
 Lincoln. Jameg Chrintian. and Dr. J. D. Barnes elect- 
 ed vice-presidents, and J. K. tioodiu, uud J. 1». Fox, 
 seoretarieH. 
 
 " On motion <if J. Hutchinson esq., a committee of 
 tive weie ap| fiinted to prepare b<i»in.-H- for the conven- 
 tion. Messrs, Q- W. Smith, C. K. IloUiJay, C, Kobin- 
 son, John IJruwn, jr., and A. F. Powell were chcmen 
 that commitloe. 
 
 " Duriiiff the. absence ot the committee, the conven- 
 tion wiisiiddress.d by Rev.— I.ovejoy, G. \V. Urown, J. 
 Ilutchin.K'in, and M. F t'onwiiy. Alter which. Mr. (i. 
 W. Smith, chairmiin, submitted the following aa Ihe 
 report of the committee : 
 
 •• Wheroiis the people of Kansas Territory have 
 been, since its settlement, and now are, without any 
 law-making power ; threfore, be it 
 
 Jitsulved. That we. the people of Kansas Territory 
 in mass lueetin.; assembled, irrespective of party dis- 
 tinction", inlluenced by a cominou neces.sity, and 
 greatly desirous of promoting the common ifood. do 
 hereby call upoi and request all himafidr citizens of 
 Kansas I'eriitory, of whatever political views or predi- 
 lections, to consult together in their respective elec- 
 tion-districts, and in m.iss convention, or otherwise, 
 elect three delegates for each representative to which 
 such district is entitled in the House of Repre^enta- 
 tives of the the legislative assembly, by proclamation 
 of Governor Uei-df-r of date lUth March, 1865 ; said 
 deleg.ites to assemble in cnnvenion at the town of 
 Topeka. on the 19'h day of Se|)tetnbHr. 1855, then and 
 there to couaidor and determine upon all subjects of 
 public interest, und particularly upon that having ref- 
 erence to tliH .i^peedy formation <'( a State constitu- 
 tion, with an intention of au immediate application to 
 he admitted as a State into the Union of the ' United 
 States of America.' 
 
 " After the discussion of the resolution by Mr. 
 Stearns and others, the report of the committee was 
 adopted with but ime dissenting voice, 
 
 " On motion, it was ordered that Ihe proceedings of 
 this convention be i.ublished in the newspapers of the 
 Territory, and Messrs. J. Speer, R. G. Klliot. and G. 
 W. Rrown were appointed a c'immittee to publish and 
 circulate the call lor the convention to he holdeu at 
 Topeka. 
 
 '• Ou motion, the convention adjourned sine die. 
 
 " A. HUNTING, President. 
 '• G. W. Brow.n, 
 E. D Ladd, 
 O. E. Blood, 
 L. P. Lincoln, 
 Jas. Christiak, 
 J. D. Bar.nbs, 
 
 Vice-Presidents, 
 " J. K Goot>i.M, 
 J. P Fox, 
 
 Secretaries." 
 
 Ajjrocable to these proceedings, the people of 
 the (lifFuretit districts did, as therein recommend- 
 ed, proceed to appoint delegates to this meeting 
 at Topeka, to be Iioldeii on said 19th day of Sep- 
 tember, 1855. The delegates so appointed did 
 assemble at Topeka on said day, and proceeded 
 to consider said subject, and tliey took the fol- 
 lowing proceedings : 
 
 " Proceedings of the State Constitutional Convention, 
 held at Tuptka, Kansas Territory, September 19-20, 
 1855. 
 
 " Whereas the Constitution of the United States 
 guarantees to the people of this republic the right of 
 assembling tog-ther in a peaceable manner for the 
 cominon good, to ' establish justice, insure domestic 
 tranquillity, provide for the common defense, promote 
 the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liber- 
 ty to themselves and their posteiity,' and whereas 
 the citizens of Kansas Territory were prevented from 
 electing members of a legislative senibly, in pursuance 
 of the proclamation of Governor Reeder, on the 30th 
 of March list, by invading forces from foreign States 
 coming into the Territory and forcing upon the peo- 
 ple a legislature of non-residents and others, inimical 
 to the interests of the people of Kaus,i8 Territory, de- 
 
 ' festing the object of the organic net. in confcquenco 
 [ of whirli the lorritorial government luciiiie a perfect 
 I failure, an) th" people were left without any lei^al 
 governmoiit until their patience has becnie exhaust- 
 ed, ami ' ci'diiraiieii ceases t'> be a viitue;' and they 
 are coiiip.-ll,.,l to resort tn the only remedy lelt that 
 of foniiing a giivi'rniiient for themselves ; tliorefore, 
 
 " Jlnsvlted liy Ihf prtiptf ii( Kiinttm 't'errilmy in iltle- 
 gale riinviiliitn iiHSfmhled. That an eleclloii shall be 
 held in the Heveral elcctii>n precincts of this Territory 
 on the second Tuesday of Octolier next, uihIit th« 
 rei;ulatioin and restrictions hereinafter iiiipoHed. for 
 nieiobers of a convention to form a const. tiition, 
 adopt a bill of rights for th>' people of Kansa', and 
 take all iit-edful measures lor organizing a .S'ate gov- 
 ernment preparatory to the admission of Kansiia luto 
 the Union as a State. 
 
 •■ Reaolvd. That 'ho apportionment of delegates to 
 said convention shall be as follows : two clelegateii 
 for each refjresentativo to wbicli the people were enti- 
 tl.-d in the legislative assembly by pr' clamation of 
 Governor Reeder, of dale lOtli .March. 1S55. 
 
 " Jtefolvfd, That a committee of seven be appointed 
 by the chair, who shall organize by the appointineDt 
 of a chairman and secretary. Tlicy shall keep a re- 
 cord of their proceedings, and shall have the general 
 superintendence of the affairs of the Territory so far 
 as regards the organization of a State goveroment, 
 which committee shall be styled ' the executive com- 
 miltee of Kansas Territory.' 
 
 •' Resulted. That it shiiU be the duty of the execu- 
 tive committee of Kansas Territory to ailvertise said 
 election at least fifteen d.iys before the second Tues- 
 day of October next; and to ap)K>int three judges 
 thereof for e.tch precinct, and the said judges ol each 
 precinct shall appoint two clerks, all of whom shall 
 be duly sworn or aflirmed to discharge the duties of 
 their respective offices impartially, and with fidelity ; 
 and they shall have power to administer tlie oath or 
 affirmation to each other, and the said judges shall 
 open said election at 10 o'clock a. m.. at the place 
 liesignatcd in each precinct by the said executive 
 committee, and close the same at 4 o'clock p. M. And 
 in case any of the officers appointed fail to attend, 
 the officer or officers in attendance shall supply the 
 vacancy or vacancies ; and in the event of all of them 
 failing to attend, ten qualified voters shall supply 
 their places. And the said jud^^es shall make out 
 duplicate returns of said election, seal up. and trans- 
 mit one copy of the same within five days, to the 
 chairman of the executive committee, to be laid be- 
 fore the convention, and they shall, within ten days, 
 seal up and hand the other to some member of the 
 executive committee. 
 
 " Resolv'l. That the chairman of the executive com- 
 mittee ol Kansas Territory shall aniiimnce. by pro- 
 clamation, the names of the persons elected delegates 
 to the said convention ; and in c:ise the returns from 
 any precinct should not be complet"d by that day, as 
 soon theie.ifter aa practicable ; and in case of a tie, a 
 new election shall be ordered by the executive com- 
 mittee, giving five days' notice thereof, by the same 
 officers who officiited at the first election. 
 
 " liesiilved. That all white male inhabitants, citizens 
 of the United States, above the age of twenty-one 
 years, who have had a bona fide residence in the Ter- 
 ritory of Kansas for the space of thirty days imme- 
 diately preceding the day of said election, shall be 
 entitled to vote for delegates to said convention ; and 
 all white male inhabitants, citizens of the United 
 States, above the age of twenty-one years, who have 
 resided in the Territory of Kansts for the space of 
 three months immediately preceding the day of 
 election, shall be eligible as delegates to said con- 
 vention, 
 
 '•Resolved. That if at the time of holding said election 
 it shall be inconvenient, on account of Indian hostili- 
 ties or any other cause whatever that would disturb 
 or prevent the voters of any election-precinct in the 
 Territory from the free and peaceable exercise of the 
 elective franchise, the officers are hereby authorized 
 to adjourn said election into any other precinct in the 
 Territory, and to any other day they may see proper, 
 of the necessity of which thev sh ill be the exclusive 
 judges, at which time and place the qualified voters 
 may cast their votes. 
 
 •• R'Sotved, That said convention shall be held at 
 Topeka on the fourth Tuesday of October next, at 12 
 o'clock, a. m.. of that dav. 
 
 '• RcsolreJ. That a majority of said convention shall 
 constitute a quorum, and that the said convention shall 
 determine upon the returns and qualifications of its 
 members, and shall have and exercise all the rights, 
 
116 
 
 THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRTCTION. 
 
 privileges, ami Imniunities incifient to such bndies. and 
 lUiiy adopt su -li rules and regulations for its 'j;overn- 
 ment as a majority thereof may direct. If a majority of 
 said convention do not assemble on the day appointed 
 therefor, a less number is hereby authorized to ad- 
 journ from (lay to day. 
 
 " Jti^solt'ed. iliat in case of (he death, resis^nation, or 
 con-atteiidaiice of any delegate chosen from any dis- 
 trict of the Territory, the president of the convention 
 fliall issue his writ ordering a new election, on five 
 days notice, to be conducted as heretofore c'irected. 
 
 "JirsolvJ, That no peison shall be entitled to a seat 
 in the convention at its organization except the mem- 
 bers who--e names are contained in the proclamation 
 of the chairman of the executive committee. But 
 after the convention is organized, seats may be con- 
 tested in the usual way. 
 
 '■ Resolved. That tbe members of the convention 
 shall receive, as a compensation for their services, the 
 sum of three dollars per day, ami three dollars for 
 every twenty miles' travel to and from the same, and 
 thatCongress be respectfully requested to appropriate 
 a sutlicieut sum to defray the necessary expenses of 
 said convention. 
 
 '' JifsolveJ, That on the adoption of a Constitution 
 for the State of Kansas, the president of the conven- 
 tion shall transmit an authenticated copy thereof to 
 the President of the United States, to ttie President 
 of the Senate, and to the f-pe.iker of the House of 
 Representatives; to each member of Congress, and 
 to the governor of each of the several States in the 
 Union ; and adopt such other measures as will secure 
 to the people of Kansas the rights and privilege of a 
 sovereign istate. 
 
 " On motion, the committee on address was vesteil 
 with authority to notify the people of the several 
 districts of the Territory of the coming election, by 
 handbills, public addresses, and otherwise as they may 
 think proper. 
 
 " Tlie Territorial executive committee was appoint- 
 ed by the cbair, consisting of the following persons. 
 J. H. Lane, C. K. Holiiday, M. J. Parrott, P. C. 
 Schuyler G. W. Smith, G. W. Brown, and J. K. 
 Goodin. 
 
 "On motion, the proceedings of this convention 
 were ordered to be published in all the papers of the 
 Territory. 
 
 '• A vote of thanks was passed to the president and 
 oEScers of the convention. 
 
 " Adjourned, with three enthusiastic cheers for the 
 liew government of Kansas. 
 
 " WM. Y. ROBERTS, President. 
 
 "E. D. Ladd, 
 J. H. Nesbitt, 
 M. W. Delahay, 
 
 Secretaries.'^ 
 
 " CONSTITCTIONAL PROCLAMATION. 
 
 " To the L'^aal Voters of Kansas: 
 
 "Whereas the Territorial government, as now con- 
 stituted for Kansas, has proved a failure — squatter 
 sovereignty uudc-r its workings a miserable delusion, 
 in proof of which it is only necessary to refer to our 
 past history and our present deplorable condition, our 
 ballot-boxes have been taken possession of by bands 
 of armed men from foreign States— our people forcibly 
 driven therefrom— persons attempting to be foisted 
 upon us as members of a so-called legislature, unac- 
 quainted with our wants, and hostile to our best 
 interests- some of them never residents of our Ter- 
 ritory — misnamed lairs passed, and now attempting to 
 be eiiforced by the aid of citizens of foreign States of 
 the most oppressive, tyrannical, and insulting charac- 
 ter— the right of suffrage taken from us— debarred 
 from the privilege of a voice in the election of even 
 the most insignificant officers— the right of free speech 
 stifle, l_the muzzling of the press attempted ; and 
 whereas longer forbearance with such oppression and 
 tyranny has ceased to be a virtue; and whereas the 
 people of this country have heretofore exercised the 
 right of changing their form of government when it 
 became oppressive, and have at all times conceded this 
 right to tlie people in this and all other governments ; 
 and whereas a Territorial form of government is un- 
 known to the Constitution, and is the mere creature 
 of necessity awaiting the action of the people ; and 
 whereas the del)iising character of the slavery which 
 now involves us impels to action, and leaves us as the 
 only legal and peaceful alternative the immediate 
 establishment of a State government ; and whereas 
 the organic act fails in pointing out the course to be 
 adopted in an emergency like ours Therefore you 
 
 are requested to meet at your several precincts in said 
 Territorv, lieiemaftermentiimid. on the second Tues- 
 day (if Ocl(dier next, it being the ninth day of said 
 month, and then and there cast your ballots for mem- 
 bers of a convention, to meet at TopeKa on the fourth 
 Tuesday in October next, to form a Constitution, 
 adopt a bill of riglits for the people of Kansas, and 
 take all needful measures for organizing a State gov- 
 ernnunt preparatory to the admission of Kansas into 
 the Union as a State. 
 
 " Places for Polls. 
 
 " First election-district — Lawrence precinct, at the 
 ofBce of John Hutchinson, in Lawrence. Blanton 
 precinct, at the house of J. B. Abbott, in Blanton. 
 Palmyra precinct, at the house of H. Barricklow, in 
 Palmyra — Waliarusa river the dividing line between 
 the two precincts. 
 
 " Second election-district. — Bloomington precinct, 
 house of Harrison Burson, on the Wakarusa. Be- 
 nicia precinct, house of J. J. Cranmer, East Douglas. 
 " Third election district. — Topek* precinct, house 
 of F. W. Giles, Topeka. Big Springs precinct, at the 
 house of Wesley Frost, in Washington. Tecumseh 
 precinct, at the house of Jlr. Hoagland, in Tecumseh. 
 •'Fourth eUclion-disirict. — WiUow Springs precinct, 
 at the house of Dr. Chapman, on the Santa Fe road, 
 Springfield. 
 
 •' Fifth election-district. —hnW-Cree^ precinct, at 
 the liou.se of Baptiste Peoria, on Pottawatomie- 
 Creek. Pottawatomie precinct, at the house of Henry 
 Sherman. Osawattamie precinct, at the house of 
 Wm. Hughes, in Osawattamie. Big Sugar-Creek 
 precinct, at the house of Elijah Tucker, at old Potta- 
 watomie Mission. Little Sugar-Creek precinct, at 
 the house of Isaac Stockton. Neosho precinct, at the 
 store of Hamilton Smith, in Neosho. Hampdon pre- 
 cinct, at the house of W. A. Ela, in Hampden. 
 
 " Sixth election-district. — lort Scott precinct, at the 
 house of Mr. Johnson, or a suitable building in Fort 
 Scott. Scott's Town precinct, at the house of Mr. 
 Vandever. 
 
 " Seventh election-district.— Titns precinct, at the 
 house of J. B. Titus, on the Santa Fe road. 
 
 •' Eighth eleclion-dis'rict.— Council Grove precinct, 
 at Council Grove Mission House. Waubonsa precinct, 
 at some suitable building in Waubonsa. Mill-Creek 
 precinct, at the house of G. E. Hoheneck, on Mill- 
 ] Creek. Ashland precinct, at the house of Mr. Adams, 
 in Ashland. 
 
 " Ninth election-district. — Pawnee precinct, at Lo- 
 i den and Shaw's store, in Pawnee. 
 
 ' •' Tenth election-district.— Big Blue precinct, at the 
 1 house of S. D. Dyer, in Juniatta. Rock-Creek pre- 
 j cinct. at the house of Robert Wilson. 
 
 " Eleventh election district. — Vermillion precinct, at 
 the house of John Schmidt, on Vermilliou branch of 
 Blue river. 
 
 " Twelfth ehction-district.—St Mary's precinct, at 
 I the hou,se of B. F. Bertrand. Silver Lake precinct, at 
 ! the house of Joseph Leframbois. 
 
 I " Thirteenth election-district.— Uic^ory Point pre- 
 I cinct. at the house of Charles Hardt. Falls precinct, 
 I at the house of 'Mill Company,' at Grass-hopper 
 I F.alls. 
 
 " Fourteenth election-district.— BuT-Oak precinct, at 
 the house of Benjamin Harding. Doniphan precinct, 
 (including part of the 15th district to Walnut-Creek), 
 .at the house of Dr. G A. Cutler, in Doniphan. Wolf 
 river precinct, at the bouse of Aaron Lewis 
 
 " Fifteenth election-district. — Walnut-Creek pre- 
 cinct ("south Walnut-Creek), at the house of Charles 
 Hays, on Military road. 
 
 •■ Sixteenth election-district.-'Le&'^enwOTt'h precinct, 
 at the store of Thomas Doyle, in Leavenworth City. 
 Easton precinct, at the house of Thomas A. Maynard, 
 on Stranger-Creek. Wvandot precinct, at the coun- 
 cil-house, in Wyandot City. Ridge precinct, at the 
 house of Wm. Pennock. 
 
 " Seventeenth election-district.— Jilission precinct, at 
 the Baptist Mission-building. Waliarusa precinct, at 
 the store of Paschal Fish. 
 
 "Eighteenth electioii-di.itrict.-CMtoTnia, precinct, 
 at the house of W. W. Moore, on the St. Joseph and 
 California road. 
 
 " INSTRUCTION TO JUDGES OF ELECTION. 
 
 " The three judges will provide for each poll, ballot- 
 boxes for depositing the ballots cast by electors ; shall 
 appoint two clerks, all of whom shall be sworn or af- 
 firm to discharge the duties of their respective offices 
 impartially and with fidelity ; and the judges and 
 
TUE KANSAS-NEBRASKA STRUGGLE. 
 
 117 
 
 clerks sliall have power to ailniinistertho oath or nfllr- 
 mation to each otln-r ; and the (aid judfjes »ball opcti 
 aaideU-ction at 10 o'clucka.m., at the place desipnated 
 in oiicli precinct by the oxuoutivxcumiiiitteoof KaiiKus 
 Territory, and closu till' 8IIIUC ai4u'cluck p.m. Iiicimo 
 any of lUo officers appointed fail to attend, the officer or 
 ofliccra in attendance Hhall snpply ttieir places. And 
 the said judges .thall make out duplicate returns of said 
 election; seal up and transmit one copy ef the same 
 witliiii live days to the chairman of the executive 
 committee to he laid before the convention, and they 
 shall within ten days seal up and hand the other to 
 some meniber of the said executive coramitltee. If at 
 the tinieof holding said election it shall be inconveni- 
 ent on accunnt of luilian hoslilitios. or any other cau.oe 
 whatevor, that would disturb or prevent the voters 
 of anv election-precinct in the Territory trom the free 
 and peaceable exercise of tlip elective franchise, the 
 officers ar» hereby authorized to adjourn said election 
 luto any other precinct iu the Territory, and to any 
 other day they may see proper, of the necessity of 
 which they shall be the exclu>ive judges, at which 
 time and place the qualitied voters may cast their 
 votes. 
 
 *' QOALIFICATION OF VOTBHS, ETC. 
 " All white male inhabitants, citizens of the United 
 States, or who have declared their intentions, before 
 the proper authorities, to become such, above the ajre 
 of twenty-one years, who have had a bona fide resi- 
 dence in the Territory for the space of thirty days 
 immo'iiately preceding the day of the said election, 
 shall be entitled to vote for delegates to said conven- 
 tion ; and all wliite male inhubitauts, citizens of the 
 United States, above the ngo of twenty-one yeats, who 
 have had a bonafiAe residence iu the Territory of Kan- 
 sas for the space of three mouths immediately pre- 
 ceding the day of election, shall be eligible as dele- 
 gates to said convention. 
 
 " APPORTIONMENT. 
 
 '• The apportionment of delegates to said convention 
 shall be .i.s follows : Two delegates for each represent- 
 ative to which the people were entitled in the legis- 
 lative assembly, bv proclamation of Governor Reeder 
 of date March 10. ISoo. 
 
 " It is confidently believed that the people of Kan- 
 Fas are fully alive to the importance of the step they 
 are about tp take in disenthralling themselves from the 
 slavery wlTich i> now lettering them; and the squat- 
 ters of KiiTisas are earnestly requested to be at their 
 several polls on the day above designated. See that 
 there be no illegal votes cast, and that every ballot re- 
 ceived be in accordance with your choice for delegate 
 to the constitutional convention, and have all the 
 regulations and restrictions carried out. 
 
 " The plan proposed in the proclamation, to govern 
 you in the election, has been adopted after mature 
 deliberation, and, if adhered to by you, will result in 
 establishing inKansas an independent government that 
 will be admitted iuto our beloved Uuiouasa sovereign 
 State, securing to our people the liberty they have 
 heretofore enjoyed, and which has been so ruthlessly 
 wrested from them by reckless invaders. 
 
 " By order of the executive committee of Kansas 
 Territory, 
 
 "J. U.LANE, Chairman. 
 
 " J. K. GoODist, Secretary." 
 
 Delegates -were elected agreeably to the pro- 
 clamation so is.sued, and they met at Topeka on 
 the fourth Tuesday in October, 1855, and formed 
 a constitution, which was submitted to the peo- 
 ple, and was ratified by them by vote in the dis- 
 tricts. An election of State ofTieers and members 
 of the State lefrislaturo has bteii had, and a rep- 
 re.scntativc to Congress elected, and it is intend- 
 ed to proceed to the election of senators, with the 
 view to present the same, with the constitution, 
 to Congress for admission iuto the Union. 
 
 Whatever views individuals may at times, or 
 in meetings, have e.xpressed, and whatever ulti- 
 mate deteiTuination may have been entertained 
 in the result of being spurned by Congress, and 
 refused redress, is now entirely immaterial. 
 That cannut <'ondemu or give character to the 
 proceedings thus far pursued. 
 
 Matiy may have honestly believed usurpation 
 couki make no law, and that if Congress made 
 no further provisions they were well justified 
 
 in fi)rming a law for themiwilvcs ; but it is not 
 now iieccsKury to contfider that mutter, as it is to 
 Ijc Imped tliiit Congress will not Icuvo them to 
 such a necessity. 
 
 Thus fur, Ibis effort of flic pooplo for redresB is 
 peaceful, coiwtitiitioiiul, un(l rigiit. Whether it 
 will succeed, rests witli (;nngrcsH to determine; 
 i)Ut clear it is that it should not be met und de- 
 nounced us rcvolulii)iiarv, rcbelliotis, insurrec- 
 tionary, or unlawful, nor docs it call for or justify 
 the e.\ereiso of any force by any dcimrlmout of 
 this government to check or control it. 
 
 It now bt<c,(unes proper to iiii|uire what should 
 be done by Congress ; for we ar(^ informed by 
 the President, in substance, that he has no power 
 to correct a ustiriuition, uiid that the laws, even 
 though made by usurped aufiiority, must be by 
 him enforced and executed, even with military 
 force. Tho measures of redress should be ap- 
 plied to the true cause of tho dilliculty. This 
 obviously lies in the repeal of the clause for free- 
 dom in the act of ISL'O, and therefore the true 
 remedy lies in tho entire repeal of the act of 18.'J4, 
 which etfectcd it. Let this be done with frank- 
 ness and majjuaniinity, and Kansas bo organized 
 anew, as a Free Territory, and ull will be put 
 right. 
 
 liut, if Congress insist on proceeding with the 
 experiment, then declare all the action by this 
 spurious, foreign legislative assembly utterly in- 
 operative and void, and direct a reorganization, 
 providing proper safeguard for legal votuag ami 
 against fijreigu force. 
 
 There is, however, another way to put an end 
 to all this trouble there, and iu tho nation, with- 
 out retracing steps or continuing violence, or by 
 force compelling obedience to tyrannical laws 
 made by foreign force ; and that is, by admitting 
 that Territory as a State, with her free constitu- 
 tion. True, indeed, her numbers are not such aa 
 gives her a right to demand admission, being, as 
 the President informs ns, probably only about 
 twenty-five thousand. The Coustitiition fixes no 
 number as necessary, and the importance of iioti} 
 settling this question may well justify Congress 
 in admitting this as a Sta"te, at tJiis ti'me, especi- 
 ally as we have good reason to believe that, if 
 admitted as a State, and controversy ended, it 
 will immediately fill up with a numerous and 
 successful population. 
 
 At any rate, it seems iinpossible to believe that 
 Congress is to leave that people without redress, 
 to liave enforced upon them by the army of the 
 nation these measures and laws of violence and 
 opprciision. Are they to bo dragooned into sub- 
 mission ? Is that an experiment pleasant to 
 execute on our own free people ? 
 
 The true character of this transaction is matter 
 of extensive notoriety. Its essential features are 
 too obvious to allow of any successful disguise 
 or palliation, however complicated or ingenious 
 may be the statements, or however special the 
 pleadings, for that purpose. The case requires 
 some quieting, kind, and prudent treatment by 
 the hand of Congress to do justice and satisfy the 
 nation. Tho people of this country are peaceful- 
 ly relying on Congress to provide tlie competent 
 measures of redress which they have the un- 
 doubted power to administer. 
 
 The Attorney-General, in the case of Arkansas, 
 says : " Congress may at pleasure repeal or 
 modify the laws passed by the territorial legisla- 
 ture, and may at any time abrogate and remodel 
 tho legislature itself, and all the other depart- 
 ments of the territorial government." 
 
 Treating this grievance iu Kansas with inge- 
 nious excuses, with neglect or contempt, or riding 
 over the oppressed witli an army, and dragooning 
 them into submission, will mate no satisfactory 
 temiination. Parly success may at times be 
 temporarily secured by adroit doviatjs, plausible 
 
118 
 
 THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 
 
 pretenses, and partisan address ; but the perma- 
 nent preservation of this Union can bo maintain- 
 ed only by frankness and integrity. Justice may 
 be denied where it ought to be granted; power 
 may perpetuate that vussahige which violence 
 and usurpation have produced ; the subjugation 
 of wliite freemen may be necessary, that African 
 Slavery may succeed ; but such a course must 
 not be expected to produce peace and satisfaction 
 in our country, so long as the people retain any 
 proper sentiment of justice, liberty, and law. 
 
 J. COLLA.MER. 
 
 It is not possible, within the limits pre- 
 scribed for this volume, to give a full ac- 
 count of the debates and proceedings in the 
 present Cong-ress with relation to Kansas. 
 {Suffice it that, on the 19th of March, the 
 House was bronght to a vote on the propo- 
 sition of the Committee of Elections, to 
 empower said Committee to send to Kansas 
 for persons and papers, modified, on motion 
 of Mr. Dunn of Indiana, with the assent of 
 said Committee, so as to read as follows : 
 
 " Resolved, That a Committee of three of the 
 members of this House, to be appointed by the 
 Speaker, shall proceed to inquire mto and collect 
 evidence in regard to the troubles in Kansas 
 generally, and particularly in regard to any fraud 
 or force" attempted or practiced in reference to 
 any of the elections which have taken place in 
 said Territory, either under the law organizing 
 said TeiTitory, or under any pretended law which 
 may be alleged to have taken etfect there since. 
 That they shall fully investigate and take proof 
 of all violent and tumultuous proceedings in said 
 Territory, at any time since the passage of the 
 Kansas-Nebraska act, whether engaged in by 
 the residents of said Territory, or by any person 
 or persons from elsewhere going into said Terri- 
 tory, and doing, or encouraging others to do, any 
 act of violence or public disturbance against the 
 laws of the United States, or the rights, peace, 
 and safety of the residents of said Territory ; and, 
 for that purpose, said Committee shall have full 
 power to send for, and examine, and take copies 
 of, all such papers, public records, and proceed- 
 ings, as in their judgment will be useful in the 
 premises ; and also, to send for persons and exam- 
 ine them on oath, or affirmation, as to matters 
 within their knowledge, touching the matters of 
 said investigation ; and said Committee, by their 
 Chairman, shall have power to administer all 
 necessary oaths or affirmations connected with 
 their aforesaid duties. 
 
 " Renolved further, That said Committee may 
 hold their investigations at such places and times 
 as to them may seem advisable, and that they 
 have leave of absence from the duties of this 
 House until they shall have completed such in- 
 Trestigation. That they be authorized to em- 
 ploy one or more clerks, and one or more as- 
 sistant sergeants-at-arms, to aid them in their 
 investigation ; and may administer to them an 
 oath, or afiirmation, faithfully to perform the 
 duties assigned to them, respectively, and to keep 
 secret all matters which may come io their know- 
 ledge touching such investigation, as said Com- 
 mittee may direct, until the Report of the same 
 shall be submitted to this House ; and said Com- 
 mittee may discharge any such clerk, or assistant 
 sergeant-at-arms, for neglect of duty or disregard 
 of instructions in the premises, and employ others 
 under like regulations. 
 
 " lie-so/rcilj'iir/hfr. That if any person shall, in 
 any manner, obstruct or hinder said Committee, 
 or attempt to do so, in their said investigation 
 
 or shall refuse to attend on said Committee, and 
 to give evidence, when summoned for that pur- 
 pose, or shall refuse to produce any paper, book, 
 public record, or proceeding, in their possession 
 or control, to said Committee, when so required, 
 or shall make any disturbance where said Com- 
 mittee is [are] holding their sittings, said Commit- 
 tee may, if they see fit, cause any such person to 
 be arrested by said assistant serjeant-at-arms, 
 and brought before this House, to be dealt with 
 as for contempt. 
 
 "■ Resolved juriher, That, for the pui-pose of 
 defraying the expenses of said Commission, there 
 be, and hereby is, appropriated the sum of tea 
 thousand dollars, to be paid out of the contingent 
 fund of this House. 
 
 " Resolved further, That the President of the 
 United States be, and is hereby, requested to 
 furnish to said Committee, should they be met 
 with any serious opposition by bodies of lawless 
 men in the discharge of their duties aforesaid, 
 such aid from any military force as may at the 
 time be convenient to them, as may be necessary 
 to remove such opposition, and enable said Com- 
 mittee, without molestation, to proceed with their 
 labors. 
 
 " Resolved further, That when said Committee 
 shall have completed said investigation, they 
 report all the evidence so collected to this House." 
 
 This proposition the House adopted — 
 Yeas 101 ; Nays 93 — as follows : 
 
 YEAS — For the proposed Investigation: 
 
 Maine — Samuel P. Benson, Ebenezer Knowl- 
 ton, Israel Washburn, Jr. — 3. 
 
 New-Hampshire — Aaron H. Cragin, James 
 Pike— 2. 
 
 Massachusetts— James Buffinton, Anson 
 Burlingame, Calvin C. Chaiiee, Linus B. Comins, 
 William S. Damrell, Timothy Davis, Robert 
 B. Hall, Chauncey L. Knapp, Mark Trafton 
 — f>. 
 
 Rhode Island — Nathaniel B. Durfee — 1. 
 
 Connecticut — Ezra Clark, Jr., Sidney Dean, 
 William W. Welch, John Woodrufi— 4. 
 
 Vermont — James Meaeham, Justin S. Mor- 
 rill— a. 
 
 New-York — Henry Bennett, Bayard Clarke, 
 Samuel Dickson, Edward Dodd, Francis S. Ed- 
 wards, Thomas T. Flagler, William A. Gilbert, 
 Amos P. Granger, Solomon G. Haven, Thomas 
 R. Horton, Jonas A. Hughston, William II. Kel- 
 sey, Rufus H. King, Orsamus B. Matteson, 
 Andrew Z. McCarty, Killiau Miller, Edwin B. 
 Morgan, Ambrose S. MuiTay, Andrew Oliver, 
 John M. Parker, Benjamin Pringle, Russell 
 Sage, George A. Simmons, Francis E. Spinner, 
 James S. T. Stranahan, Abram Wakeman — 
 26. 
 
 New-Jersev — Isaiah D. Clawson, James 
 Bishop, George R. Robbins — 3. 
 
 Pennsylvania — John Allison, David Bar- 
 clay, Samuel C. Bradshaw, James H. Camp- 
 bell, John Covode, John Dick, John R. Edie, 
 Galusha A. Grow, John Hickman, Jonathan 
 Knight, David Ritchie, Anthony E. Roberts, 
 Job It. Tyson, Lemuel Todd— 14. 
 
 Ohio — Edward Ball, Philemon Bliss, Lewis 
 D. Campbell, Timothy C. Day, Jonas R. Emrie, 
 Samuel Galloway, Joshua R. Giddings, Aaron 
 Harlan, John Scott Harrison, Valentine B. 
 Horton, Benjamin F. Leitcr, Oscar F. Moore, 
 Richard Mott, Matthias H. Nichols, William R. 
 Siipp, John Sherman, Edward Wade, Cooper K. 
 Watson— 18. 
 
 Indiana — Lucien Barbour, Samuel Brenton, 
 Schuyler Colfax, William Cumback, George G. 
 Dunn, Daniel Mace, John U. Pettit, Harvey D. 
 Scott— 8. 
 
 Illinois — James Knox, Jesse O. Norton, 
 
THE KANSAS-NEBRASKA STRUGGLE. 
 
 119 
 
 Elihu B. Wnshburne, Jaiiio:) II. Woodworth — 
 4. 
 
 Michigan— \\'iirmin A. Howard, Diivid S. 
 Wiilbrid-e, Hi'iiiv Waldn.n— 3. 
 
 Wisconsin— ciiiulou BilliugLurst, Cudwallii- 
 der C. Wiislil)uriio — 12. 
 
 Iowa— Augustus C. Hall, Janioa Thoring- 
 tou—2. 
 
 'IV.tal Yeivs, 101. 
 
 NAYS — Against the Investigation : 
 
 Maisk — Tliiiniiis J. D. Fuller — I. 
 
 OriiKit Nr.wKN(ii,ANn Statks — Xoiir. 
 
 NewVouk— .Iiiliii K<lly, William W. Vulk, 
 John \Vlicoli'r, Tliunuis A'. Whitnri/ —A. 
 
 Nkw Jeksky — C}0(>r;,'e Vail — 1. 
 
 Pennsylvania— John Cud walader, Thomas B. 
 Florencx', J. (Jluney Jones — 3. 
 
 C)ino — Xoi(i\ Wisconsin — None. 
 
 Indiana — William H. English, Smith Miller 
 
 2. 
 
 Michigan— George W. Peck — 1. 
 
 Illinois — Jumes C. Allen, Thomas L. Harris, 
 Samuel S. Marsbull, William A. Richardson — 
 4. 
 
 Caluounia- Philemoa T. Herbert— I. 
 
 Iowa — None. 
 
 Total from Free States, 17. 
 
 Delaware — None. 
 
 Mauvland — Thonins F. Bowie, Henry W. 
 Davis, Hfitry IV. Hojj'man, J. Morri.^on Har- 
 ris, James B. Ricaud, Jumes A. Stewart — 6. 
 
 Virginia — Thomas S. Bocock, John S. Car- 
 lisle, John S. Cas^kio, Henry A. Ednnindson, 
 Charles J. Faulkner, William O, Go-.ile, Zede- 
 kiah Kidweli, John Lotclier, Fayette M<Mullen, 
 John !S. Millson, Paulus Powell, William .Sniith 
 —1-2. 
 
 North Carolina — Louis O'B. Branch, Thom- 
 as L. Clingman, Burton Crnige, Robert T. 
 Paine, Thomas Ruliin, Warren Wiuslow — 6. 
 
 South Carolina- William Aiken, William 
 W. Boyec. Preston S. Brooks, John McQueen, 
 James L. Orr — 5. 
 
 Georgia — Howell Cobb, Martin J. Crawford, 
 John H. Lumpkin, James L. Seward, Alex. H. 
 Stephens, Robert P. Trippe, Hiram Warner — 
 
 Alabama — W. R. W. Cobb, James F. Dow- 
 dell, Sampson W. Harris, George 8. Houston, 
 Eli S. Shorter, WiUiam R. Smitli, Percy Walker 
 
 Mississippi— Ilendley S.Bennett, WiUiam A. 
 Lake, ,Jolin A. Quitmim — 3. 
 
 Louisiana — Tlios. G. Davidson, George Eus- 
 tis, J/-., John JI. Sandidge, Miles Tiij'lor-— 4. 
 
 Florida — Augustus E. Maxwell— 1. 
 
 Texas— Peter H. Bell, Lemuel D. Evans— 2. 
 
 Kentucky- Henry C. Burnett, John P. 
 Campbell, Leauiler M. Cox, John M. Elliot, 
 Alex. K. Marshall, Humphrei/ Marshall, Samuel 
 F. Sirope, Albert G. Talbott, William L. Under- 
 mood — 9. 
 
 Tennessee— George W.Jones, Charles Ready, 
 John H. Savnge, Samuel A. Smith, William H. 
 tineed, Albert G. Wutkius, John V. Wright, 
 Felix K. Zut 1 1 coffer— 8. 
 
 Missouri — Samuel Caruthers, Luther M. 
 Kennetf, James J. Lindlcy, Jlordecui Oliver, 
 John S. Phelps, Gilchrist Porter— 6. 
 
 A R KANSAS — None. 
 
 [Fillmore men in Italics; Buchanan men voting 
 Yi'a 111 SMALL Capitals; Anli-.Nobraska Yeas and 
 Buchauau Nays in Komau.] 
 
 So the resolution prevailed, and Messrs. 
 WiLLi.vM A. Howard of Michigan, John 
 Shekmax of Ohio, and Mordecai Oliver 
 
 of Missouri, were appoint**] the Committoo 
 of Iiive.sti<^ation thereby required. 
 
 These geiitli'iiifii iiroccedcd to Kansas, 
 and spent several weeks tiu.re in takinj,' tes- 
 timony as to the elections, etc., wliicli had 
 taken place in tliut Territory. 'I'lie testi- 
 mony thus taken forms a volume of nearly 
 twelve hundred larj^e and closely-printed 
 pages, the Kuhstanee of which was summed 
 up on their return by the majuritv (Messrs. 
 Howard and Sherman), in the folfuwing 
 
 REPORT ON THE OUTRAC5ES 
 KANSAS. 
 
 IN 
 
 A journal of proeecdinga, including sundry com- 
 munieations mado to and by tlii! Committee 
 was kept, a copy of which is herewith subniittod. 
 The testimony also is herewith submitted ; a 
 coj)y of it has been made and arran;,'e(l. not ac- 
 cording to the order in wliieii il waf takmi, but so 
 as to jireseiit, as clearly as possible, a consecu- 
 tive history of events \n the Territorj', from ita 
 organization to tho PJth day of March, a. d. 
 185G. 
 
 Your Committee deem it their duty to state, oa 
 briefly as possible, the principal facts proven be- 
 fore them. When the act to organize the Ter- 
 ritory of Kansas was passed on day of 
 
 May, 18.")4,, the greater portion of its eastern bor- 
 der was included in Indian reservations not open 
 for settlement, and there wore but few white set- 
 tlers in any portion of the Territory. Its Indian 
 population was rapidly decreasing, while many 
 emigrants from different partsof our country were 
 anxiously waiting the extinction of the Indian 
 title, and the establishment of a Territorial Gov- 
 ernnient, to seek new homes in its fertile prai- 
 ries. It cannot be doubted that if its condition 
 as a free Territory had been left undisturbed 
 by Congress its settlement would have heea 
 rapid, jjeaeeful, and prosperous. It.s climate, 
 soil, and its easy access to the older settlements 
 would have mado it the favored eourrefor the 
 tide of emigration constantly flowing to the West, 
 and by this time it would have been admitted 
 into the Union as a Free State, without the least 
 sectional excitement. If so organized, none but 
 the kindest feeling could have existed lietween it 
 and the adjoining State. Their mutual intcrestj 
 and intercourse, instead of, as now, endangering 
 tho harmony of the Union, would have strength- 
 ened the ties of national brotherhood. The tes- 
 timony clearly shows, that before the i.roposition 
 to repeal the Missouri Compromise was inti'O- 
 duced into Congress, the people of western Mis- 
 souri appeared indiftcrent to the prohibition of 
 Slavery m the Territory, and neither asked nor 
 desired its repeal. 
 
 When, however, the prohibition was removed 
 by the action of Congress, the aspect of affairs 
 entirely changed. The whole country was agi- 
 tated, by the reopenin^T of a controversy which 
 conservative men in difterent sections hoped had 
 been settled, in every State and Territory, by 
 some law beyond the danger of repeal. The ex- 
 citement which has always aceoni|)anied the 
 discussion of the Slavery (juestion was greatly in- 
 creased, by the hope on the one hand t)f extend- 
 ing Slavery into a region from which it had been 
 e.xcluded by law, and on the other by a sense of 
 wrong done by what was regarded as a dishonor 
 of a national compact. This exeilement was natu- 
 rally transferred into tho border counties of 
 Missouri and the Territory as settlers favoring 
 free or Slavo institutions moved into it. A new 
 diflieully soon occurred. Diflcreiit eoiistructiona 
 were put upon the organic law. It was contend- 
 ed by the one party that tlie right to hold Slave* 
 
120 
 
 THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 
 
 in the Territory existed, and that neither the peo- 
 ple uor the Territorial Legislature could prohibit 
 Slavery — iliut that power was alone possessed by 
 the people wln-ii they were authorized to form a 
 State govi'inment. It was eontended that the 
 removal of I he restriction virtually established 
 Slavery in the Territory. This clami was urged 
 by many jironiinont men in western Missouri, 
 who activi'ly engaged in the affairs of the Terri- 
 tory. Evi'ry uiovemeut, of whatever character, 
 which tended to establish free institutions, was 
 regarded as an interference with their rights. 
 
 Within a few days after the organic law pass- 
 ed, and as soon as its passage could be known 
 on the border, leading citizens of Missouri cross- 
 ed into tlie Territory ,"held squatter meetings and 
 tlu-n rc-turneil to their homes. Among their reso- 
 lutions are the following : 
 
 "That we will afford protection to no Aholitionist as 
 a settler of this Territory." 
 
 " That we recognize the institution of Slavery as al- 
 ready existing in this Territory, and advise slavehold- 
 ers to introduce their property as early as possible." 
 
 Similar resolutions were passed in various 
 parts of the Territory, and by meetings in seve- 
 ral counties of Missouri. Thus the first effect 
 of the repe.-d of the restriction against Slavery 
 was to substitute the resolves of squatter meet- 
 ings, composed almost exclusively of citizens of 
 a single Stale, for the deliberate action of Con- 
 gress, acquiesced in for thirty-five years. 
 
 This unlawful interference has been continued 
 in every important event in the history of the 
 Territory ; every election has been controlled not 
 by the actual settlers, but by citizens of Mis- 
 souri, and as a consequence every ofJicer in the 
 Territory, from constables to legislators, except 
 those apjjohited by the President, owe their posi- 
 tions to non-resident voters. None have been 
 elected by the settlers, and your Committee have 
 been unable to find that any political power 
 whatever, however unimportant, has been exer- 
 cised by the people of the Territory. 
 
 In October, a. d. 1854, Gov. A. H. Reeder 
 and theotlier officers appointed by the President 
 arrived in the Territory. Settlers from all parts 
 of the country were moving in in great uumoers, 
 making their claims and building their cabins. 
 About the same time, and before any election was 
 or could be held in the Territory, a secret politi- 
 cal society was formed in the State of Missouri 
 (1). It was known by different names, such as 
 " Social Band,'' " Friends' Society," " Blue 
 Lodge," '■ The Sons of theSouth." Its members 
 were bound together by secret oaths, and they 
 had passwords, signs, and grips by which they 
 were known to each other. Penalties were im- 
 posed for violating the rules and secrets of the 
 Order. Written minutes were kept of the pro- 
 ceedings of the Lodges, and the different Lodges 
 were connected together by an effective organi- 
 zation. It embraced great numbers of the citi- 
 zens of Missouri, and was extended into other 
 Slave States and into the Territory. Its avowed 
 purpose was not only to extend Slavery into Kan- 
 Bas. but also into other Territory of the United 
 States, and to form a union of all the friends of 
 that institution. Its plan of operating was to or- 
 ganize and send men to vote at the elections in 
 Bie Territory, to collect money to pay their ex- 
 penses, and, if necessary, to protect them in vot- 
 ing. It also proposed to induce Pro-Slavery men 
 to emigrate into the Territory, to aid and sustain 
 them while there, and to elect none to office but 
 those friendly to their views. This dangerous 
 society was controlled by men who avowed their 
 purpose to extend Slavery into the Territory at 
 all hazards, and was altogether the most effective 
 
 (1) Jordan Davidson, J. C. Prince, John Scott, J. H. 
 Striugfellow. 
 
 instrument in organizing the subsequent armed 
 invasions and forays. In its Lodges in Missouri 
 the affairs of Kansas were discussed, the force 
 necessary to control the election was divided in- 
 to bands, and leaders selected, means were col- 
 lected, and signs and badges were agreed upon. 
 While the groat body of the actual settlers of the 
 Territory were relying upon the rights secured 
 to them by the organic law, and had formed no 
 organization or combination whatever even of a 
 party character, this conspiracy against their 
 rights was gathering strength in a neighboring 
 State, and would have been sufficient at their first 
 election to have overpowered them, if they had 
 been xmited to a man. 
 
 Your Committee had great difficulty in elicit- 
 ing the proof of the details in regard to this secret 
 society. One witness, member of the legislative 
 council, refused to answer questions in reference 
 to it (2). Another declined to answer fnlly, be- 
 cause to do so would result to his injury (3). 
 Others could or would only answer as to the gene- 
 ral purposes of the Society, but sufficient is dis- 
 closed in the testimony to show the influence it 
 had in controlling the elections in the Territory. 
 
 The first election was for a Delegate to Con- 
 gress. It was appointed for the 29th of Novem- 
 ber, 1854. The Governor divided the Territory 
 into seventeen Election-Districts ; appointed 
 Judges and prescribed proper rules for the elec- 
 tion. In the 1st, Illd, Vlllth, IXth, Xth, Xllth, 
 Xlllth, and XVIIth Districts there appears to 
 have been but little if any fraudulent voting. 
 
 The election in the lid District was held at the 
 village of Douglas, nearly fifty miles from the 
 Missouri line. On the day before the election, 
 large companies of men came into the district in 
 wagons and on horseback, and declared that they 
 were from the State of Missouri, and were going 
 to Douglas to vote. On the morning of the 
 election they gathered around the house where 
 the election was to be held. Two of the Judges 
 appointed by the Governor did not appear, and 
 other Judges were elected by the crowd. All 
 then voted. In order to make a pretense of 
 right to vote, some persons of the company kept 
 a pretended register of squatter claims, on which 
 any one could enter his name and then assert he 
 had a claim in the Territory. A citizen of the 
 district who was himself a candidate for Delegate 
 to Congress, was told by one of the strangers, 
 that he would be abused and probably killed if he 
 challenged a vote (4). He was seized by the collar, 
 called a d^-d Abolitionist, and was compelled to 
 seek protection in the room with the Judges. 
 About the time the polls were closed, these 
 strangers mounted their horses and got into their 
 wagons and cried out — 
 
 " All aboard for Westport and Kansas City." 
 A number were recognized as residents of Mis- 
 som'i, and among them was Samuel H. Woodson, 
 a leading lawyer of Independence. Of those 
 whose names are on the poll-books, 35 were resi- 
 dent settlers and 226 were nonresidents. 
 
 The election in the IVth District was held at 
 Dr. Chapman's, over 40 miles from the Missouri 
 State line. It was a thinly-settled region, con- 
 taining but 47 voters in February, 1855, when 
 the census was taken. On the day before the 
 election, from 100 to 150 citizens of Cass and 
 Jackson Counties, Mo., came into this district, 
 declaring their purpose to vote, and that they 
 were bound to make Kansas a Slave State, if 
 they did it at the point of the sword (5). Persons 
 of the party on the way drove each a stake in the 
 ground and called it a claim — and in one case 
 several names were put on one stake. The par- 
 ty of strangers camped all night near where the 
 
 (2) W. P. Richardson. (3) 0. C. Prince. 
 A. Wakefield. (5) Peter Bassinger. 
 
 (4) John 
 
THE KANSAS-NEBRASKA STRUGGLE. 
 
 121 
 
 election wns to bo held, and in the mornine: wore 
 at tho olection-pDlls and voted. Ono of tiieir 
 party j^ot <lruiik, mid to tji't rid of Dr. t'liiipmuii, 
 a jud-^'o of tho clfctioii, thoy Hont for liim l<i cunie 
 and soo (V sick umii, mid in iiirt aliHoiice lilk'd liin 
 plnoo witli aiiDiii.'r jud^o, wlio wiis nnt sworn. 
 They <lid not deny or conooal tiiat tiu'y w< re re- 
 Bidonts of Mirttiouii, and many of tiicni wero re- 
 cognized as Hucli hy otiior.-<. Tlioy dccliin-d tlmt 
 tliey were tiound to niiike Kansas a ^SIave State. 
 Tiiey insisted upon tlieir rigiit to vote in tiie Ter- 
 ritory if thoy were in it one hour. After tlie elee- 
 tion "iliey a^ain returned to tlu-ir homes in MIh- 
 bouri, canipiuf^ over nijjlit on tho way. 
 
 We find uiHiii the poll-books llii names ; of 
 these not over 'M resided in tlio Territory, I'U wero 
 uon-residenta ((>). 
 
 Hut few settlers attended the election in the 
 Vth District, tho District beiiifj largo and tlie set- 
 tlement scattered. 82 votes were cast ; of these 
 between 120 and 30 were settlers (7), and tiio resi- 
 due Were citizens of Missouri. Tlioy passed into 
 the Territory (8) by way of the Santa Fo road 
 and by the residence of Dr. Westfall, wiio tlien 
 lived on tlio western line of Missouri (!>). Some 
 little excitement arose at tho polls as to the legal- 
 ity of their voting, but tiiey did vote for (ieu. 
 Whitlield, and said they intended to make Kan- 
 sas a Slave State — and that they had claims in 
 the Territory. Judge Teazle, judge of the Court 
 in Jackson County, Missouri, was present, but 
 did not vote (9). He said ho did not intend to 
 vote, but came to sec that others voted. After 
 tho election, the Missourians returned the way 
 thev came. 
 
 Iho election in the Vlth District was held at 
 Fort Scott, in tho southeast part of the Terri- 
 tory and near the Missouri line. A party of 
 about one hundred men, from Cass and the conn- 
 ties in Missouri south of it, went into tho Terri- 
 tory, traveling about 4.j miles, most of them 
 with their wagons and tents, and camping out. 
 They appeared at the place of election. Some 
 attempts were made to swear them, but two of 
 the Judges were prevailed upon not to do so, and 
 none were sworn, and as many as chose voted. 
 There were but few resident voters at the polls. 
 The selllement was sparse — about 25 actual set- 
 tlers voted out of 105 votes cast, leaving 80 ille- 
 gal votes (10). After the voting was over the 
 Missourians went to their wagons and commenced 
 leaving for home. 
 
 The most sliameless fraud practiced upon the 
 rights of the settlers at this election was in the 
 Vllth District. It is a remote .settlement about 
 75 miles from the Jlissouri line, and contained in 
 February, a. u. 1855, three months afterwards, 
 when the census was taken, but 53 voters; and 
 vet the poll-books show that G04 votes were cast. 
 The election was held at the house of Frey Mc- 
 Gee, at a place called " 110." But few of the 
 actual settlers were present at tho pidls (11). A 
 ■witness who formerly resided in Jackson County, 
 Mo., and was well acquainted with the citizens 
 of that county (12), says that ho saw a great 
 many wagons and tents at the place of election, 
 and many individuals he knew from Jackson 
 County. He was in their tents and conversed 
 witli some of them, and they told him they iiad 
 come with the intention of voting. He went to 
 the polls intending to vote for Flennckin, and 
 his ticket being of a difl'crent color from the rest, 
 his vote was challenged by Frey Mctiee, who 
 had been appointed one of the Judges but did 
 not serve. Lemuel Kalstone, a citizen of Mis- 
 souri, was acting in his place. The witness then 
 challenged the vote of a young man by tho 
 
 (6) Thomas Hopkins, Rubin Hacket, Porry Fuller, 
 John F. Lucas. (7) James W. Wilson. (S) Dr. B. C. 
 Westfall. (9) J. W. Wilson. (10) S. C. Prince. (11) 
 Matthias A. Jieed. (12) Wm. F. Johnstone. 
 
 name of Nolan, whom he knew to reside in Jack- 
 son County. Finally the thing was liuslied up 
 MS the witness had a good many friends thero 
 from that eoiinly, and it might lead to a li;rht if 
 he challenged any more vote."". Holh voted and 
 he then Went down to their camp, lie thero saw 
 many of his old aei[uaintaiice8 n-hoin he knew 
 lia<l voted at tho election in August previous in 
 Missouri, and who still resided in that State. 
 Hy a careful eom])arison of tho poll lists with tho 
 census rolls, we liiid but 12 names on the poll- 
 bo(dc who wero voters when the census was 
 taken three months afterwards, and we are sat- 
 islied that not nioro lliaii 20 legal votes could 
 have been polled at that (dection. Tho only re- 
 sitlonts who nw, known to have voted are named 
 by tlio witiu^ss, mid aro 13 in number — thus 
 leaving Mi illegal votes cast in a remote dis- 
 trict, wliert^ tho settlers within many miles were 
 acipiainted with each other. 
 
 The total number of white inhabitants in tho 
 Xlth District in the nioiith of February, a. d. 
 1855, including men, women, and children, was 
 3(5, of whom 21 were voters — yet the poll-lists in 
 this District show that 215 votes were cast at 
 this election. For reasons stated hereafter in 
 regard to the election on the 30th of March, your 
 Committee were unable to procure the attend- 
 ance of witnesses from this District. From tho 
 records it clearly appears that the votes cast 
 could not have been by lawful resident voters. 
 The best test, in tho absence of direct proof, by 
 which to ascertain the number of legal votes 
 cast, is by a comparison of the census-roll with 
 tho poll-book — by which it ap{)oars that but 7 
 resident settlers voted, and 238 votes were ille- 
 gally and fraudulently given. 
 
 The election in the XlVth District was held 
 at the house of Benjamin Harding, a few miles 
 from the town of St. Joseph, JMissouri. Before 
 the polls were opened, a large number of citi- 
 zens of Buchanan County, Jhssouri, and among 
 them many of the leading citizens of St. Joseph, 
 were at the place of voting, and made a majori- 
 ty of the Company present. At the time ap- 
 pointed by the (iovernor for opening the polls, 
 two of the Juilges were not there, and it becaraa 
 the duty of the legal voters present to select 
 other Judges. The Judge who was present (13) 
 suggested the name of Mr. Waterson as one of 
 the Judges — but the crowd voted down the pro- 
 position. Some discussion then arose as to the 
 right of non-residents to vote forjudges, during 
 which Mr. Bryant was nouunated and elected 
 by the cro\vd. Some one nominated Col. John 
 Scott as the other Judge, who was then and is 
 now a resident of St. Joseph. At that time ho 
 was the City Attorni'y of that place, and so con- 
 tinued until this Spring, but he claimed that the 
 night before he had come to the house of Mr. 
 Bryant, and had engaged boarding for a month, 
 and considered himself a resident of Kansas on 
 that ground. The Jiulges appointed by tho 
 Governor refused to put the nomination of Col. 
 Scott to vote, because ho was not a resident. 
 After some discussion. Judge Leonard, a citizen 
 of Missouri, stepped forward and put the vote 
 himself; and Mr. Scott was declared by him as 
 elected by the crowd, and served as a Judge of 
 Election that day. After the election was over 
 he returned to St. Joseph, and never since has 
 rcxidcd in the Territory. It is manifest that this 
 election of a non-resident lawyer as a Judge was 
 imposed upon tho settlers by tho citizens of tho 
 State. When tho board of Judges was thus 
 completed, tho voting proceeded, but the eftect of 
 the rule adopted by the Judges allowed many, if 
 not a majority of tlie non-residents, to vote. They 
 olaimed that thoir presence on tho ground, es* 
 
 (13) Benjamin Harding, 
 
122 
 
 THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 
 
 pecially when they had a claim in the Territory, 
 gave them a rifcl't to vote — under tliat construc- 
 tion of the law tliey readily, when required, swore 
 they were " residents" and then voted. By this 
 evasion, as near as your Committee can ascer- 
 tain from the testimony, as many as 50 illegal 
 votes were cast in this District out of 153, the 
 whole number iiolled. 
 
 The election in the XVth District was held at 
 Penseman's, on Stranger Creek, a few miles 
 from Weston, IMissouri. On the day of the elec- 
 tion a large number of citizens of Platte County, 
 but chiefly from Weston and Platte City, came 
 in small parties, in wagons and on horseback, to 
 the polls. Among them were several leading 
 citizens of that town, and the names of many of 
 them are given by the witnesses (14). They 
 generally insisted upon Iheii- right to vole, on the 
 ground that every man having a claim in the 
 Territory could vote, no matter where he lived 
 (15). All voted who chose. No man was chal- 
 lenged or sworn. Some of the residents did not 
 vote. The purpose of the strangers in voting was 
 declared to be to make Kansas a Slave State 
 (16). We find by the poll-books that 306 votes 
 were cast — of these we find but 57 are on the 
 census-rolls as legal voters in February follow- 
 ing. Your Committee is satisfied from the testi- 
 mony that not over 100 of those who voted had 
 any right so to do, leaving at least !206 illegal 
 votes cast. 
 
 The election in the XVIth District was held at 
 Leavenworth. It was then a small village of 
 three or four hout^es, located on the Delaware 
 Reservation (17). There were but comparative- 
 ly few settlers then in the district, but the num- 
 ber rapidly increased afterward. On the day 
 before and on the day of the election, a great 
 many citizens of Platte, Clay, and Ray counties 
 crossed the river — most of them camping in tents 
 
 and wagons about the town, " like a camp meet- 
 ing" (IS). They were in companies or messes of 
 ten to fifteen in each, and numbered in all several 
 hundred. They brought their own provisions 
 and cooked it themselves, and were generally 
 armed. Many of them were known by the wit- 
 nesses, and their names given, and their names 
 are found upon the poll-books. Among them 
 were several persons of influence where they re- 
 sided in Missouri, who held, or had held, high 
 oflSeial positions in that State. They claimed to 
 be residents of the Territory, from the fact that 
 they were then present, and insisted upon the 
 right to vote, and did vote. Their avowed pur- 
 pose in doing so was to make Kansas a Slave 
 State. These strangers crowded around the 
 polls, and it was with great difficulty that the 
 settlers could get to the polls (19). One resident 
 attempted to get to the polls in the afternoon, but 
 was crovvded and pulled back. He then went 
 outside of the crowd and hurrahed for Gen. 
 Whitfield, and some of those who did not know 
 him said, " that's a good Pro-Slavery man," and 
 lifted him up over their heads so that he crawl- 
 ed on their heads and put in his vote. A person 
 who saw from the color of his ticket that it was 
 not for Gen. Whitfield, cried out, " He is a 
 damned Abolitionist — let him down;" and they 
 dropped him (120). Others were passed to the 
 polls in the same way, and others crowded up 
 in the best way they could. After this mock- 
 ery of an election was over, the non-residents 
 returned to their homes in Missouri. Of the 
 312 votes cast, not over 150 were by legal 
 voters. 
 
 The following abstract exhibits the whole num- 
 ber of votes at this election, for each candidate ; 
 the number of legal and illegal votes cast in 
 each district ; and the number of legal votes in 
 each district in February following : 
 
 ABSTRACT OF CENSUS AND ELECTION OF NOV. 29, 1854. 
 
 I 
 
 II 
 in 
 IV 
 
 V 
 
 TI 
 
 VII 
 
 VIII 
 
 IX 
 X 
 
 XI 
 
 XII 
 
 XIII 
 
 XIV 
 
 XV 
 XVI 
 
 xva 
 
 XVIII 
 
 Place of Votinq. 
 
 Lawrence 
 
 Douglas 
 
 Sliosou's — - — .- 
 Dr. Chapman's — 
 
 H. Sherman's 
 
 Fort Scott 
 
 "116" 
 
 C"uncil Criove 
 
 Re\nold'8 
 
 Big Blue Cross... 
 
 Marvsville 
 
 Warton's Store... 
 
 Osawkie 
 
 Harding's ... . 
 
 Penseno . 
 
 Leavenworth 
 
 Shawnee Agency 
 
 Total 2268 i 249 
 
 46 
 235 
 
 40 
 140 
 
 63 
 105 
 697 
 
 16 
 
 9 
 
 2 
 
 237 
 
 31 
 
 69 
 130 
 267 
 232 
 
 49 
 
 300 
 
 261 
 
 47 
 
 161 
 
 82 
 
 105 
 
 t04 
 
 16 
 
 40 
 
 37 
 
 245 
 
 41 
 
 71 
 
 153 
 
 306 
 
 312 
 
 62 
 
 28 
 
 305 I 21 I 2871 
 
 369 
 
 199 
 
 101 
 
 47 
 
 442 
 
 253 
 
 63 
 
 39 
 
 36 
 
 63 
 
 24 
 
 78 
 
 96 
 
 334 
 
 3C8 
 
 385 
 
 50 
 
 300 
 35 
 47 
 30 
 30 
 25 
 2 
 16 
 40 
 37 
 7 
 41 
 71 
 103 
 100 
 150 
 
 1114 
 
 131 
 52 
 80 
 
 584 
 
 50 
 206 
 162 
 
 1729 
 
 Thus your Committee find that in this the first 
 election in the Territory, a very large majority 
 of the votes were cast by citizens of the State of 
 
 (14) J. B. Crano, Frances M. Peter, John W. 
 How, Phineas Skinner, H. B. Gale. (15) .T. B. Crane. 
 (18) H. B. Gale. (17) George H. Keller, and John 
 A-LuDday. 
 
 Missouri, in violation of the organic law of 
 tlie rerritory. Of the legal votes oast. General 
 Whitfield received a plurality, llie settlers took 
 but little interest in the election, not one-half of 
 
 (18-) Geo. H. Keller. (19) John A. Lunday, L. L. 
 Easdreau. (20) John A. Lunday. 
 
THE KANSAS-NEBRASKA STRUGGLK 
 
 12S 
 
 them voting. This mny be accouiitcil for, from 
 the faot fhiit tlie xcttlunients were scutti rcil ovi-r 
 a great txliiit — lliiit (In- toriii of llio l)<li'},'iilc' 
 to bo flfcti'il WHU bliorl — iiinl that tliv iiiif(<lii)ii 
 of Frei' and Slavo iiistitutioiis was uol goiieral- 
 ly rojjardid by llitiii a8 di.stiiii'tly at issue. Un- 
 der tliesi- circunistanred a >y.slenialie invaHion 
 from an adjoiniug Statt , by whicli larj,'e number^ 
 of illegal voli-s wore car<t in niiiote and siiar.si 
 Beltlenu-nt« for tlio avowed purpoae of ixt<-nd 
 iug Sluvfiy into tU« Territory, even tliough il 
 
 did not change tlio result of the election, woa a 
 
 irime of great ningnilude. IIm immediate effect 
 wan to finllier exeiti- the people of the Northern 
 Staled — induce acl^^ of rettdiatiun, and e-vaspo- 
 lati' ilio aeliial Hettlurii ugainut their neighbors 
 in iMi^^^o^^■i. 
 
 In January and February, A. n. lHr>.'), the 
 (Jov< riior i-auMed an enumeration to bo tak- 
 en of the inhabitant:* and ((ualitied votern in 
 the Territory, an abtttract of whieh is hero 
 given: 
 
 ABSTRACT OF CENSUS RETURNS. 
 
 By 
 
 DrSTBlOTS 
 
 m 
 
 a 
 
 B 
 
 
 ■a. 
 
 5' 
 3 
 
 sT " 
 
 I ° 
 
 ! S- 
 . » 
 
 I <^ 
 
 1 2. 
 
 ! a. 
 
 887 
 508 
 215 
 16!) 
 1385 
 791 
 117 
 
 76 
 
 66 
 108 
 
 30 
 109 
 273 
 301 
 840 
 1042 
 143 
 
 97 
 
 3 
 s 
 5 
 a- 
 
 76 
 19 
 12 
 
 2 
 22 
 12 
 
 1 
 
 7 
 12 
 23 
 
 6 
 37 
 
 9 
 46 
 16 
 104 
 
 5 
 
 1 
 
 <r> 
 
 3 
 
 r> 
 
 1 
 1 
 
 27 
 11 
 1 
 13 
 14 
 
 1 
 14 
 
 1 
 15 
 48 
 
 4 
 
 Si 
 
 7 
 
 6 
 
 1 
 
 26 
 
 11 
 
 1 
 
 10 
 
 3 
 
 7 
 14 
 35 
 15 
 33 
 23 
 
 £ 
 
 962 
 
 619 
 
 252 
 
 177 
 
 141)7 
 
 810 
 
 118 
 
 83 
 
 86 
 
 151 
 
 86 
 
 144 
 
 284 
 
 1167 
 
 873 
 
 118S 
 
 150 
 
 99 
 
 C VV. l!;ibcock 
 
 I 
 
 II 
 III 
 
 IV 
 
 V 
 
 VI 
 
 VII 
 
 VIII 
 
 IX 
 
 X 
 
 XI 
 
 XII 
 
 XIII 
 
 XIV 
 
 XV 
 
 XVI 
 
 XVII 
 
 XVIII 
 
 02:! 
 
 31(3 
 
 101 
 
 lOS 
 
 824 
 
 49: 
 
 82 
 
 56 
 
 61 
 
 97 
 
 33 
 
 104 
 
 168 
 
 655 
 
 492 
 
 708 
 
 91 
 
 59 
 
 5128 
 
 203 
 
 91 
 
 71 
 
 5S3 
 
 318 
 
 36 
 
 27 
 
 25 
 
 54 
 
 3 
 
 40 
 
 116 
 
 512 
 
 3S1 
 
 475 
 
 59 
 
 40 
 
 3373 
 
 369 
 
 19" 
 
 101 
 
 47 
 
 442 
 
 253 
 
 53 
 
 39 
 
 36 
 
 t3 
 
 24 
 
 78 
 
 96 
 
 334 
 
 308 
 
 3^6 
 
 ^o 
 
 28 
 
 2905 
 
 4.^9 
 
 237 
 
 112 
 
 97 
 
 724 
 
 418 
 
 60 
 
 28 
 
 31 
 
 61 
 
 5 
 
 35 
 
 145 
 
 448 
 514 
 54 
 51 
 
 
 T W t'liyes . 
 
 
 
 
 J 11 McClurc — 
 
 
 
 
 
 B. H. Tiviiaibly — 
 
 H B Jolly — 
 
 Albert IWed 
 
 11 B .lolly 
 
 
 Alex. S. Joliuson 
 
 Total 
 
 3469 
 
 7161 
 
 400 
 
 151 
 
 242 
 
 J501 
 
 On the same day the cen.sus was completed, 
 the Gov'.rnor issued his I'roelnmatiou for an 
 election to bo held on the 30lh of March, A. D. 
 1855, for Members of the Legislative Assembly 
 of the Territory. It prescribed the boundaries 
 of Districts ; the jdaccs for polls ; the names of 
 Judj^es ; the appointment of members ; and re- 
 cited the qualitication of voters. If it had been 
 observed, a just and fair election would have 
 reflected the will of the people of the Territory. 
 Before the election, false and inflammatory ru- 
 mors were busily eirci\lated amoMg the people of 
 Western Missouri. The number and character of 
 the emigration then passing into the Territory 
 were grossly exaggerated and misrepresented. 
 Through the active exertions of many of its lead- 
 ing citizens, aided by the secret societies before 
 reterred to, the passions and prejudices of the 
 people of that State were greatly excited. Seve- 
 ral residents there have testified to the character 
 of the report.s circuluted among, and credited by, 
 the people. These etVorts were successful, liy 
 on organized movement, which extended from 
 Andrew County in the north to Jasper County 
 in the south, and as far eastward as Boone and 
 Colo Counties, companies of men were arranged 
 in regular parties and sent ittto every Council- 
 District in the Territory, and into every Repre- 
 scnlntivc District but one. The numbers were 
 80 distributed as to control the election in each 
 district. They went to vote and with the avowed 
 design to make Kansas a Slave State, They 
 were generally armed and ecjuipped, carried witii 
 them their own provisions and tents, and -so 
 marched into the Territory. The details of this 
 invasion from the muss of the testimony taken 
 
 by your Committee, are so voluminous that we 
 can here state but the leading facts elicited. 
 
 1st District — March 30, 1855. — Lawrence. 
 
 The company of persons who marched into 
 this District, collected in Ray, Howard, Carroll, 
 Boone, La Fayette, Randolph, Saline, and Cass 
 Counties, in the state of Missouri. Their ex- 
 penses were paid — those who could not come 
 contributing provisions, wagons, etc. (21). Pro- 
 visions were deposited, for tliose who were ex- 
 pected to come to Lawrence, in the house of 
 William Lykins, and were distributed among 
 the Missourians after they arrived there (22). 
 The evening before and the morning of the day 
 of election, about 1,01)0 men from the above 
 counties arrived at Lawrence, and encamped 
 in a ravine a short distance from town, near the 
 place of voting. They came in wagon.s — of which 
 there were over one hundred — and on horse- 
 back, under the command of Col. Samuel Young, 
 of Boone County, Missouri, and Clayborne 
 F. Jackson, of Missouri. They were armed 
 with guns, riflos, pistols, and bowie-knives, and 
 had tents, music, and flags with them (23). They 
 brought with them two uicces of arlillery (24). 
 
 (21) F. p. Vau?han. Jourdan DaTidson. (22) Wra. 
 Tate», 0. W. Bibcock. Dr. John Day. (2.{) E D. 
 Ladd. Norman Allen. \Vm Yates. Win. B. Hornsby, 
 G. W. Dietzler, 0. W. I'abcock. Lyman Allen. S N., 
 Wood, E. Cliapman, Robert Elliott, N W. Blanton. 
 Jourdau Davi.lson, \Vm. Lvon. J. B. Abbott. Ira. W, 
 Ackley. Dr. John D.iy, A. B. Wade. John M. Banks. 
 U. W. Buckley. (24) E- Chapmau, Jouidan DavidiuD. 
 
124 
 
 THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 
 
 loaded vnth. musket-balls (25). Ou their way to 
 Lawrence 8ome of them met Mr. N. li. Blanton, 
 who had been appointed one of the Judges of 
 Election by Gov. Keeder, and after learning 
 fi'om him that he considered it his duty to de- 
 maud an oath from them as to their place of re- 
 sidence, first attempted to bribe, and then threat- 
 ened him with hanging, iu order to induce him to 
 dispense with that oath. In consequence of these 
 threats, he did not appear at the polls the next 
 morning to act as Jud^e (26). 
 
 The evening before the election, while in camp, 
 the Missourians were called together at the tent 
 of Captain Claiborne P. Jackson, and speeches 
 were made to them by Col. Young and others, 
 calling for volunteers to go to other districts 
 where there were not Missourians enough to 
 control the election, and there were more at 
 Lawrence than were needed there (27). Many 
 volunteered to go, and the morning of the elec- 
 tion, several companies, from 150 to 200 men 
 each, went off to Tecumseh, Hickory Point, 
 Bloomington, and other places (28). Ou the 
 morning of the election, the Missourians came 
 over to the place of voting from their camp, in 
 bodies of one hundred at a time (29). Mr. 131an- 
 ton not appearing, another Judge was appointed 
 in his place — Col. Young claiming that, as the 
 people of the Territory had two Judges, it was 
 nothing more than right that the Missourians 
 should have the other one, to look after their in- 
 terests (30) ; and Robert E. Cummins was elect- 
 ed in Blauton's stead, because he considered 
 that every man had a right to vote if he had 
 been in the Territory but an hour (31). The Mis- 
 sourians brought their tickets with them, (32) ; 
 but not having enough, they had three hundred 
 more printed in Lawrence ou the evening before 
 and the day of election (33). They had white 
 ribbons in their button-holes to distinguish them- 
 selves from the settlers (34). 
 
 When the voting commenced, the question of 
 the legality of the vote of a Mr. Pa^e was raised. 
 Before it was decided, Col. Samuel Young stepped 
 up to the window where the votes were received, 
 and said he would settle the matter. The vote 
 of Mr. Page was withdrawn, and Col. Y'oung 
 offered to vote. He refused to take the oath 
 prescribed by the Governor, but swore he was a 
 resident of the Territory, upon which his vote 
 was received (35). He told Mr. Abbott, one of 
 the Judges, when asked if he intended to make 
 Kansas his future home, that it was none of his 
 business ; that if ho were a resident then, he 
 should ask no moi-e (36). After his vote was re- 
 cpived. Col. Young got up in the window-sill and 
 announced to the crowd that ho had been per- 
 mitted to vote, and they could all come up and 
 vote (37). He told the Judges that there was no 
 use in swearing the others, as they would all 
 swear as he had done (38). Afterthe other Judges 
 concluded to receive Col. Young's vote, Mr. Ab- 
 bott resigned as Judge of Election, and Mr. 
 Benjamin was elected m his place (39). 
 
 The polls were so much crowded until late in 
 the evening, that, for a time, when the men had 
 voted, they were obliged to get out by being 
 hoisted up on the roof of the building where the 
 election was being held, and pass out over the 
 
 (25) E. Chapman. (26) N. B. Blanton. (27) Norman 
 Allen, J. Davidson. (28) Norman Allen, Wm. Yates, 
 W. B. Hornsby, C. W. Babcock, S. N. Wood, J. David- 
 son, A. B. Wade. (29) E. D. Ladd. (30) S. N. Wood. 
 (31) R. A. Cummina. Norman Allen, S. N. Wood, C. S. 
 Pratt, J. B. Abbott. (.32) C. W. Babcock, Robert 
 Elliott. (33) Robert Elliott. (34) E. W, Dietzler. 
 (35) E. D. Ladd, Norman Allen, S, N. Wood, C. S. 
 Pratt, J. B. Abbott. (3C) Norman Allen, .1. B, Abbott. 
 (37) E. D. Ladd, Norman Allen, S. N. Wood, C. S. 
 Pratt. J. B. Abbott. (3S) C. W. Babcock, J. B. Abbott. 
 (39) 0. W. Babcock, S, N. Wood, C. S. Pratt, J. B, 
 Abbott. 
 
 house (40). Afterward a passageway through 
 the crowd was made, by two lines of men being 
 formed, through which the voters could get up 
 to the polls (41). Col. Young asked that the old 
 men be allowed to go up first and vote, as they 
 were tired with the traveling, and wanted to get 
 back to camp (42). 
 
 The Missourians sometimes came up to the 
 polls iu procession, two by two, and voted (43). 
 
 During the daj' the Missourians drove off the 
 ground some of the citizens, Mr. Stevens, Mr. 
 Bond, and Mr. Willis (44). They threatened to 
 shoot Mr. Bond, and a crowd rushed after him 
 threatening him, and as he ran from them some 
 shots were tired at him as he jumped ofi" the bank 
 of the river and made his escape (4.5). The citi- 
 zens of the town went over iu a body, late in the 
 afternoon, when the poUs had become compara- 
 tively clear, and voted (46). 
 
 Before the voting had commenced, the Mis- 
 sourians said, if the Judges appointed by the 
 Governor did not receive their votes, they would 
 choose other Judges (47). Some of them voted 
 several times, changing their hats or coats and 
 coming up to the window again (48). They said 
 they intended to vote first, and after they had 
 got through then the others could vote (4!)). 
 Some of them claimed a right to vote under the 
 organic act, from the fact that their mere pre- 
 sence in the Territory constituted them residents, 
 though they were from Wisconsin, and had homes 
 in Missouri (50). Others said they had a right 
 to vote, because Kansas belonged to Missouri, 
 and people from the east had no right to settle in 
 the Territory and vote there (51). They said they 
 came to the Territory to elect a legislature to 
 suit themselves, as the people of the Territory 
 and persons from the east and north wanted to 
 elect a legislature that would not suit them (52). 
 They said they had a right to make Kansas a 
 Slave State, because the people of the north had 
 sent persons out to make it a Free State (53). 
 Some claimed that they had heard that the Emi- 
 grant Aid Society had sent men out to be at the 
 election, and they came to offset their votes; but 
 the most of them made no such claim. Col. 
 Y'oung said he wanted the citizens to vote in 
 order to give the election some show of fairness 
 (54). The Missourians said there would be no 
 difficulty if the citizens did not interfere with 
 their voting, but they were determined to vote — 
 peaceably, if they could, but vote any how (55). 
 They said each one of them was prepared for 
 eight rounds without loading, and would go the 
 ninth round with the butcher knife (56). Some 
 of them said that by voting in the Territory, they 
 would deprive themselves of the right to vote in 
 Missouri for twelve, months afterward (57). 
 
 The Missourians began to leave the afternoon 
 of the day of election, though some did not go 
 home until the next morning (58). 
 
 In many cases, when a wagon-load had voted, 
 
 (40) E. D. Ladd, Norman Allen, C. W. Babcock, Ly- 
 man Allen, J. M. Banks. (41) E. D. Ladd, Norman 
 Allen, Lyman Allen. (42) Lyman Allen, E. D. Ladd. 
 (43) E. D. Ladd, Ira W. Acklev. (44) E. D. Ladd, C. 
 W. Babcock, Lyman Allen, S. N. Wood, N. B. Blanton, 
 John Dey, J. Davidson, Charles Robinson. (45) E. D. 
 Ladd, 0. W. Babcock, Lyman Allen, S. N. Wood. N. 
 B. Blanton, J. Davidson, Dr. John Dey. (46) E. D. 
 Ladd, C. Robinson, A. B. Wade, J. Whitlock, J. M. 
 Banks, H. W. Buckley. (47) G. W. Deitzler. (4S) S. 
 N. Wood, Ira W. Ackley. (49) J.Davidson. (50) E. 
 D. Ladd. Norman Allen, Lyman Allen. (51) W. B. 
 Hornsby, C. W. Babcock, C. Robinson. (52) Wm. 
 Yates, Thos. Hopkins, Ira W. Ackley. (53) Lyman Al- 
 len, J. Davidson. (54) Norman Allen. (55) Norman Al- 
 len, Lyman Allen, C W. Bubcuck, S. N. Wood, F. Chap- 
 man, Thos. Hopkins. (60j Jourdan Davidson. (57) J. B. 
 Abbott, (68) E. D. Ladd, Norman Allen, Wm. Yates, 
 W. B. Hornsby. G. W. Dietzler, C. W. Babcock, C. 
 Robinson, E. Chapman, Lyman Allen, J. David- 
 son, 
 
THE KANSAS-NEBRASKA STRUGGLE. 
 
 12& 
 
 they imiiicfliulrly ftnitcil for home (59). On 
 their way hoiiu-" they HiiiJ that if Governor 
 Rcedcr did imt sanction the election, they would 
 hanfj him (('>()). 
 
 The citizens of the town of Liiwrenci-, as ii 
 general tliiiiir, were not anin-d on ilio day of 
 election, lli()ii;,'h some had revolve r.-<, but not 
 exposed, as wen- the iinnsof tlieMissoiirians (til). 
 They kept a piard about the town the nlKlit 
 after the .•leelion, in consequenee of the threats 
 of the Jlissourian.-i, iu order to nrotect it {i'>'2). 
 
 The I'ro Slavery nii'n of the l)istrict attended 
 the ni>niinaiiii;r Conventions of the Frei- Siuti' 
 nwn, and voted for, and sieurid tlio noniinatinns 
 of, till' nn'n they eousidi-red the most obnoxious 
 to the Free State party, in order to cause dis- 
 sension in that party (03). 
 
 Quite a number of settlers came into the Dis- 
 trict before the day of election, and after the 
 Census wius taken (64). Aceordin;^ to tlit^ census 
 returns, there were then in the District 3lj9 lefjal 
 voters. Of tliose whose names are on the census 
 returns, 177 are to be tbund on the jioUbooks of 
 the30thcif March, 1855. Messrs. Ladd, Hubcock 
 
 tt short time, when Mr. Jones marciicd with the 
 crowd up ti) the window, and demanded that they 
 should lie allowed to vote without .iwiarin^; as 
 to tliiir residincc d'lH). AfliT some noisy and 
 thnateniin; talk Claiborne F. Jackson addressed 
 the cmwd, saving; lie y had come there to vote, 
 that they ha<l a rif;ht to vote if they had been 
 there but live minulcsj and he was not willing to 
 f^o home wiihout votm;;; which was received 
 with eheei-H (G'J). Jackson then called upon them 
 to form into liltle iiamU of lift.cn or twenty, 
 which they did (7(1), and went to an o.\ wajjon 
 tilled with ^'uns, which were distributeil among 
 them (71), and proceeded to load ^ome of thcni 
 on the -ground (7".J). In pursuance of Ja<'kson'a 
 rtxpiest. they tied white tape or ribbons in their 
 buttonJiolcs, so as to distinguish tliem from the 
 "Abolitionists" (73). They aj^ain demunded that 
 tlio Jud^fcs should rcsit,'n, and ujion their refus- 
 inj^ to do so, smashed iu the window, sa>h and 
 all, ami presented their pistoU and f^uns to them, 
 fJireatenmf,' to shoot them (71). Some one on tho 
 outside cried out to tliem not to shoot, as there 
 Were Pro-Slavery men in tlie room with the 
 
 and I'ratt, testily to 55 names on the poll-books Judr,'cs (75). They tlien i)Ut a pry under the cor- 
 
 of persons they knew to have settled in the Dis- ner of the house, which was a loj^ house, and 
 
 trict ut'ter the census was taken and before the lifted it up a few inches and let it fall attain (76), 
 
 election. A number of persons came into tho but desisted upon beinj^ told there were I'ro- 
 
 Territory in March, before the election, from the S1ji\ ery men iu tlio house. Duriiifj this time tho 
 
 northern and eastern States, intending to settle, crowd repeatedly demanded to be allowed to vote 
 
 who were in Lawrence on the day of election, without bein;^ sworn, and Mr. EUison, one of the 
 
 At that time, many of them had selected no Judges, expressed hiinseifwillinj^, but the other 
 
 claims, anil had no fixed place of residence, two Judges refused (77) : thi-reupon a body of 
 
 Such were not entitled to vote. Many of them men, hetided by " Sherift' Jones," rushed into 
 
 became dissatisfied with the country. Other 
 were disappointed in its nolitical condition, and 
 at the price and demand tor labor, and returned. 
 Whether any such voted at the election, is not 
 clearly shown, but from the proof, it is probable 
 that in the latter part of the day, after the great 
 body of the Missouritius had voted, some did go 
 to the polls. The number was not over 50. These 
 voted the Free-State ticket. The whole number 
 of names appearing upon the poll-lists is 1,034. 
 After full examination, we are satisfied that not 
 over ~i2 of llieso were legal voters, and 802 were 
 non-resident and illegal votci's. This District is 
 Btrontdy in favor of making Kansas a Free State, 
 and there is no doubt that the Free-State candi- 
 dates for the legislature would have been elected 
 by large majorities, if none but the actual settlers 
 had voted. At the preceding election in Novem- 
 ber, 1854, where none but legal voters were 
 polled. General Whitfield, who received the full 
 strength of the Tro-Slavcry party (G5), got but 
 46 votes. 
 
 II. District — Bloo.mi.ngto.v. 
 
 On the morning of election, the Judges ap- 
 pointed by tho Governor appeared and opened 
 tho poUs. Their names were Harrison liurson, 
 Nathaniel Kainsay, (uid Mr. Ellison. The Mis- 
 sourians began to come in early iu the morning, 
 some 500 or (JOO of them, in wagons and carriages, 
 and on horseback, under tlic lead of Samuel J. 
 Jones, then Postma.stcr of Westport, Missouri, 
 Claiborne F. Jack-on, and Mr. Steely, of Inde- 
 pendence, Mo. They were armed with double- 
 barreled guns, rifles, bowie-knives and pistols, 
 and hail fiags hoisted {Giij. They held a sort of 
 informal election, off at one side, at first for Gov- 
 ernor of Kansas, and shortly afterward announced 
 Thomas Johnson of Shawnee Missions, elected 
 Governor (67). The polls had been opened but 
 
 (59) S. N. Wooa. (80) Gaius Jenkins. (61) E. D 
 Ladd. (62) E. D. Ladd. (63) A. B Wade. (64) E. 
 D. Ladd, Norman .A.llen, G.W. Babcoi-k, Oiarles Roh- 
 insoD, Lyman Alien, J. M. Banks, (fyj James Whit- 
 lock. (66) H. liurson. N. Ramsay, James M. Dunn, 
 Andrew White. IT. E. O. Macoy, H. Miiz/.y, Wm. Jes- 
 see, John A. Wakefield. (67) £. Q. Mucey. 
 
 the Judges' room with cocked pistols and drawn 
 bowie-knives in their hands, and ajiproached 
 IJurson and Ilamsay (78). Jones jiuUed out his 
 watch, and .said he would give them five minutes 
 to resign iu, or die (79). When the five mi- 
 nutes had expired and the Judges did not resign, 
 Jones said he would give them another minute, 
 and no more (80). Ellison told his associates 
 that if they did not resign, there would be one 
 hundred shots fired in tlie room in less than 
 fifteen minutes (81) ; and then, snatching up the 
 ballot-box, ran out into the crowil, holding up 
 the ballot-box and hurrahing for Jlissouri (82). 
 About that time liurson and Kanisay were called 
 out by their fi-iends, and not suffered to return 
 (83). As Mr. Burson went out, he put the ballot 
 poll-books in his pocket, and took them with him 
 (84) ; and as he was going out, Jones snatched 
 some papers away from him (85), and shortly 
 afterward came out himself holding them up, 
 crying "hurrah for Missouri ' (8t)). After he dis- 
 covered they were not the poll-books, he took a 
 party t>f men with him and started olf to take 
 the poll-books from Burson (87). Mr. Burson 
 saw them coming, and he gave the books to Mr. 
 Umberger, and told hiin to start off in another 
 direction, so as to mislead Jones and his party 
 (88). Jones and his party caught Mr. Umberger, 
 took the poll -books away from him, and Jones 
 
 (68) H. Burson, N. Ramsay, J. M. Dunn, A. White, E. 
 G. Macey. H. .Muzzy, Win. Jessce, Ji.hu A. Wakefield. 
 (1.9) J. M. riuun, A. White, E.G. Macev, J. S. Wakefield. 
 (70) E. a. Mucv-v, J A. Wakefield. (71) J. M. Dunn, 
 J. C. Dunn, A. White. (72) B. O Macev (73) J. M. 
 Dunn, J. N. .Mace, A. White, i: G Mac.y, J. A. Wake- 
 fiehl. (74) II. Burson, N. Rim.-iay. .7;^) J. C. Dunn. 
 (70) H. liurson, N. Uamsay, J. W. Mace, J C. Dunn, 
 A. White, E. G. Macev, H. .Muzzv, .•*. Jones J- A. 
 Wakefield, (77) J. C. Dun, (7K) II liinsoa, X. Ilamsaj-. 
 (79) II. Burson, N. Uainsay, J, C. Dunn, II. .Muzzy. W. 
 Jessce (SO) H. Bur,-iin, N. Uainsay. II, .Muzzy. (81) II. 
 Biiraon, N. liamsay, J. N. Macey. II. Muzzy, W. Jes- 
 aoc, S. Jones, J, A. Wakefield. (82) II Bur.son. J. 0. 
 Dunn. (S3) II. Burson, N. Kamrtay, J, C, Dunn, A. 
 AVhite, H. -Muzzy. Wm. Jessie. (84) II Burton, Wm. 
 Jessec. (.^b) H. tlurson. (SO) H. Uuisoii. J M. Dunn, 
 E. G. Macev, Wm. Jeasue (87) H. Burson. .V. Bam- 
 say. (SS) fl. Bursou, A. White, 0. W. Umberger, Wm. 
 Jusaee. 
 
126 
 
 THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 
 
 took him up behind him on ahorse, and carried 
 him back a prisoner (89). After Jones and his 
 part}' liad tukL'n Umberger back, they went to 
 the house of Mr. Kanisay and took Judge John 
 A. Wakefield prisoner, and earned him to the 
 place of election (90), and made him get up on 
 a wagon and make tliem a speech ; after which 
 they put a white ribtion in his button-hole and 
 let him go (91). Tliey then chose two new 
 Judges, and proceeded with the election 
 (92). 
 
 They also threatened to kill the Judges if they 
 did not receive their votes without swearing Ihem, 
 or else resign (912). They said no man should 
 vote who would submit to be sworn — that they 
 would kill any one who would offer to do so — 
 " shoot him," " cut his guts out,"' etc. (93). They 
 said no man should vote this day unless he voted 
 an open ticket, and was " all right on the goose," 
 (94), and that if Ihcy could not vote by fair 
 means, they would by foul means (95). They 
 said they had as mucti right to vote, if they had 
 been in "the Territory two minutes, as if they had 
 been there for two years, and they would vote 
 (96). Some of tlie citizens who were about the 
 window, but had not voted when the crowd of 
 Missourians marched up there, upon attempting 
 to vote, were driven back by the mob, or driven 
 off (97). One of them, Mr. J. M. Macey, was 
 asked if he would take the oath, and upon his re- 
 plying that he would if the judges required it, he 
 was dragged through the crowd away from the 
 polls, amid cries of " Kill the d — d nigger thief," 
 "Cut his throat," "Tear his heart out," etc. 
 After they got him to the outside of the crowd, 
 they stood around liim with cocked revolvers and 
 drawn bowie-knives, one man putting a knife to 
 his heart, so that it touched him, another holding 
 a cocked pistol to his ear, while another struck 
 at him with a club (98). The Missourians said 
 they had a right to vote if they had been in the 
 TeiTitory but five minutes (99). Some said they 
 bad been hired to come there and vote, and get 
 a dollar a day, and, by G — d, they would vote or 
 die there (lOJ). 
 
 Tliey said the 30th day of March was an im- 
 portant day, as Kansas would be made a Slave 
 State on that day (101). They began to leave in 
 the direction of Missouri in the afternoon, after 
 they had voted (102), leaving some thirty or forty 
 around the house where the election was held, 
 to guard the polls until after the election was 
 over (103). The citizens of the Territory were not 
 around, except those who took part in the mob 
 (104), and a large portion of them did not vote 
 (105) ; 341 votes were polled there tliat day, of 
 which but some thirty were citizens (106). A pro- 
 test against the election was made to tlie Gov- 
 ernor (107). The returns of the election made to 
 the Governor were lost by the Committee of 
 Elections of the Legislature at Pawnee (108). 
 The duplicate returns left in the ballot-box were 
 taken by F. E. Laley, one of the Judges elected 
 by tlie Missourians, "and were either lost or de- 
 
 (89) H. Buraon, N. Ramsay, A. White, G. W. 
 Umberger, E C. Macey, Win. Jessee, J. A WakefieM. 
 (90) N. Ilams^y, J. M. Dunn, A. White, E. a. Macey, 
 G. W. Umberger, Wm. Jessee, J. A. Wakefield. (91) 
 
 E. G. Macey, G. W. Umberger, J. A. Wakefield. (9J) 
 
 F. Lahev. (92) J. C. Dunn, Wm Jessee. J. Jones. 
 (93) U. iiurson, N. Ramsay, J. M. Dunn, J. N. Mace, 
 A. White, E. G Macey. W. Jessee, (94) N. Rarasty 
 (95) a. Bursnn, N. Raiiieay, J. M. Dunn. (96) J. M. 
 Dunn. (97 I 11 Bur«on, N. Ramsay, Wm, Jessee, J. N, 
 Macey. (98) J. N. Macey, H. Muzzy. (99) J. M. Dunn, 
 A. White, E. G. Macev. J. A, Wakefield. (.00) J. M. 
 Dunn, J. C. Dunn. A "White (101) N. Raniijiv. (102) 
 J. C. Duun, A. White. (103) A White. (104) H. 
 Burson. (105) H, Burson. J. N. Mace, H. Muzzy. Wm. 
 Jessee, J. A. Wakefield (106) U. Burs-n. (107) 
 S. Jones, J. A. Wakefield. (108) Daniel Wood- 
 man. 
 
 stroycd in his house (109), so that your Commit- 
 tee have been unable to institute a comparison 
 between the poll-lists and census returns of this 
 district. The testimony, however, is unifonn, 
 that not even thirty of those who voted there 
 that day were entitled to vote, leaving 311 illegiil 
 Votes. We are satisfied from the testimony that, 
 had the actual settlers alone voted, the Free 
 State candidates would have been elected by a 
 handsome majority. 
 
 IIId District— Tkccmseh. 
 
 On the 28th of March, persons from Clay, 
 Jackson, and Howard Counties, Mo., began io 
 come into Tecumseh, in wagons, carriages and 
 on horseback, armed with guns, bowie-knives, 
 and revolvers; and, with threats, encamped close 
 by the town, and continued coming until the 
 day of election (110). The night before the elec- 
 tion 200 men were sent for from the camp of 
 Missourians at Lawrence (111). On the morning 
 of the election, before the polls were opened, some 
 300 or 400 Missourians and others were collected in 
 the yard about the houseof Thomas Stinson, where 
 the election was to be held, armed with bowie- 
 knives, revolvers, and clubs (112). They said they 
 came to vote, and whip the damned Yankees, and 
 would vote without being sworn (113). Some said 
 they came to have a fight and wanted one (114). 
 Col. Samuel H. Woodson of Independence, Mo., 
 was in the room of the Judges when they arrived, 
 preparing poll-books and tally-lists, and remain- 
 ed there during their attempts to organize (114). 
 The room of the Judges was also filled by many of 
 the strangers (115). The Judges could notagree 
 concerning the oath to be taken by themselves 
 and the oath to be administered to the voters, 
 Mr. Burgess desiring to administer the oath pre- 
 scribed i)y the Governor and the other two 
 Judges opposing it (116). During this discussion 
 between the Judges, which lasted some time, the 
 crowd outside became e.xcited and noisy, threat- 
 ening and cursing Mr. Burgess, the Free-State 
 Judge (117). Persons were sent at different 
 times, by the crowd outside, into the room where 
 the Judges were, with threatening messages, es- 
 pecially against Mr. Burgess, and at last fen min- 
 utes were given them to organize in or leave ; and 
 as the time passed, persons outside would call out 
 the number of minutes left, with threats against 
 Bui'gess, if he did not agree to organize (118). 
 At the end of that time, the Judges not being 
 able to organize, left the room and the crowd 
 proceeded to elect nine Judges and can-y on the 
 election (119). The Free-State men generally 
 left the ground without voting, stating that there 
 was no use in their voting there (120). The polls 
 were so crowded during the first part of the day 
 that the citizens could not get up to the window 
 to vote (121). TLu'eats were made against 
 the Free-Stale men (122). In the afternoon the 
 Rev. Mr. Gispatrick was attacked and driven off 
 by the mob. A man, by some called " Texas," 
 made a speech to the crowd urging them to vote 
 and to remain on the ground until the polls were 
 closed, for fear the abohtiouists would come there 
 in the afternoon and overpower them, and thus 
 they would lose all their trouble. 
 
 For making an affidavit in a protest against this 
 
 (109) F. E. Laley. (110) W. A. M. Vnughan. M. J. J. 
 Mitchfll, John Long. (Ill) H. B. Burgess. (112) The 
 Rev. H. B. Burgfss, Charles Jordan, J..mes Hickey, L. 
 0. Wihvorth, D. H. Howe, J. M. Merrian, W. R. 
 Bas-gs, W. A M. Vaughn, (llo) John Long. L. 0. 
 Wil.vorth. George Holmes. (114) L. 0. Wilworth. 
 (115) A W. Burgess. (116) II. B. Burgess, George 
 Holmes. (117) H. B. Burgess, John Long, D. H, 
 Home. (llS) II. B. Burge.ss, Charles Jordan, H. D. 
 Home. (119 H. B. Burgess, Charles Jordan, J. M. 
 Merrian, Geo Holmes. (120) H. B Burgess. C. Jor- 
 dan, J. M. Merrian. (121) L. O. Wilworth. (122) C. 
 Jordau. 
 
THE KANSAS NEBRASKA STRUGGLE. 
 
 Iff 
 
 election, !>ottin<; forth tho fnots, Mr. BurRcus wne 
 indicted bv llu- (Jrimd Jiirv f»r perjury, whioli in 
 dictinciit \vuN tKiiiiiliiioi-otlinii liflccu iiioiitliKn;,'«), 
 and is still iiviidiiii;. Mr. Uin^cHS nev.T Iwivinc 
 been inforimil will >liiHU<'cu!ior wiw or wliat wan 
 tlio tcstimouv u-„'iiiii»t liim [IS.i). A larKi; >"'i 
 joritv, lour to one, of the iictuiil settlors ot tliat 
 iiHtrict were Free Sliito mcu (1^21), and tlicro 
 cniinnt 1»^ tin) least doubt, if none but the 
 Qetual settl.rs of tlio distriet had voted at that 
 rleelioii, lliat the Free State eandidute would 
 have beeu .leeted. The number ot lef,'al voteH 
 in the .listriet, aeeordin-j to the census returns, 
 was 1111. Tho total number of votes cast was 
 37-», and of these but thirty-two are on the re- 
 turns, and from the lestinuiny and records, we 
 are satisfied that not over forty loj,'al votes were 
 cast at that election. A body of anncd Missou- 
 rians came into the district previous to the elec- 
 tion, and encamped there (12.'3). Before the time 
 arrived for opeiiiu},' the polls, the Mi.ss.iurians 
 went to another than the town appointed for the 
 election ; and <>ne of the Jud^'cs ai)pointed by the 
 Governor, and two chosen by the Missourians, 
 proceeded to open the polls and carry on tho 
 election (l-Jti). The Missourians said none but 
 Pro-Slavery men should vote, and threatened to 
 ehoot anv Vree-Stute man who should come up 
 to vote (127). Mr. Mockbce, one ofthejudp;es 
 elected by the Jlissourians, had a store near the 
 boundary fi.\ed by the proclamation of the 
 Governor, while he cultivated a farm in Missouri, 
 where his family lived (128), and where his legal 
 residence was then and is now. The Missourians 
 also held aside-election for governor of the Terri- 
 tory, voting' for Thomas Johnson of Shawnee Mis- 
 sion (1-^9). The Free-State men finding the polls 
 under the control of the non-residents, refused to, 
 and did not, vote (130). They constituted a de- | 
 cided majority of the actual settlers (131). A 
 petition signcil by a majority of the residents of 
 tlie district was sent to thetiovernor (132). The 
 whole number of voters in tliis distriet, accord- 
 uig to the census returns, was forty-seven; the 
 number of votes cast was eight v, of whom but 
 fifteen were residents, the number of residents 
 whose names are on the eensus-roUs, who did 
 not vote, was thirty-two. 
 
 For stnne days prior to the election, compa- 
 nies of men were organized in Jackson, Cass, and 
 Clay counties. Mo., for the piirimse of coming to 
 the 'Territory and voting in this Vth distriet 
 (133). The day previous to the election, some 
 400 or 51)0 Missourians, armed with guns, pistols, 
 and knives, came into the Territory and camped, 
 some at Bull Creek, and others at rotawatamie 
 Creek (13 1.) Their Ciunps were about sixteen miles 
 apart. On the evening before the election. Judge 
 Hamilton of the Cass County Court, Mo., came 
 from the Potawatamie Creek camp to Bull Creek 
 for sixty more IMissourians, as they had not 
 enough there to render the election certain, and 
 about that number went down there with him (135). 
 On the evening before the election. Dr. B. C. 
 Westfall was elected to act as one of the Judges 
 of Election in the Bull Creek precinct, in place 
 of one of the Judges appointed by the Governor, 
 who, it was said, would not be there the next day 
 (136). Dr. Westfall was at that time a citizen of 
 Jackson county, Mo. (137). On the morning of 
 
 (123) n. B. BurRess. (124) H. B. Burgess. 
 (12ft) Perry Fuller, Peter Bassuiger. (126) Perry lul- 
 ItT. Wm. Moore, J. F. Javens. (127) .1. F. Javens. 
 (1-2S) Win. Moore. J. F. Javens. Thoma.s Mocfebee. 
 (129) Perry Fuller, William Moore. (loU) Perry Ful 
 ler, Wm. Moore, J. F. Javens, T. .Mockboe. (131) Per- 
 ry Fuller. Wm. Moore, J. F. Javens. (132) Pony Ful- 
 ler, J. 1'. Javens. (133) Dr. B. C Wost'all, Joseph M. 
 Goarh«rt. (13!) Dr. B. C. Westfall. JesB.-e W. Wiieon, 
 J. M. Genrhart. (135) Dr. B. C. Wi-i-tfall. (13G) Dr. 
 B. C. Westfall. (137) Dr. B. Westfall, J. W. WiUoa. 
 
 the election, tho polln for Bull Creek precinct 
 were opened, and, without Hwearing the Judges, 
 they proeeedetl to receive the voles of all who of- 
 fereil to vole. For the sake of aopearanee they 
 would get some one to eonie to the wiiulow and 
 ofler to vote, and when asked to be Bworn ho 
 would prcteiul to grow angry at the Judges and 
 \vould go away, and his iwiine would he put down 
 as having ofTered to vote, but '• rej<Mted, refus- 
 ing to be sworn." This urrungenienl was mado 
 previouKly and (icrfeetly understood by tho 
 .Indges (138). But few of the renidenls of the 
 district were present at tho election, and only 
 thirlecn voted (13it). The number of votcB cost 
 in the precinct was 3'J3. 
 
 One Missourian vote<l for hiinself and then 
 voted for his little son, but 10 or 11 yiars old 
 (140). Col. Coffer lleiny Younger and Mr. Ly- 
 kins, who were voted for and elected to the Le- 
 gislature, were residents of Minsouri at the time 
 (Ml). Col. Coffer 8ubsei|nciilly married in the 
 Territory. After the polls were closed the re- 
 turns were made, and a man, claiming to be a 
 magistrate, certified on them that he had sworn 
 the Judges of Eleetiim before opening the poll* 
 (142). In the I'otawatamie precinct the Missou- 
 rians attended the election, and alter threntcning 
 Mr. Chesnut, the oidy Judge present ai)pointed 
 by the Governor, to induce him to re^^ign, they 
 proecedcd to elect two other Judges— one a 
 Slissourian ami the other a resident of another 
 precinct of that District. The polls were then 
 opened, and all the Missnurians were allowed to 
 vote without being sworn. 
 
 After the polls were closed, and the returns 
 made out for the sifijnature of the Judges, Mr. 
 Chcsnut refused to sign them, as he did not con- 
 sider them correct returns of legal voters. 
 
 Col. Coffer, a resident of Mis^ouri, but elected 
 to the Kansas Legislature from that Distriet at 
 that election, endeavored with others to induce 
 Mr. Chesuut by threats to sign the returns, 
 which he refused to do, and left the House. On 
 his way home he was fired at bv some Missou- 
 rians, though not injured (143). There were 
 three illegal to one legal vote given there that 
 day (144). At the Big Layer precinct, the 
 Judges appointed by the Governor met at the 
 time appointed, and proceeded to open the polls, 
 after being duly sworn. After a few votes had 
 been received, a party of Missourians came into 
 the yard of tho house where the election was 
 held, and, unloading a wagon filled with arms, 
 stacked their guns in the yard, and came up to 
 the window and demanded to be admitted to 
 vote. Two of the Judges decided to receive their 
 votes, whereupon the third Judge, Mr. J. M. Ar- 
 thur, resigned, and another was chosen in his 
 place. Col. Young, a citizt n of Missouri, but a 
 candidate for, and elected to, the Territorial Le- 
 gislative Council, was present and voted in 
 the precinct. He claimed that ail Missourians 
 who were present on the day of election were 
 entitled to vote. But thirty or forty of the citi- 
 zens of the precinct were present, and many of 
 them did not vote (145). At the Little Sugar 
 precinct, the election seemed to have been con- 
 ducted fairly, and there n Free-State majority 
 was polled (140). From the testimony, the whole 
 Distriet appears to have b> en largcly'Free-State, 
 and had none but actual settlers voted, the Free- 
 State candidates would have been elected by a 
 large majority. From a careful examination of 
 the" testimony and the records, we find that from 
 200 to 225 legal votes were polled out of 885^ 
 
 (13S) Dr. B. C. Westfall. (139) J. W. Wilson. 
 (140) Dr. B. C. Westlall. J. W. Wilson. (141) Dr. 
 li. C. \Ve.stlall, J. M. Gearhart. (142) Dr B. C. 
 Westfall. (143) William Chettnut. (144) William 
 ChostLUt. (140) James M. Arthur. (UG) S. W. 
 1 Buuton. 
 
128 
 
 THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 
 
 the total number given in the precincts of the 
 Vth District- Of the leg'al votes cast, the Free- 
 State caudidfttea received 152. 
 
 YIth District — Four Scott. 
 
 A company of citizens from Missouri, mostly 
 from Bates County, came into this District tlio 
 day before the election, some caminng and otliers 
 putting up at the public-house (117). They num- 
 bered from 101) to 200 (148), and came in wagons 
 and on horseback, carrying their provisions and 
 tents with them, and were generally armed with 
 pistols. They declared their purpose to vote, and 
 claimed the right to do so. Thoy went to the 
 j)cills generally in small bodies, with tickets in 
 their hands, and many, if not all, voted. In 
 some cases they declared that they had voted, 
 and gave their reasons for so doing. Mr. An- 
 derson, a Pro-Slavery candidate for the Legisla- 
 ture, endeavored to dissuade the non-residents 
 from voting, because he did not wish the election 
 contested (HQ). This person, however, insisted 
 upon voting, and upon his right to vote, and did 
 so. No one was challenged or sworn, and all 
 voted who desired to. Out of 350 votes cast, not 
 over 100 were legal, and but 64 of these named 
 in the census taken one month before by Mr. 
 Barber, the candidate for Council, voted. Many 
 of the Free-State men did not A'ote, but your Com- 
 mittee is satisfied tliat, of the legal votes cast, 
 the Pro-Slavery candidates received a majority. 
 Mr. Anderson, one of the.?e candidates, was 
 an unmarried man, who came into the District 
 from Missouri a few days before the election, and 
 boarded at the public-house until the day after 
 the election. He then took with him the poll- 
 lists, and did not return to Fort Scott until the 
 occasion of a barbecue the week before the elec- 
 tion of October 1, 18.55. He voted at that elec- 
 tion, and after it left, and has not since been in 
 the Disb-ict. S. A. Williams, the other Pro- 
 Slavery candidate, at the time of the election had 
 a claim in the Territory, but his legal residence 
 was not there until after the election. 
 
 YIIth District. 
 
 From two to three hundred men, from the 
 State of Missouri, came in wagons or on horse- 
 back to the election ground at Switzer's Creek, 
 in the YIIth District, and encamped near the 
 polls, on the day preceding the election. They 
 were armed with pistols and other weapons, and 
 declared their purpose to vote, in order to secure 
 the election of Pro-Slavery members. They said 
 they were disappointed in not finding more Yan- 
 kees there, and that they had brouglit more men 
 than were necessary to counterbalance their vote. 
 A number of them wore badges of blue ribbon, 
 with a motto, and the company were under the 
 direction of leaders. They declared their inten- 
 tion to conduct themselves peacefully, unless 
 the residents of the Territory utempted to stop 
 them from voting. Two of the Judges of Elec- 
 tion appointed by Governor Reeder, refused to 
 serve, whereupon two others were appointed in 
 their stead by the crowd of Missourians who 
 surrounded the polls. The newly-appointed 
 Judges refused to take the oath prescribed by 
 Governor Reeder, but made one to suit them- 
 selves. Andrew Johnson requested each voter to 
 swear if he had a claim in the Territory, and 
 if he had voted in another District. The Judges 
 did not take tlie oath prescribed, but were sworn 
 to receive all ]&^a.l votes. The Missourians 
 voted without being sworn. They supported 
 H. J. Stickler for Council, and M. W. McGee for 
 Representative. They left the evening of the 
 election. Some of them started on horseback for 
 
 (147) John Ilamilton. (14S) John riamilton, E. B. 
 Cook, P B. Arnett. (149) J. C. Audt-rson. 
 
 Lawrence, as they said they could be there be- 
 fore night, and all went the way they came. 
 The census-list shows 53 legal voters in the Dis- 
 trict. 253 votes were cast ; of these 25 were resi- 
 dents, 17 of whom were in the District when die 
 census was taken (150), Some of the residents 
 present at the polls did not vote, declaring it use- 
 less. Candidates declined to run on the Free-State 
 ticket because they were unwilling to run the 
 risk of so unequal a contest — it being known that 
 a great many were coming up from Missouri to 
 vote (151). "Nearly all the settlers were Free- 
 State men. and 23 of the 25 legal votes given 
 were cast for the only Free-State candidate run- 
 ning. Mobiller McGee, who was declared elected 
 Representative, had a claim — a sawmill and a 
 house in the Territory — and he was there part ot 
 the time. But his legal residence is now, and 
 was then, near Westport, in Missouri, where he 
 owns and conducts a valuable farm, and where 
 his family resides. 
 
 VIIIth District. 
 
 This was attached to the Yllth District for a 
 member of the Council and a representative, 
 and its vote was controlled by the illegal vote 
 cast there. The census shows 39 votes in it — 37 
 votes were cast, of whom a majority voted the 
 Free -State ticket. 
 
 IXth District. 
 
 Fort Riley and Pawnee are in this District. 
 The latter place was selected by the Governor 
 as the temporary capital, and he designed there 
 to expend the sums appropriated by Congress in 
 the construction of suitable houses for the Le- 
 gislature. A good deal of building was then 
 being done at the fort near by. For these rea- 
 sons a number of mechanics, mostly from Penn- 
 sylvania came into this district in March, 18.55, 
 to seek employment. Some of these voted at the 
 election. The construction of the capital was 
 first postponed, then abandoned, and finally the 
 site of the town was declared by the Secretary 
 of War to be within the military reservation of 
 Fort Riley. Some of the iuhubitants returned 
 to the States, and some went to other parts of 
 the Ten-itory. Your Committee find that they 
 came as settlers, intenduig to remain as such, 
 and were entitled to vote (152). 
 
 Xth District. 
 
 In this district ten persons belonging to the 
 Wyandot tribe of Indians voted, liiey were of 
 that class who under the law were entitled to 
 vote, but their residence was in W3'andot Vil- 
 lage, at the mouth of Kansas River, and they 
 had no right to vote in this district. They voted 
 the Pro-Slavery ticket (153). Eleven men re- 
 cently from Pennsylvania voted the Free-State 
 Ticket. From the testimony, they had not, at 
 the time of the election, so established their resi- 
 dence as to have entitled them to vote (154). In 
 both these classes of cases the judges examined 
 the voters under oath and allowed them to vote, 
 and in all respects the election seems to have 
 been conducted fairly. The rejection of both 
 would not have changed the result. This and 
 the Yllltli Election-District formed one repre- 
 sentative district, and was the only one to which 
 the invasion from Missouri did not extend. 
 
 XIth District. 
 
 The IXth, Xth, and XIth and Xllth Election- 
 Districts, being all sparsely settled, were attached 
 
 (150) James A. Stewart, Mr. H. Rose. (151) Wm. 
 F. Johnstone. (152) Andrew McConnoll, H. W. Wil- 
 son, A. H. Reeder. (163) M. A. Garrett, Joseph Stew- 
 art. (154) N. J. Osboru, Isaac Hascall. 
 
THE KANSAS-NEBR.VSKA. STRUGGLE. 
 
 129 
 
 togctlicr ns a Council-District, and tlio Xltli niiil 
 Xlltli us a Kepn lifiitativo District. This Elcc- 
 tion-Diatricl iw (jO miles north iVoni I'liwncc, inul 
 150 inih-B from Kansas (Jity. it is the northwest 
 settlement in the Territory", and contained, when 
 the census was taken, but ;itj inhiibitanlH, of 
 whom '^4 were voters. Tliero was on the day of 
 election no white settlement about JlarysviUe, 
 the place of votiii;;, for 40 miles, except that 
 Marshall and IJishoi) kept a store and terry at 
 the croH.sint^ of the hif? lllue and the California 
 road (15o). Your Committeo were unable to 
 procure witnesses from this di.strict. I'ersons 
 who were present at the election were dulysum- 
 nioned by an otlicer, and amon^; them was F. J. 
 Marshall, the member of the House from that 
 district. On his return the otlicer was arrested 
 and detained, and persons bearing; the nanati of 
 some of the witnesses sunnnoned were stopped 
 near Leconipton, and did not appear before the 
 Committee. The returns show that, in delianee 
 of the Governor's proclamation, the votinj; was 
 vivo voce, instead of by ballot. 3'.28 names ap- 
 pear upon the poll-books, as votiui;, and by com- 
 parini^ these names with those on the census- 
 rolls, we tind that but seven of the latter voted. 
 The person voted for as Representative, F. J. 
 Marshall, was chief owner of the store at Marys- 
 ville, and was there sometimes (IM), but his 
 family lived in Weston. John Donaldson, the 
 candidate voted for for the Council, then lived 
 in Jacksou County, Missouri (157). 
 
 On the day after the election, Mr. Marshall, 
 with 25 or 30 'men from Weston, Mo., was on the 
 way from Marysville, to the State. ISouie of the 
 party told a witness who had formerly resided at 
 Weston, that tliey were up at Marysville and 
 carried the day for Missouri, and that they had 
 voted about 150 votes. Mr. Marshall paid the 
 bill at that point for the party. 
 
 There do<s not appear to have been any emi- 
 gration into that district in March, 1855, after 
 the census was taken, and judging from the best 
 test in the power of your Committee, there were 
 but seven legal votes east in the district, and 
 321 iUegal. 
 
 XIIth District. 
 
 The election in this district was conducted 
 fairly. No complaint was made that illegal votes 
 were cast. 
 
 XIIIth Dlstuict. 
 
 Previous to the day of election, several hun- 
 dreds of Missourians from Platte, Clay, Boone, 
 Clinton, and Howard counties, came into the 
 district in wagons and on horseback, and camped 
 there (158). They were armed with guns, revolv- 
 ers, and bowie-knives, and had badges of hemp 
 iu their button-holes and elsewhere about their 
 persons (159). TJiey claimed to have a right to 
 vote, from the fact that tliey were there on the 
 ground, and had, or intended to make, claims in 
 the Territory, although their families were iu 
 Missouri (160). 
 
 The judges appointed by the governor opened 
 the polls, and some persons oft'ered to vote, and 
 when their votes were rejected on the ground 
 that they were not residents of the district, the 
 c«rowd threatened to tear the bouse down if the 
 judges did not leave (101). The judges then 
 withdrew, taking the poll books with them (ItS). 
 The crowd then proceeded to select other persons 
 to act as judges, and the election went on (163). 
 
 (155) AuRUstus Baker. (156) .\n(5ustus Baker. (157) 
 J. E. D'Aris. (la'^) J. B. Ri'ss W. II. Godwin. Dr. 
 James Noble, T. A. .Mioard, CUas. Hardli. (lo9) J. B. 
 Ross. W. H. Godwin. (160) J. B. lloss, Dr. J. Noble. 
 (161) .J B. Rcss, Chailes H.irdh, A. B Snarp. (162) 
 J. B Koss, 0. liardli. (163) J. B Uoss. W. 11. Oodwiu, 
 Dr. J. Noble. R. Chaudler, T. A. Minard, C. UardU, 
 Q. M. Dyer, 0. B. Tebbs. 
 9 
 
 Those persons votintf who were Bwoni were ask- 
 etl if they coUHidered themselves residents of the 
 district, and if lliey said they ilid, they were al- 
 loweil to vote (101). Hut lew of the residents 
 wore present and voted 1 165), and the t reeiStnte 
 men, as agenerid thing, diil not vote (166). After 
 the Missourians got through voting, ihey return- 
 ed home (167). A fornnil return was made b^ 
 the judges of election setting; out the faclB, but it 
 was not verified. The number of legal voters in 
 this district was 96, of wimm a majority were 
 Free-State men. Of thesi- — voted. The total 
 number of votes cast was iiUC. 
 
 XIVth Distiuct. 
 
 It was generally rumored in this district, for 
 some days before the election, that the Missouri- 
 ans were coming over to vote {ICtSj. I'reviousto 
 the election, men from Missouri came into the 
 district, and electioneered for the Pro-Slavery 
 candidates (lO'J). Oen. David K. Atchison and 
 a party controlled the nominations iu one of the 
 prnnary elections (170). 
 
 BuuR Oak Precinct. 
 
 Several hundred Missourians from Buchanan, 
 Platte, and Andrew Coimties, Mo., including a 
 great many ofthe prominent citizens of .St. Joseph, 
 came into this precinct the day before, and on the 
 day of election, in wagons and on horse, and en- 
 camped there (171). Arrangements were made for 
 them to cross the ferry at St. .Joseph free of ex- 
 pense to themselves (172). They were armed 
 with bowie-knives and pistols, guns and rittea 
 (173). On the morning of the election, the Free- 
 State candidates resigned in a body, on account 
 of the presence of the large number of armed 
 Missourians, at which the crowd cheered and 
 hurrahed (174). Gen. B. F. Stringfcllow was 
 present, and was prominent in promoting the 
 election of the Pro-.Slavery ticket, as was also 
 the Hon. Willard P. Hall, and others of the most 
 prominent citizens of St. Joseph, JIo. (175). But 
 one ofthe judges<|0f election, appointed by the 
 governor, served on that day, and the crowd 
 chose two others to supply the vacancies (176). 
 
 The Missourians said they came there to vote 
 for, and secure the electitm of. Major Wm. P. 
 Richardson (177). Major Richardson, elected 
 to the Coun<-il, had had a farm in Missouri, 
 where his wife and daughter lived with his son- 
 in-law, Willard P. Hall, he himself generally 
 going home to Missouri every Saturday night. 
 The farm was generally known as the Richard- 
 son farm. He had a claim in the Territory upon 
 which was a saw-mill, and where he generally 
 remained during the week (178). 
 
 Some ofthe Missourians gave as their reason 
 for voting that they had heard that eastern emi- 
 grants were to be at that election (179), though 
 no eastern emigrants were there (180). Others 
 
 (164) B. Chandler. (165) J. B. Ross, Dr. J. Noble. 
 (166) J. B. Rush, Dr. J. Noble, R Chandler, C. Hardh, 
 0. B. Tebbs. (107) J. B. Ross, Dr. J. N.ible. (168) 
 B. Hanlin-, John II. Whiteliead, A. Larzelier. (169) 
 Benj. Harding, Will.ird P. Hull, Dr. O. A. Cutler. 
 (170) Pr. 0. A. Cutl-r. (171) A. A. Jaiiiieson, W. R. 
 Richardson, Benj, Harding, J. II. Wliiielieud, J. R. 
 Carter, A. har/elier.Willard P. Hall. B. U. Brock, C.W. 
 Stewart, A. M. Mitcbell, U S. Creel. G. W. Uillespie. 
 (172) L. Dillon, G. VV. Gillespie. (173) A. A. Jamio- 
 son, Willard P Hall, C. W. Stew.art. (174) A. A. Ja- 
 inieson, W . P. Richardson. Benj. Harding, J. H. White- 
 head, A. Larzelier, WilUrd P. Hall. J. P. Blair. (175) 
 A.. A. Janiieson, W. P. Richardson, J. U. Whitehead. 
 Willard P. Hall (176) A. A. Janiieson, Benjamin 
 Harding, J. H. Witehead, A Larzelier, 0. Uulan. 
 (177) A. A. Janiieson, W. 1". Hall. (178) .V A. Jamie- 
 ton. W. P. Richanlson, W. P. Hall. (179) W. P. RicU- 
 ard-on, J. 11. Wliitehe.ad, J. R. Carter, W. P. Hall, A. 
 -M. .Mitchell. U S. Creel. (ISO) B. Harding, J. H. 
 Whitehead, J. R. Carter, W. P. Hall, 
 
130 
 
 THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 
 
 said they ■vrere going to vote for the purpose 
 of making Kansas a Slave State (181). 
 
 Some claimed that they had a right to vote, 
 under the provisions of the Kansas-Nebraska 
 bill, from the fact that they were present on the 
 ground on the day of election (ISiJ). 
 
 The Free-State men generally did not vote 
 (183), and those wlio did vole, voted generally 
 for John H. Whitehead, Pro-Slavery, for Coun- 
 cil, against xMajor Wm. P. Richardson, and did 
 not vote at all for members of the Lower House 
 (184). 
 
 The parties were pretty nearly equally divided 
 in the district, .some being of opinion that the 
 Free-State party had a small majority (185), and 
 others that the Pro-Slavery party hud a small 
 majority (186). After the election was over, 
 and the polls were closed, the Missouriaus re- 
 turned home. During the day they had provi- 
 sions and liquor served out, free of expense to 
 all (187). 
 
 Doniphan Precinct. 
 
 The evening before the election soine 200 or 
 more Missounana from Platte, Buchanan, Sa- 
 line, and Clay counties, Missouri, came into this 
 precinct, with tents, music, wagons, and provi- 
 sions, and armed with guns, rilies, pistols, and 
 bowie-knives, and encamped about two miles 
 from the place of voting (188). They said they 
 came to vote, to make Kansas a Slave State, 
 and intended to return to Missouri after they 
 had voted (189). 
 
 On the niornhig of the election the Judges ap- 
 pointed by the Governor would not serve, and 
 others were appointed by the crowd (190). The 
 Missouriaus were allowed to vote without being 
 sworn (191)— some of them voting as many as 
 eight or nine times ; changing their hats and 
 coats and giving in different names each time 
 (192). After they had voted they returned to 
 Missouri (193). The Free-State men generally 
 did not vote (194), though constituting a majori- 
 ty in the precinct (195). Upo^ counting the bal- 
 lots in the box and the names ou the poll-lists, it 
 was found that there were too many ballots (196), 
 aud one of the judges of election took out bal- 
 lots enough to make the two numbers correspond 
 (197;. 
 
 Wolf River Precinct. 
 
 But few Missourians were present in this pre- 
 cinct, though some of them threatened one of the 
 judges, because he refused to receive their votes, 
 and when he resigned another was chosen in 
 his place, who consented to receive their votes 
 (198). 
 
 Protests were drawn up against the elections 
 in the various precincts in the XlVth District, 
 but ou account of threats that greater numbers 
 of Missourians would be at a new electii>n should 
 it be called, and of personal violence to those 
 who should take part in the protest, it was not 
 presented to the Governor (199). Major Rich- 
 
 (181) W. P. Hall, H. S. Creel. (182) B. H, Brock, C 
 W. Stewart, H. S. Creel. (183) A. A. Jamieson, W. P. 
 KichardHon, J. H. Whitehead, A. Laizelier, C. W. 
 Stewart, H. S. Creel. (184) W. P. Richard.son, C. B. 
 Whitehead. (185) A. A. Jamieson, B. Harding, A. 
 Laizeher, C. W. Stewart. (186) S. P. Richardson, J. 
 H. Whitehead, \V. 1'. Hall, Thos. W. Watterson, J P. 
 Blair. (187) W. V. Richardson, G. W. Gillespie. (188) 
 Richard Tuck, Eli Hamilton, John Landi.s, Luther 
 Dickerson, J. W. Heattie, David Fizer. (189) R. Tuck, 
 L. Dickerson, J. W. Beattie. (190) R. Tuck, E. Hamil- 
 ton, J. Liindis. (191) R. Tuck, E. Hamilton, David 
 Fizer. (192) R. Tuck. (19o) R. Tuck, E. Hamil- 
 ton, J, Landis, L. 1 ickersDn. (194) John Landis. 
 (19.''))R. luck. John Landis. 090) E Hamilton, J. F. 
 Foreman. (197 E Hamilton. (198) Dr. G. A. Cutler. 
 (199) Dr. G. A. Cutler, John Landis, A. A. Jamieson. 
 
 ardson, the Pro-Slavery candidate for Council, 
 threatened Dr. Cutler, the Free-State candidate, 
 that if he contested the election he and his otfice 
 should be put in the Missouri River (200). 
 
 The number of votes in the district by the cen- 
 sus was 334 — of these 124 voted. The testimony 
 shows that quite a number of persons whose 
 legal residence was in the populous county of 
 Buchanan, Mo., on the opposite side of the river, 
 had claims in the Territory. Some ranged cattle, 
 iuid others nuu-ked out their claim and built a 
 cabin, and sold this incipient title where they 
 could. They were not residents of the Territory 
 in any just or legal sense. A number of settlers 
 moved into the district in the month of March. 
 Your Committee are satisfied, after a careful 
 analysis of the records and testimony, that the 
 number of legal votes cast did not exceed 200^ 
 out of 727. 
 
 XVth District, 
 
 The election in this district was held in the 
 house of a Mr. Hayes. On the day of election a 
 crowd of from 400 to 500 men (201) collected 
 around the polls, of Mhich the great body were 
 citizens of Missouri. One of the Judges of Elec- 
 tion, in his testimony (202), states that the stran- 
 gers commenced crowding around the polls, and 
 that then the residents lett. Threats were made 
 before and during the election day that there 
 should be no Free-State candidates, although 
 there were nearly or quite as many Free-State 
 as Pro-Slavery men resident in the district. 
 Most of the crowd were drinking and carousing, 
 cursing the Abolitionists and threatening the 
 only Free-State Judge of Election. A majority 
 of those who voted wore hemp in their button- 
 holes (203) and their pass-word was, " all right on 
 the hemp." Many of the Missourians were 
 known and are named by the witnesses. Several 
 speeches were made by them at the polls, and 
 among those who spoke were Major Oliver, one 
 of your Committee, Col. Burns, aud Lalau Wil- 
 liams of Platte County. Major Ohver urged up- 
 on all present to use no harsh words, and ex- 
 pressed the hope that nothing would be said or 
 done to harm the feelings of the most sensitive ou 
 the other side. He gave some grounds, based on 
 the Missouri Compromise, in regard to the right 
 of voting, and was understood to excuse the Mis- 
 sourians for voting. Your Committee are satis- 
 tied tliat he did not vote. Col. Burns recom- 
 mended all to vote, and he hoped none would go 
 home without voting. Some of the Pro-Slavery 
 residents were much dissatisfied at the interfer- 
 ence with their rights by the Missourians, and for 
 that reason— because reflection convinced them 
 that it would be better to have Kansas a Free- 
 State — they " fell over the fence" (204). The 
 judges requested the voters to take an oath that 
 they were actual residents. They objected at 
 first, some saying they had a claim, or " I am 
 here." But the Free-State Judge iusisted upon 
 the oath, and his associates, who at first were 
 disposed to waive it, coincided with him, and the 
 voters all took it after some grumbling. (Due 
 said he cut him some poles and laid them in the 
 shape of a square, and that made him a claim; 
 aud another said that he had cut him a few sticks 
 of wood, and that made him a claim. The Free- 
 State men did not vote, although they believed 
 their numbers to be equal to the Pro-Slavery set- 
 tlers, and some claimed that they had the majori- 
 ty. They were deterred by threats throughout 
 by the Missourians, before and on the day of 
 election, from putting up candidates, and no can- 
 didates were run, for this reason^ — that there was 
 
 (200) Dr. G. A. Cutler. (201) J. B. Crane. (202) E. 
 R. Zimnu-rman. (203) E. R. Zimmerman, Joseph 
 Potter. (204) E. 11. Zimmerman. 
 
THE KANSAS-NEBRASKA STRUGGLE. 
 
 131 
 
 R credited rumor previously that the MisHoiirianB 
 would control tlio election. Tlio Free State 
 Ju(Il;o whs tlirunli-ued witli c.Tpulsion from the 
 polls, iukI II youn;j man lliru.st ii pinto! into the 
 window throuj^li wliicli tiie votes were re<'eivi'il. 
 The wliole immluT of votc.i ciixt was 417 ; of lli<^ 
 namw on the poll-book but <U arc in the eensim- 
 rolls, and the testimony shows that u small por- 
 tion, estimated by one witness at one ipiartor of 
 the K'tfal voters, voted. Your Committee esti- 
 mate the number of Icyal voters at Hit. One of 
 tlie jud;,'es referreil to, certified (o the (Governor 
 tiiat the election was fairly eondurted. It was 
 not enntested because no one would take tlu^ re- 
 eponsibility of doiiij^ it, as it was not (•(insidcrcd 
 safe, and that if another election wa.s had, the 
 rosideiits Would fare uo better. 
 
 XVIth District. 
 
 For some time previous to the election, meet- 
 ings Welti h(dd and arraiij^tnunts made in 3Iis- 
 souri to get up eomjianicB to come iiVer to the 
 Teiritory and vote ('JO')), and the day before 
 and on the day of election, large bodies of Mis- 
 sourians from I'lattc, Clay, Ray, Charlton, Car- 
 rol, Clinton, and .Saline Counties, Mo., came 
 into this district and camped there (2l)C). They 
 Weri.' armed with pistols and howie-knives, and 
 some with guns and rides ("-207), and had badges 
 of hemp in their buttonholes and elsewhere 
 obout their persons (208). 
 
 On the morning of the election there were 
 from 1,000 to 1,400 persons present on the ground 
 (209). Previous to the election, Missourians 
 endeavored to persuade the two Free-State 
 judges to resigu by making threats of personal 
 violence to them (-10), one of whom resigm-d 
 on the morning of election, and the crowd cliose 
 another to till his pluet' (~11). IJut one of the 
 judges, the Free-State Judge, would take the 
 oath prescribed by the Governor, the other two 
 deeiiling that they had no right to swear any 
 one who oft'ered to vote, but that all on the 
 ground were eutiiled to vote (-1~). The only 
 votes refused were some Delaware Indians, 
 some 30 Wyandot Indians being allowed to 
 vote (213). 
 
 One of the Free-State candidates withdrew in 
 consequence of the presence of the Missourians, 
 amid cheering and acclamations by the Mis- 
 sourians (214). During the dav, the steamboat 
 New Lucy came down from ^V■estern Missouri, 
 with a large number of Missourians on board, 
 who voted and then returueil on the boat (215). 
 
 The Missourians gave as a reason for their 
 coming over to vote, thiit the North had tried to 
 forci' I'lnigration into the Teiritory, and tluy 
 wanted to counteract that movement (21()j. 
 Some of the candidates and many of the Mis- 
 sourians took the ground that, under the Kan- 
 sas-Nebraska act, all who were on the ground 
 on the day of election were entitled to vote 
 (217), and others, that laying out a town, stak- 
 ing a lot, or driving down stakes, even on an- 
 other man's claim, gave them a right to vote. 
 
 (20.1) H. Miles Moore, A. McAuley, L. Kerr. (206) 
 David Brown, T. A. Hart, O. F. Waireti. K. 11. Rees. A. 
 Russell, P. R. Orr. L. J. KasUn, A. Fi.shiT. .M. b-rance, 
 H. M. Mooie (JOT) V. Br..\vii, K. A. Hart. «. F. War- 
 ren, A. Fisher. H. M. Moore. W. G. MattUia-. (208) 
 F. A. Hart, L. J. Ea>;tin, M. Franco, W. II. Adams, H. 
 M. .Muore. (209) F. A. Hart, T. A Miriard. ii. V. 
 Warren. R. R. Ree.s. A. J. Patlie, W. (J. .Matthias. 
 (210) 1). lln.wn, M. France. ( Jll> U. Brown. F. A. 
 Hart. M. France. (212) .M. France. (21:3) M. France. 
 (214) F. A. Hart. L. J. Karin. W. H. Adams. (215) D. 
 Brown, F. A. Hart, T. A. .Minard, (f F Warren, K. R. , 
 Kees. S. J. BusMn. A. T. Kvle. 1). J. Johnson. M. , 
 France. A. T. I'attie. H. ,M. Moore. (210) H. R. Rees, 
 L. J. Easfin. W H. Adams. H. .M Moore. (217) U. 
 Brown, T. A. Minard, G. F. Warren, R. R. Reo.^, H. 
 M. Moore. I 
 
 And one of the moniljerB (218J of the Council, R, 
 K. Kees, declared in his testimony that he who 
 should [lut adill'erent construction ujMdi the law 
 must be either a knave or a fool. 
 
 The Free .State men generally did not vote at 
 that ileetion (2I!») ; and no newlvarrived East- 
 ern emigrants were there (220), The Free-State 
 Judge of Election refused to sign the returns un- 
 til thi^ words "by lawful resident voters" were 
 stricken out, whicli was done, and the returnu 
 made in that way (221). The election was cou- 
 testi'd, and a new election ordered by Gov. 
 Kceder tor the 22d of May. 
 
 The te.stiniony is divided as to the relotivc 
 strength of parties in this district. The whole 
 number of voters in the district, according to 
 the census returns, was 385 ; and, according to 
 a very carefully-prepared list of voters, pre- 
 iwireil for the Pro Slavery candidates and other 
 I'ro Slavery men, a few days previous to the 
 election, tliere Were 305 Voters in the district, 
 iijehuling those who had claims but did not live 
 on I hem (222). The whole number of votes east 
 was !•()!. Of these named iu the census lOG 
 voted. Your Ciunmittec, upon careful examina- 
 tion, arc satisfied that thcrt; were not over 150 
 legal votes cast, leaving 814 illegal votes. 
 
 XVIIth District. 
 The election in this district seems to have 
 been fairly conducted, and not contested at all. 
 In this district the Pro-Slavery party had the 
 majority. 
 
 XVIIIth Dlstrict. 
 
 Previous to the election. Gen. David R. Atchi- 
 son of Platte City, Mo., got up a company of 
 Missourians, and passing through Weston, Mo., 
 (223) went over into tlie Territory. He re- 
 mained all night atthe house of , and then 
 
 exhibited his arms, of which he had an .-ibund- 
 anee. lie proceeded to the Nemohaer (XVIllth) 
 District (224). On his way, he and his i)artv at- 
 tended a Nominating Convention iii tin- XlVth 
 District, and proposed and caused to be nomin- 
 ated a sit of candidates in opposition to the 
 wishes of the Pro-Slavery residents of tin; dis- 
 trict (225). At that Convention he said that 
 there were 1,100 men coming over from Platte 
 County, and if that wasn't enough they could 
 Send 5,0110 more — that they came to vote, and 
 Would vote or kill every G — d d — d Abolitionist 
 in the Territory (22()). 
 
 On the day of election, the Missourians under 
 Atchison, who were encamped there, came up 
 to the polls in the XVIIIth District, taking the 
 oath tiiat they were residents of the distiict. 
 The Missourians were all armed with pistols tu' 
 bowie-knives, and said there were GO in their 
 com))any (227). But 17 volis given on that day 
 were given by residents of tlio district (228). 
 The whole number of votes was G2. 
 
 11. L. Kirk, (Uie of the candidates, came into 
 the district from Jlissouri about a week In fore 
 the election, and boarded there (229). He left 
 after the election, and was not at the time a legal 
 n-sident of the district iu which he was elected. 
 No protest was sent to the tjovernor on account 
 of threiits made against any who should dare to 
 contest the eleetiim (230). The f(dlowing tables 
 embody the result of tlie examination of your 
 Committee in regard to this election. In some 
 of the districts it was impossible to ascertain 
 
 (218) D. Brown, T. A. Hart. (219) I). Brown. E. A. 
 Minard, G. F Warren, F. A. Hart M. 1 ranee. 11. M. 
 .Moore. (221)) L. J. Eastin. M. France, W. II Ailams. 
 (221) L. J. Easiin. .M France W. II. Adani.s. (222) L. 
 J. Eastin, A. .McAuloy. (223) H Niles .Moore. (224) 
 Dr »;. A. (utier, Amer Gr, om. (J.'o) Dr. G. A. 
 ( lUlcr. (220) Di. (i. A. Cutler. (227) 1>. H. Baker. 
 J.hn Belew. (228) D. H. Bukei, Joliu Beicw. (229) 
 Jubu Bolew. (2;i0) Dr, U. A. Cutler. 
 
132 
 
 THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 
 
 the precise number of the legal votes cast, and 
 especially iu the XlVth, XVth and XVlth Dis- 
 tricts. In such cases the number of legal and 
 
 illegal votes cast is stated, after a careful re-ex- 
 amination of all the testimony and records con- 
 cerning the election : 
 
 "S e 
 
 S3 
 
 No. t'Duncilmen elected 
 by Illegal Votes 
 
 No. of Illegal "Votes in 
 Council District 
 
 O CO 
 CO -* 
 
 <a csi 
 
 No. of Legal VotL'a in 
 Council District 
 
 
 
 to 
 
 (N S 
 
 
 
 
 lis 
 
 
 s 
 
 
 X5 O O 
 S3* 
 
 
 (N 
 
 to 
 
 
 No. of Illegal Votes in 
 Election District 
 
 S 
 
 to 
 
 
 ^il 
 
 5§ 
 
 I-l 
 
 05 
 
 i 
 
 M 
 
 3 
 
 CO 
 
 (N O 
 
 rHCO 
 
 O 
 
 2 
 
 s 
 
 
 No. of Legal Votes in 
 Election Discrict 
 
 15 
 
 l-t 
 
 Oi 
 
 W CO (M CO 
 
 CO 
 
 •a 
 
 CO 
 
 lO o 
 oo 
 
 •— i-H 
 
 OOO CO t--J-H 
 — ^ C-» CO ft 
 
 M CO 
 
 t-o o 
 
 rl-T 00 
 
 tM 
 
 s 
 
 
 Total Votes cast in 
 Council District . 
 
 
 
 
 CO O O) 
 
 
 
 
 CO CO 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 OO NC^ 
 
 t- o — 
 •*co -* 
 
 
 1 
 
 ta 
 to 
 
 Total Votes cast in 
 Election District — 
 
 o 
 
 O 
 
 
 o-*-*i- 
 
 cot- CO CO 
 
 5? 
 
 CO 
 
 i 
 
 o 
 
 lO (T? O O; to 
 
 COCOrH 
 
 
 (MIN 
 
 eo5< 
 
 IN 
 
 1 
 
 
 Scattering 
 
 rt 
 
 
 
 O CO 
 
 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 M 
 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 
 CO 
 
 Total Votes in Council 
 District for them 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 CO 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 ro 
 
 
 to 
 to 
 
 to 
 
 No. of A'otes for them 
 in Election District 
 
 TtlO<NC^«5«IM-WC0t-0»0>i0C0t-C0e»O 
 
 O IM r-l CO en t- 
 0-*<M I-l 
 
 
 00 CO to O 05 
 to tOu3 
 
 
 ■o !tc-o_° 
 rt o 
 
 :ta t"^ 
 
 hjOal-St/jl-sC/il-S^ 
 
 fe fc S S & fe g 
 
 D c c c c a p 
 o o c o o o 
 
 O r_) O O U O ^ 
 
 ft< Si ft. fN fe fsj ^ 
 
 ^ I w-; c^ If* tj tf' cS ^ 5 t.^ ,f' ^ •.; M* M 9 
 
 ^ ' — >-; «a •-» « H^ <= 1-5 iit;,*«<;<.rt 1-5 
 
 
 3 ^^"^ ^ 
 
 ? ■- = -3 
 
 Total Voters in Council 
 Districts for them 
 
 O CO 
 CO -ti 
 
 to CO 
 
 No. of Voters for them 
 in Election District 
 
 OCOOOOO(MOOOOOrHt-t— tOOSOl-<*-<*-^-1IC0r0lr'CHaoC^Til'^C0— •Tj'rHCOCOtOCO 
 
 ooQot-t-'^Tiift^rH-.Ht-i-ciair-t-coco-i'C^C^ £3^ t--*toco<-icocooiOi 
 
 CO CO ci CO ?:i r-1 r-i 
 
 (M Tf « C^ 00 00 
 
 I □ o □ 
 
 I « « 
 
 
 S g •-•- --^ '■? = ■£ ^'■E^'i.-e = " c a 2 gfefc^S^ 
 c 5 t. t. ■- o ■^^ '^o^--*^i3oocSo- 
 
 ^ a » a 
 
 5 .6 ^*"^'-5'^»«5'?*^'?i<'>*^'>g.i5.a.543.i:.5.a.caS^^*-5^'"5 
 HWfHH<!KKH<Q-<Q<JQ-<P^»-5i-5>-5i-si-5i-si-5i-si-sPCPiF3P5i.:! 
 
 No. of Oouncilmen., 
 
 r-l iHrHCI 
 
 No. of Voters by Census 
 in Council Districts 
 
 (N CO 
 
 — o> 
 
 iNf« 
 
 CO rH 
 »t5 O 
 tNCJ 
 
 Voters in Election Dists 
 
 O IM — I CO OJ tJ 
 
 iCl f* O »C CO -* 
 
 ) to CO -^00 a oo»oooco 
 
 >COtO IMt- 1-H NhS"' 
 
 3 J3 
 
 Eh n 
 
 _ .2 " -■ 
 
 W ^ -x^. 5; S ::2 '^ .- 
 
 .SP o S i: ^- o § 3 
 
 No. of Election District 
 
 NCO«-00 O 
 
 CO Ol O rH IN M* 00 -* *« CO to 
 
 No. of Council District. "^ 
 
THE KANSAS-NEBRASKA STRUGGLE. 
 
 133 
 
 ABSTRACT OP ELECTION OP MARCH 30, 1805, BY REPRESENTATIVE DISTRICTS. 
 
 No. RepreHenl'eii 
 Elected by l!lo- 
 gal Votes 
 
 No. Illegal Votes 
 in Represent'ttve 
 District 
 
 11 Ft s 
 
 No. Li-gal VutoH 
 in Rt-pi'esent'tive 
 District 
 
 ^ s ss 
 
 g s s s 
 
 No. Illegal Votes 
 in Election Dint.. 
 
 8<oc 
 III 
 
 8 « S 
 
 No. Legal Votes SS 
 in Election Dist.. 
 
 3SS§J' 
 
 P; 3 S S 
 
 Total Votes ca>>t 
 in Representative 
 District 
 
 
 251 
 eoc< 
 
 Total Votes cast 
 in Election Dist.. 
 
 3? z;2 
 
 «9 r*tT 
 
 rH O «0 lA 03 CO OO — ' 
 
 N^ S 00 
 
 O r* to C4 C4 CO fH • 
 
 Scattering. 
 
 -H <0 iH 
 
 Total Votfs for 
 them in Repro 
 sentative District 
 No. of Votes for 
 them in Election 
 District .- 
 
 r1g^Ar1r-l « IN CO il <0 O tO <0 i-li-i i-l ri <0 to (5 <0 O •<* W i-( il M c< i-l S rH 
 
 
 £ £ E cfc 3 a c.£ 3 
 
 o c J- o o 
 
 <i^-;wo:^f4d<;a<•4£:^?<M&4•^ 
 
 c ^ 
 
 C a. o s 
 
 3 •- O O 
 
 ■ a =»; 
 
 = « 'Sao 
 sags-" 
 S ^^ = 
 r-- o S ■ 
 
 te =2 ■ 
 
 "959 fe- ^■S 
 
 a o c o 
 s 3 3 
 
 3-PP 
 
 o c * o .2 
 
 ci C! ^ 3 = 
 
 >J ■ ■_.: ° 
 
 .Z •a e — . ■« 
 
 «-■ = 
 
 o^ s o 
 
 .5 » 
 
 C-r ^ 
 
 M 3 L^ 
 
 := gn 
 
 O CS • 
 
 Total Votes lor 
 them in Repre- 
 sentative District 
 
 t- CO SB 
 
 00 « t~ 
 
 <N >ra ^ 
 
 No. of Votes for 
 them in Election 
 District 
 
 • cooi-if-iarroceoo 
 t^ t* r. CO CO CO c* 
 
 c>i«nfOr-iAiAt>ooocc30aOTi«-^.<j<TjtcO'M»ou5QOr-<cia 
 
 II— i.-t'.t-t-l— ClCJCiC-' - - — — 
 
 coeocor3cocoi-i»-tt-(f 
 
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 -W TJi OO 00 00 
 
 No. Represent'vs 
 
 No. Voters by cen- 
 sus in Represent- 
 ative District 
 
 No.Voter.s by ceu 
 su.s in Election 
 District 
 
 fl r1C» 
 
 c» « CO 
 
 <M M 09 
 
 -t J M 
 
 5 ^ a 
 
 ~ 1< . o o 
 
 n E-ii-3 oek 
 
 No. of Elec. Dist. I "S*^ ** "'" 
 No. of Rep. Dist, I -^ e^ eo .* us 
 
 
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134 
 
 THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 
 
 ABSTRACT OF CENSUS, AND RETURNS OF ELECTION OF MARCH 30, 1855, BY 
 ELECTION DISTRICTS. 
 
 Place of Voting. 
 
 Lawrence . ... 
 
 Bloomington 
 
 Stinson's, or Tecumseh .. 
 
 Dr. Chapman's 
 
 Bull Creek 
 
 Potawatamie 
 
 Big Sugar Creek 
 
 Little Sugar Creek 
 
 fort Scott 
 
 Isaac B. Titus 
 
 Council Grove 
 
 Pawnee 
 
 Big Blue 
 
 Rock Creek.. 
 
 Marysville 
 
 St. Mary's 
 
 Silver Lake 
 
 Hickory Point 
 
 Doniphan .. 
 
 Wolf Creek 
 
 Burr-Oak, Hodge's 
 
 Hayes 
 
 Leavenworth . 
 
 Gum Springs 
 
 Moonestown 
 
 Total 5427 
 
 781 
 
 318 
 
 366 
 
 78 
 
 377 
 
 199 
 
 74 
 
 34 
 
 315 
 
 211 
 
 17 
 
 23 
 
 27 
 
 2 
 
 328 
 
 4 
 
 12 
 
 233 
 
 313 
 
 57 
 
 256 
 
 412 
 
 899 
 
 43 
 
 48 
 
 1034 
 311 
 
 372 
 
 80 
 
 386 
 
 264 
 
 98 
 
 104 
 
 350 
 
 234 
 
 37 
 
 75 
 
 69 
 
 23 
 
 328 
 
 11 
 
 33 
 
 239 
 
 346 
 
 78 
 
 306 
 
 417 
 
 964 
 
 59 
 
 62 
 
 232 
 3> 
 32 
 15 
 13 
 75 
 32 
 104 
 100 
 25 
 37 
 75 
 48 
 23 
 7 
 11 
 33 
 12 
 
 80 
 
 150 
 
 59 
 
 17 
 
 802 
 316 
 338 
 
 65 
 380 
 191 
 
 59 
 
 250 
 209 
 
 21 
 321 
 
 230 
 
 530 
 
 337 
 814 
 
 45 
 
 4968 
 
 962 
 619 
 252 
 177 
 
 1407 
 
 810 
 
 118 
 
 83 
 
 144 
 
 284 
 
 1167 
 
 873 
 
 1183 
 
 150 
 
 99 
 
 369 
 199 
 101 
 47 
 
 253 
 58 
 39 
 36 
 63 
 
 208 
 
 385 
 
 50 
 
 28 
 
 3501 2892 
 
 Your Committee report the following facts 
 not shown by the tables : 
 
 Of the tweuty-nine hundred and five voters 
 named in the census -rolls, eight hundred and 
 thirty-one are found ou the poll-books. Some of 
 the settlers were prevented from attending the 
 election by the distance of their homes from the 
 polls ; but the great majority were deterred by the 
 open avowal that large bodies of armed Missou- 
 rians would be at the polls to vote, and by the 
 fact that they did so appear and control the elec- 
 tion. The same causes deterred the Free-State 
 settlers from running candidates in several dis- 
 tricts, and in others induced the candidates to 
 withdraw. 
 
 The poll-books of the lid and Vlllth districts 
 were lost ; but the proof is quite clear that, in the 
 lid district, there were thirty, and in the Vlllth 
 district thirty-eight legal votes, making a total 
 of eight hundred and ninety-eight legal voters of 
 the Territory, whose names are on the census- 
 returns, and yet the proof, in the state in which 
 we are obliged to present it, after excluding ille- 
 gal votes, leaves the total vote of 1,310, showing 
 a discrepancy of 412. The discrepancy is ac- 
 counted for in two ways : First, the coming in 
 of settlers before the March election, and after 
 the census was taken, or settlers who were omit- 
 ted in the census; or secondly, the disturbed 
 state of the Territory while we were investigat- 
 ing the elections in some of the districts, thereby 
 preventing us from getting testimony in relation 
 to the names of legal voters at the time of elec- 
 tion. 
 
 If the election had been confined to the actual 
 settlers unilctcireil by the presence of non-resi- 
 dents, or thr knowledge that they would be 
 present in nuiubors sufliciont to out-vote them, 
 the testimony indicates that the council would 
 have been composed of seven in favor of making 
 Kansas a Free State, elected from the 1st, Ha, 
 
 Hid, IVth, and Vlth, council-districts. The result 
 in the Vlllth, and Xth, electing three members, 
 would have been doubtful, and the Vth, Vllth, 
 and IXth would have elected three Pro-Slavery 
 members. 
 
 Under like circumstances the House of Rep- 
 resentatives would have been composed of four- 
 teen members in favor of making Kansas a Free 
 State, elected from the lid. Hid, IVth, Vth, 
 Vllth, Vlllth, IXth, and Xth representative- 
 districts. 
 
 The result in the Xllth and XlVth representa- 
 tive-districts, electing five members, would have 
 been doubtful, and' the 1st, Vlth, Xlth, and 
 XVth districts would have elected seven Pro- 
 Slavery members. 
 
 By the election, as conducted, the Pro- 
 Slavery candidates in every district but the 
 Vlllth representative-district, received amajority 
 of the votes ; and several of them, in both the 
 Council and the House, did not " reside in" 
 and were not "inhabitants of" the district for 
 which they were elected, as required by the or- 
 ganic law. By that act it was declared to be 
 the true intent and meaning of this act to leave 
 the people thereof perfectly free to form and 
 regulate their domestic institutions in their 
 own way, subject to the Constitution of the 
 United States. 
 
 So careful was Congress of the right of popular 
 sovereignty, that to secure it to the people, 
 without a single petition from any portion of the 
 country, they removed the restriction against 
 Slavery imposed by the Missouri Compromise. 
 And yet this right, so carefully secured, wa3 
 thus by force and fraud overthrown by a portion 
 of the people of an adjoining State. 
 
 The striking difference between this Repub- 
 lic and other Republics on this Continent, is not 
 in the provisions of Constitutions and laws, 
 but that here changes in the administration of 
 
THE KANSAS-NEBRASKA STRUGGLE. 
 
 186 
 
 thoBO lawB hnvo boon mado pcncefully iiiul quiitly 
 throu};li tlic bnllotbcix. TIiih iiiviiBion in tbo tirnt 
 and only one in lin- liirtlory of our (iovfinniuiit, 
 by wliii-li an or(,'iini7.ril Inico from one Sliiti- Iuim 
 eli-cti'd II Lc;,'isliilurc' for unoihcr Siiilu or Ti iri 
 tory, and as nm-h it tiliould liavc bci ii nsistt-d 
 lay 'the whob- cxc-cutivo i^wir of tli<- Nutionul 
 Govi'nnni-nt. 
 
 Your I'omniittco are of the opinion that the 
 ConMlitiition and hiW8 of thu United StatcM liiive 
 invested Ilie President and Governor of the Ter- 
 ritory witli aniiil<^ power for tliis inirpoHc. They 
 could oidy aet after roeeivin^c authentic infonna- 
 tion of tlie fatis, but wiicu reeeivetl, whether be- 
 fore or after the eertilieates of eieetion wer<' 
 {jranli-ii, this power sliould have been exereisxil 
 to its fullest extent. It is not to be tolerated 
 that a b'gislativu body thus selected slnudd as- 
 8«nio or exercise any lej,'isiativo functions ; and 
 their enactments should be re^'arded as null and 
 void; nor tliould the iiueslion of its Icj^al <-xist- 
 enee as a Icj^islative body be determined by 
 itself, as that would be allowinj^ the I'riminal to 
 judge of his own crime. In seetidii twenty two 
 of the orf,'anic aet it is provided, that " the per- 
 sons havin;^ the liijj;liest number of lej^ul votes 
 ill encli of said Council-districts for mendjors 
 of the Council, shall bo d(!elared by the Gov- 
 ernor to be duly elected to the Council, and 
 the persons haviuf; the his^hest number of le- 
 gal votes fur the House of liepresentatives, 
 fihnll be declared by the CJovernur duly electiil 
 monbers of said House." The proclamation 
 of the Governor required a verified notice of a 
 contest when one was made, to bo filed with 
 him within four days after the ch-ction. Within 
 that time ho did not obtain information as to 
 force or fraud in any ixcept the following dis- 
 tricts, and in these there were material defects 
 in the returns of eieetion. "Without deciding 
 upon his power to set aside elections for force 
 and fraud, they were set aside for the following 
 reasons : 
 
 In tlie let district, because the words " by 
 lawful resident voters," were stricken from the 
 return. 
 
 In the Hd district, because the oath was ad- 
 ministered by G. W. Taylor, who was not au- 
 thorized to administer an oath. 
 
 In the llld district, because material erasures 
 from the printed form of the oath were pur- 
 posely made. 
 
 In the IVth district for the same reason. 
 
 In the Vllth district, because the Judges 
 ■Were not sworn at all. 
 
 In the Xlth district, because the return.'^ show 
 the election to have been held viva voce instead 
 of by ballot. 
 
 In the XV'Ith district, because the words " by 
 lawful residence' were stricken from the re- 
 turns. 
 
 ABSTRACT OF THE RETURNS OF ELECTION 
 OF MAY 2-2, 1855. 
 
 16 
 
 Places of Yotino. 
 
 Lawrence .... 
 
 Diiuglas 
 
 SriuKon's 
 
 " no" 
 
 Council Grove 
 Leavenworth-. 
 
 Total 
 
 288 
 127 
 148 
 06 
 33 
 560 I 14U 
 
 660 802 
 
 3C6 
 127 
 149 
 79 
 33 
 715 
 
 1409 
 
 Altliough tlio fraud and force in otlicr districta 
 were eiiually great as in these, yet us the Gov- 
 ernor hail no information in regard to them, he 
 issued certiticutes according to the returns. 
 
 Your Committee here felt it to be their duly 
 not oidy to in<niire into and collect evidence iu 
 regard to forci' and fraud attenipti-d and [irac- 
 ticed at the elections in the Territory, but also 
 into the I'acts and pretexts by whi<h this force 
 and fraud has been excused and juslilicd ; and 
 for this purpose, your Coinniittou have allowed 
 the doclaratioiiH of iion-resident voters to be 
 given as evidiner^ in their own bihalf, also the 
 declarations of all who <'ame up the iMissouri 
 Kiver as emigrants in March, IH.j.j, whcllier they 
 voted or not, and whetlur they came into tho 
 Territor}' at all or not ; and also the rumors 
 wliich were circulated among tin- people of Mis- 
 souri previous to the eieetion. The great body 
 of lh<? testimony taken at the instance of the sit- 
 ting Delegate is of this character. 
 
 When the declarations of i)arties passing uji tho 
 river were oticred in evidence, your Coinmitleo 
 received them upon the distinct statement that 
 they would be excluded unless the persons mak- 
 ing the declarations were by other proof shown 
 to liave been connected with the elections. This 
 proof was not made, and therefore much of this 
 (dass of testimony is incompetent by the rules of 
 law, but is allowed to remain as tending to show 
 the (^ause of the action of the citizens of Missouru 
 
 Tho alleged causes of the invasion of March, 
 185.3, are included in the following charges : 
 
 I. That the New England Aid Society of Bos- 
 ton was then importing into the Territory largo 
 numbers of men merely lor the purpose of control- 
 ling the elections. That they came without wo- 
 men, chiklren, or baggage, went into the Terri- 
 tory, voted, and returned again. 
 
 II. That men wiie hired in the Eastern or 
 Norihirn States, or induced to go into the Terri- 
 tory solely to vote, and not to settle, and by so 
 doing to make it a Free State. 
 
 III. That the Governor of the Territory pur- 
 posely postponed the day of election to allow 
 this emigration to arrive, and notified the Emi- 
 grant Aid Society, and persons in the Eastern 
 States, of the day of election, before ho gave 
 notice to the people of Missouri and the Ter- 
 ritory. 
 
 That these charges were industriously circu- 
 lated ; that grossly exaggerated statements were 
 made in regard to them; that the newspaper 
 press and leading men in public meetings in 
 western Missouri, aided iu one case by a Chap- 
 lain of the United States Army, gave currency 
 and credit to them, and thus excited the people, 
 and induced many well meaning citizens of Mis- 
 souri to march into the Territory to meet and repel 
 the alleged Eastern paupers and Abolitionists, is 
 fully proven by many witnesses. 
 
 But these charges are not sustained by tho 
 proof. 
 
 Ill April, 1854, the General Assembly of Mas- 
 sachusetts passed an act entitled " An aet to in- 
 corporate tho Massachusetts Emigrant Aid So- 
 ciety." The object of the Society as declared in 
 the first section of this act, was " for the purpose 
 of assisting emigrants to settle iu the West." 
 The moneyed capital of the corporation was not 
 to exceed five niillions of dcdlars ; but no more 
 than four pi^" cent, could be assessed during the 
 year 18J4, and no more than ten per cent, in any 
 ime year thereafter. >.'o organization was per- 
 fected, or proceedings had, under this law. 
 
 Gu tho 2i{\i day of July, 1854, certain persons 
 in Boston, Massachusetts, concluded articles of 
 agreement and association for an Emigrant Aid 
 Society. Thopurjiose of this association was de- 
 clared to bo " assisting emigrants to settle in tlio 
 West." Under these articles of ossocialiou, each 
 
136 
 
 THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 
 
 stockholder was individually liable. To avoid 
 this difficulty, an application was made to the 
 General Assembly of Massachusetts for an act of 
 incorporation, which was granted. On the 2l8t 
 day of February, 1855, an act was passed to in- 
 corporate the New England Emigrant Aid Com- 
 pany. The purposes of this act were declared 
 to be " directing emigration westward, and aid- 
 ing and providing accommodation for the emi- 
 grants after arrivmg at their place of destina- 
 tion." The capital stock of the corporation was 
 not to exceed one milUon of dollars. Under this 
 charter a company was organized. 
 
 Your Committee have examined some 
 of its officers and a portion of its circulars 
 and records to ascertain what has been 
 done by it. The public attention, at that time, 
 was directed to the Ten-itory of Kansas, and 
 emigration naturally tended in that direction. 
 To ascertain its character and resources, this 
 Company sent its agent into it, and the informa- 
 tion thus obtained was published. The Com- 
 pany made arrangements with various lines of 
 transportation to reduce the expense of emigra- 
 tion into the Territory, and procm-ed tickets at 
 the reduced rates. Apphcations were made to 
 the Company by persons desiring to emigrate, 
 and when they were numerous enough to form a 
 party of convenient size, tickets were sold to 
 tliem at the reduced rates. An agent acquainted 
 with the route was selected to accompany them. 
 Their baggage was checked, and all trouble and 
 danger of loss to the emigrant in this way avoid- 
 ed. 
 
 Under these ai-ran^ements, companies went 
 into the Territory in the Fall of 1854, under the 
 articles of association referred to. The compa- 
 ny did not pay any portion of the fare, or fui'nish 
 any personal or real property to the emigrant. 
 The company during 1855 sent into the Territory 
 from eight to ten saw-mills, purchased one hotel 
 in Kansas City, which they subsequently sold, 
 built one hotel at Lawrence, and owned one other 
 building in that place. In some cases, to induce 
 them to make improvements, town lots were 
 given to them by town associations in this Ter- 
 ritory. They held no property of any other kind 
 or description. They imposed no condition upon 
 their emigrants and did not inquire into their po- 
 litical, religious, or social opinions. The total 
 amount expended by them, including the salaries 
 of their agents and officers, and the expenses in- 
 cident to all organizations, was less than $100,- 
 000. 
 
 Their purposes, as far as your Committee can 
 ascertain, were lawful, and contributed to sup- 
 ply those wants most experienced in the settle- 
 ment of a new country. 
 
 The only persons or company who emigrated 
 into the Territory under the auspices of the Emi- 
 grant Aid Society in 1855, prior to the election 
 m March, was a party of 159 persons who came 
 under the charge of Charles Robinson (231J. 
 
 In this party there were 67 women and chil- 
 dren (232). They came as actual settlers, intend- 
 ing to make their homes in the Territory, and 
 for no other purpose (233). They had about their 
 persons but little baggage; usually sufficient 
 clothing in a carpet-sack tor a short time. Their 
 personal effects, such as clothing, furniture, etc., 
 was put into trunks and boxes ; and for conve- 
 nience in selecting and cheapness in transport- 
 ing, was marked " Kansas party baggage, care 
 B. Slater, St. Louis." Generally this was con- 
 fiigntd lis freight, in the usual way, to the care 
 of a c<jHiii]issiiin merchant. This party had, in 
 addition to tin- usual allowance of one hundred 
 pounds to each passenger, a large quantity of 
 baggage on which the respective owners paid 
 
 (231) Benj. Slater, Charles Robinson, P, A. Hunt 
 (232) Cbarlea Robinson. (23U) Samuel C. Smith. 
 
 the usual extra freight (234). Each passenger 
 or party paid his or their own expenses ; and 
 the only benefit they derived from the Society, 
 not shared by all the people of the Ten-itory, 
 was the reduction of about $7 in the price of the 
 fare, the convenience of traveling in a company 
 instead of alone, and the cheapness and facility 
 of transporting their freight through regular 
 agents. Subsequently, many emigrants, Iseing 
 either disappointed with the country or its poli- 
 tical condition, or deceived by the statements 
 made by the newspapers and by the agents of 
 the Society, became dissatisiied, and returned, 
 both before and after the election, to their old 
 homes. Most of them are now settlers in the 
 Territory (235). Some few voted at the election 
 in Lawrence (235), but the number was small. 
 The names of these emigrants have been ascer- 
 tained, and of them were found upon 
 
 the poll-books. This company of peaceful emi- 
 grants, moving with their household goods, was 
 distorted into an invading horde of pauper Abo- 
 litionists, who were, with others of a similar 
 character, to control the domestic institutions 
 of the Territory, and then overturn those of a 
 neighboring powerful State. 
 
 In regard to the second charge : There is no 
 proof that any man was either hired or induced 
 to come into the Territory from any Free State, 
 merely to vote. The entire emigration in March 
 1855, is estimated at 500 persons (236) , including 
 men, women, and children. They came on steam- 
 boats up the Missouri Eiver, in the ordinary 
 course of emigration. Many returned for causes 
 similar to those before stated ; but the body of 
 them are now residents. The only persons of 
 those who were connected by proof with the 
 election, were some who voted at the Big Blue 
 Precinct in the Xth District, and at Pawnee in 
 the IXth District. Their purpose and character 
 are stated in a former part of this report. 
 
 The third charge is entirely groundless. The 
 organic law requires the Governor to cause an 
 enumeration of the inhabitants and legal voters 
 to be made, and that he apportion the members 
 of the Council and House according to this enu- 
 meration. For reasons stated by persons en- 
 gaged in taking the census, it was not completed 
 until the early part of March, 1855 (237). At that 
 time the day of holding the election had not been, 
 and could not have been, named by the Governor. 
 As soon as practicable after the returns were 
 brought in, he issued his proclamation for an 
 election, and named the earliest day consistent 
 with due notice, as the day of election. The day 
 on which the election was to be held, was a mat- 
 ter of conjecture all over the country; but it 
 was generally known that it would be in the 
 latter part of March. The precise day was not 
 known by any one until the proclamation issued. 
 It was not known to the agents of the Emigrant 
 Aid Society in Boston on the 13th of March, 1855, 
 when the party of emigrants, before referred to, 
 left (238). 
 
 Your Committee are satisfied that these charges 
 were made the mere pretext to induce an armed 
 invasion into the Territory, as a means to control 
 the election and establish Slavery there. 
 
 The real purpose is avowed and illustrated by 
 the testimony and conduct of Col. John Scott, of 
 St. Joseph's, Missouri, who acted as the attorney 
 for the sitting delegate before your Committee. 
 The following are extracts from his deposition : 
 
 "Prior to the election in Burr-Oak precinct, in the 
 XlVth district, on the 29lh of November, 1854, I had 
 been a resident of Missouri, and I then determined, 
 if I found it necessary, to become a resident of Kansas 
 
 (234) B. Slater and P. A. Hunt. (235) Charles Robin- 
 son. Samuel C. Smith. (236) W. H. Chick, Mr. Rid- 
 dlerbuiger. (237) Wm. Barbour. (238) Charles Rob- 
 inson, 
 
THE KANSAS-NEBRASKA STRUGGLE. 
 
 137 
 
 Territory. On tlio 'lay previous to that election, I 
 gettli'd up my lioanl at my boarditB-house, iu St. 
 Josi'pli's, Missouri, and went over to tlio Territory, 
 and took boarding' with .Mr. liryaut. near whose hou»« 
 the polla Were hel 1 the ueit day, for one month, so 
 that I might have it in my power, liy merely deter- 
 mining to do HO, to become a resident of the Territory 
 on the day of election. 
 
 " When my inimo was proposed as a Jud({o of Klee- 
 tion, olijeotionR were made by two persons «.nly. * » • * 
 I then publicly informed tlio-e present, that I had a 
 claim ill the Territory ; that I had taken board iu the 
 Territory fir a month, and that I could, at any mo- 
 ment, become an actual resident and legal voter in the 
 Torriti ry, and that I would do so, if I cMicluded at 
 «ny time during the day that my vote wou d he neces- 
 •ary to carry that precinct in favor of the Pro Slavery 
 candidate for delegate to I'ongress. » * » * • I dnl 
 not durinK the day consider it necessary to become a 
 resident of the Territory lor the purpose mentioned, 
 and did not vote or olVer to vote ai that election. 
 
 " I held the ollico of City-Attoruey lor St. Joseph's 
 at that lime, and had hold it for two or three years 
 previously, and contiiiii"d to hoM it until this spring. 
 * * * I voted at an election in St. Josi ph's, in the 
 spring of 1855, and was re-»ppointed UityAttorney. 
 The question of Slavery was put in issue at the election 
 of November, l>io4, to the same extent as in every elec- 
 tion in this Territory. Gen. Whitlield was regarded 
 as the Pro-Slavery candidate for the Pro-Slavery 
 party. I regarded the question of Slavery as the pri- 
 marily promiDe"t is-iuo at that election, and, so far as 
 I know, all parties agreed in making that question the 
 iBsue of that election. 
 
 " It is my initnfion, and the intention of a great 
 many other Alissoutiuns now resident in Missouri, 
 vhttifver the Slav^ry issue is to he determined upon hy 
 the jicople of this Territory in the adoption of the State 
 Constitution, to remove to this Territory in time to ac- 
 quire the right to become legal voUrs upon that ijuestion. 
 The lending purpose of our intended removal to the 
 Territory is to determine the domestic institutions of 
 this Territory, when it comes to he a State, and we 
 would not come hut for that purpose, and would never 
 think of eoniin% here hut for that purpose. I believe 
 there arc a great many in Missouri tc'io are so situated." 
 
 Tho inva.«ioii of ^farch 30th left both parties in 
 a stnto of cxcitoiiK'nt, tendiuf; rlircctly t" produce 
 violeiu-e. Tlie successful party was lawless and 
 reckless, while nssiiininjj the name of the " Law 
 and Order" party. The other party, at first Piir- 
 priscd and confininded. was (jreatly irritated, and 
 Bomc resolved to prevent the success of the inva- 
 Bion. In some Districts, as before stated, protests 
 •were sent to the Governor; in others, this was 
 prevented by thrcat.s ; in others, by the want of 
 time, only four days being allowed by the pro- 
 clamatimi for this purpose ; and in others, by the 
 belief that a new election would brinp a new in- 
 vasion. About the same time, all classes of men 
 commenced bearing deadly weapons about the 
 person, a practice which has continued to this 
 time. Uncicr tlieso circumstances, a slifjht or 
 accidental quarrel produced unusual violence, 
 and lawless acts became frequent. This evil 
 condition of the public mind was further increased 
 by acts of viok'nco in Western Missouri, where, 
 in April, a newspaper press called The I'arkville 
 Luminary was destroyed by a mob. 
 
 About the same time, Malcolm Clark assaulted 
 Cole McCrea, at a squatter meeting in Leaven- 
 worth, and was shot by McCrea, in alleged self- 
 defense. 
 
 On the 17th day of May, William Phillips, a 
 lawyer of LeaveiiWorth, was first notified to leave, 
 and upon his refusal, was forcibly seized, taken 
 across the river, and caiTied several miles into 
 Missouri, and then tarred and feathered, and one 
 side of his head shaved, and other gross indigni- 
 ties put upon his person. 
 
 Previous to the outrage a public meeting was 
 held (239j, at which resolutions were unanimously 
 passed, looking to unlawful violence, aiul grossly 
 intolerant in their character. The right of free 
 Bpeech upon the subject of Slaveiy was charac- 
 
 (239) A. Payne. 
 
 tcrizod ne a disturbanco of tlic pence and quiet 
 of tho community, and as "circulating inctcn- 
 diary sentiinenls," 'I'hey say "to the peculiar 
 friomlH of northern fanuticM," "(lo iionie and do 
 your treason whi-ro you miiy fin<l sympathy. 
 Among other resolves, is the liiliowing : 
 
 " Ilesolvtd, That the institution of Slavery is knowa 
 anil rccogni-jied in this Territory; that wo repel the 
 doctrine that it is a moral and political evil, and we 
 hurl back with scorn upon its slanderous authors the 
 charge of inhumanity ; and we warn all persons not to 
 come to our paceful fireKides to slander ui, and i-uw 
 the seeds of discord between the master and the serv- 
 ant; for, as much as we dejirecale the necessity to 
 which we may be driven, we cannot be responsible for 
 the coUBcquenccB." 
 
 A Committee of Vigilance of 30 men was ap- 
 pointed, " to observe and report all such jierHons 
 as sliall, • * ' " by (he expression of Abolition 
 sentiments, produce diwtiirbaneo to the quiet of 
 the citizens, or danger to their domestic rela- 
 tions ; and all such persons so offending, shall be 
 notified, and made to leave the Territory." 
 
 The meeting was "ably and elntpiently ad- 
 dressed by .Tu<ige Leconiiite, Col. .J. N. Ikirns 
 of Western Missouri, ami oilier.-'." Thus the head 
 of tlie Judiciary in the Territory, not only assist- 
 ed at a public and bitterly jiarlisan meeting, 
 whose direct tendency was to produce violence 
 and disorder, but before any law is passed iu the 
 Territory, he prejudges the character of the do- 
 mestic institutions, which the pcoitle of the Ter- 
 ritory were, by their organic law, " left perfectly 
 free to form and regulate in their own way." 
 
 On this Committee were several of those who 
 held certificates of election as members of the 
 Legislature ; some of the others were then and 
 still are residents of Missouri; and many of the 
 Committee have since been appointed to the 
 leading oflices in the Territory, one of which is 
 the SheriiTalty of the County. Their first act 
 was that of mobbing Phillips. 
 
 Subsequently, on the tiMi of May, a. d. 1855, 
 a public meeting was held, at which K. K. Kecs, 
 a member elect of the Council, prcside<l (240). 
 Tho following resolutions, offered by Judge 
 Payue, u meniber elect of the House, were una- 
 nimously adopted : 
 
 " Resolved. That we heartily indorse the action of 
 the committee of citizens that shaved, tarred, and 
 feathered, rode on a rail, and had sold by a negro, Wm. 
 Phillips, ihe moral perjurer. 
 
 " Jiesolved, That we return our thanks to the com- 
 mittee for faithfully performing the trust enjoined 
 upon them by the Pro-Slavery party. 
 
 " Resolved, That the committee be now discharged. 
 
 " Resolved, That we severely condemn those Pro- 
 Slavery men who, from mercenary motives, are call- 
 ing upon the Pro-Slavery party to submit without 
 further action. 
 
 "Resolved, That in order to secure peace and har- 
 mony to the community, we now solemnly declare that 
 the Pro-Slaverv party will stand firmly by ami carry 
 out the resolutions reported by the committee ap- 
 pointed for that purpose on the memorable 30th." 
 
 The act of moral perjury here referred to, is 
 the swearing by Phillips to a truthful protest in 
 regard to the election of March 30, in trie XVIth 
 District. 
 
 The members receiving their certificates of 
 the Governor as members of the General As- 
 sembly of the Territory, met at Pawnee, tho 
 Slace appointed by the Governor, on the 2d of 
 uly, A. D. 1855. Their proceedings are stated 
 in three printed books, lierewith submitted, en- 
 titled respectively, "The Statutes of the Terri- 
 tory of Kansas;" "The Journal of the Council 
 of the Territory of Kansas;" and "The Journal 
 of the House of Kepreseutatives of the Territory 
 of Kansas." 
 
 Your Committee do not regard their enact- 
 ments as valid laws. A Legislature thus iin- 
 
 (240) R. R. Rec*. 
 
138 
 
 THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 
 
 posed upon a people, cannot afifect their political 
 rights. Such an attempt to do so, if successful, 
 is virtually an ovt^rthvow df tlie organic law, and 
 reduces tlie people of the Territory to the condi- 
 tion of vassals to a neighboring State. To avoid 
 the evils of anarchy, no armed or organized re- 
 Histauce to them should be made, but the citi- 
 zens should appeal to the ballot-box at public 
 elections, to the Federal Judiciary, and to Con- 
 gress, for relief. Such, from Ihf proof, would 
 have been the course of the poiii)le, but for tlie 
 nature of these enactments and thu manner in 
 which they are enforced. Tlieir character and 
 their execution have been so intimately con- 
 nected with one branch of this investigation — 
 that relating to "violent and tumultuous pro- 
 ceedings in the Territory" — that we were com- 
 pelled to examine them. 
 
 The "laws" in the statute-books are general 
 and special ; the latter are strictly of a local 
 character, relating to bridges, roads, and the like. 
 The great body of the general laws are exact 
 transcripts from the Missouri Code. To make 
 them in some cases conform to the organic act, 
 separate acts were passed, defining the meaning 
 of words. Thus the word " State" is to be under- 
 stood as meaning " Territory" (241) ; the word 
 " County Court" shall be construed to mean the 
 Board of Commissioners transacting county 
 busines.s, or the Probate Court, according to the 
 intent thereof The words " Circuit Court" to 
 mean " District Court" ('-242). 
 
 The material differences in the Missouri and 
 Kansas statutes are upon the following subjects: 
 The qualifications of voters and of members of 
 the legislative assembly ; the ofiicial oath of all 
 officers, attorneys, and voters: the mode of select- 
 ing officers and their qualifications; the slave 
 code, and the qualifications of jurors. 
 
 Upon these subjects the provisions of the Mis- 
 souri Code are such as are usual in many of the 
 States. But by the " Kansas Statutes," every 
 office in the Territory, executive and judicial, 
 was to be appointed by the legislature, or by 
 some officer appointed by it. These appoint- 
 ments were not merely to meet a temporary exi- 
 gency, but were to hold over two I'cgular elec- 
 tions, and until after the general election in 
 October, 1857 (243), at which the members of the 
 new Council were to be elected (244). The new 
 Legislature is required to meet on the first Mon- 
 day in January, 1858 (245). Thus, by the terms 
 of these "laws," the people have no control 
 whatever over either the Legislature, the execu- 
 tive, or the judicial departments of the territori- 
 al government until a time before which, by the 
 natural progri'ss of population, the territorial 
 government will be superseded by a State gov- 
 ernment. 
 
 No session of the Legislature is to be held 
 during 1856, but the members of the House are 
 to be elected in October of that year (24(5). A 
 candidate, to be eligible at this election, must 
 swear to support the fugitive-slave law (247), and 
 each judge of election, and each voter, if chal- 
 lenged, must take the same oath (248). The 
 same oath is required of every officer elected or 
 appointed in the Territory, and of every attorney 
 admitted to practice in the courts (249). 
 
 A portion of the militia is reiiuired to muster 
 on the day of election (250). " Every free white 
 male citizen of the United States, and every 
 free male Indian, who is made a citizen by treaty 
 or otherwise, and over the age of twenty-one 
 years, and who shall be an inkabUant of the 
 Territory and of the county and district in which 
 he offers to vote, and shall have paid a territori- 
 
 (241) Statutes, page 718. (242) Statutes, page 766. 
 (243) Statutes, pages 168, 227, 712. (244) 330 (245) 
 475. l24tj) Statutes, page aso. (247) p. 333. (248) p. 
 S32. (249) pp. 152, 339, 5, 6. (250) p. 469. 
 
 al tax, shall be a qualified elector for all elect- 
 ive offices (251)." Two classes of persons were 
 thus excluded who by the organic act were al- 
 lowed to vote, viz.: those who would not swear 
 to the oath required, and those of foreign birth 
 who had declared on oath their intention to be- 
 come citizens (252). Any man of proper age 
 who was in the Territory on the day of election, 
 and who had paid one dollar as a tax to the Sher- 
 iff, who was required to be at the polls to receive 
 it (253), could votcasan " inhabitant," although 
 he had breakfasted in Missouri, aud intended to 
 return there for supper. There can be no doubt 
 that this unusual and unconstitutional provision 
 was inserted to prevent a full and fair expression 
 of the popular will in the election of members of 
 the House, or to control it by non-residents. 
 
 All jurors are required to be selected by the 
 Sheriff, and " no person who is conscientiously 
 opposed to the holding of slaves, or who does 
 not admit the right to hold slaves in the Territory, 
 shall be a juror in any cause" affecting the right 
 to hold slaves, or relating to slave property. 
 
 The Slave (Jode, and every provision relating 
 to slaves, are of a character intolerant and unu- 
 sual even forthat class of legislation. The char- 
 acter and conduct of the men appointed to hold 
 office in the TeiTitory contributed very much to 
 produce the events which followed. Thus Samuel 
 I. Jones was appointed Sheriff" of the County of 
 Douglas, which included within it the 1st aud 
 lid Election-Districts. He had made himself 
 peculiarly obnoxious to the settlers by his con- 
 duct on the 30th of March in the lid District, 
 and by his burning the cabins of Joseph Oakley 
 and Samuel Smith (254). 
 
 An election for delegates to Congress, to be 
 held on the 1st day of October, 1855, was pro- 
 vided for with the same rules and regulations as 
 were applied to other elections. The Free-State 
 men took no part in this election, having made 
 arrangements for holding an election on the yth 
 of the same month. The citizens of Missouri 
 attended at the election of the let of October, 
 some paying the d(dlar tax, others not being re- 
 quired to pay it. They were present and voted 
 at the voting-places of Atchison (25.5) and Doni- 
 phan (256), in Atchison County; at Green 
 Springs, Johnson County (257) ; at Willow 
 Springs (258) ; Franklin (259), and Lecompton 
 (260), in Douglas County; at Fort Scott, Bour- 
 bon County (261; ; at Baptiste Paola.Lykins C!o., 
 where some Indians voted, some whites paying 
 the $1 tax for them (262) ; at Leavenworth 
 City (263), and at Kickapoo City, Leavenworth 
 County ; at the latter place under the lead of 
 Gen. B. F. Stringfellow and Col. Lewis Barnes 
 of Missouri (264). From two of the election pre- 
 cincts at which it was alleged there was illegal 
 voting — viz. : Delaware and Wyandotte, your 
 Committee failed to obtain the attendance of 
 witnesses. Your Committee did not deem it ne- 
 cessary, in regard to this election, to enter into 
 details, as it was manifest that, from there being 
 but one candidate — Gen. Whitfield — he must 
 have received a majority of the votes cast 
 This election, therefore, depends not on the 
 number or character of the votes received, but 
 upon the validity of the laws under which it was 
 held. Sufficient testimony was takeji to show 
 that the voting of citizens of Missouri was prac- 
 ticed at this election, as at all former elections in 
 the Territory. The following table will exhibit 
 
 (251) p. 332. (252) Statutes, p. 34. (253) p. 833. (254) 
 Sarai. SmitU and Ed. Oakley. (255) D. W. field. (256) 
 John Landis. (257) Kol)ert Morrow, E. Jeukios, B. C. 
 VVfstfaH. (258) A. White, T. Wolvertou, J. Reid. 
 (26t)) L. M. Cox, L. A. Prather. (260) B. C. Westfall. 
 (261) E. B. Cook, J. Hamilton. (262) B C. Westfall. 
 (263) G. F. Warreu, U. Niles Moore. (264) J. W. Ste- 
 phens. 
 
THE KANSAS-NEBR^ISKA STRUGGLE. 
 
 189 
 
 the result of the testimony as regardftho number 
 of legal and illi-i^nl vote^ at thw election. 'I'lu' 
 County of MarKliall cndirarcx tlio name territory 
 as was ineludud in the Xlth District; and tiie 
 reasOQfl before tttated indicate that tlie ^eat ma- 
 
 jority of the votcB then east were either illegal 
 or fictitiouo. In the countieH to which our ex- 
 
 aniinatiiin extended, tiiere were illegal votes 
 
 cast, aa near aa the proof will oaablo uh to dotor- 
 minc. 
 
 ABSTKACT OF POLL-BOOKS OF OCTOBER I 1855. 
 
 Counties. 
 
 Atchison . 
 
 Rourbon . 
 
 Brown 
 
 CaDioun .. 
 
 D;ivi8 
 
 Duniphan. 
 
 Douglas . 
 
 Franklin 
 
 Jefferson 
 
 Johupoii 
 
 Leavenworth . 
 
 I.yking... 
 
 Lynu 
 
 Madison.. 
 Marshall. 
 Nem:iha . 
 
 Riley 
 
 Shawnee. 
 
 Wise 
 
 Tow.vsnipa. 
 
 GraB8ho|iper. 
 Shannon 
 
 Burr Oak 
 
 Iowa 
 
 Wayne 
 
 Washington 
 
 Wolf River 
 
 Franklin 
 
 Lawrence 
 
 Lecompton .... 
 Willow Springs . 
 
 Alexandria .. 
 
 Delaware 
 
 Kickapoo 
 
 Leavenworth . 
 Wyandott 
 
 (See Wise Co.). 
 
 One Hundred and Ten . 
 
 Tecumseh . 
 
 Council Grove 
 
 |5 
 
 7 
 131 
 242 
 
 4 
 29 
 
 8 
 42 
 31 
 66 
 69 
 
 aa 
 
 80 
 
 42 
 
 101 
 
 103 
 
 15 
 
 42 
 
 190 
 
 42 
 
 239 
 
 150 
 
 212 
 
 246 
 
 220 
 
 67 
 
 171 
 6 
 28 
 23 
 52 
 14 
 
 219 
 
 _ 
 
 242 
 
 50 
 
 4 
 
 4 
 
 29 
 
 29 
 
 12 
 
 12 
 
 — 
 
 41 
 
 — 
 
 31 
 
 — 
 
 62 
 
 — 
 
 59 
 
 261 
 
 53 
 
 — 
 
 23 
 
 — 
 
 42 
 
 332 
 
 53 
 
 15 
 
 15 
 
 45 
 
 — 
 
 190 
 
 90 
 
 895 
 
 
 
 220 
 
 70 
 
 67 
 
 — 
 
 171 
 
 24 
 
 6 
 
 6 
 
 28 
 
 28 
 
 — 
 
 23 
 
 75 
 
 62 
 
 14 
 
 14 
 
 192 
 
 100 
 
 50 
 100 
 
 150 
 
 While these enactmonta of the alleged legisla- 
 tive assembly were being made, a movement 
 was instituted to form a State govornmeut, and 
 apply for admission into the Union as a State. 
 The tirst step taliea by the people of the Territo- 
 ry, in consequence of the invasion of March 30, 
 1855, was the circulation for signature of a 
 graphic and truthful memorial to Congress. 
 Your Committee tind Uiat every allegation in 
 this memorial has been sustained by the testi- 
 mony. No further step wiis taken, as it was 
 hoped that some action by the general govern- 
 ment would protect them iu their rights. When 
 the allegerl legislative assembly proceeded to 
 construct the scries of enactments referred to, the 
 settlers were of opinion that submission to them 
 would result in depriving them of the rights se- 
 cured to them by tlie organic law. Their politi- 
 cal condition was freely discussed in the Territo- 
 ry during the summer of 1855. Several meetings 
 were held in reference to holding a convention to 
 form a State government, and to apply for 
 admission into the Union as a State. Public 
 opinion gradually settled in favor of such an ap- 
 plication to the Congress to meet in December, 
 1855. The tirst general meeting was held in 
 Lawrence on the 15th of August, 1855. 
 
 The following preamble and resolutions were 
 then pa.ssed : 
 
 " Whereas. The people of Eansaii have heen, Bince 
 its settlement, uuU now are, without any law-making 
 power, therefore be it 
 
 " Resolved, That we. the people of Kansas Territory, 
 in mass moetinu; as-senibled, irrespective of party dia- 
 tinctious, iufluenced by common necessity, and great- 
 ly desirous of promoting the common good, do hereby 
 call upon and request all bnna fide citizens of Kan- 
 sas Territory, of whatever political views or predilec- 
 tions, to consult together in their respective Klection- 
 Districts, and in mass convention or otherwise, elect 
 three delegates for each representative to which said 
 Election- District is entitled in the Uoiise of Repre- 
 sentatives of the Legislative Assembly, by proclama- 
 tion of Governor Keoder, of date 19th of March, 1855 ; 
 said delegates to assemble in convention, at the town 
 of Topeka, on the 19th day of September. 1855, then 
 and there to consider and determine upon all sub- 
 jects of public interest, and particuUrly upon that 
 having referonce to the speedy formation of a State 
 Constitution, with an intention of an immediate ap- 
 plication to be admitted as a State into the Union of 
 the United States of America." 
 
 Other meetings were held in various parts of 
 the Territory, wliieli indorsed the action of the 
 Lawrence meeting, and delegates were selected 
 in compliance with its recommendations. 
 
 Tluy met at Topeka, on tho 19th day of Sep- 
 tember, IS.w. By their resolutions they pro- 
 vided for the appointment of au E.vecutive Com- 
 mittee to consist of seven persons, who were re- 
 quired to " keep a record of their proceedings, 
 and shall have a general superiutendence of tihe 
 affairs of the Territory so far as regards the or- 
 ganization of the State Government.' They 
 were required to take steps for an election to be 
 held on the second Tuesuay of the October fol- 
 
140 
 
 THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 
 
 lowing, under regulations imposed by that Com- 
 mittee, " for mi-nibers of a Convention to form a 
 Constitution, adopt a Bill of Rights for the peo- 
 ple of Kansas, and take all neeaful measures for 
 organizing a State Government, preparatory to 
 the admission of Kansas into the Union as a 
 State." The rules prescribed were such as 
 usually govern elections in most of the States of 
 the Union, and in most respects were similar to 
 those contained in the proclamation of Gov. 
 Reeder for the election of March 30, 1855. 
 
 The Executive Committee, appointed by that 
 Convention, accepted their appomtmeut, and en- 
 tered upon the discbarge of their duties by issu- 
 ing a proclamation addressed to the legal voters 
 of Kansas, requesting them to meet at their seve- 
 ral precincts, at the time and places named in 
 the proclamation, then and there to cast their 
 ballots for members of a Constitutional Conven- 
 tion, to meet at Topeka on tho 4th Tuesday of 
 October then next. 
 
 The proclamation designated tho places of 
 elections, appointed judges, recited the qualifica- 
 tions of voters and the apportionment of mem- 
 bers of the Convention. 
 
 After this proclamation was issued, public 
 meetings were held in every district in the Ter- 
 
 ritory, and in nearly every precinct. The State 
 movement was a general topic of discussion 
 throughout the Territory, and there was but lit- 
 tle opposition exhibited to it. Elections were 
 held at the time and places designated, and the 
 returns were sent to the Executive Committee. 
 
 The result of the election was proclaimed by 
 the Executive Committee, and the members-elect 
 were required to meet on the 23d day of October, 
 1855, at Topeka. In pursuance of this procla- 
 mation and direction, tho Constitutional Conven- 
 tion met at the time and place appointed, and 
 formed a State Constitution. A memorial to Con- 
 gress was also prepared, praying for the admis- 
 sion of Kansas into the Union under that Consti- 
 tution. The Convention also provided that the 
 question of the adoption of the Constitution and 
 other questions be submitted to the people, and 
 required the Executive Committee to take the 
 necessary steps for that purpose. 
 
 Accordingly, an election was held for that pur- 
 pose on the 15th day of December, 1855, in com- 
 pliance with the proclamation issued by the Exe- 
 cutive Committee. The returns of this election 
 were made by the Executive Committee, and aa 
 abstract of them is contained in the following 
 table ; 
 
 ABSTRACT OF THE ELECTION ON THE ADOPTION OF THE 
 STATE CONSTITUTION, DEC. 15, 1855. 
 
 
 Precincts. 
 
 Constitution. 
 
 General Bank- 
 ing Law. 
 
 Exclusion of 
 
 Megroesand 
 Mulattoea 
 
 S5 
 p 
 
 < 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 Yes. 
 
 No. 
 
 Yes. 
 
 No. 
 
 Yes. 
 
 No. 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 3 
 
 4 
 5 
 
 7 
 8 
 
 9 
 10 
 
 H 
 IS 
 
 14 
 
 15 
 16 
 17 
 
 
 S48 
 7i 
 11 
 48 
 
 137 
 18 
 
 1S5 
 42 
 24 
 35 
 72 
 21 
 18 
 12 
 39 
 42 
 82 
 56 
 39 
 30 
 21 
 20 
 14 
 19 
 45 
 54 
 22 
 23 
 12 
 28 
 20 
 47 
 19 
 7 
 24 
 15 
 32 
 71 
 7 
 
 1 
 2 
 1 
 
 4 
 
 7 
 _2 
 
 3 
 
 18 
 
 1 
 5 
 
 2 
 
 225 
 
 59 
 
 9 
 
 31 
 
 122 
 13 
 
 125 
 41 
 22 
 23 
 39 
 16 
 
 1 
 21 
 33 
 
 4 
 83 
 32 
 23 
 16 
 
 17 
 
 15 
 
 19 
 
 5 
 
 7 
 1 
 8 
 7 
 37 
 
 3 
 11 
 
 4 
 32 
 63 
 
 3 
 
 83 
 
 14 
 
 3 
 
 15 
 
 11 
 
 4 
 
 9 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 11 
 
 38 
 
 12 
 
 16 
 
 6 
 
 19 
 
 13 
 
 33 
 
 20 
 
 7 
 
 6 
 
 5 
 
 20 
 
 14 
 
 1 
 
 29 
 
 34 
 
 14 
 
 16 
 
 11 
 
 20 
 
 13 
 
 6 
 
 18 
 
 4 
 
 12 
 
 9 
 
 1 
 
 19 
 
 133 
 48 
 12 
 48 
 113 
 14 
 69 
 42 
 22 
 35 
 69 
 23 
 20 
 12 
 25 
 42 
 S3 
 38 
 25 
 10 
 20 
 20 
 14 
 
 7 
 40 
 50 
 21 
 22 
 12 
 28 
 16 
 45 
 19 
 
 6 
 18 
 14 
 30 
 71 
 
 1 
 
 223 
 20 
 
 2 
 15 
 
 4 
 64 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 7 
 
 18 
 
 2 
 
 5 
 
 17 
 
 15 
 
 19 
 
 1 
 
 11 
 5 
 3 
 
 1 
 
 4 
 
 1 
 
 6 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 356 
 76 
 12 
 53 
 
 137 
 18 
 
 136 
 42 
 24 
 35 
 72 
 31 
 21 
 12 
 43 
 60 
 37 
 59 
 44 
 31 
 21 
 20 
 14 
 19 
 46 
 64 
 22 
 23 
 12 
 28 
 20 
 47 
 19 
 7 
 24 
 15 
 33 
 73 
 7 
 
 
 
 
 Bloomingtoa . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Little Osage... . ._. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 OsHawattamie 
 
 
 Ohio City — 
 
 Mill Creek—.. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Burr Oak 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Whitfinld 
 
 Wolf River 
 
 St. Joseph's Bottom 
 
 Mt. Pleasant 
 
 
 Total 
 
 1731 
 
 46 
 
 1120 
 
 664 
 
 1287 
 
 453 
 
 1778 
 
 N. B. Poll- Book at Leavenworth was destroyed. 
 
 The Executive Committe tlien issued a procla- 
 mation reciting the results of the election of the 
 I5th of December, and at the same time provi- 
 
 ded for an election to be held on the 15th day of 
 January, 1856, for State officers and membera 
 of the General Assembly of the State of Kansas. 
 
THE KANSAS-NEBRASKA STRUGGLE. 
 
 141 
 
 An election was noconlinjjly hold in the Bovcrnl | went to the Exccutivo Coinmiltec. An abstract 
 election-prciinrts, tin- returns of which wcro I of tlu-m ia contuined in the r..ll.iwiii(,' tublc : 
 AHSTUACT OF THE ELECTION OP JANUARY 15, 1856. 
 
 PllSCrNCTS. 
 
 WaHhingtou . . 
 
 Doniphun . ... 
 
 OfisHwatuinie . 
 
 OsRije 
 
 EiUiiiii .... 
 
 Burr Oak 
 
 Su Josi'ph'H Bottom... 
 Padoii's House..— ..•• 
 
 Wolf Riv.T 
 
 Kiist Douglas . 
 
 Stanton 
 
 Potiiwatamie 
 
 Titus 
 
 Blaatoii 
 
 Prairie City 
 
 Ploasaut Hill 
 
 Mission 
 
 Palmyra . 
 
 Franklin 
 
 Little Sui^ar Creek 
 
 Little Osage 
 
 Topeka 
 
 Ti'cuaiseli 
 
 Brownsville 
 
 Kickapoo 14 
 
 Leaveuworlh .. 94 
 
 Lawrence 365 
 
 Neosho — 
 
 Slough Creek — 
 
 Wyandot 1 
 
 58 
 
 59 
 
 — 35 — 
 
 TrcMU'er. 
 
 Precincts. 
 
 Washington 
 
 Doniphan - 
 
 Ossawatamie 
 
 Osage 
 
 Eastou 
 
 Burr Oak.... 
 
 St. Josepti'g Bottom , 
 
 Padon's [louse 
 
 Wolf River 
 
 East Douglas 
 
 Stanton 
 
 Potawatamie 
 
 Titus 
 
 Blanton 
 
 Prairie City 
 
 Pleasant Hill 
 
 Mission 
 
 Palmyra • 
 
 Franklin 
 
 Little Sugar Creek .. 
 
 Little Osage 
 
 Topeka 
 
 Tecumseh ... 
 
 Brownsville 
 
 Kickapoo 
 
 Leavenworth 
 
 Lawrence 
 
 Neosho . . ... 
 
 Slough Creek 
 
 Wyandot . 
 
 Supreme Judges. 
 
 1 
 
 32 
 SI 
 19 
 66 
 24 
 50 
 27 
 36 
 29 
 81 
 39 
 2S 
 55 
 27 
 43 
 10 
 25 
 
 8 
 34 
 19 
 84 
 
 1 
 
 14 
 94 
 3S3 
 13 
 14 
 35 
 
 36 I 36 
 27 i 28 
 31 31 
 39 39 
 
 27 27 
 43 ] 43 
 
 10 10 
 
 25 35 
 
 8 8 
 
 34 34 
 
 19 19 
 
 141 84 
 
 25 1 
 
 14 14 51 
 
 101 94 7 
 
 379 371 62 
 
 13 
 
 — 14 
 
 35 1 — 
 
 * Anthony Floyd 1. 
 
 48 
 
 Rep. S. 
 Court. 
 
 30 
 32 
 82 
 19 
 70 
 24 
 So 
 27 
 39 
 31 
 31 
 39 
 32 
 
 70 
 45 
 *9 
 25 
 66 
 36 
 19 
 146 
 35 
 
 05 
 101 
 427 
 10 
 14 
 35 
 
 Printer. 
 
 1 
 
 32 
 S2 
 19 
 70 
 24 
 50 
 27 
 36 
 28 
 31 
 39 
 28 
 64 
 25 
 43 
 10 
 25 
 8 
 33 
 19 
 96 
 1 
 
 18 
 14 
 94 
 373 
 13 
 
 58 
 
142 
 
 THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 
 
 The result of this election was announced 
 by a proclamation by the Executive Commit- 
 tee. 
 
 In accordance with the Constitution thus 
 adopk-d, the members of the State Legislature 
 and most of the State officers met on the day 
 and ut the place designated by the State Con- 
 Btitution, and took the oath therein prescribed. 
 
 After electing United States Senators, passing 
 some preliminary laws, and appointing a Codi- 
 fying Connnittee and preparing a Memorial to 
 Con^n-ess. the General Assembly adjourned to 
 meet on the 4th day of July, 1856. 
 
 The laws passed were all conditional upon the 
 admission ot Kansas as a State into the Union. 
 These proceedings were rej^ular, and, in the opin- 
 ion of your Committee, the constitution thus 
 adopted fairly expresses the will of the majority 
 of the settlers. They now await the action of 
 Congress upon their memorial. 
 
 These elections, whether they were con- 
 ducted in pursuance of law or not, were not 
 illegal. 
 
 Whether the result of them is sanctioned by 
 the action of Congress, or they are regarded as 
 the mere expression of a popular will, and Con- 
 gress should refuse to grant the prayer of the 
 memorial, that cannot affect their legality. The 
 right of the people to assemble and express their 
 political opinion in any form, whether by means 
 of an election or a convention, is secured to them 
 by the Constitution of the United States. Even 
 if the elections are to be regarded as the act of a 
 party, whether political or'otherwise, they were 
 proper, in accordance with examples, both in 
 States and Territories. 
 
 The elections, however, were preceded and 
 followed by acts of violence on the part of those 
 who opposed them, and those persons who ap- 
 proved and sustained the invasion from Missouri 
 were peculiarly hostile to these peaceful move- 
 ments preliminary to the organization of a State 
 government. Instances of this violence will be 
 referred to hereafter. 
 
 To provide for the election of delegates to 
 Congress, and at the game time do it in such a 
 manner as to obtain the judgment of (he House 
 of Eepresentatives upon the validity of the al- 
 leged legislative assembly sitting at Shawnee 
 Mission, a convention was held at Big Springs 
 on the 5th and 6th days of September, 1855. 
 This was a party convention, and a party calling 
 itself the Free-State party was then organized. 
 It was in no way connected with the State move- 
 ment, except that the election of a delegate to 
 Congress was fixed by it on the same day as the 
 election of members of a constitutional conven- 
 tion, instead of the day prescribed by the al- 
 leged legislative assembly. Andrew H. Reeder 
 was i)ut in ni)niinatiou as territorial delegate to 
 Congress, and an election was provided for un- 
 der tiie regulalioiiB jjreseribeit for the election of 
 March 30, 1855, excepting as to the appointment 
 of ofiicers, and the persons to whom the returns 
 of the elections should be made. The election 
 Was held in accordance with these regulations, 
 an abstract of the returns of which is contained 
 in the following table : 
 
 ABSTRACT OF THE ELECTION OF A. H. 
 REEDER. 
 
 District . — 
 
 Voting 
 
 Places. 
 
 
 I 
 
 
 657 
 
 
 Blaoton 
 
 77 
 
 
 
 16 
 
 II 
 
 
 110 
 
 
 Benicia 
 
 27 
 
 III 
 
 VI 
 
 VII 
 VIII 
 
 IX 
 X 
 
 XI 
 
 XII 
 
 XIV 
 
 XV 
 
 XVI 
 
 XVII 
 XVIII 
 
 Brownsville... 
 
 Topeka . 
 
 Tecumsi-h 
 
 Big Springs 
 
 Camp Creek 
 
 Willow Springs 
 
 Hampden 
 
 Neosho 
 
 Stanton 
 
 Ospawatamie 
 
 Potawatamie .... . 
 Big Sugar Creek... 
 Little Sugar Creek. 
 
 Scott Town 
 
 Columbia 
 
 Fergnals 
 
 Council City 
 
 Waubousa 
 
 A. J. Baker 
 
 Pawnee 
 
 Big Blue 
 
 Rock Creek 
 
 Black Vermilion..-. 
 
 St. Mary's 
 
 Silver Lake 
 
 Pleasant Hill 
 
 Falls Precinct 
 
 Hickory Point 
 
 Burr Oak 
 
 Doniphan 
 
 Palermo 
 
 Ocena 
 
 Crosby's Store 
 
 Jack.'^on Crane's -.- 
 
 Leavenworth 
 
 Wyandotte 
 
 Di-laware 
 
 Easton 
 
 Ridge Point 
 
 Wakarusa . 
 
 Mission 
 
 Iowa Point 
 
 24' 
 131 
 31 
 
 36 
 
 7 
 54 
 83 
 16 
 44 
 74 
 66 
 28 
 41 
 27 
 20 
 12 
 62 
 26 
 16 
 76 
 77 
 SO 
 14 
 18 
 28 
 43 
 45 
 11 
 33 
 43 
 32 
 32 
 38 
 38 
 503 
 38 
 22 
 63 
 48 
 7 
 
 13 
 40 
 
 Total I 2827 
 
 The resolutions passed by this convention in- 
 dicate the state of feeling which existed in the 
 Territory in consequence of the invasion from 
 Missouri, and the enactments of the alleged le- 
 gislative assembly. The language of some of 
 tlie resiilutiuiis is violent, and can only be justi- 
 fied either in consequence of the attempt to en- 
 force the grossest acts of tyranny, or lor the pur- 
 pose of guarding against a similar invasion in 
 future. 
 
 In the fall of 1855, there sprang out of the ex- 
 isting discords and excitement in the Territory, 
 two secret Free-State societies (265). They were 
 defensive in their character, and were designed 
 to form a prote<-tion to their members against 
 unlawful acts of violence and assault. One of 
 the societies was purely of a local character, and 
 was confined to the town of Lawrence. Very 
 shortly after its organization it produced its de- 
 sired elfect, and then went out of use and ceased 
 to exist (266). Both societies were cumbersome, 
 and of no utility except to give confidence to the 
 Free-State men, and enable them to know and 
 aid each other in contemplated danger. So far 
 as the evidence shows, they led to no act of vio- 
 lence in resistance to either real or alleged laws 
 (267). 
 
 On the 2l8t day of November, 1855, F. M. 
 Coleman, a Pro-Slavery man, and Charles W. 
 Dow, a Free-State man, had a dispute about the 
 division line between their respective claims. 
 Several hours afterward, as Dow was passing 
 from a blacksmith's sho)) toward his claim, and 
 by the cabin of Coleman, the latter shot Dow 
 with a double-barreled gun loaded with slugs. 
 Dow was unarmed. He fell across the road and 
 died immediately. This was about 1 o'clock 
 r. M. His dead body was allowed to lie whore 
 it fell until after sundown, when it was conveyed 
 by Jacob Branson to his house, at which Dow 
 
 (•265) Pat. Laughlin, Francis. (266) G. P. Lowry, A. 
 II. Reeder. (2C7) Lowry, Reeder and M. F. Conway. 
 
THH KANSAS-NEBRASKA STRUGGLE. 
 
 143 
 
 bonixk'd. Tlio toKtimnny in roijiird lo Iliis Immi- 
 cidc is voliiiiiinouH ('JDS/, hikI hIkiwh cUiirly lliiit 
 it wiis 11 (U-lilxTdli' iiiurdtr l)y Cok'iimii, iiikI lliiit 
 HniTit«iii Hulkolv aiui ii Mr. Hihk""'' wito nc- 
 cen.fnrits to it. 'I'lic i-xcitcimnt ciuihcd liy it whh 
 Very i,'ri-(it niiidii^ all cIuci-ch of Iho ci'ttk-rs. On 
 the iitith, It iiir},'c intelin<; et" citizen.-* wiic iield at 
 the place were tlic niunk>r was coniiiiiltcd, and 
 resolutions jia.ssed thai Coleman hhoiild he 
 broiij^'ht to jii.stiee. In the mean time Coleman 
 had gone to Mi.sxouri, and llnii lo (iov. Shannon 
 nt Shawnee Mission, in .lohnson County. He 
 wa.-* there taken into custody hy S. I. Jones, then 
 acting' as Sheritt". No warrant was issued or 
 exaniiniition ha<l. On tin- day of the meelin>4 at 
 Hickory Point, Harrison 1 trail lev ])rocured a iienct- 
 wai rant aj^ainst Jaeoh IJranson, whi<di was ]ilaeed 
 in Ihc hands of Jones. Thai same evening', 
 after Ih-anson had <;one to bed, Jones came lo 
 liis cahin with a parly of about LT) persons, 
 amonj; whrnn were llar^'ous and IJuckley— burst 
 open the door, and saw IJranson in bed. He then 
 drew hia pisttd, cocked it, and jjresenled it to 
 Branson's breast, and said, " You are my prison- 
 er, an<l if you move I will blow yiju through." 
 The others cocked their <;uns and feathered 
 round him, and took him prisoner. They all 
 mounted and went to IJuckhy's house. After a 
 time they went on n circuitous route towards 
 IJlantou's Bridge, stojjpiiig to " drink" on the 
 way. As they approached the bridge, tiicre 
 Were 13 in the party, several having stopped. 
 Jones rode up to the prisoner and, among other 
 things, told him that he had "heard there were 
 100 men at yourhouse to day," and "that he re- 
 gretted they were not there, and that they were 
 cheated out of their sport" (269). In the mean 
 time, the alarm had been given in the neighbor- 
 hood of Bransons arrest, and several of the set- 
 tlers, among whom were some who had attended 
 the meeting at Hickory Point tliat day, gathered 
 together. They were greatly excited ; the al- 
 leged iniusliee of such an arrest of a quiet set- 
 tler, under a jieaee warrant by " Sheriff Jones," 
 aided by two men believed to be aceessory to a 
 murder, and who were allowed to be at large, 
 exasj)erated them, and they proceeded as rapidly 
 as possible by a nearer route than that taken by 
 Jones, and stopped near the house of J. 8. Ab- 
 bott, one of them. They were on foot as Jones's 
 party api)ioaehed on a canter. The rescuers 
 suddenly formed across the road in front of Jones 
 and his party. Jones halted, and a.sked, •' What's 
 up .'■' The reply was, " That's what we want to 
 know. What's up ?" Branson said, " They have 
 got me a prisoner." Some one in the rescuing 
 party told liini to come over to tlieir side. He 
 did so, and dismounted, and the mule he rode 
 was driven over to Jones's party ; Jones then 
 left (27(1). Of the i>crson8 engaged in this rescue, 
 three wcrc' from Lawrence, and had attended 
 the meeting. Your Connuittec have deemed it 
 proper to detail the particulars of this rescue, as 
 it was made the groundwork of what is known 
 as the Wukerusa War. On the same night of 
 the rescue the cabins of Coleman and Buckley 
 were burned, but by whom, is left iu doubt by 
 the testimony. 
 
 On the morning of the rescue of Branson, 
 Jones was at the village of Franklin, near Law- 
 rence. The re.-?eucwas spoken of in the presence 
 of Jones, and more couvei-saf ion passed between 
 two others in his presence, as to whether it was 
 most proper to send for assistance to Col. Boone 
 in Missouri, or to Gov. Shaimon. Jones wrote a 
 dispatch and handed it to a messenger. As soon 
 as he started, Jones said: " That man is taking 
 my dispatch to Missouri, and by G— d 1 11 have 
 
 (268) Wm. and Nicholas McKinoey. D. T. Jones 
 and wife, Tliomas Browu, F. M. Colemaa and others, 
 (269) Jacob Braneon. (270) Jacob Branson. 
 
 revengi' before I see MiHsouri." A person pre- 
 sent, who was <'xannni'd as a witness (271), com- 
 plained publicly that the dispatch was not sent 
 to the governor; and williin half an hour one 
 was sent to the governor by Jones, through Har- 
 gouH. Within a few days, large numliers of men 
 from theSlMtc ofMis>ouri gathered andencHmp- 
 cd on the Wakerusa. They brought with them 
 all the <'i|uipments of wiir. To obtain them, a 
 jiarly ofmcn under Ihe direclion of . Judge T. V. 
 l'houips<ui brok(! iiilo Ihe I'liiled Slates arsenal 
 and armory at Liberty, Miss<iuri, and after a 
 forcible delenlion <d' Captain Leonard (then in 
 
 charge) (272), tliey lo(di the cai n, musketB, 
 
 rilicM, powder, harness, and indee<l all llie nnile- 
 rials and munitions of war tliey d<!>ired, some of 
 which liave never bt^en returned or accounted 
 for. 
 
 The chief iioslilily of this militarv foray was 
 against the town of Lawrence, nn"d Ihi.s was 
 especially Ihe case with the olHcers of the law. 
 
 Vour Connnitlee can see in the testimony no 
 reason, e.xeuse, or palliation for Ibis feeling. Up 
 lo thix time no ■warriinl or jirodamol ion of any 
 kind hiid hern in III)' hn nth of (tny ojjiicr (ifiiiinut 
 any citizen of /.fiirrvncv (273). No arre.-t had 
 been altemj)ted, and no writ resisted in that 
 town. The n scue of Branson sprang out of a 
 niurder committed thirteen miles from Lawrence, 
 in a detached settlement, and neither the town 
 nor its citizens extended any protection to Bran- 
 son's rescuers (271). On the contrary, two or 
 three days after the rescue, S. N. Wood, who 
 claimed publicly to be one of the rescuing party, 
 wished to be arrested f(»r the purpose of testing 
 the territorial laws, and walked up to Sheriff 
 Jones and shook hands with him, and e.xchau'"ed 
 other courtesies. He could have been ar"- cd 
 without any difficulty, and it was his .osign, 
 when lie went to Mr. Jones, to be arrested, but 
 no attemiit was made to do so (275). 
 
 It is obvious thai the only cause of this hostili- 
 ty is the known desire of the citizens of Law- 
 rence to make Kansas a Free State, and their 
 repugnance to laws imposed upon them Ijy non- 
 residents. 
 
 Your Committee do not propose to detail the 
 incidents connected with this foray. Fortu- 
 nately for the peace of the country, a direct con- 
 flict betwi'en the opposing forces was avoided 
 by an jimicable arrangement. The losses sus- 
 tained by the settlers in property taken and time 
 and money expended in their own defi-nsc, add- 
 ed much to the trials incident to a new settle- 
 ment. Many persons were unlawfully taken 
 and detained — in some cases, under circum- 
 stances of gross cruelty. This was especially so 
 in the arrest and treatment of Dr (i. A. Cutter 
 and G. F. Warren. They were taken, without 
 cause or warrant, tiO miles from Lawn nee, and 
 when Dr. Cutter was quite 6i<di. They were 
 compelled to go to the camp at Lawrence, were 
 put into the custody of " Sheriff Jones, " who 
 had no jtrocess to arrest them — they were taken 
 into tt tmall room kept as a liquor shop, which 
 was open and very cold. That night Jones 
 came in with others, and went to " plaving 
 poker at tw-enty five cents ante." The prison- 
 ers were oblig( d to sit up all night, as there 
 was no room to lie down, when the men were 
 plaving. Jon<-s insulted them freciuently, and 
 told one of them he must either " tell or swing.' 
 The guard then objicted to this treatment of 
 prisoners, and Jom s desisted. G. F. Warren 
 thus describes their subsequent conduct : 
 
 They then carrie<l us down to their camp; 
 Kelly of 7'Ae Sr/uo/frr Sorcrciifn, who lives in 
 Atchison, came round and said he thirsted for 
 
 (i;"l) L. A. Prattior. (272) Luther Leonard. (273) 
 William Shannon, Chas. Robinson. (274) O. 1'. howry 
 and Charles Bobinsoo. (275) Chas. Bobiuson. 
 
U4 
 
 THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 
 
 blood, and paid he bhould like to hang us on the 
 first trie. Cutter was very weak, and that ex- 
 cited him 60 that he became delirious. They 
 sent fur three doctors, who came. Dr. String- 
 fellow was one ot" ihem. Tliey remained there 
 witli CJutter until after midnight, and then took 
 him up to the ofliee, as it was very cold in camp. 
 
 During tile loray, either George W. Clark, or 
 Mr. Burns, murdered Thomas Barber, while the 
 latter was on the highway on his road from Law- 
 rence to his claim. Both fired at him, and it is 
 impos.sible from the proof to tell whose shot was 
 fatal. The details of this homicide are stated 
 by eye-witnesses (276). 
 
 Among the many acts of lawless violence 
 which it has bien the duty of your Committee 
 to investigate, this invasion of Lawrence is the 
 most defenseless. A comparison of the facts 
 proven, with the official statements of the offi- 
 cers of the Government, will show how ground- 
 less were the pretexts which gave rise to it. A 
 community in which no crime had been commit- 
 ted by any of its members, against none of whom 
 had a warrant been issued or a complaint made, 
 who had resisted no process in the hands of a 
 real or pretended officer, was threatened with 
 destruction in the name of" law and order," and 
 that, too, by men who marched from a neigh- 
 boring State with arms obtained by force, and 
 who, in every stage of their progress, violated 
 many laws, and among others the Constitution 
 of the United States (277). 
 
 The chief guilt of it must rest on Samuel J. 
 Jones. His character is illustrated by his lan- 
 guage at Lecompton, where peace was made : 
 " The said Maj. Clark and Burns both claimed 
 the credit i^f killing that d — d Abolitionist, and 
 he didn't know which ought to have it. If 
 Shannon hadn't been a d — d old fool, that peace 
 would never have been declared. He would 
 have wiped La^vrence out. He had men and 
 means enough to do it" (278). 
 
 Shortly after the retreat of the forces from 
 before Lawrence, the election upon the adoption 
 of the State Constitution was held at Leaven- 
 worth City, on the 15th of December, 1855. 
 While it was proceeding quietly, about noon, 
 Charles Dunn, with a party of others, smashed 
 in the window of the building in which the elec- 
 tion was being held, and then jumped into the 
 room where the Judges of election were sitting, 
 and drove them off (279). One of the clerks of 
 election snatched up the ballot-box and followed 
 the Judges, throwing the boxbehind the counter 
 of an adjoining room through which he passed on 
 his way out. As he got to the street door, Dunn 
 caught him by the throat, and pushed him up 
 against the outside of the building, and demand- 
 ed the ballot-box (280). 
 
 Then Dunn and another person struck him in 
 the face, and he fell into the mud, the crowd 
 rushed on him and kicked him on the head and 
 in his sides (281). In this manner the election 
 was broken up, Dunn and his party obtaining 
 the ballot-box and carrying it off. 
 
 To avoid a similar outrage at the election for 
 State officers, etc., to be held on the 15th of Janu- 
 ary, 1856, the election for Leavenworth District 
 was appointed to be held at Easton, and the 
 time iHtstponed until the 17th day of January, 
 18.j6 (282). On the way to the election, persons 
 were stopped by a party of men at a grocery, 
 and their guns taken from them (283). During 
 the afternoon, parties came up to the place of 
 
 (276) Robert T. Barber, Thomas W. Pierson, Jane 
 Vt. Colboni and other.'). (277) Article 4 of the 
 Amcmiments. (278) Ilarriaou Nichols. (279) Geo. 
 WelheroU. Ceorge II. Keller. (2S0) (Jeorge Wctlior- 
 ell. (281) (Jenrgc Wetherell, George W Ilallis. 
 
 (282) J. C. Green, Henry J. Adams, Joseph H. Bird. 
 
 (283) Stephen Sparks. 
 
 election and threatened to destroy the ballot-box 
 and were guilty of other insolent and abusive 
 conduct (283). After the polls were closed, 
 many of the settlers being apprehensive of an 
 attack, were amied in the house where the elec- 
 tion had been held until the next morning. Late 
 that night Stephen Spark, with his son and 
 nephew, started for home, his route running by 
 the store of a Mr. Dawson, where a large party 
 of armed men had collected. As he approached, 
 these men demanded that he should surrender, 
 and gathered about him to enforce the demand 
 (284). Information was carried by a man in the 
 company of Mr. Sparks to tlie house whore the 
 election had been held. R. P. Brown and a com- 
 pany of men iiniiiediately went down to relieve 
 Mr. Sparks, and did relieve him when he was in 
 imminent danger (285). Mr. Sparks then started 
 back with Mr. Brown and his party, and while 
 on their way were fired upon by the other party. 
 They returned the tire, and an iiregular fight 
 then ensued, in which a man by the name of 
 Cook, of the Pro-Slavery party, received a mor- 
 tal wound, and two of the Free-State party were 
 slightly wounded. 
 
 Mr. Brown, with seven others who had accom- 
 panied him from Leavenworth, started on their 
 return home. When they had proceeded a part 
 of the way, they were stopped and taken prison- 
 ers by a party of men called the Kickapoo Ran- 
 gers, under the command of Capt. John W. 
 Martin. They were disanned and taken back to 
 Easton, and put in Dawson's store (286). Brown 
 was separated from the rest of his party, and 
 taken into the office of E. S. Trotter (287). By 
 this time several of Martin's party and some of 
 the citizens of the place had become intoxicated, 
 and expressed a determination to kill Brown 
 (288). 'Capt. Martin was desirous, and did all 
 in his power to save him. Several hours were 
 spent in discovering what should be done with 
 Brown and his party. In the mean time, without 
 the knowledge of his party, Capt. Martin liberat- 
 ed all of Broom's party but himself, and aided 
 them in their escape (289). The crowd repeated- 
 ly tried to get in the room where Brown was, 
 and at one time succeeded, but were put out by 
 Martin and others. Martin, finding that further 
 effort on his part to save Brown was useless, left 
 and went home. The crowd tlien got possession 
 of Brown, and finally butchered him in cold blood. 
 The wound of which he died was inflicted with a 
 hatchet by a man of the name of Gibson. After 
 he had been mortally wounded, Brown was sent 
 home with Charles Dunn, and died that night. 
 No attempt was made to arrest or punish the 
 murderers of Brown. Many of them were weU- 
 knowu citizens, and some of them were otficera 
 of the law. On the next Grand Jury which sat 
 in Leavenworth County, the Sheriff" summoned 
 several of the persons inplicated in this murder 
 (290). One of them was M. P. Rively, at that 
 time Treasurer of tlie County. He has been ex- 
 amined as a witness before us. The reason he 
 gives why no indictments were found is, " they 
 killed one of the Pro-Slavery men, and the Pro- 
 Slavery men killed one of the others, and I 
 thought it was about mutual." The same Grand 
 Jury, however, found bills of indictment against 
 thos'e who acted as Judges of the Free-State elec- 
 tion. Rively says, " I know our utmost endea- 
 vors were made to find out who acted as Judges 
 and Clerks on the 17th of January last, and at 
 all the bogus elections held by the Abolitionists 
 
 (284) Stephen Sparks. (285) George A. Taylor, 
 Stephen imparks, J. H. Bird. (280) Henry J. Adams, 
 (iporge A. Taylor, W. P. Kirby, John H. Martin, Wiley 
 Williams. (287) Henry J. Adams, J. W. Martin. (288) 
 Wiley Williams, J. W Martin. H. J. Adams. (289) 
 H. J. Adams, G. A. Tavlor, J. H. Bird, Wiley Wil- 
 liams. (290) M. P. Eively. 
 
THE KANSAS-NEBRASKA STRUGGLE. 
 
 145 
 
 here. \Vc wore very nnxioun to find tliom out, um 
 we thoiij^'lil tliiin (K-tiii;; illi'^jally." 
 
 Your Ciiiiiiiiiitcc, in tlieir fxiiitiinntion, bnve 
 found that in no ciiso of criinc or liomiciilc, men- 
 tionei] in tin- rcpiirt or in tlie testimony, lias imy 
 indictment bt.'eii found nt,'uni>t tiie tri'dly pnrty, 
 cxeept in the lioniieido of Cliirk byMcL'rcii, Mc 
 Creii bcrin},' u Kree-.State num. 
 
 Your Connnilteo did not deem it within their 
 power or duly to tiiko testimony a« to oyents 
 whieii have Iransjiireil since the date of their ap 
 puintnieut; Ijut us some of the eveflts- tended 
 seriously to cndvirrass, hinder and dcday Ihcir 
 investi;;aiiiins, they deem it. projier Ikmc io rel'cr 
 to them. C)a their lU'rivnl in the Territory, tlic^ 
 people were arrayed in two hostile |)arlioM. The 
 bostiliiy of them was continually incfensod dur- 
 iuic our slay in tlui Territory, tiy the arrival of 
 armed bodies of men wiio, from their ci|iiipnienls, 
 came not Io fdllow the peaceful i)ursuits of life, 
 but armed and organized iuU< companies, appii- 
 rently for wai- — by Ihe unlawful detention of per- 
 sons and property while passini^ throutfh the 
 State of Missouri, and by fre<iueut forcible 
 seizures of persons and property in the Territory 
 without lejjal warrant. Your Commitlce rc;;rel 
 that they were ccmipciled to witness instances of 
 each of these (dasses of outra-^es. While luddin<r 
 their session at Westjiort, AIo., at the reiiue>t of 
 the sittiuf; l>eiej,'ale, they saw several bodies of 
 armed men, confessedly citizens of Missouri, 
 inarch into the Territory on forays against its 
 citizens, but under the pretense of eiiforeinj; the 
 enactments before referred to. The wagons of 
 emigrants were stopped in the highways, and 
 searched without claim or legal powers, and in 
 some instances all their property taken from 
 them. In Leavenworth City, leading citizens 
 Were arrested at noonday in our presence, by an 
 armed force, without any claim of authority, ex- 
 cept that derived from a self-constituted Com- 
 mittee of Viirilaiu-e, many of whom wei'e Legis- 
 lative and Executive ofiieers. Some were re- 
 leased on promising to leave the Territory, and 
 others, afier being detained for a time, were form- 
 ally notified to leave, under the severest penal- 
 ties. The only offense charged against them was 
 their politic-al opinions, and no one was thus ar- 
 rested lor alleged crime of any grade. There was 
 no rc.-^istance to these lawless acts by the settlers, 
 because, in their opinion, the persons engaged in 
 them would be sustained and reinforced by the 
 citizens of the populous border counties of Mis- 
 souri, from whence they were only separated by 
 the river. In one case witnessed by your Com- 
 mittee, an api)lieation for the writ of habeas cor- 
 pus was prevented by (he urgent solicitation of 
 Fro-Slavery men, who insisted that it would en- 
 danger the life of the prisoner to be discharged 
 under legal process. 
 
 While we remained iu the Territoiy, repeat- 
 ed acts of outrage were committed upon the 
 quiet, unotfending citizens, of which we received 
 authentic intelligence. Men were attacked on 
 the highway, robbed, and subsequently im- 
 prisoned. Men were seized and searched, and 
 theu" weapons of defense taken from them with- 
 out compensation. Horses were frequently taken 
 and ai)pro]iriuted. Oxen were taken from the 
 yoke while jplowing, and butchered in the pres- 
 ence of their owners. One young man was seized 
 in the streets of the town of Atchison, and 
 under circumstances of gross barbarity was 
 tarred and cottencd, and in that condition was 
 Bent to his family. All the provisions of the 
 Constitutinn of the United States, securing per- 
 sons and property, are utterly disregarded. 
 The officers ot the law, mstead of protecting 
 the people, were in some instances engaged in 
 these outrages, and in no instance did we learn 
 that any man was arrested, indicted or pua- 
 10 
 
 ished for any of these crimes. While such 
 <df<-n»eH were committed with inipuniiy the laws 
 were used as a means (d" indicting men lor hold- 
 ing electiiins, iirelinnnary to fran.ing a coii^titu- 
 tiou ami apply. ng for udmission into ihc Uuiun 
 as the Stale <il Kansas. Charges of high treason 
 were mad.- against prominent eiiizeiis upon 
 grounds which seem to your Connnillee absurd 
 and ridiculous, and un<ler Ihese charges they arc 
 now lield in custody and arc refused the privi- 
 lege i.f bail. In several eases men were arrested 
 in Ihe State of Missouri while jiassing on llicir 
 lawful business through that State, and detained 
 until indictments could be found in Ihe Terri- 
 tory. 
 
 'riieso i)roceedings were followed l)y an offense 
 of still greater magnitud(>. Under color of 
 legal process, a company of abiuit "HO armed 
 men, the gnat body of whom yuur Conmiit- 
 leo are satisfied were not citizens of Ihe'I'erritoiy, 
 marched into the town of Lawrence tinder Mar- 
 shal Donaldson and S. .F. .Jones, ollieeis claim- 
 ing to act under the law, and bombarded and 
 then burned to the ground a valuable hotel and 
 one private house; destroyed two ])riiitiiig- 
 jiresses and material ; and then, being released 
 by the otlieers, whoso (losse they claim to be, 
 proceeded to sack, pillage, and rob hou.ses, stores, 
 trunks, etc., even to the clothing of women and 
 ihildren. Some of the letters thus unlawfully 
 taken were private ones, written by the contest- 
 ing Delegate, and they were oft'ered in evidence. 
 Your Conimittee did not deem that Ihe persons 
 holding them had any right thus to use them, 
 and refused to be made the instruments to report 
 private letters thus obtained. 
 
 This force was not resisted, because it was col- 
 lected and marshidcd uuder the forms of law. 
 But this act of barbarity, unexampled in the 
 history of our Government, was followed by its 
 natural consequences. All tiio restraints which 
 American citizens are accustomed to pay even 
 to the ajipearance of law, were thrown otV; one 
 act of violence led to another ; honiieides became 
 frequent. A party under II. C. I'ate, composed 
 chietly of citizens of Jlissouri, were taken prison- 
 ers by a party of settlers; and while your Com- 
 mittee were at Westport, a coinpan> chieHy of 
 Missourians, accompanied by the acting Dele- 
 gate, went to i-elievc Pate and his party, and a 
 collision was prevented by the United States 
 troops. Civil war has seemed impending iu the 
 Territory. Nothing can prevent so great a ca- 
 lamity but the presence of a large force of United 
 States troops, under a commander who will with 
 prudence and discretion quiet the excited pas- 
 sions of both parties, and expel with force the 
 armed bands of lawless men coming from Mis- 
 souri and elsewhere, who with criminal pertinaci- 
 ty infest that Territory. 
 
 In some eases, and as to one entire election-dis- 
 trict, the condition of the country prevented the 
 attendance of witnesses, who were either arrested 
 or detained while obeying our process, ov deter- 
 red from so doing. The Sergeant-at Arms who 
 served the processes upon them was himself ar- 
 rested and detained for u short time by an armed 
 force, claiming to be a part of the po.sse of the 
 Marslial. but was allowed to proceed iqnui an 
 examination of his papers, and was t'uniished 
 with a pass, signed by " Warren D. AN'ilkes of 
 South Carolina." John Upton, another oflicer 
 of the Committee, was subsequently stopjjcd by 
 a lawless force on the borders of the Territory, 
 and after being detained and treated with great 
 indignity was released. He also was funnshed 
 with a pass signed b}' two citizens i>f Missouri, 
 and addiX'Ssed to " Pro-Slavery men.'' IJy reason 
 of these disturbances we were delayed in West- 
 port, so that while iu session there, our time was 
 but partially occupied. 
 
146 
 
 THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 
 
 But the obstruction which created the most 
 serious ombarrasBment to your Committee was 
 the uUciniitod arrest of Gov. Reeder, the contest- 
 ing Dcksriite, upon a writ of attachment issued 
 atiainst lam by Judge Lecompto to compel his 
 altendaii'-o as a witness before the Grand Jury of 
 Douglas County. William Fane, recently from the 
 State of Georgia, and claiming to bo the Deputy 
 Marshal, came into the room of the Committee 
 while (!ov. Reeder was examining a witness be- 
 fore us, and producing the writ required Gov- 
 Reedcr to attend him. Subsequent events have 
 only strengthened the conviction of your Com- 
 mittee that this was a wanton and unlawful in- 
 terference by the Judge who issued the writ, tend- 
 ing greatly to obstruct a full and fair investiga- 
 tion. Gov. Reeder and Gen. Whitfield alone 
 were fully possessed of that local information 
 which would enable us to elicit the whole truth, 
 and it was obvious to every one that any event 
 which would separate either of them from the 
 Committee would necessarily hinder, delay, and 
 embarrass it. Gov. Reeder claimed that, under 
 the circumstances in which he was placed, he 
 was privileged from arrest except for treason, 
 felony, or breach of the peace. As this was a 
 question of privilege, proper for the Courts, or 
 for the privileged person alone to determine on 
 his peril, we declined to give him any protection 
 or take any action in the matter. lie refused to 
 obey the writ, believing it to be a mere pretense 
 to get the custody of his person, and fearing, as 
 he alleged, that he would be assassinated by 
 lawless bands of men then gathering in and near 
 Lecompton. He then left the Territory. 
 
 Subsequently H. Miles Moore, an attorney in 
 Leavenworth City, but for several years a citi- 
 zen of Weston, Mo., kindly furnished the Com- 
 mittee information as to the residence of persons 
 voting at the elections, and in some eases ex- 
 amined witnesses before ns. He was arrested on 
 the streets of that town by an armed band of 
 about thirty men, headed by W. D. Wilkes, 
 without any color of authority, confined, with 
 other citizens, under a military guard for twenty- 
 four hours, and then notified to leave the Terri- 
 tory. His testimony was regarded as important, 
 and upon his sworn statement that it would en- 
 danger his person to give it openly, the majority 
 of your Committee deem it proper to examine him 
 ex parte and did so. 
 
 By reason of these occurrences, the contestant, 
 and the party with and for whom he acted, were 
 unrepresented before us during a greater portion 
 of the time, and your Committee were required 
 to ascertain the truth in the best manner they 
 could. 
 
 Your Committee report the following facts 
 and conclusions as established by the testimony : 
 First : That each election in the Territory, 
 held under the organic or alleged Territorial law, 
 has been carried by organized invasions from 
 the State of Missouri, by which the people of the 
 Territory have been prevented from exercising 
 the rights secured to tbem by the organic law. 
 
 Second : That the alleged Territorial Legisla- 
 ture was an illegally-constituted body, and had 
 no powerto pass valid laws, and their enactments 
 are, therefore, null and void. 
 
 Third : That these alleged laws have not, as 
 a general thing, been used to protect persons and 
 property and to punish wrong, but for unlawful 
 purposes. 
 
 Fourth: That the election under which the 
 sitting Delegate, John W. Whitefield, holds his 
 seat, was not held in pursuance of any valid law, 
 and that it should be regarded only as the ex- 
 pression of the choice of those resident citizens 
 who voted for him. 
 
 Fiff/i ■■ That the election under which the con- 
 testing Delegate, Andrew H. Reeder, claims his 
 
 seat, was not held in pursuance of law, and that 
 it should be regarded only as the expression of 
 the choice of the resident citizens who voted for 
 him. 
 
 Sixth : That Andrew H. Reeder received a 
 greater number of votes of resident citizens than 
 John W. Whitfield, for Delegate. 
 
 Seventh : That in the present condition of the 
 Territory a ftxir election cannot be held without 
 a new census, a stringent and well-guarded 
 election l^w, the selection of impartial Judges, 
 and the presence of United States troops at every 
 place of election. 
 
 Eighth ; That the various elections held by 
 the people of the Territory preliminary to the 
 fonnation of the State Government have been as 
 regular as the disturbed condition of the Terri- 
 tory would allow ; and that the Constitution 
 passed by the Convention, held in pursuance of 
 said elections, embodies the will of a majority of 
 the people. 
 
 As it is not the province of your Committee 
 to suggest remedies for the existing troubles in 
 the Territory of Kansas, they content themselves 
 with the foregoing statement of facts. 
 
 All of which is respectfully submitted. 
 
 Wm. a. Howard, 
 JouN Sherman. 
 
 The Free-State Coustitution framed at 
 Topeka for Kansas, by the Convention called 
 by the Free-State party, (as set forth in the 
 foregoing documents,) was in due season sub- 
 mitted to Congress — Messrs. Andrew H. 
 Reeder (the Free-State Territorial delegate) 
 and James H. Lane having been chosen by 
 the first Free-State Legislatui-e Senators of 
 the United States, and Mr. M. W. Dclahay 
 elected Representative in the House, by the 
 Free-State men of Kansas. Of course, these 
 were not entitled to their seats until the 
 aforesaid instrument (known as " the Topeka 
 Constitution") should be accepted by Con- 
 gress, and the State thereupon admitted into 
 the Union. This Constitution, being form- 
 ally presented in either House, was received 
 and referred to their respective Committees 
 on Territories ; but the accompanying Me- 
 morial from the Free-State Legislature, set- 
 ting forth the grounds of the application, 
 and praying for admission as a State, was, 
 after having been received by the Senate, 
 reconsidered, rejected, and returned to Col. 
 Lane, on the allegation that material changes 
 had been made in it since it left Kansas. 
 The Senate, in like manner, rejected repeated 
 motions to accept the Constitution, and 
 thereupon admit Kansas as a Free State — 
 there never being more than Messrs. Hamlin 
 and Fessenden of Maine, Hale and Bell of 
 New-Hampshire, Collamer and Foot of Ver- 
 mont, Sumner and Wilson of Mass., Foster 
 of Connecticut, Seward and Fish of New 
 York, Wade of Ohio, Durkee and Dodge of 
 Wisconsin, Trumbull of Illinois, and Harlan 
 of Iowa, (16) Senators in favor of such ad- 
 mission, and these never all present at the 
 same time. 
 
 In the House — the aforesaid Constitution 
 and Memorial having been submitted to the 
 
THE KANSxVS-NEBRASKA STRUGGLE. 
 
 147 
 
 Committee on Torriturios, its Chairman, : 
 Mr. (Jrow of Peniia., friMU a majority of said 
 Committee, reported in I'avor of tlie admis- 
 sion of Kansius uiider sueh Constitutii)n, tus 
 a Free State; and after debate tiie Previous 
 Question tliereon was ordered (June 28tli) 
 by a vote of 98 Ayes to (;;{ Noes. I'revious 
 to tliis, liowever, Mr. Stephens of (Jeorf,fia 
 had proposed, as an amendment or substitute, 
 a radieuily dilTerent bill, eoiitemphitinj!^ the 
 appointiiu'iit by the President and Senate of 
 live Connnissioners, wiio sliouid repair to 
 Kansas, take a census of the inhal)itants and 
 legal voters, and thereupon proceed to ap- 
 portion, during the month of September, 
 1856, the delegates (r>2) to form a constitu- 
 tional convention, to be elected by the legal 
 voters aforesaid ; said delegates to be chosen 
 on the day of the Presidential election (Tues- 
 day, Nov. 4th, IB.tG), and to assemble in 
 convention on the first Monday in Decemlier, 
 18r)G, to form a State Constitution. The 
 bill proposed, also, penalties for illegal voting 
 at said election. 
 
 To this substitute-bill, Mr. Dunn of In- 
 diana proposed the following amendment, to 
 come in at the end as an additional section : 
 
 Sec. 18. And l>c it further enacted. That so 
 much of the fourteenth section find of the thirty- 
 second section of tlie act passed at the first ses- 
 sion of the Thu-tyThird Congress, commonly 
 culled the Kansas and Nebraska act, as reads 
 as follows : " Except the eighth section of the net 
 urcpuratory to the admission of Jlissouri into the 
 Union, approved Mareh 6, 1820, which, being 
 inconsistent with the principle of non-interven- 
 tion by Congress with shivery in the States and 
 Territories, as recognized by the legislation of 
 1850, eominonly 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 auv State or Terri- 
 tory, or to exclude it therefrom, "but to leave the 
 people thereof perfectly free to form and regulate 
 their domestic institutions in their own wav, sub- 
 ject only to the Constitution of the United 
 btates : 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 6th March, 1820, cither protecting, 
 establishing, prohibiting, or abolishing slavery," 
 be, and the same is thereby, repealed, provided 
 that any person or persons lawfully held to 
 service within either of the Territories named in 
 said act shall be discharged fiom such service, 
 if they shall not be removed and kept out of said 
 Territories within twelve months from the pas- 
 sage of this act 
 
 Mr. Dunn's amendment to the Stephens 
 amendment or substitute, was carried : Yeas 
 109 ; Nays 102— as follows : 
 
 YEAS— Mes.srs. Albright, Allison, Ball, Bar- 
 bour, Henry Bennett, Benson, Billinghurst, 
 Bingham, Bishop, Bliss, Bradshaw, Brenton, 
 Broom, Buffinton, Burlingame, James II. Camp- 
 bell, Lewis D. Campbell, Bayard Clarke, Ezra 
 Clark, Clawson, Colfax, Comiiis, Covode, Cragin, 
 Cumbaek, Damrell, Tiinolhv D;ivis, Dean, De 
 Witt, Diek, Diekson, Dodd, Dunn, Durfee, 
 Edie, Edwards, Emrie, Flagler, (iuiloway, Gid- 
 dings, Gilbert, Granger, (Jrow, Robert B. Hall, 
 Harlan, Harrison, Haven, Hollowav, Thomas li. 
 Horton, Valentine B. Horton, Howard, Hugh- 
 
 ston, Kc-lsoy, King, Knajip, Knighl, Knowlton, 
 Knox, Kiiiikel, Leiter, Mace, JIattesoii, Me- 
 ("arty, Mraehani, Killian .Miller, Milhvard, 
 Moore, iMcugan, .>b>rrill, Murray, Andrew Oliver, 
 I'arker, I'earcc, I'dtiui, I'onningloii, I'eiTy, 
 I'etlit, I'ik.-, I'linglc, l'urviane(\ Robl)ins, 
 RiibiTts, Itciliisoii, Siibin, .Sage, Sapp, ."^eott, 
 Shermnn, Siniiiinim, StantDii, Shaiialiau, Tap- 
 nan, TlMM-inglon, Tluirsi.in, T.)dd, Trufton, 
 Wade, Wakeman. Walhridge, Wahlron, Cad- 
 walader C. Washbiirnc, Klilm B. Wnshburne, 
 Israel Wasiibuni, Wiilw.n, W<lili, Whitney, 
 Wood, Woodruff, nn<l Wn.uhvi.rth— l(i<). 
 
 NAVS— .Messrs. Aiken, Alhn, Baichiy, Barks- 
 dale, Bell. Hendley .S. ISeiinelt, B.xoc'k, Bowie, 
 B(iye<', Branch, Brooks, Bunielt, Cadwalaiier, 
 .John \\ Campbell, Carlile, Carutliers, Caskie, 
 ("lingmaii, llowdl Cobb, Williamson K. W. 
 Cobb, Cox, Craige. (Jrawford, Davidson, Day, 
 l)enver, Dowdcll, Edmundson, Elliot, English, 
 Euslis, Faulkner, Florence, Fostc^r, Thomas J. 
 1). Fuller, Goode, Greenwood, Augustus Hall, 
 J. Morrison Harris, Sampscui W. Harris, Hick- 
 man, Hoffman, Houston, .Jewdt, George ^V. 
 .Tones, ,T. Glancy Jones, Keitt, Kelly, Keniictt, 
 Kidwell, ].,ake, ]>etcher, I.,umpkin,' Alexandet 
 K. Marshall, Humphrey Alarslmll, Maxwell, Mc- 
 Mullin,.AIe(^iiecii, Smith Miller, Millson, Nichols, 
 Mordeeai Oliver, Orr, I'acker, Paine, I'cck, 
 Phelps, Porter, Powell, Puryear, Quitman, 
 Heady, Kicaud, Kiehardson, Rivers, liuflin, 
 Rust, Sandidgo, Savage, Seward, Shorter, Samuel 
 
 A. Smith, William Smith, William R. Smith, 
 Sliced, Spinner, Stephens, Stewart, Swope, Tal- 
 bott, Taylor, Trippe, Underwood, Valk, Walker, 
 Warner, Watkins, Wheeler, Williams, Daniel 
 
 B. Wright, John V. Wright, and ZoUicoffer— 
 102. 
 
 Mr. Stephens's substitute, as thus amend- 
 ed by its adversaries, was abandoned by its 
 original friends, and received but two votes 
 — those of Messrs. Geo. G. Dunn of Indiana 
 and John Scott Harrison of Ohio — Nays 
 210. 
 
 Mr. Dunn had previously movcxl a refer- 
 ence of the bill to the Committee of the 
 Whole on the state of the Union. This was 
 now defeated : Yeas 101 ; Nays 109. 
 
 Mr. Jones of Tenn. now moved that the 
 bill do lie on the table, which was defeated : 
 Yeas 106 ; Nays 107 (Barclay of Penn., 
 Dunn of Ind., Jlaven and AVilliamsof X. Y. 
 — Yeas ; Bayard Clarke of New-York, Hick- 
 man and Milhvard of I'a., Moore of Ohio, 
 and Scott of Ind. — Naijs ; Scott Harrison 
 of Ohio not voting, Wells of Wise, absent). 
 The House now refused to adjourn by 106 
 to 102 ; and, after a long struggle, the liual 
 question was reached, and the bill rejected: 
 Yeas, 106 ; Nays 10" — as follows : 
 
 YEAS— Messrs. Albright, Allison. Ball. Bar- 
 bour, Henry Bennett, Benson, Billintrhurst, 
 Bingham, Bishop, Bliss, Bradshaw, I5renton, 
 Butlinfon, Burlingame, J. H. Campbell, Lewis 
 D. CiunythcW, Bayard Clarke, Ezra Clark, Claw- 
 son, Colfax, Comins, Covode, Cragin, Cumbaek, 
 Damrell, Timothy Davis, Day, Dean, De Witt, 
 Dick, Diekson, Dodd, Durfcc, Edie, Edwards, 
 Emrie, Flagler, Galloway, tJiddiiigs, Gilbert, 
 (iranger. Grow, Robert IJ. Hall, Harlan, Hick- 
 man. Hollowav, Thomas 1{. H(u-ton, V^alentino 
 B. Horton, Howard, Hughston, Kelsev, King, 
 Knapp, Knight, Knowlton, Knox, Kunkel, Lei- 
 ter, Matteson, McCarty, Meacham, Killian .Mil- 
 ler, Mtllicard, Moore, Morgan, MoiTiU, Murray, 
 
148 
 
 THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 
 
 Nichols, Andrew Oliver. Parker, Pearoc, Pclton, 
 Pennington, Perry, Pettit, Pike, Purvitinee, 
 Robbius, Kiiberts.'lvobison, Sabin, Snge, ISiipp, 
 Scolt, Sherman, Simmons, Sj)inner, Stanton, 
 Sti-aiiahan,Tappnn,Thorington, Thurston, Todd, 
 Trafton,Wade, Wakeman, Walbridge, Waldron, 
 Cadwalader C. VVashburno, Elihu B. Wash- 
 bunie, Israel Washburn, Watson, Welch, Wood, 
 Woodruff, and Woodworth — 106. 
 
 NAYS — Messrs. Aiken, Allen, Barclay, Barks- 
 dale, Bell, Heudley S. Bennet, Bocock, Bowie, 
 Boyce, Branch, Brooks, Broom, Burnett, Cad- 
 walader, John P. Campbell, C'arlile, Caruthers, 
 Caskie, Howell Cobb, Williamson K. W. Cobb, 
 Cox, Craige, Crawford, Cullen, Davidson, Deji- 
 ver, Dowdell, Dunn, Edmundson, Elliot, Eng- 
 lish, Etheridge, Eustis, Evans, Faulkner, Flor- 
 ence, Foster, Thomas J. D. Fuller, Goode, Green- 
 wood, Augustus Hall, J. Morrison Harris, Samp- 
 son W. Harris, Harrison, Haren, Herbert, Hotf- 
 man, Houston, Jewett, George W. Jones, J. 
 Glancy Jones, Keitt, Kelly, Kennett, Kidwell, 
 Lake, Letcher, Lindley, Lumpkin, Alexander K. 
 Marsliall, Humphrey Marshall, Samuel S. Mar- 
 shall, Maxwell, McMullin, McQueen, Smith Mil- 
 ler, Millson, Mordecai Oliver, Orr, Packer, 
 Paine, Peck, Phelps, Porter, Powell, Puryear, 
 Quitman, Ready, Ricaud, Rivers, Ruffin, Rust, 
 Sandidge, Savage, Seward, Shorter, Samuel A. 
 Smith, William Smith, William R. Smith, Sneed, 
 Stephens, Stewart, Swope,Talbott, Taylor,Trippe, 
 Underwood, Valk, Walker, Warner, Watkiiis, 
 Wheeler, Whitney, Williams, Daniel B. Wright, 
 John V. Wright, and Zollicoffer— 107. 
 
 So the bill was lost. 
 
 Mr. Goode of Virginia now sought to 
 move a reconsideration, and to have that 
 motion laid on the table ; but was cut off by 
 a motion to adjourn already pending, which 
 prevailed. 
 
 July 1st. — Mr. Barclay (Dera.) of Pa. rose 
 to a privileged motion. He moved a recon- 
 sideration of the preceding vote, by which 
 the Free-Kansas bill had been rejected. A 
 stormy debate ensued, in the midst of which 
 Mr. Howard of Mich, rose to a question of 
 higher privilege (as affecting the right of a 
 member [delegate] to his seat) and submitted 
 the Report of the Kansas Investigating 
 Committee (already given). The Speaker 
 sustained the motion, and the House sus- 
 tained the Speaker. The Report was there- 
 upon presented and read, consuming a full 
 day. 
 
 J\dij 3rd. — The question of reconsidering 
 the vote defeating the Free-Kansas bill was 
 again reached. Mr. Houston of Ala. moved 
 that it do lie on the table : Defeated : Yeas 
 91 ; Nays 102. The main question was then 
 ordered : Yeas 101 ; Nays 98 ; and the re- 
 consideration carried : Yeas 101 ; Nays 99. 
 The previous question on the passage of the 
 bill was now ordered : Yeas 99 ; Nays 96 ; 
 a motion by Mr. McQueen of S.C. to lay the 
 bill on the table was defeated : Yeas 97 ; 
 Nays 100 ; and then the bill was finally 
 passed : Yeas 99 ; Nays 97, as follows : 
 
 YEAS— Messrs. Albright, Allison, Ball, Bar- 
 bour, Barclay, llern-y Bennett, Benson, Billing- 
 hurst, Bingham, Bliss, Bradsliaw, Brenton, Bufhu- 
 ton, James 11. Camijbell, Liwis I). Campbell, 
 Bayard Clarke, Ezra Clark, Clawson, Collax, 
 
 Comins, Covode, Cragin, Cumback, Damrell, 
 Timothy Davis, Day, Dean, Dc Wilt, Dick, 
 Dickson, Dodd, Durf'ee, Edie, Edwards, Emrie, 
 Flagler, Galloway, Giddings, Gilbert, Granger, 
 Grow, Robert B. Hall, Harlan, Hickman, Hollo- 
 way, Thomas R. Horton, Valentine B. Horton, 
 Howard, Hughston, Kelsey, King, Knapp, 
 Knigbt, Knowlton, Knox, Kuukel, Leiter, Matte- 
 son, McCarty, Meacham, Killian Miller, Millward, 
 Morgan, Morrill, Mott, Murray, Nichols, Andrew 
 Oliver, Parker, Pearce, Pelton, Perry, Pike, 
 Pringle, Purviance, Ilobbins, Roberts, Robisou, 
 Sabin, Sage, Sapp, Scott, Sherman, Spinner, 
 Stranahan,Tappan, Thorington,Thur.ston, Todd, 
 Trafton, Wade, Wakeman, Walbridge, Waldron, 
 Cadwalader C. Washburne, Elihu B. Wash- 
 burno, Israel Washburn, Welch, Woodrufll'. and 
 Woodworth— 99. 
 
 NAYS — Messrs. Aiken, Allen, Barksdale, Bell, 
 Hendley S. Bennett, Bocock, Bowie, Branch, 
 Brooks, Broom, Burnett, Cadwalader, Caruthers, 
 Caskie, Clingman, Howell Cobb, Williamson R. 
 W. Cobb, Cox, Craige, Crawford, Cullen, Henry 
 Winter Davis, Denver, Dowdell, Dunn, Ed- 
 mundson, English, Etheridge, Eustis, Evans, 
 Faulkner, Florence, Henry M. Fuller, Thos. J 
 D. Fuller, Goode, Greenwood, Augustus HaU, J 
 Morrison Harris, Sampson W. Harris, Thomas 
 L. Harris, Harrison, Haven, Houston, Jewett, 
 George W. Jones, J. Glancy Jones, Kelly, Ken- 
 nett, Kidwell, Lake, Lindley, Lumpkin, Alex 
 ander K. Marshall, Humphrey Marshall, Sa 
 muel S. Marshall, McMullin, McQueen, Smith 
 Miller, Milson, Mordecai Oliver, Orr, Packer, 
 Peck, Phelps, Porter. Powell, Puryear, Ready, 
 Ricaud, Rivers, Ruffin, Rust, Sandidge, Savage, 
 Seward, Shorter, Samuel A. Smith, William 
 Smith, William R. Smith, Sneed, Stephens, Stew- 
 art, Swope, Taylor, Trippe, Underwood, Valk, 
 Walker, Warner, Watkins, Wheeler, Whitney, 
 Williams, Winslow, Daniel B. Wright, John V 
 Wright, and Zollicoffer— 97. 
 
 Mr. Grow of Pa. moved the reconsidera- 
 tion of this vote, and that the motion to re- 
 consider do lie on the table, which was per- 
 mitted, without further division. 
 
 The following is the Free-Kansas or 
 Topeka Constitution aforesaid : 
 
 CONSTITUTION 
 OP THE STATE OF KANSAS. 
 
 PREAMBLE : 
 
 We, the People of the Territory of Kansas, by 
 our delegates in Convention assembled at Tope- . 
 
 ka, ou the 2'3d day of October, a. d. 1855, and 
 of the Independence of the United States the 
 eightieth year, having the right of admission into 
 the Union as one of the United States of America, 
 consistent with the Federal Constitution and by 
 virtue of the treaty of cession by France to the 
 United States of the Province of Louisiana, in 
 order to secure to ourselves and our posterity 
 the enjoyment of all the rights of life, liberty and 
 property, and the free pursuit of happiness, do 
 mutually agree with each other to form ourselves 
 into a free and independent State, by the name 
 and style of the State ok Kansas, bounded as 
 follows, to wit: Beginning at a point ou the 
 western boundary of the State of Missouri where 
 the thu-ty-seveuth parallel of north latitude 
 crosses the same ; thence west on said parallel 
 to the eastern boundary of New-Mexico ; thence 
 north on said boundary to latitude thirty-eight ; 
 thence following said boundtiry westward to the 
 eastern boundary of the Territory of Utah on 
 the summit of the Rocky Mountains ; thence 
 northward on said summit" to the fortieth parallel 
 
THE KANSAS-NEBRASKA STRUGGLE. 
 
 149 
 
 of Bnid liititiulo; thoncc oast on Miiid imnillcl to 
 the western Ixmudiiry of tlio Stiito of MiNHoiiri ; 
 thence bouIIi witli the western boundary uf Hiiid 
 State to the (ilaeo of bef,'iniiint,' ; and do ordiiin 
 and e.stiiljlish the foUowinf: Constitution aud 
 Bill ok Kiuuts Ibr the govenunent tlieruof : 
 
 Article I. — Bill of Rights 
 
 Section 1. All men nro by nature free and 
 independent, and liavo certain iiialienal)le riglitu, 
 amontj which are those of enjoj'inj,' nnd defending; 
 life and liberty, ueqiiir'mg, poSBCBsinfj, and jjro- 
 toeting property, and seeking and obtaining 
 hnpi)ineKs and safety. 
 
 Skc. 2. All political power is inherent in the 
 I'eoi'lk. tJovernnunt is instituted for their 
 etpial protection and benetit ; and they have the 
 right to alter, relbrni or abolish the same when- 
 ever they may deem it necessary ; and no si)ceitil 
 privileges or nnmunities shall over bo granted 
 that may not be altered, revoked, or repealed by 
 the General Assembly. 
 
 Sec. 'A. The people have the right to assemble 
 together, in a peaceable manner, to consult, for 
 their connnon good, to instruct their Represent- 
 atives, and to petition the General Assembly 
 for the redress ol grievances. 
 
 Sec. 4. The people have the right to bear anns 
 for their defense and security, but standing ar- 
 mies in time of peace are dangerous to liber- 
 ty, and shall not be kept up; and the military 
 enall be kept in strict subordiuatiou to the civ;l 
 power. 
 
 Sec. 5. The right of trial by jury shall bo in- 
 violate. 
 
 Sec. 6 There shall be no Slavery in this State, 
 nor involuntary servitude, unless for the punish- 
 ment of crime. 
 
 Sec. 7. All men have a natural and indefeasi- 
 ble right to worship Almighty God according to 
 the dictates of their own conscience. No person 
 shall be compelled to attend, erect or .support 
 any place of worship, or maintain any form of 
 worship against his consent ; and no preference 
 shall be given by law to any religious society ; 
 nor shall any interference with the rights of 
 ccuscience be permitted. No religious test shall 
 be required as a qualification for otHce, nor shall 
 any person be incompetent to be a witness on ac- 
 count of his religious belief; but nothihg herein 
 shall be construed to dispense with oaths and 
 affinnations. Religion, morality, and knowledge, 
 however, being essential to good government, it 
 shall be the duty of the General Assembly to 
 pass suitable laws to protect every religious de- 
 nomination in the peaceable enjoyment of its 
 own mode of public worship, and to eucoui'age 
 schools and the means of instruction. 
 
 Sec. 8. The privilege of the writ of habeas 
 corpus shall not De suspended, unless in case of 
 rebellion or invasion the public safety require it. 
 
 Sec. y. All persons shall be bailable by sufli- 
 cieat sureties, unless for capital offenses where 
 the proof is evident, or the presumption great. 
 Excessive bail shall not be required, nor exces- 
 sive fines imposed, nor cruel aud unusual pun- 
 ishments inflieted. 
 
 Sec. 1(1. Except in cases of impeachment, and 
 cases arising in the army and navy, or in the 
 militia, when in actual service, in time of war 
 or public danger, and in cases of petit larceny 
 and other inferior offenses, no person shall be 
 held to answer for a capital or otherwise infa- 
 mous crime, unless on presentment or indictment 
 of a Grand Jury. Inany trial, in any court, the 
 party accused shall be allowed to appear and 
 defend in person, and with counsel, to demand 
 the nature and cau^^e of the accusation against 
 him, and to have a copy thereof: to meet the 
 witnesses faie to face, and to have compulsory 
 process to procure the attendance of witnesses 
 
 in his belialf, and a speedy public trial by an im- 
 partial jury of the county'or district in which the 
 otVc^nse is alleged to have been committed ; nor 
 shall any pei-son be compelled in any criminal 
 case to be a witness against himself, or be twice 
 put in jeopnrdy for the Kanie nll'eiise. 
 
 Sec. 1 1. lOvery citizen may fretdy siionk, write 
 and ])i\lilish his sentiments on all subieetH, being 
 responsible for the abuse of the right ; and no 
 law shall be passed t<i restrain or abridge the 
 liberty of speech or of the press. In all criminal 
 l)roseeutions or indictmenls tor libel, the truth 
 may be given in evi<lrnce to the jury, and if it 
 shall appear to the jury that the malt<>r iharged 
 aa libelous is true, and was published with good 
 motives, and for justifiable ends, the party shall 
 be acquitted. 
 
 Sec. Vi. No person shall be tranKi)ort<Ml out of 
 th(! State for any ofi'ense connnitted within the 
 same ; and no conviction shall work corruption 
 of blood or forfeiture of estate. 
 
 Sec. in. No soldier shall, in time of peace, be 
 quartered in any house without the consent of 
 the owner ; nor in time of war, except in a man- 
 ner prescribed by law. 
 
 Sec. 14. The right of the people to be secure in 
 their persons, house.-*, ])a{)ers, and possessions, 
 against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall 
 not be violated: an<l no warrant shall i.-sue but 
 upon probable eausi', supported by oath or af- 
 firmation, particularly describing "the place to 
 be searched, and the persons and things to be 
 seized. 
 
 Sec. 15. No person shall be imprisoned for 
 debt in any civil action, or mesne or final pro- 
 cess, unless in ease of fraud. 
 
 Sec. l(j. All courts shall be open ; and every 
 person for an injury done him in his land, goods, 
 person, or reputation, shall have remedy by due 
 course of law, and justice administered without 
 denial or delay. 
 
 Sec. 17. No hereditary emoluments, honors, or 
 privileges, shall ever be grunted or conferred by 
 this State. 
 
 Sec. 18. No power of suspending laws shall 
 ever be exercised, except by the General Assem- 
 bly. 
 
 Sec. 19. The payment of a tax shall not be 
 a qualification for exercising the right of suf- 
 frage. 
 
 Sec. 20. Private property shall ever be held 
 inviolate, but subservient to the public welfare. 
 When taken in time of war, or other public exi- 
 gency, imperatively requiring its immediate 
 seizure, or for the inirpose of making or repair- 
 ing roads, which shall be open to the public use, 
 without toll or other charge therefor, a compen- 
 sation shall be made to the owner in money ; and 
 in all other cases, where private property shall 
 be taken for public use. a compensation there- 
 for shall first be made in money, first secured bv 
 a deposit of money, and such compensation sluill 
 bo us^sessed by a jury, without deduction for 
 benefits to any property of the owner. 
 
 Sec. 21. No indenture of any negro, or mulat- 
 to, made and executed out of "the bounds of the 
 State, shall be valid within the State. 
 
 Sec. 22. This enumeration of rights shall not 
 be construed to impair or deny others retained 
 by the people ; ami all {)owers not herein dele- 
 gated shall remain with the people. 
 
 Article II. — Elective Fra.nchise. 
 
 Section 1. In all elections by the people, the 
 vote shall be by ballot, and in all elections in 
 the General Assembly, the vote shall be viva 
 voce. 
 
 Sec. 2. Every white male person, and every 
 civilized male Indian who has adopted the hab- 
 its of the white man, of the age uf twenty-one 
 years aud upward, who shall be at the lime of 
 
150 
 
 THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 
 
 oEFering to vote a citizen of the United States ; 
 who shall have resided, and had his habitation, 
 domicile, home, and place of permanent abode in 
 the State of Kansas for six months next preced- 
 ing the election at which he offers his vole ; who, 
 at such time, and for thirty days immediately 
 preceding said time, shall have had his actual 
 habitation, domicile, home, and place of abode in 
 the county in wliich he offers to vote ; and who 
 shall have resided in the precinct or election- 
 district for at least ten days immediately preced- 
 ing the election, shall be deemed a qualified elec- 
 tor at all elections under this Constitution, 
 except at elections by general ticket in the State 
 or district prescribed by law, in which case the 
 elector must have the aforesaid qualifications, 
 but a residence in said district for ten days will 
 entitle him to vote : Provided, That no soldier, 
 seaman, or marine of the regular army of the 
 United Stales shall be considered a resident of 
 the State in consequence of being stationed with- 
 in the same. 
 
 Sec. 3. The General Assembly shall, at its first 
 session, provide for the registration of all quali- 
 fied electors in each county, and thereafter, from 
 time to time, of all who may become qualified 
 electors. 
 
 Sec. 4. The Legislature shall have power to 
 exclude fi"om every office of honor, trust or profit 
 within the State, and from the right of suf- 
 frage, all persons convicted of any infamous 
 crime. 
 
 Sec. 5. No person shall be deemed capable of 
 holding or being elected to any post of honor, 
 profit, trust, or emolument, civil or military, or 
 exercise the right of suflrage under the govern- 
 ment of this State, who shall hereafter fight a 
 duel, send or accept a challenge to fight a duel, 
 or who shall be a second to either party, or who 
 shall in any manner aid or assist in such duel, or 
 who shall bo knowingly the bearer of such chal- 
 lenge or acceptance, whether the same occur or 
 be committed in or out of the State. 
 
 Sec 5. No person who may hereafter be col- 
 lector or holder of public moneys shall be eligi- 
 ble to any office of trust or profit in the State 
 untd he shall have accounted for and paid into 
 the proper public treasury all sums for which he 
 may be accountable. 
 
 Sec. 7. No State officer or member of the 
 General Assembly of this State shall receive a 
 fee, be engaged as counsel, agent, or attorney, in 
 any case or claim against the State. 
 
 Sec. 8. No Senator or Itepresentative shall, 
 during the term of office for which he shall have 
 been elected, be appointed to any civil office of 
 profit in this State which shall have been created, 
 or the emoluments of which shall have been in- 
 creased during such term, except such offices as 
 may be filled by election by the people. 
 
 Sec 9. All officers, civil and military, in this 
 State, before they enter upon the duties of their 
 respective offices, shall take the following oath 
 
 or affirmation : " I , do swear [or 
 
 aflirni] that I will support the Constitution of the 
 United States, and of the State of Kansas ; that I 
 am duly qualified according to the Constitution 
 to exercise the office to which I have been elect- 
 ed, [or appointed,] and will, to the best of my 
 abilities, discharge the duties thereof faithfully 
 and impartially, according to law." 
 
 Sec 10. Every person shall be disqualified 
 from holding any office of honor or profit in this 
 State, who sliall have been convicted of having 
 given or oll'ercd any bribe to procure his elec- 
 tron, or who ishuU have made use of any undue 
 influence from power, tumult, or other improper 
 practices. 
 
 Sec. 11. All civil officers of the State shall 
 reside within the State, and all District and 
 County officers within their respective Districts 
 
 and Counties, and shall have their offices at such 
 places as may be required by law. 
 
 Sec 12. Returns of elections for members of 
 Congress, the General Assembly, and all other 
 officers not otherwise provided for, shall be made 
 to the Secretary of State, in such manner as may 
 be proscribed by law. 
 
 Sec 13. Electors shall in all cases be privi- 
 leged from arrest during their attendance on 
 elections, and in goin^ to and returning there- 
 from, exceptin case of felony, treason, and breach 
 of the peace. 
 
 Article III. — ^Distribution of Powers. 
 
 Section 1. The powers of the Government 
 shall be divided into three separate departments 
 — the Legislative, the Executive, including the 
 Administrative, and the Judicial ; and no per- 
 son charged with ofiicial duties under one of 
 these departments shall exercise any of the 
 functions of another, except as in this Constitu- 
 tion expressly provided. 
 
 Article IV. — Legislative. 
 
 Section 1. The Legislative power of this 
 State shall be vested in the General Assembly, 
 which shall consist of a Senate and House of 
 Representatives. 
 
 Sec 2. The Senators and Representatives 
 shall be chosen annually by the qualified elect- 
 ors of the respective Counties or Districts for 
 which they are chosen, on the first Monday of 
 August, for one year, and their term of office 
 shall commence on the first day of January nest 
 thereafter. 
 
 Sec 3. There shall be elected at the first elec- 
 tion twenty Senators, and sixty Representatives, 
 and the number afterward shall be regulated by 
 law. 
 
 Sec 4. No person shall be eligible to the 
 office of Senator, or Representative, who shall 
 not possess the qualifications of an elector. 
 
 Skc 5. No person holding office under the au- 
 thority of the United States, or any lucrative 
 office under the authority of this State, shall be 
 eligible to or hold a seat in the General Assem- 
 bly ; but this provision shall not extend to town- 
 ship officers, justices of the peace, notaries pub- 
 lic, postnjasters, or officers of the militia. 
 
 Sec 6. Each House, except as otherwise pro- 
 vided in this Constitution, shall choose its own 
 officers, determine its own rule of proceeding, 
 punish its members for disorderly conduct, and 
 with the concurrence of two-thirds expel a mem- 
 ber, but not the second time for the same cause ; 
 and shall judge of the qualification, election and 
 return of its own members, and shall have all 
 other powers necessary for its safety and the un- 
 disturbed transaction of business. 
 
 Sec 7. Each House shall keep a journal of its 
 proceedings and publish the same. The Yeas 
 and Nays on any question shall, at the request 
 of two members, be entered on the journal. 
 
 Sec 8. Any member of either House shall 
 have the right to protest against any act or reso- 
 lution thereof; and such protest and reason 
 therefor shall, without alteration, commitment 
 or delay, be entered on the journal. 
 
 Sec 9. All vacancies which may occur in 
 either House shall, for the unexpired tenn, be 
 filled by election as shall be prescribed by 
 law. 
 
 Sec 10. Senators and Representatives shall, 
 in all cases except treason, felony cr breach of 
 the peace, be privileged from arrest during the 
 session of the General As.-^einbly, and in going 
 to and returning from the same ; and for words 
 spoken in debate they shall not be questioned in 
 any other place. 
 
 Sec. 11. A majority of all the members elected 
 
THE KANSAS-NEBRASKA STRUGGLE. 
 
 161 
 
 to eachllouso shall bonccoBsnry to pnss every bill 
 or joint r<-8olntion, and nil billH and joint rt-Bo- 
 lutions 8o piLsstd kIkiII hf Bit,MR-(l by the |)rf«id- 
 iii}; oiliooin of tho rcxixvlivu Houhis, unci prc- 
 senttd to tlif Governor lor Iiih ajiproval. 
 
 Skc. 1','. Tho dooi-s of eai'li IIou.mo, and of 
 Comniittcos of tho Wiiolc. shall be kopt open. 
 Ni-itlitr House shall, without tlic <'(Uis.iit of llu^ 
 other, adjourn for more than two day«, nor to 
 any otht-r place than that in which tho two 
 Houses shall bo sitting, except for personal 
 safety. , , 
 
 Skc. 13. Every bill shall be read by sections 
 on thrco several days in each House unless in 
 case of cnicrtjeucy. Two-thinls of the House 
 where such bill is pcndinf,', may. if deemed expe- 
 dient, suspend the rules on neall of the Yeas and 
 Is'ays ; but the readin;^ of a bill by sections on its 
 final passage shall in no case be dispensed 
 witli ; and the vote on the passaj;c of every bill 
 or joiut resolution shall be taken by Yeas and 
 Nays. 
 
 Skc. 14. Every net shall contain but one sub- 
 ject, which shall be clearly expressed in its title. 
 Bills may ori^'inato in either House, but nuiy be 
 altered, amended, or rejected by the other. 
 
 Sec. 15. In all cases wben a general law can 
 be made applicable, special laws shall not be 
 enacted. 
 
 Sec. 1G. No act shall ever bo revived or 
 amended by mere reference to its title ; but the 
 act revived, or the section amended, shall beset 
 forth and published at full length. 
 
 Sec. 17. No act shall tukoellcct until tho same 
 shall have been published and circulated in the 
 counties of the State by authority, except in 
 case of emergency, whicli emergency shall be 
 declared in the preamble, or the body of the 
 law. 
 
 Sec. 18. The election and appointment of all 
 oflicers, and the filling of all vueaiicies not other- 
 wise provided for by this Constitution, or tho 
 Constitution of the United States, shall be made 
 in such manner as shall be prescribed bylaw; 
 but no appointing power shall be exercised by 
 the General Assembly, except as provided in this 
 Constitution and in the electiou of tho United 
 States Senator, and in these cases the vote shall 
 be taken viva voce. 
 
 Sec. 19. The General Assembly shall not have 
 power to enact laws aniiullin<j the contract of 
 marriage in any case where by law the courts 
 of this State may have power to decree a di- 
 vorce. 
 
 Sec. 20. The General Assembly shall not have 
 power to pass retro-active laws, or laws impair- 
 ing the obligation of contracts, but may by 
 general laws authorize Courts to carry into effect, 
 upon such terms as shall be just and equitable, 
 the manifest intention of parties and officers, 
 by curing omissions, defects, and eiTois in instru- 
 ments, and proceedings arising out of a want of 
 conformity with the laws of this State. 
 
 Sec. 21. The style of tho laws of this State 
 shall be : " Be it ennclcd hy the General Assem- 
 bly of the State of Kansas." 
 
 Sec. 22. The House of Representatives shall 
 have the sole power of impeachment. All im- 
 peachments shall be tried by the Senate, and 
 when sitting for the purpose, the Senators shall 
 be upou oath or affirmation to do justice ac- 
 cording to law and evidence. No person shall be 
 convicted without the concurrence of two-thirds 
 of all the Senators present. 
 
 Sec. 23. The Governor and all other civil offi- 
 cers, under the laws of this State, shall be liable 
 to impeachnieut for any misdeiueaii<jr in oflicc, but 
 judgment in such cases shall not extend further 
 than to removal from office, and disqualification 
 to hold any office of honor, profit, or trust, under 
 this State, The party, wnother convicted or 
 
 acquitted, shall nevertheless bo liable to indict- 
 ment, trial, judgment and punishment, according 
 to law. 
 
 Sk<;. 21. Within one year nftor flic ratification 
 of this Constitution, and within every subse- 
 quent two years thereafter, for the term of ton 
 years, an enumeration of nil the whiteiiiliabitants 
 of this Stiile sliiill be made in such manner as 
 shall be dinct( d by law. 
 
 Sec, 25. All re^'ubir sessions ctf tho General 
 Assembly shall be held at the capital of the 
 State, and shall commence on the firs tTuesday 
 of January annually. 
 
 Sec. 2t). All bills for raising revenue shall origi- 
 nate in the House of liepresontatives, subject, 
 however, to amendment or rejection as in other 
 cases. 
 
 Sec. 27. The members of the (Jeneral Assem- 
 bly shall receive for their services tho sum of 
 four dollars per day for each and every day they 
 are actually in attendance at any regular or 
 special session, and four dollars for every 
 twenty miles they shall travel in going to and 
 returning from the place of meeting by the most 
 usually travehd route; and no session of tho 
 General Assembly, except the first under this 
 Constitution, shall extend beyond the term of 
 sixty days, nor any special session more than 
 forty days. 
 
 Ar-TicLE V. — Executive. 
 
 Section 1. The Executive Department shall 
 consist of a Governor, a Lieutenant-Governor, 
 Secretary of State, Treasurer, Auditor, and At- 
 torney-General, wlio shall be chosen by tho 
 electors of the State at the same time and place 
 of voting for the members of the General Assem- 
 bly. ^ 
 
 Sec. 2. The Governor, Lieutenant-Governor, 
 Secretary of State, Treasurer, Auditor, Attorney- 
 General, and State Printer, shall hold their otfice 
 for two years. Their terms of office shall com- 
 mence on the first Tuesday of January next after 
 their election, and continue until their succes- 
 sors are elected and qualified, neither of which 
 officers shall he eligible for reelection more than 
 two out of three consecutive terms : nor shall any 
 person be eligible for the office of Governor who 
 who shall not have attained the age of thu-ty 
 years. 
 
 Sec. 3. The returns of every election for the 
 officers named in tho foregoing section, shall be 
 sealed up and transmitted to the seat of govern- 
 ment by the returning-officers, directed to the 
 Secretary of State, who shall lay tho same beforo 
 the General Assembly at their first meeting 
 thereafter, when they shall open, publish and de- 
 clare the result thereof in the presence of a ma- 
 jority of the members of both llouscs. The per- 
 son having the highest number of votes shall be 
 declared duly elected, and a certificate thereof 
 given to such person, signed by the presiding 
 officers of both bodies ; but if any two or moro 
 shall be highest and equal in votes for the same 
 office, one of them shall bo chosen by the joint 
 vote of both Houses. 
 
 Sec. 4. The supremo executive power shall be 
 vested in a Governor. 
 
 Sec. 5. Ho may require information in writing 
 from the officers in the Executive Department 
 upon any subject relating to the duties of their 
 respective offices, and shall see that the laws are 
 faithfully executed. 
 
 Sec. 6. He shall communicate at every session, 
 by message, to the General Assembly, the condi- 
 tion of the affairs of the Slate, and recommend 
 such measures as ho shall deem expedient for 
 their action. 
 
 Sec. 7. lie may on extroordinary occasions 
 convene the Gcnerol Assembly by proclamation, 
 
152 
 
 THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 
 
 and shall state to both Houses when assembled 
 the purposes for which they were convened. 
 
 Sec. 8. In case of disagreement belwecn the 
 two Houses, in respect to the time of adjourn- 
 ment, he shall have power to adjourn the Gene- 
 ral As.-^euibly to such time as he may think 
 proper, but not beyond the regular meetings 
 thereof. 
 
 Sec. 9. lie shall be commander-in chief of llie 
 military in the State, except when they shall be 
 called info the service of the United States. 
 
 Sec 10 The pardoning power shall be vested 
 in the Governor, under such regulalicms and re- 
 etrictions as may be prescribed by law. 
 
 Sec. 11. There shall be a seal of the State, the 
 device ot which shall be fixed upon by the Gov- 
 ernor and other State otficers, be kept by the 
 Governor and used by him oflicially, and shall 
 be called "7'Ae Great Seal of the State of Kan- 
 sas." 
 
 Sec. 12. All grants and commissions shall be 
 used in the name and by the authority of the 
 State of Kansas, sealed with the great seal, sign- 
 ed by the Governor, and countersigned by the 
 Secretarj- of State. 
 
 Sec. 13. No member of either House of Con- 
 gress, or other persons holding office under the 
 authority of this State, or of the United States, 
 shall execute the otfice of Governor except as 
 herein provided. 
 
 Sec. 14. lu the case of death, impeachment, 
 resignation, removal, or other disability of the 
 Governor, the Lieutenant-Governor shall exer- 
 cise the duties of the office of Governor, until 
 another Governor shall be duly qualitied ; but in 
 such case another Governor shall be chosen at 
 the next annual election for members of the 
 General Assembly, unless such death, resigna- 
 tion, impeachment, removal, or other disability 
 shall occur within three calendar months imme- 
 diately preceding such next annual election, in 
 which case a Governor shall be chosen at the 
 second succeeding annual election for members 
 of the General Assembly, and in case of the 
 death, impeachment, resignation, removal, or 
 other disability of the Lieutenant-Governor, the 
 President of the Senate pro tern, shall exercise 
 the office of Governor until a Governor shall be 
 duly qualified as aforesaid. 
 
 Sec 15. Tlie Lieut.-Governor shall be Presi- 
 dent of the Senate, but shall vote only when the 
 Senate is equally divided, and shall be entitled 
 to the same pay as the Speaker of the House of 
 Representatives, and in case of his death, im- 
 peachment, resignation, removal from office, or 
 when he shall exercise the office of Governor, 
 the Senate shall choose a President pro tern. 
 
 Sec 16. Should the office of Secretary of State, 
 Treasurer, Auditor, or Attorney-General become 
 vacant, for any of the causes specified in the 
 fourteenth and fifteenth sections, the Governor 
 shall fill the vacancy or vacancies imtil the disa- 
 bility is removed or a successor is elected and 
 qualified. Every such vacancy shall be filled 
 by election, at the first general election that oc- 
 curs more than thirty days after such vacancy 
 shall have occurred, and the person chosen shall 
 hold the office for the full term fixed in the sec- 
 ond section of this article. 
 
 Sec 17. The officers mentioned in this ai-ticle 
 shall, at stated times, receive for their services 
 compensation to be fixed by law, which shall 
 neither be increased nor diminished during the 
 period for which they shall have been elected. 
 
 Sec 18. The officers of the Executive Depart- 
 ment, and of the public State Institutions snail, 
 at least ten days preceding each regular session 
 of the General Assembly, severally report to the 
 Governor, who shall transmit the same to the 
 General Assembly. 
 
 Sec. I'J. Every bill which shall have passed 
 
 both Houses shall be presented to the Governor. 
 If he approve he shall sign the same ; but if he 
 shall not approve, he shall return it with his ob- 
 jections to the House in which it shall have 
 originated, who shall enter the objections at large 
 upon the journal, and proceed to reconsider the 
 same. If after such reconsideration two-thirds 
 of that House shall agree to pass the bill, it shall 
 be sent, with the objections, to the other House, 
 by which, likewise, it shall be reconsidered, and 
 if approved by two-thirds of that House, it shall 
 be a law. But in such case the votes of both 
 Houses shall be determined by Yeas and Nays, 
 and the names of the persons voting for or against 
 the bill shall be entered upon the journals of the 
 House respectively. If any bill shall not be re- 
 turned by the Governor within five days (Sunday 
 excepted) after it shall have been presented to 
 him, it shall be a law in like manner as if he had 
 siynid i(, unless the General Assembly, by theu" 
 adjournment, prevented its return, in which case 
 it shall also be a law, unless sent back within 
 two days after the next meeting. 
 
 Sec 20. Contested elections for Governor, 
 Lieutenant Governor, Judges of the Supremo 
 Court, and all other State officers, shall be deter- 
 mined by the General Assembly in such man- 
 ner as may be prescribed by law. 
 
 Sec 21. The General Assembly shall have 
 power to provide by law for the election of a 
 Surveyor-General, State Geologist, and Superin- 
 tendent of Common Schools, whose duties shall 
 be prescribed by law. 
 
 Article VI. — Judicial. 
 
 Section 1. The Judicial power of the State 
 .shall be vested in a Supreme Court, Courts of 
 Common Pleas, Justices of the Peace, and in 
 such other Courts inferior to the Supreme Court 
 as the General Assembly may establish. 
 
 Sec. 2. The Supreme Court shall consist of 
 three Judges, a majority of whom shall form a 
 quorum. It shall have such original and appel- 
 late jurisdiction as may be provided by law. It 
 shall hold at least one term each year at the seat 
 of Government, and such other Terms as may 
 be provided by law. The Judges of the Su- 
 preme Court shall be elected by the electors of 
 the Stale at large. 
 
 Sec 3. The State shall be divided by the first 
 General Assembly under this Constitution into 
 three Common Pleas Districts of compact Terri- 
 tory, bounded by county lines, and as nearly 
 equal in population as practicable; and a Judge 
 for each District shall be chosen by the electors 
 thereof, and their term of office shall be for three 
 years. 
 
 Sec 4. The Courts of Common Pleas shall 
 consist of one Judge each, who shall reside with- 
 in the district for which he is chosen during his 
 continuance in office. 
 
 Sec 5. The jurisdiction of the Court of Com- 
 mon Pleas and of the Judges thereof shall be 
 fixed by law. 
 
 Sec 6. A competent number of Justices of the 
 Peace shall be elected by the electors in each 
 township of several counties. The term of office 
 shall be three years, and their powers and duties 
 shall be fixed by law. 
 
 Sec 7. All Judges, other than those provided 
 for in the Constitution, shall be elected by the 
 electors of the judicial district for which they 
 may be created, but not for a longer term of 
 office than three years. 
 
 Sec 8. The Judges of the Supreme Court shall, 
 immediately after the first election under this 
 Constitution, bo classified by lot, so that one shall 
 hold for the term of one year, one for the teiin 
 of three years ; and all subsequent elections the 
 term of each of said Judges shall bo for three 
 years. 
 
THE KANSAS-NEBRASKA STRUGGLE. 
 
 153 
 
 Sec. 9. In cnao the office of any Judgo shall 
 become vnciint beforo tlio expirntion of tlio tcnn 
 fur wliicli 111' was fleeted, tliLi viieniiey cimll In- 
 filled l)y iiiiiioiiitiiieut by the (!(>voriii>r, until a 
 sucees.sdr bliiill In- elected niid (|ualitied ; niul 
 Hiicli (^ueccistiiir shall be elected for the renidue 
 of the uiiexpircil term, at the (iisl niinual flection 
 that occurs mere tlian thirty days after Buch 
 vu(!ancy .-hall have happened. 
 
 Sv.c. 10. The .Juilj^cH of the Snprcmo Court 
 and of tlie Court of Common Pleas shall, at stat- 
 ed times, receive such com]ieiiKaliou as maybe 
 provided by law, which shall not be increased 
 or dinnuish'ed durinfj their term of office ; but 
 they sh;ill receive no fees or j)cr(|uisites, nor hold 
 any oilier ollice of prolit and trust under the State, 
 other than a judicial oflice. 
 
 .Skc. II. Tlie General Assembly may increase 
 or diminish the number of the Judfjjos of tlie 
 Supremo Court, the number of the districts of 
 the Courts of Common Pleas, the number of 
 Jud«;es in any district, or establish other courts, 
 whenever two-thirds of the members elected to 
 each House shall concur therein ; but no such 
 cbanffe, addition, or diminution shall vacate the 
 office of anv .ludjje. 
 
 Skc. I'J. 'l''liere shall be elected in each county, 
 by the eleeloi-8 thereof, one Clerk of the Court 
 of Common Pleas, who shall hold his office for the 
 term of three years, and until his successor shall 
 be electtd ami (lualitied. 
 
 Skc. 1:{. The CencriU Assembly shall provide 
 by law for the speedy publication of the decis- 
 ions of the Supremo Court made under this Con- 
 stitution. 
 
 Skc. 14. The Supreme Court shall, upon the 
 decision of every case, give an opinion in writ- 
 ing of each question arising in the record in such 
 ca.se and the dicisiou of the Court thereon. 
 
 Skc. 15. There shall be elected by the voters 
 of the State a Clerk and a Keporter for the Su- 
 preme Court, who shall hold their offices for 
 three years, and whose duties shall be pre- 
 scribed by law. 
 
 Skc lU. Judges may be removed from office 
 by concurrent resolution of both Houses of the 
 General Ai-sembly, if two-thirds of the members 
 elected to each House concur therein ; but no 
 such removal shall be made except upon com- 
 plaint, the substance of which shall be entered 
 upon the journal, nor until the party thereof 
 charged sliall have had notice thereof, and an 
 opportunity to be heard. 
 
 Sec. 17. The several Judges of the Supreme 
 Court, of the Court of Common Pleas, and of 
 such other courts as may be created by law, 
 shall respectively have and exercise such power 
 and jurisdiction, at chambers or otherwise, as 
 may be provided by law. 
 
 Skc. 18. The style of all process shall be "The 
 State of Kansas." All prosecutions shall be car- 
 ried on in the name and by the authority of the 
 State of Kansas, and all indictments shall con- 
 clude " Against the peace and dignity of the 
 State of Kansas."' 
 
 Articlk VII. — Edi'catio.v. 
 
 Skction 1. The principal of all funds arising 
 from the sale or other disposition of lands or 
 other in-operty granted or intrusted to this State 
 for educational and religious purposes, shall for- 
 ever be preserved inviolate and undiminished, 
 and the income arising therefrom shall be faith- 
 fully applied to the specilic objects of the origi- 
 nal grants or appropriations. 
 
 Sec 2. The General Assembly shall make 
 such provision, by taxation or otherwise, as, with 
 the income arising from the school-trust fund, 
 will secure a thorough and efficient system of 
 conimou schools throughout the Stale ; but no 
 religious or other sect or sects shall ever have 
 
 any exclusive right to, or control of, any part of 
 th<- school funds of this State. 
 
 Skc. '.i. 'l"he (Jc'iicral AsHembly may fake meas- 
 ures for the establishment of a ITniversity, with 
 such brandies as the jiublic cimvcnience may 
 hereafter deinaiul, for the promotion of literature, 
 the arts, sciences, medical and agricultural in- 
 struction. 
 
 Skc. 4. Provision may bo made by the law 
 for the support of normal schools, with suitable 
 libraries and scienlilic ajiparatus. 
 
 Article VIII.— Public Institutio.ss. 
 
 Sectio.n 1. It shall be the duty of the General 
 Assembly, at as early a date as possible, to pro- 
 vide Slate Asylums for tlie benefit, tnatmont 
 and instruction of the blind, deaf and dumb, and 
 insane. 
 
 Skc. 2. The General Assembly shall make pro- 
 vision for the establishment of an Asylum for 
 idiots, to be regulated by law. 
 
 Skc 3. The respective counties of the State 
 shall provide in some suitable manner for those 
 inhabitants who, by reason of age, infirmity or 
 other misfortune, iiiay have claims upon the 
 sympathy and aid of society ; under provis- 
 ions to be made by the laws of the General As- 
 sembly. 
 
 Sec 4. The General Assembly shall make 
 provision for the establishmeut of houses of re- 
 fuge for the correction, reform, and instruction of 
 juvenile oftcnders. 
 
 Skc 5. It shall be the duty of the General As- 
 sembly to make provisions as soon as possible 
 for a State General Hospital. 
 
 Article IX. — Public Debt and Public 
 Works. 
 
 Section 1. No money shall be paid out of the 
 treasury except in pursuance of an appropriation 
 by law. 
 
 Sec. 2. The credit of the State shall never bo 
 given or loaned in aid of any individual associa- 
 tion or corporation. 
 
 Sec 3. For the purpose of defraying extraor- 
 dinary expenditures, the State may contract pub- 
 lic debts, out such debts shall never in the aggre- 
 gate exceed one hundred thousand dollars, unless 
 authorized by a direct vote of the people at a 
 general election. Every such debt shall bo au- 
 thorized by law, and every such law shall pro- 
 vide for the payment of the annual interest of 
 such debt, and the principal within ten years 
 from the passage of such law, and such appro- 
 priation shall not be repealed until the principal 
 and interest shall have been wholly paia. 
 
 Skc 4. The Legislature may also borrow 
 money to repel invasion, suppress insuiTection, 
 or defend the State in time of war ; but tlie money 
 thus raised shall be applied exclusively to the 
 object for which the loan was authorized, or re- 
 payment of the debts thereby created. 
 
 Skc 5. No scrip, ccvtiticate, or other evidence 
 of State debt whatever, shall bo issued, except 
 for such debts as are authorized by the third 
 and fourth sections of this article. 
 
 Article X. — Militia. 
 
 Section 1. Themilitiashallconsistof all able- 
 bodied white male persons between the ages of 
 eighteen and forty years : except such as may 
 be exempt by the laws of the United States or 
 of this State, and shall be organized, officered, 
 armed, equipped, and trained in such mauner as 
 may be provided by law. 
 
 Skc 2. The Governor shall appoint the Adju- 
 tant, Quartermaster and Commissary Gene- 
 rals. 
 
 S£C. 3. All militia officers shall bo commia- 
 
154 
 
 THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 
 
 Bioned by the Governor and shall hold then- 
 offices not longer than three years. 
 
 Sec. 4. The General Assembly shall determine 
 the method of dividing the militia into divisions, 
 brigades, regiments, battalions and companies, 
 and fix the rank of all oificers. 
 
 Sec. 5. The militia may be divided into 
 classes, in such manner as shall be prescribed 
 by law. 
 
 Sec. 6. No person conscientiously opposed to 
 bearing arms shall be compelled to do militia 
 duty ; Dut such person shall pay an equivalent 
 for such exemption, the amount to be prescribed 
 by law. 
 
 Sec. 7. The first General Assembly shall offer 
 inducements for the formation, uniforming and 
 di-illing of independent volunteer companies in 
 the different cities and counties in this State. 
 
 Article XI. — Finance and Taxation. 
 
 Section 1. The General Assembly shall pro- 
 vide, by law, for uniform and equal rate of as- 
 sessment and taxation; and taxes shall be levied 
 upon all such property, real and personal, as the 
 General Assembly may, from time to time, pre- 
 scribe ; but all property appropriated and used 
 exclusively for municipal, literary, educational, 
 scientific or charitable purposes, and personal 
 property to an amount not exceeding one hun- 
 dred dollars, for each head of a family, and all 
 property appropriated and used exclusively for 
 religious purposes to an amount not exceeding 
 $200,000, may, by general laws, be exempted from 
 taxation. 
 
 Sec. 2. The General Assembly shall provide 
 by law for an annual tax sufficient to defray the 
 estimated ordinary expenses of the State for each 
 year. 
 
 Sec. 3. Every law imposing a tax shall state 
 distinctly the object of the same, to which it shall 
 be applied. 
 
 Sec. 4. On the passage, in either House of the 
 General Assembly, of any law which imposes, 
 continues or renews a tax ; or makes, continues 
 or renews an appropriation of public or trust 
 money ; or releases, discharges or commutes a 
 claim or demand of the State, the question shall 
 be taken by Yeas and Nays, which shall be duly 
 entered on the journal ; and three-fifths of all the 
 members elected to such House shall, in all such 
 cases, be required to constitute a quorum. 
 
 Article XII. — County and Township offi- 
 cers. 
 
 Section 1. The General Assembly shall pro- 
 vide by law for the election of county, city, town 
 and township officers. 
 
 Sec. 2. All officers whose election or appoint- 
 ment is not provided for by this Constitution 
 shall be elected by the people, or appointed as 
 the General Assembly may by law direct. 
 
 Sec. 3. Provision shall be made by law for the 
 removal, for misconduct or malversation in office, 
 of all officers whose powers and duties are not 
 local or legislative, and who shall be elected at 
 general elections, and also for supplying vacan- 
 cies created by such removal. 
 
 Sec. 4. The Legislature may declare the cases 
 in which any oflice shall be deemed vacant, 
 where no provision is made for that purpose in 
 this Constitution. 
 
 Article XIII. — Corporation. 
 
 Section 1. The General Assembly shall not 
 create corporations by special act, except for 
 municipal purposes. 
 
 Sec. 2. Corporations may be formed under 
 general laws, but such laws may at any time be 
 altered or repealed. 
 
 Article XIV. — Jurisprudence. 
 
 Section 1. The General Assembly, at its first 
 session, shall constitute three Commissioners, 
 whose duty it shall be to revise, reform, simplify 
 and abridge the rules of practice, pleadings, 
 tonus and proceed'mgs of the Courts of Record 
 of this State, and to provide, so far as practica- 
 ble and expedient, that justice shall be adminis- 
 tered by intelligent and uniform proceedings, 
 without any distinction between law and equity. 
 
 Sec. 2. The proceedings of the Commissioners 
 shall be reported to the General Assembly, and 
 be subject to the action of that body. 
 
 Article XV. — Miscellaneous. 
 
 Section 1. The first General Assembly shall 
 locate the permanent seat of government. 
 
 Sec. 2. Lotteries and the sale of lottery tickets 
 for any purpose whatever, shall forever be pro- 
 hibited in the State. 
 
 Sec. 3. No person shall be elected or appoint- 
 ed to any office in this State unless they possess 
 the qualifications of an elector. 
 
 Sec. 4. There may be established in the Secre- 
 tary of State's office a Bureau of Statistics and 
 Agriculture, under such regulations as may be 
 prescribed by law, and provision shall be made 
 by the General Assembly for the organization 
 and encouragement of State and county Agri- 
 cultural Associations. 
 
 Sec. 5. The first General Assembly shall pro- 
 vide by law for securing to the wife the separate 
 property acquired by her before or after cove- 
 ture, and the equal right with the husband to the 
 custody of their children during their minority ; 
 and in case of death, insanity, intemperance, or 
 gross impropriety of the husband, their exclusive 
 custody. 
 
 Article XVI. — Amendments to the Consti- 
 tution. 
 
 Section 1. All propositions for amendments 
 to the Constitution shall be made by the General 
 Assembly. 
 
 Sec. 2. A concurrence of two-thirds of the 
 members elected to each House shall be neces- 
 sary, after which such proposed amendments 
 shall be entered upon the journals with the Yeas 
 and Nays, and the Secretary of State shall cause 
 the same to be published in at least one news- 
 paper in each County in the State where a news- 
 paper is published, for at least six months pre- 
 ceding the next election for Senators and Rep- 
 resentatives, when such proposed amendments 
 shall be again referred to the Legislature elected 
 next succeeding said publication. If passed by 
 the second Legislature, by a majority of two- 
 thirds of the members elected to each House, 
 such amendments shall be republished as afore- 
 said for at least six months prior to the next 
 general election, at which election such proposed 
 amendments shall be submitted to the people for 
 their approval or rejection, and if the majority 
 of the electors voting at such election shall 
 adopt such amendments, the same shall become 
 a part of the Constitution. 
 
 Sec. 3. When more than one amendment is 
 submitted at the same time, they shall be so sub- 
 mitted as to enable the electors to vote upon 
 each amendment separately. 
 
 Sec. 4. No convention for the formation of a 
 new constitution shall be called, and no amend- 
 ment to the Constitution shall be by the General 
 Assembly made, before tho year 1865, nor more 
 than once in five years thereafter. 
 
 Article XVII. — Banks and Currency. 
 
 Section 1. No banks shall be established 
 otherwise than under a General Banking Law. 
 
THE KANSAS-NEBRASKA STRUGGLE. 
 
 155 
 
 Sec. 2. If tho Gcnornl Assembly elmll etmct a 
 Goucnil IJmikiii};^ Law, such law shall provide 
 for thf rcj^istry and niuiitorBiL'iiinu l>y '''*> Aii- 
 dit(u- of Statu of all \n{.\Mjv L-ruilit dosi^tui'd to be 
 circ-ulatfd a.s money, willi atiiplo collateral mo- 
 curily, readily eoiivertible into Hpeeie lor the 
 reileiiiiitiun of tin- .same in f,'old or mlver, «iiall bo 
 re(iuircd ; wiiieli eoUuteral Heeurity uliall be 
 under the control of the proper oflieer, or oHicers 
 of State. Such law shall restrict the fn^avL-f^iitc 
 amount of all paper credit to be circulated as 
 money, and the af,';,'regate amount to hv put in 
 circufatiou in any one year ; and no note issued 
 under the provision ot this section shall bo of 
 a less denomination than ten dollars. 
 
 Skc. ',i. Tho stockholders in every bank or 
 banking; eomijnny shall be individualiv liable to 
 an amount over and al)ov(^ their stock equal to 
 their respective shares of stock for all debts and 
 liabilities of said baidc or bankin;^ company. 
 
 Skc. 1. All bills or notes i.^sued as money shall 
 be at all times redeemable in jjold or silver ; and 
 no law shall be passed sanctioning;, directly <u- 
 indirectly, I lie suspension by any bank or bank- 
 ing company of specie payments. 
 
 Skc. o. Holders of bank notes shall be entitled, 
 in case of insolvency, to prifereneo of specie 
 payment over all other creditors. 
 
 Skc. G. No bank shall rei'cive, directly or in- 
 directlv, a greater rate of interest than shall be 
 allowed by law to individuals loaning money. 
 
 Skc. 7. Every bank or banking company shall 
 bo required to ceaso all banking operations 
 within twenty years from the time of its orgaui- 
 zation, and promptly thereafter to close its Dusi- 
 ness. 
 
 Sec. 8. The State shall not bo a stockholder 
 iu any bank or banking institution. 
 
 Skc. !). All banks shall bo required to keep 
 offices and proper oflicers for the issue and re- 
 demption ot their paper at some accessible and 
 convenient point within the State. 
 
 Skc. 10. The said Banking law shall contain 
 a provision reserving the power to alter, amend, 
 or repeal said law. 
 
 Sec. 11. At the time of submitting this Consti- 
 tution to the electors for their approval or dis- 
 approval, the articles numbered in relation to a 
 General Banking Law shall be submitted as a 
 distinct proposition in the following form: Gen- 
 eral Banking Law ; Yes, or No ; and if a majority 
 of the votes cast shall be in favor of said article, 
 then tho same shall form a part of this Constitu- 
 tion ; otherwise it shall be void and form no part 
 thereof. 
 
 SCHEDULE. 
 
 In order that no inconvenience may arise from 
 the organization and establishment of a State 
 Government, and that the wishes of the people 
 may be fully accomplished, it is declared : 
 
 Firat : That no existing right.s, suits, prosecu- 
 tions, claims, and contracts shall be affected by 
 a change in the fomi of Government. 
 
 Second: That this Constitution .shall be sub- 
 mitted to the peoiile of Kansas for ratification on 
 the loth day of December next. 
 
 Thini : That each qualilied elector shall ex- 
 press his assent or dissent to the Constitution by 
 voting a written or printed ticket labeled " Cou- 
 stitution'' or " No Constitution," which election 
 shall beheld by the same Judges, and conducted 
 under the same regulations and restrictions as is 
 hereinafter provided for the election of Members 
 of the General Assembly, and the Judges therein 
 named shall, within ten days after said (lection, 
 seal up and transmit to the Chairman of the Exe- 
 cutive Committee of Kansas Territory the re- 
 Bult of said election, who shall forthwith make 
 
 l)roelnmation of tho same; and in cnBC tho Con- 
 Btitulion be ratified by the people, tho Chairman 
 of the Kxecutive Committee shall cause publica- 
 tion to be mado liy proehimutiou that an election 
 will be held on the third Tuesday of January, 
 A.i). IHM, for (Jovenior, Lieutenant (Jovernor, 
 Secretary of State, Treasurer. Auditor, Judges 
 of the Supreme Court, State Printer, Altorney- 
 (Jeneral, Keporter of the Siipreiiie Court, Clerk 
 of the Supreme Court, and Members ol the Gene- 
 ral Assembly, which said election shall be held 
 by tho same Judges, under the same restrietioiia, 
 and conducted in the same manner as is hereiu- 
 after provided for tlie election of Jlembers of tho 
 General Assembly ; and the Judges herein named 
 are hereby reqniied, within ten days after said 
 election, to seal niiand transmit duplicate copies 
 of the returns of said election to the Chairman 
 of the Exc<;utivo Committee, one of whi<h shall 
 bo laid belbre the General Assembly at its first 
 meeting. 
 
 Fonrtli : At the same time and place, the quali- 
 fied voters shall, under the same regulations and 
 restrictions, elect a Member of Congress to rep- 
 resent the State of Kansas iu the XXXIVth 
 Congress of the United Slates; tho returns of 
 said election to be made to the Chairman of the 
 Executive Committee, who shall deposit the 
 same in the office of the Secretary ot State aa 
 soon as he shall enter upon the discharge of tho 
 duties of his office. 
 
 Fifth.- The General Assembly shall meet on 
 the fourth day of March, a. d. 185G, at the City 
 of Topeka, at 12 M., at which time aud place the 
 Governor, Lieutenant-Governor, Secretary of 
 State, Judge of the Supreme Court, Treasurer, 
 Auditor, State Printer, Keporter and Clerk of tho 
 Supreme Court, and Attorney-General shall ap- 
 pear, take the oath of office, and enter upon tho 
 discharge of tho duties of their respective offices 
 under this Constitution, and shall continue in of- 
 fice in the same manner and during the same 
 period they would have done had they been 
 elected on the first Monday of August, a. d. 1856. 
 
 [The Constitution then goes on to give the 
 boundaries of the Eighteen Election-Districts into 
 which the State is to be divided, to apportion the 
 Senators aud Representatives, aud to appoint 
 the voting places and the Judges of election. 
 We subjom the concluding sectioue :] 
 
 Instruction to Judges. 
 
 Sec. 7. The throe Judges will provide for each 
 
 E oil ballot-boxes for depositing the ballots cast 
 y electors ; shall apjioint two clerks, all of whom 
 shall be sworn or affinned to discharge the du- 
 ties of their respective offices im])artially and 
 with fidelity ; and the Judges and Clerks shall 
 have power to administer the oath or affirmation 
 to each other; and the said Judges shall open 
 said election at 9 o'clock a. m., at the place desig- 
 nated in each precinct, and close tho same at 6 
 o'clock P. M. In case any of the oflicers ap- 
 pointed fail to attend, tho officer or oflicers in at- 
 tendance shall supply their places, and iu the 
 event of all of them failing to attend the quali- 
 fied voters shall supply their places, and the said 
 Judges shall make out duplicate returns of said 
 election, seal up and transmit tho same within 
 ten days to the Chairman of the Executive Com- 
 mittee, one copy of which is to bo laid before 
 the General Assembly. If at the time of holding 
 said election it shall be inconvenient, from any 
 cause whatever, that would disturb or prevent 
 the votei-s of any election-precinct iu the Terri- 
 tory from the free and peaceable exercise of tho 
 elective franchise, the oflicers are hereby au- 
 thorized to adjourn said election into any "other 
 precinct in the Territory, and to any other day 
 they may see proper, of tho necessity of whicn 
 they shall be the eicUisivo judges, at which 
 
156 
 
 THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 
 
 time and place the qualified voters may cast 
 their votes. 
 
 Sec. 8. Until otherwise provided by law, the 
 Chairman of the Executive Commitee of Kansas 
 Territory shall announce by proclamation the 
 result of the elections and the names of persons 
 elected to office. 
 
 Skc. 9. No person shall be entitled to a seat 
 in the first General Assembly at its organization 
 except the members whose names are contained 
 in the proclamation of the Chairman of the Exe- 
 cutive Committee ; but after the General As- 
 sembly is organized seats may be contested in 
 the usual way. 
 
 Sec. 10. Certificates of indebtedness may be 
 issued by the Territorial Executive Cominittee, 
 for all necessary expenses accruing in the forma- 
 tion of the State Government, not exceeding 
 $25,000; provided no certificates shall be is.sued 
 except for legitimate expenses. All claims shall 
 be made in writing, and shall be numbered and 
 kept on file in the Secretary's office, and all cer- 
 tificates of indebtedness shall be signed by the 
 President and Secretary, and countersigned by 
 the Treasur,er and numbered to correspond with 
 the numbers of the claim or bill for which it was 
 issued. The certificate shall bear ten per cent, 
 interest per annum. 
 
 Sec. 11. The first General Assembly shall pro- 
 vide by law for the redemption of the certifi- 
 cates of indebtedness issued under the provisions 
 of the foregoing section. 
 
 Sec 12. Until the great seal of the State of 
 Kansas is agreed upon and procured, as provi- 
 ded for in the eleventh section of the fifth article 
 of this Constitution, the Governor shall use his 
 own private seal as the Seal of State. 
 
 Sec. 13. At the election for the ratification of 
 this Constitution, and the first election for State 
 officers, a representation in the Congress of the 
 United States and members of the General As- 
 sembly of this State, an actual residence in the 
 Territory of thirty days immediately preceding 
 said election shall be sufficient as a qualifica- 
 tion for the elector ; and an actual residence of 
 ninety days for the candidates, provided said 
 election and candidates possess all the other 
 qualifications required by the provisions of this 
 Constitution. 
 
 Sec. 14. The first Legislature shall provide by 
 law for the enforcement of the provisions of the 
 6th section of the Bill of Rights on or before the 
 4th day of July, 1857, as to all persons in the 
 Territory before the adoption of this Constitu- 
 tin, and as to all others, the provisions of said 
 section shall operate from and after the ratifica- 
 tion of this Constitution by the people. 
 
 ROBERT KLOTZ, W. GR.\HAM, 
 
 M. J. PARROTT, MORRIS HUNT, 
 
 M. W. DELAHAY, J. H. NE.-*BiTT, 
 
 W. R. GRIFFITH, C K HOLLIDAY, 
 
 G. S. HILI.YER, DAVID DODGB, 
 
 WM. HICKS, J. A. WAKEKIELD, 
 
 S N. LATl'A. W. Y. ROBERTri, 
 
 JOHN LANHIS, G. W. SMITH. 
 
 H. BURSON. J. G. THOMPSON. 
 
 C. W. SI'EWART, G. A. CUTLER, 
 
 J. M. ARTHUR, J. K. GOODIN. 
 
 J. h. SAYLE, J. M. TUTON, 
 
 CALEB MAY, THOMAS BELL, 
 
 S. MEWHINY, R. H. CROSBY. 
 
 A. CURTISS, P.C.SCHUYLER, 
 
 A. HUNTING, C. ROBIN.-ON, 
 
 R. KNIGHT, MF. CONWAY", 
 
 O.G.BROWN, J. S. EMtRY, 
 
 J. H. LANE, President. 
 
 Sam. C Smith, Secretary, 
 
 Chableb A. Foster, Assistant Secretary. 
 
 June 30th. — Mr. Douglas reported to the 
 Senate on several bills submitted by Messrs. 
 Clayton, Toombs, and others, for the pacifi- 
 
 cation of the Kansas troubles, as also de- 
 cidedly against Gov. Seward's proposition 
 to admit Kansas as a Free State, under her 
 '^I^opeka Constitution. Mr. CoUaraer, being 
 the minority of the Territorial Committee, 
 made a brief and pungent counter-report. 
 Mr. Douglas gave notice that he would ask 
 for a final vote on the day after the next. 
 
 July 1st. — Bill debated by Messrs. 
 Thompson of Ky., Hale of N. H., Bigler of 
 Pa., Adams of Miss., and Crittenden of 
 Ky. 
 
 July 2d. — Debate continued through the 
 day and following night, the majority re- 
 sisting all motions to adjourn. Messrs. 
 Wade, Pugh, Biggs, Bigler, Toombs, Clay- 
 ton, Crittenden, Bell, Seward, Hale, and 
 nearly half the Senate participated. An 
 amendment moved by Mr. Adams of Miss., 
 the day before, striking out so much of the 
 bill as secures the Right of Suffrage, in the 
 proposed reorganization of Kansas, to alien 
 residents who shall have declared their in- 
 tention to become citizens, and renounced 
 all allegiance to foreign governments, was 
 adopted : Yeas 22 ; Nays IG, as follows : 
 
 YEAS — Messrs. Adams and Brown of Miss., 
 Bayard and Clayton of Del , Biggs and Eeid of 
 N. C, John Bell of Tenn., Brodhead of Penn., 
 C. C. Clay and Fitzpatrick of Ala., CoUamer 
 and Foot of Vt., Crittenden and J. B. Thompson 
 of Ky., Fessenden of Maine, Foster of Conn., 
 Geyer of Mo., Hunter and Mason of Va., Iverson 
 of Ga., Mallory and Yulee of Fla.— 22. 
 
 NAYS— Messrs. Allen of R. I., Bigler of Pa., 
 Butler and Evans of S. C, Bright of Ind., Cass 
 of Mich., Dodge of Wise, Douglas of 111., Jones 
 of Iowa, Pugh of Ohio, Seward of N. Y., Slidell 
 of La., Toombs of Ga., Weller of Cal., Wilson 
 of Mass., Wright of N. J.— 16. 
 
 Sometime in the morning of July 3rd, the 
 following amendment, reduced to shape by 
 Mr. Geyer of Mo., was added to the 18th 
 section of the bill — only Brown of Miss., 
 Fitzpatrick of Ala., and Mason of Va., 
 voting against it : Yeas 40. It provides 
 that 
 
 " No law shall be made or have force or effect 
 in said Territory [of Kansas] which shall require 
 any attestation or oath to support any act of Con- 
 gress or other legislative act, as a qualification for 
 any civil office, public trust, or for any employ- 
 ment or profession, or to serve as a juror, or vote 
 at an election, or which shall impose any tax 
 upon, or condition to, the exercise of the right of 
 suffrage, by any qualified voter, or which shall 
 restram or prohibit the free discussion of any 
 law or subject of legislation in the said Territory, 
 or the free expression of opinion thereon by the 
 people of said Territory." 
 
 An amendment proposed by Mr. Clayton, 
 to the same effect as the above, but rather 
 more comprehensive in its terms, was super- 
 seded by the adoption of the foregoing, by 
 a party vote : Yeas 34 ; Nays 11 [Free- 
 State men]. 
 
 Mr. Trumbull of 111. moved the follow- 
 ing : 
 
 ^^ And be it further enacted, That it was the 
 true intent and meaning of the ' act to organize 
 
Till': KANSAS-NnnRASICA STRUGGLE. 
 
 157 
 
 the Territories of Neljrnfka luul Kiiiwtis,' not to 
 leRislutc HJuvory into Kimsiii*, nor to ixchulo it 
 thorclVoin, l)iit to loivc tli<' inopl'- llificot per 
 fectlv livo throuKb tluir TiTritorial Le^rislnture 
 to r'f'-uliito till- institution of nlnvory m tluMr 
 own way, subieot only to th.< C'onstitntion ol 
 the United Stilted, and tiint, niitil tlu- Tcrntonnl 
 L..,'i slat lire nets npoii tlif subject, tlie owner o» 
 a shive ill one of the States lias no ri^,'ht or (ill- 
 tiioritv to take sueh slave into the Territory of 
 Kansas, nii.l tluie hold him ns n slave; but 
 every slave tak.Mi to the Territory ot Kansas 
 by his owner for jmrposes ol Hettleineiit is here- 
 by declared to be free, unless there is some valid 
 (let of a duly eonstituted Legislutivo Assembly 
 of saiil Territory, under which he may be held 
 as a slave." 
 
 The Yeas and Nays being ordered, the 
 proposition was voted down — Yeas 9 ; 
 Nays 34 — as follows : 
 
 YEAS— Messrs Durkee, Fessenden, Foot, 
 Foster, Hale, Seward, Trumbull, Wade, and 
 •\Vilson— y. 
 
 NAYS— Messrs. Adams, Allen. Bayard, Bell 
 of Tennessee, Benjamin, Bifisc.s, Bigler, Bright, 
 Brodhead, Brown, Cass, Clay, Crittenden, 
 Dodj;e, DouRlas, Evans, Fitzpatriek, (Jeyer, 
 Hunter, Iveison, Johnson, Jones of Iowa. Mallo- 
 ry, Pratt. I'ugh, Keid, Sebastian, Slidell, Thomp- 
 son of Kentucky, Toombs, Touccy, Weller, 
 Wright, and Yulee — 34. 
 
 Mr. Trumbull then proposed the follow- 
 ing : 
 
 " And he it further enacted, That the provi- 
 sion in the ' act to organize the Territories of 
 Nebraska and Kansas,' whicli declares it to be 
 ' the true intent and meaning' of said act ' not to 
 legislate slavery into anv Territory or State, nor 
 to e.xelude it therefrom, "ijut to leave the people 
 thereof perfectly free to form and regulate their 
 domestic institutions in their own way, subject 
 only to the Constitution of the United States,' 
 was intended to, and does, confer ujiim, or leave 
 to, the people of the Territory of Kansas full 
 power, at any time, through its Territorial Legis- 
 lature, to e.xelude slavery from said Territory or 
 to recognize and regulate it therein." 
 
 This, too, was voted down, as follows : 
 YEAS— Messrs. Allen, Bell of New-Hamp- 
 shire, Collamer, Durkee, Fessenden, Foot, Fos- 
 ter, Hale, Seward, Trumbull, and Wade— 11. 
 
 NAYS— Messrs. Adams, Bayard, Benjamin, 
 Biggs, Bigler, Bright, Brodhead, Brown, Cass, 
 Clav, CritTenden. Dodge. Douglas, Evans, Fitz- 
 patriek, (reyer, Hunter, Iver.son, John.son, Jones 
 of Iowa, Mallory, Mason, Pratt, Pugh, Reid, Se- 
 bastian, Slidell," Stuart, Thompson of Kentucky, 
 Toombs, Toucey, Weller, Wright, and Yulee— 
 34. 
 
 Mr. Trumbull then proposed the follow- 
 ing : 
 
 And be it further enacted, That all the acts 
 and proceedings of all and every body of men 
 heretofore assembled in said Temtory of Kan- 
 sas, and claiming to be a Legislative Assembly 
 thereof, with authority to pass laws for the gov- 
 ernment of said Territory, are hereby declared 
 to be utterly null and void. And no person shall 
 hold any office, or exercise any authority or ju- 
 risdiction in said Territory, under or by virtue 
 of any power or authority derived from sucli 
 Legislative Assembly ; nor shall the members 
 thereof exercise any power or authority as such. 
 
 This, too, was voted down, as fuliows : 
 
 YEAS- Messrs. Bell of New-Hampshire, Col- 
 
 lamer, Durkoe, Fonsonden, Foot, Foaler, Halo, 
 Seward, Trumbull, Wad«-, and Wilson— II. 
 
 NAYS— MessrR. Adams. Allen, Bayard, Bell 
 of 'i'ennessee, Benjamin, Biggs, Bigler, Bright, 
 Biddhead, Brown", Cass, Clay, Crittenden, 
 Dodge, Douglas, Evans, Fitzpatriek, (teyer, 
 Hunter, Ivers lohnson, Jones of Iowa, Mal- 
 lory, Mason, Pratt, Pugh, Keid, Sebastian, Sli- 
 dell, Stuart, Thompson of Kentucky, Toombs, 
 Toucey, Weller, Wright, and Yulee — M. 
 
 Mr. Foster of Conn, moved the following 
 amendment : 
 
 " Skc. — . And be it further enacted, That, un- 
 til the inhabitantsof said Territory shall proceed 
 to hold a convention to form a Slate constitu- 
 tion according to the jirovisions of this ai't, and 
 so long as said Territory remains a Territory, 
 the following sectiims contained in chapter one 
 hundred and fifty-one, in the volume transmitted 
 to the Senate by the President of the United 
 States, as containing the laws of Kansas, be, and 
 the same arc h<reby, declared to be utterly null 
 and void, viz. : 
 
 "'Sbc. 12. If any freeperson, by speiiking orby writ- 
 inK, as-iTt nr inaiiit;iici th»t per8(in,s huve not the 
 riKlU to holit s'aves in this T«-riitiiry, or sliiill intro- 
 duce into this Teiritory atiy l)"ok. papiT. magazine, 
 paniplilet. or circular, containing any denial <if the 
 right of persons to hold slaves iu thi- Terrili>ry, such 
 persons siiuU "oe d' emed guilty of felony, and punish- 
 ed by imprisonment at hard labor for a terra of not 
 less than two years. 
 
 •• ■ Sbc. 13. No person who is conscientiously opposed 
 to holding slaves, or who does not admit th- right to 
 hold slaves in this Torrit'iry, shall sit «s a juror on 
 the trial of anv pr^ sedition for the violation of any 
 one of the sections of this act.' " 
 
 This was rejected [as superfluous, or 
 covered by a former amendment,] as fol- 
 lows : 
 
 YEAS— I^Iessrs. Allen, Bell of New-Hamp- 
 shire, Clayton, Collamer, Durkee, Fessi-nden, 
 Foot. Fos'ter, Hale, Seward, Trumbull, Wade, 
 and Wilson — 13. 
 
 NAYS— Messrs. Bayard, Benjamin, Biggs, 
 Bigler, Bright, Brodhead, Brown, Cass, Clay, 
 Dodge, Douglas, Evans, Fitzpatriek, Geyer, 
 Hunter, Iverson, Johnson, Jones of Iowa, Mal- 
 lory, Mason, Pratt. Pugh, Reid, Sebastian, Sli- 
 dell, Stuart, Thompson of Kentucky, Toombs, 
 Toucey, Weller, Wright, and Y'ulee — "3^2. 
 
 Mr. Collamer of Vt. proposed the follow- 
 ing : 
 
 And be it further enacted, That until the peo- 
 ple of said Territory shall form a constitution 
 and State government, and be admitted into the 
 Union under the provisions of this act, there 
 shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servi- 
 tude in said Temtory, otherwise than in punish- 
 ment of crimes whereof the party shall have 
 been duly convicted: Provided alirai/:<. That 
 any person escaping into the same, from whom 
 labor or .service is lawfully claimed in any State, 
 such fugitive may be lawfully reclaimed end 
 conveyed to the person claiming his or her ser- 
 vice or labor as aforesaid. 
 
 This was voted down as follows : 
 
 YEAS— Messrs. Bell of New-Hampshire, Col- 
 lamer, Fessenden, Foot, Foster, Hale, Seward, 
 Trumbull, Wade, and Wilson— 10. 
 
 j,-,VYS_Messrs. Bavard, Bell of Tennessee, 
 Benjamin, Biggs, Bigler, Bright, Brodhead, 
 Brown, Cass, Clay, Clayton, Crittenden, Dodgo, 
 D<iuglttS, Evans, Fitzpatriek, Geyer, Hunter, 
 Iverson, Johnson, Jones of Iowa, Mallory, Ma- 
 son. Pratt, Pugh, Reid, Sebastian, Slidell. Stuart, 
 Thompson of Kentucky, Toombs, Toucey, Wel- 
 ler, Wright, and Yulee — 35. 
 
158 
 
 THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 
 
 Mr. Wilson of Mass. moved that the 
 whole bill be stricken out and another in- 
 serted instead, repealing all the Territorial 
 laws of Kansas. 
 
 Rejected : Yeas 8, (Bell of N. H., Colla- 
 mer, Durkee, Fessenden, Foster, Seward, 
 "Wade and Wilson ;) Nays 35. 
 
 _ Mr. Seward moved to strike out the whole 
 bill, and insert instead one admitting Kan- 
 sas as a Free State, under the Topeka Con- 
 stitution : Defeated— Yeas 11 ; Nays 3G— 
 as follows : 
 
 YE AS— Messrs. Bell of New Hampshire, Col- 
 lamer, Durkee, Fessenden, Foot, Foster, Hale, 
 Seward, Trumbull, Wade, and Wilson— 11. 
 
 NAYS— Messrs. Allen, Bayard, Bell of Ten- 
 nessee, Benjamin, Biggs, Bigler, Bright, Brod- 
 head. Brown, Cass, Clay, Clayton, Crittenden, 
 Dodge, Douglas, Evans, Fitzpatrick, Geyer, 
 Hunter, Iverson, Johnson, Jones of Iowa, Mal- 
 lory. Mason, Pratt, Pugh, Keid, Sebastian, Sli- 
 dell, Stuart, Thompson of Kentucky, Toombs, 
 Toucey, Weller, Wright, and Yulee— 36. 
 
 The bill was now reported as amended, 
 and the amendment made in Committee of 
 the Whole concurred in. The bill was 
 then (8 a. m.) ordered to be engrossed and 
 read a third time ; and, on the question of 
 its final passage, the vote stood — Yeas 33 ; 
 Nays 12 — as follows : 
 
 YEAS— Messrs. Allen, Bayard, Bell of Ten- 
 nessee, Benjamin, Biggs, Bi^ler, Bright, Brod- 
 head. Brown, Cass, Clay, Crittenden, Douglas, 
 Evans, I'itzpatrick, Geyer, Hunter, Iverson, 
 Johnson, Jones of Iowa, Mallory, Pratt, Pugh, 
 Reid, Sebastian, Slidell, Stuart, Thompson of 
 Kentucky, Toombs, Toucey, Weller, Wright, 
 and Yulee — 33. 
 
 NAYS— Messrs. Bell of New-Hampshire, Col- 
 lamer, Dodge, Durkee, Fessenden, Foot, Fos- 
 ter, Hale, Seward, Trumbull, Wade, and Wilson 
 —12. 
 
 The bill was then sent to the House in 
 the following shape : 
 
 AN ACT 
 To authorize the people of the Territory of Kansas to 
 form a constitution and State government prepara- 
 tory to their admission into the Union on an equal 
 footing with the original States. 
 
 Be it enacted hy the Senate and Ho7ise of Rep- 
 resentatives of the United States of America in 
 Congress assembled, That, for the purpose of 
 making an enumeration of the inhabitants, au- 
 thorized to vote under the provisions of this act, 
 an apportionment and an election of members of 
 a convention to form a State constitution for 
 Kansas, as hereinafter provided, five competent 
 persons shall be appointed by the President, by 
 and with the advice and consent of the Senate, 
 to be commissioners, a majority of whom shall 
 constitute a quorum for the purpose of carrying 
 into effect the provisions of this act, each ot 
 whom, before entering upon the duties of his 
 ofiSce, shall take and subscribe an oath or affirma- 
 tion that lie will support the Constitution of the 
 United States, and faithfully and impartially ex- 
 ercise and discharfje the duties enjoined on him 
 by this act, according to the best of his skill and 
 judgment, which oath or affirmation shall be ad- 
 ministered to thein severally, and be duly certi- 
 fied by a judge, clerk, or commissioner of a 
 court of the United States, and filed and recorded 
 in the oflico of the Secretary of the Territory of 
 Kansas. 
 
 Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That it shall 
 bo the duty of said commissioners, under such 
 regulations as the Secretary of the Interior may 
 prescribe, to cause to be made a full and faithful 
 enumeration of the legal voters resident in each 
 county in the said Territory on the fourth day of 
 July, eighteen hundred and fifty-six, and make 
 returns thereof during the month of August next, 
 or as soon thereafter as practicable, one of which 
 returns shall be made to the office of the Secretary 
 of the Interior, and one to the secretary of the 
 Territory of Kansas, and which shall also exhibit 
 the names of all such legal voters, classed in 
 such manner as shall be prescribed by the regu- 
 lations of the Secretary of the interior. 
 
 Sec. 3. And be it further enacted. That it shall 
 be the duty of the Secretary of the Interior, im- 
 mediately after the passage of this act, to pre- 
 scribe regulations and forms to be observed in 
 making the enumeration aforesaid, and to furnish 
 the same with all necessary blanks to each of the 
 commissioners as soon as may be after their ap- 
 pointment; and the commissioners shall meet 
 without delay at the seat of government of Kan- 
 sas Territory, and proceed to the discharge of 
 the duties herein imposed upon them, and ap- 
 point a secretary to the board and such other 
 persons as shall be necessary to aid and assist 
 them in takuig the enumeration herein provided 
 for, who must also be duly sworn faithfully, im- 
 partially, and truly to discharge the duties as- 
 signed them by the commissioners. 
 
 Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That said 
 board of commissioners shall, so soon as said 
 census shall bo completed and returns made, 
 proceed to make an apportionment of the mem- 
 bersfor a convention, among the different coun- 
 ties in said Territory, in the following manner: 
 The whole number of legal voters shall be divid- 
 ed by fifty-two, and the product of such division, 
 rejecting any fraction of a unit, shall be the ratio 
 or rule of apportionment of members among the 
 several counties ; and if any county shall not 
 have a number of legal voters, thus ascertained, 
 equal to the ratio, ii shall be attached to some 
 adjoining county, and thus form a representative 
 district, the number of said voters in each coun- 
 ty or district shall then be divided by the ratio, 
 and the product shall be the number of representa- 
 tives ajtportioned to such county or district: 
 Provided, That the loss in the number of mem- 
 bers caused by the fractions remaining in the 
 several counties, in the division of the legal 
 voters thereof, shall be compensated by assign- 
 ing to so many counties as have the largest 
 fractions an additional member for its fraction, 
 as may be necessary to make the whole number 
 of representatives fifty-two. 
 
 Sec. 5. And be it further enacted. That the 
 said board, immediately after the apportionment 
 of the members of said convention, shall cause 
 a sufficient number of copies thereof and of the 
 returns of the census (specifying the name of 
 each legal voter in each county or district) to be 
 published and distributed among the inhabitants 
 of the several counties, and shall transmit one 
 copy of the said apportionment and census, duly 
 authenticated by tliem, to each clerk of a coui-t 
 of record within the Territory, who shall file the 
 same, and keep open to the inspection of every 
 inhabitant who shall desire to examine it, and 
 shall also cause other copies to be posted up in 
 at least three of the most public places in each 
 voting precinct, to the end that every inhabitant 
 may inspect the same, and apply to the board to 
 correct any eiTor he may find thei-ein, in the 
 manner hereinafter provided. 
 
 Sec. 6. And be it further enacted, That said 
 board shall remain in session each day, Sundays 
 excepted, from the time of making said appor- 
 tionment until the twentieth day of October 
 
THE KANSAS-NEBRASKA STRUGGLE, 
 
 169 
 
 next, at biuIi plnces an slinll he most convenient 
 to tlio iiilmbitiiiil8 of Hiiid 'IVrritory, iiiiil bIiuII 
 
 Erofcod to tli<! iiisiicctiim of trnUl returns, (mil 
 cur, corri'i't, nnd tiimlly dcteniiino accordiu},' to 
 tho tiK'ts, williout unreiwoniildo dcluy, undrr 
 proper roxulationH to lie niado by tlie board, for 
 the ascortaiiinioiit of disimtid lactti concorniuj,' 
 said c-nuuKMiition, all (|iiestion8 concorniuf,' tlio 
 omission ol'any person from said riturns, or tlio 
 impropor insertion >d'any nnmo on said rclunis, 
 jind any other ijueslion tiffectint; the inte;,'rity or 
 fidelity of said returns, and for this purpose tlie 
 said board and each lucmbi'r thereof shall have 
 power to administer oalhs and examine wit- 
 nesses, and eompel their utteiidauco in sueh 
 manner as said board shall deem noecssiiry. 
 
 Skc. 7. Anil be it furl tier enacted, Tliut ns 
 Boon as the said lists of lejjal viders shall thus 
 have been revised and eorrei'led, it shall be the 
 duty of said board to eause eopies thereof to be 
 
 Erinted and distributed generally amonf; the in- 
 aliitants of the proiiosed IState, and one copy 
 shall be deposited witii the clerk of caeh eourl of 
 record within the limits of the proposed State, 
 and one copy delivered to eaeli judge of the 
 election, and at least throe copies shall be posted 
 up at each jjlaee of voting. 
 
 Skc. 8. And he it further enacted. That nn 
 election shall bo held for members of a (conven- 
 tion to form a constitution for tho State of Kan- 
 sas, according to the apportionment to bo made 
 aforesaid, ou tho tirst Tuesday after tho first 
 Monday in November, eighteen hundred and 
 fifty-six, to be held at sudi places and to bo eon- 
 ducted in such manner, both as to persons who 
 shall superintend sueh election and tho returns 
 thereof as the board of connnissioners shall ap- 
 point and direct, except in cases by this act 
 otherwitic providi'd ; and at such election no per- 
 son shall be permitted to vote unless his name 
 shall appear on said corrected lists. 
 
 Sec. y. And be it further enacted. That the 
 board of commissioners shall have power, an<l it 
 shall bo their duty, to make all needful rules and 
 regulations for the conduct of the said election 
 and the returns thereof. They shall appoint 
 three suitable persons to be judges of the elec- 
 tion Qt each place of voting, and prescribe the 
 mode of supplying vacancies. They shall cause 
 copies of the rules and regulations, with a notice 
 of the places of holding elections and the names 
 of the judges, to be published and distributed in 
 every election-district or precinct ten days be- 
 fore tho day of election, and shall transmit a copy 
 thereof to the clerk of caeh court of record, and 
 one copy to each judge of election. 
 
 Sec. 10. And be it further enacted, That the 
 judges of election shall each, before entering on 
 the discharge of his duties, make oath or atiirma- 
 tion that he will faithfully and impartially dis- 
 charge the duties ofjudgeof the election accord- 
 ing to law, which oath may be administered by 
 any oflicer authorized by law tt) administer 
 oaths. The clerks of election shall be appointed 
 by the judges, and t^hall take the like oath or 
 ailirmation, to be administered by one of the 
 judges or tiy any of the oliicers aforesaid. Dupli- 
 cate returns of election shall be made and certi- 
 fied by the judges and clerks, one of which shall 
 be deposited in the otlice of the clerk of the tri- 
 bunal transacting county business for the county 
 in which the election is held, and the other shall 
 be transmitted to the board of commissioners, 
 whose duty it shall be to decide, under proper 
 regulations to be made by themselves, who are 
 entitled to certificates of election, and to issue 
 such certilicates accordingly, to the persons who, 
 npou examination of he returns and of such 
 proofs as shall be adduced in case of a contest, 
 shall appear to have been duly elected in each 
 county or district: Provided, In case of a tie or 
 
 of a contcHt, in which it cannot bo satisfactorily 
 determined who waH duly elected, said conimis- 
 sioners shall order a new election in like maimer 
 as is herein proviiled. IJjioii the eoiiii>letion of 
 these duties tho said comminKioiierB shall return 
 to Washington, and rejiort their proceedings to 
 tlio Secretary of tho Interior, whereupon said 
 eonnnission shall coaso and dciennino. 
 
 Skc. 11. And lie it further enacted, That 
 every white male citizen of tho United Slates 
 over twenty-one years of age, who may bo a 
 liona Jiilf inhabitant ofsaiilTerritory on the fourth 
 day of .luly, eighteen hundred and fifty-six, and 
 who hihall have resided three months ne.xl before 
 said election in the county in which he oft'iTs to 
 vote, and no other persons wliatever shall bo en- 
 titled to vote at said election, and any person 
 qualiticd as a voter may be a di-legate to said 
 convention, ami no others ; and all persons who 
 shall jiossess the other ([ualifications lor voters 
 under this act, and who sliall liavo been bona 
 tide inhabitants of.said Territory at any time since 
 its organization, and wlio shall have absented 
 themselves therefrom in conseouenco of the dis- 
 turbances therein, and who shall return before the 
 first day of Octol)or next and become bona fide 
 iniiabitants of the Territory with Iho intent of 
 making it their permanent lunno, and shall pre- 
 sent satisfactory evidence of these facts to the 
 board of commissioners, shall be entitled to vote 
 at said election, and to have their names placed 
 on said corrected list of voters for that purpose ; 
 and to avoid all confiict in the complete execu- 
 tion of this act, all other elections in said Terri- 
 tory are hereby postponed until such time as said 
 convention shall appoint. 
 
 Sec. 12. And be it further enacted, That tho 
 said commissioners, and all persons appointed 
 by them to assist in taking the census, shall 
 have power to administer oaths and examine 
 persons on oath in all cases where it shall be 
 necessary to the full and faithful performance 
 of their duties under this act ; and the secretary 
 shall keep a journal of the proceedings of said 
 board, and transmit copies thereof from time to 
 time to the Secretary of the Interior; an<l when 
 said commissioners shall have completed the 
 business of their appointment, the books and 
 
 papers of the board shall bo deposited in the 
 secretary of the Territory and ther 
 kept as records of his oflice. 
 
 otlice of the Secretary < 
 
 Sec. 13. And be it further enacted, That if 
 any person by menaces, threats, or force, or by 
 any other unlawful means, shall directly or in- 
 directly attempt to infiuence any qualified voter 
 in giving his vote, or deter him from going to 
 tho jjolls, or disturb or hinder him in tho free 
 exercise of his right of suftVago at said election, 
 the person so offending shall bo adiudged guilty 
 of a misdemeanor, and punished by tine of not 
 less tlian two hundred and fifty dollars, nor ex- 
 ceeding five hundred dollars, or by imprison- 
 ment of not less than three mouths, nor exceeding 
 one year, or by both. 
 
 Sec. 14. And be it further enacted, That every 
 person, not being a (jualified voter according to 
 the provisions of this act, who shall vote at any 
 election within the said Territory, knowing that 
 he is not entitled to vote, and every person who 
 shall, at the same election, vote more than once, 
 whether at the same or a different place, shall be 
 adjudged guilty of a misdemeanor, and be punish- 
 ed by fine of not less than one hundred dollars, 
 nor exceeding two hundred and fifty dollars, or 
 by imprisonment not less than three months, nor 
 exceeding six months, or both. 
 
 Sec. 15. And be it further enacted. That any 
 person whatsoever who may be charged with 
 holding the election herein authorized, who shall 
 willfully and knowingly commit any fraud or ir- 
 regularhy whate vcr,with the intent it to hinder, or 
 
160 
 
 THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 
 
 prevent, or defeat a fair expression of the popu- 
 lar will iu the said election, shall be guilty of a 
 misdemeanor, and punished by fine not less than 
 five hundred dollars, nor exceeding one thousand 
 dollars, and imprisonment not less than six 
 months, nor exceeding two years, or both, at 
 the discretion of the court. 
 
 Sec. 1(). And be it further enacted, That the 
 delegates thus elected shall assemble in C(niven- 
 tion ut the capitol of said Territory on the first 
 Monday in December next; and when so as- 
 sembled, shall first determine by a majority of 
 the whole number of members elected whether 
 it be or be not expedient at that time to form a 
 constitution and State government ; and if deem- 
 ed expedient, shall proceed to form a constitution 
 and State government, which shall be republican 
 in its form, for admission into the Union on an 
 equal footing with the original States in all 
 respects whatever, by the name of the State of 
 Kansas, with the following boundaries, to wit: 
 beginning on the western boundary of the State 
 of Missouri, where the thirty-seventh parallel of 
 north latitude crosses the same, then west on 
 said parallel to the one hundred and third meri- 
 dian of longitude, then north on said meridian 
 to the fortieth parallel of latitude, then east 
 on said parallel of latitude to the western bound- 
 arj' of the State of Missouri, then southward 
 with said boundary to the beginning; and 
 until the next congressional apportionment the 
 said State shall have one representative in the 
 House of Kepresentatives of the United States. 
 
 Sec 17. And be it further enacted, That said 
 commissioners shall receive, as their compensa- 
 tion, ten dollars per day during their attendance 
 on the business of said commission, beginning 
 on the day they depart from home and their 
 actual expenses, and said secretary of the board 
 the sum of eight dollars per day, computed in 
 like manner, and his expenses, and the said 
 assistants, for taking the census, shall receive 
 Buch reasonable compensation as the boai'd shall 
 deem just and equitable. 
 
 Sec 18. And be it further enacted, That in- 
 asmuch as the Constitution of the United States 
 and the organic act ofsaid Territory have secured 
 to the inhabitants thereof certain inalienable 
 rights of which they cannot be deprived by any 
 legislative enactment, therefore no religious 
 test shall ever be required as a qualification to 
 any ofiice or public trust ; no law shall be in 
 force or enforced in said Temtory respecting an 
 establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free 
 exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of 
 speech, or of the press ; or of the right of the 
 people peaceably to assemble, and petition for 
 the redress of gi-ievances ; the right of the people 
 to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and 
 effects against unreasonable searches and seiz- 
 ures shall not be violated ; and no warrant 
 shall issue but upon probable cause, supported 
 by oath or affinnation, and particularly describ- 
 ing the place to be searched, and the person or 
 things to be seized ; nor shall the rights of the 
 people to keep and bear arms be infringed. 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 ; nor shall 
 any person be subject for the same offense to be 
 twice put in jeopardy of life or li)nh ; nor shall be 
 compelled in any criminal case to be a witness 
 against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, 
 or property without due process of law ; nor shall 
 private property be taken for public use with- 
 out just compensation. In all criminal prosecu- 
 tion, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy 
 and public trial by an impartial jury of the district 
 wherein the crimt; shall have been committed, 
 which district shall have been previously as- 
 certained by law, and to be informed of the 
 
 nature and cause of the accusation ; to be con- 
 fronted with the witnesses against him : to have 
 compulsory process of obtaining witnesses in his 
 favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for 
 his defense. The privilege of habeas corpus shall 
 not be suspended, unless when in case of rebel- 
 lion or invasion, the public safety may require 
 it. 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 jury shall be otherwise re-ex- 
 amined in any court of the United States than ac- 
 cording to the rules of the common law. Exces- 
 sive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines 
 imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments 
 inflicted. No law shall be made or have force 
 or effect in said Ten-itory which shall require a 
 test oath or oath to support any act of Congress or 
 other legislative act as a qualification for any 
 civd office or public trust, or for any employ- 
 ment or profession, or to serve as a juror, or vote 
 at an election, or which shall impose any tax 
 upon or condition to the exercise of the right of 
 suffrage by any qualified voter, or which shall 
 restrain or prohibit the free disciission of any 
 law or subject of legislation in the said Territory, 
 or the free expression of opinion thereon by the 
 people of said Territory. 
 
 Sec 19. And be it further enacted, That the 
 following propositions be, and the same are 
 hereby, offered to the said convention of the 
 people of Kansas for their free acceptance or 
 rejection, which, if accepted by the convention, 
 shall be obligatory on the United States and 
 upon the said State of Kansas, to wit : 
 
 First. That sections numbered sixteen and 
 thirty-six in every township of public lands in 
 said State, and where either of said sections or 
 any part thereof has been sold or otherwise been 
 disposed of, other lands, equivalent thereto and 
 as contiguous as may be, shall be granted in 
 said State for the use of schools. 
 
 Second. That seventy-two sections of land 
 shall be set apart and reserved for the use and 
 support of a State university, to be selected by 
 the Governor ofsaid State, subject to the approval 
 of the Commissioner of the General Land Office, 
 and to be appropriated and applied in such man- 
 ner as the legislature of said State may pre- 
 scribe for the purpose aforesaid, but for no other 
 purpose. 
 
 Third. That ten entire sections of land, to be 
 selected by the governor of said Stale, in legal 
 subdivisions, shall be granted to said State for 
 the purpose of completing the public buildings, 
 or for the erection of others at the seat of gov- 
 ernment, under the direction of the legislature 
 thereof 
 
 Fourth. That all salt springs within said 
 State, not exceeding twelve in number, with six 
 sections of land adjoining, or as contiguous as 
 may be to each, shall be granted to said State 
 for its use ; the same to be selected by the gov- 
 ernor thereof within one year after the admis- 
 sion of said State, and, when so selected, to be 
 used or disposed of on such terms, conditions, 
 and regulations as the legislature shall direct. 
 Provided, That no salt spring or land, the right 
 whereof is now vested in any individual or indi- 
 viduals, or which may be hereafter confirmed 
 or adjudged to any individual or individuals, 
 shall by this article be granted to said State. 
 
 F/fth. That five per centum of the net pro- 
 ceeds of sales of all public lands lying within 
 said State, which shall be sold by Congress after 
 the admission of said State into the Union, after 
 deducting all the expenses incident to the same, 
 shall be paid to said State, for the purpose of 
 making public roads and internal improvements, 
 as the legislature shall direct : Provided, The 
 foregoing propositions herein offered are on the 
 
THE KANSAS-NEBRASKA STRUGGLE. 
 
 IGl 
 
 ronditiDn, that the snid convention wliicU nhnll 
 form tlic cunstitiititui of suiil Stntosluill jiruviilo, 
 by ii i-lnuse in said constitution, or nn ortlinnni-c, 
 in■c^■()Clll)l(' witliout tlic consent <if the United 
 States, tiiiit said State Hliall n<'Vi r interfere with 
 the jiriniarv dispusal of the noil williin file Kanie, 
 !>>■ tho United States, or with any re;;uhitions 
 ('on<,'res.s may find necessary for securiiifj the 
 title in said soil to bona fide "purchasers thireof, 
 nnd that no tax shall Ix- imposetl on lands be- 
 lonij'inir to tho United States, and that in no case 
 shall nonresident proprietors be taxed higher 
 than residents. 
 
 Skc. X'U. And be it further enacted. That tho 
 President be, and is hereby, authorized and 
 eiiipowered, upon application of tin- said board 
 of cominissiouers, to employ such military force, 
 nccordin;^ to existiiiff laws, as ho ^hall dcein 
 necessary to secure the faithful execution of the 
 provisions of this act. 
 
 Passed the Senate, July 2, 1856. 
 
 Attest: AsBUKV DicKiNs, 
 
 Secretary. 
 
 The bill was never acted on in tlie House, 
 but lay on the Speaker's table, untouched, 
 when the session terminated by adjournment, 
 Monday, Aug. 18th. 
 
 Juhj 6th. — In Senate, Mr. Douglas re- 
 ported back from the Committee on Terri- 
 tories the House bill to admit Kansas as a 
 State, with an amendment striking out all 
 after the enacting clause, and inserting in- 
 stead the Senate bill (Xo. 35(i) just given. 
 
 ^[r. Hale of N. H. moved to amend this 
 substitute by providing that all who migrate 
 to the Territory prior to July 4th, 1857, 
 shall l)e entitled to a vote in determining 
 the character of the institutions of Kansas : 
 Lost ; Yeas 13 ; Xays 32. 
 
 Mr. Trumbull, of 111. moved that all 
 the Territorial laws of Kansas be repealed 
 and the Territorial officers dismissed : Re- 
 jected ; Yeas 1 2 ; Nays 32. 
 
 Mr. Collamer of Yt. proposed an amend- 
 ment, prohibiting Slavery in all that por- 
 tion of the Louisiana purchase north of 
 36*^ 30' not included in the Territory of 
 Kansas : Rejected — Yeas 12 ; Nays 30 — as 
 follows : 
 
 YEAS — Messrs. Bell of N. H., Collamer, 
 DodM, Fessenden, Fish, Foot, Foster, Hale, 
 Hanilin, Seward, Trumbull and Wade. 
 
 NAYS — Messrs. Adams, Kavnrd, Benjamin, 
 Biggs, Bright, Brodhead, Butler, Cass, Clay, 
 Crittenden, Douglas, Fitzpafrick, Geyer, Hunter, 
 Iverson, Johnson, Jones of Iowa, Jon'^s of Tenn., 
 Mallorv, Mason, Pcaree, Pugh, Keid, Sebastian, 
 Slidell," Stuart, Thompson of Ky., Toombs, Wel- 
 er and Yulee. 
 
 The substitute reported by Mr. Douglas 
 was then agreed to : Yeas 32 ; Nays 13 — 
 and the bill in this shape passed. 
 
 [This amendment was not concurred in 
 nor ever acted on by the House.] 
 
 July 20tli. — Mr. Dunn of Ind. called up 
 a bill " To reorganize the Territory of Kan- 
 sas and for other purposes," which he had 
 originally (July 7th) propo.sed as a substi- 
 tute for Senate bill (Xo. 3.5G) aforesaid. 
 Its length, and the substantial identity of 
 11 
 
 many of its provisions with those of other 
 bills organizing 'IVrrituries contained in 
 this volume, dissuade us from (|uoting it 
 entire. It provides for a legislative elec- 
 tion on the first 'I'uesday in November ne.\t ; 
 and section 7 proceeds : 
 
 But it shall not bo comjietent for said Leginln- 
 tivc Assembly to pass any er post ficto law, or 
 law impairing the validity of contracts ; nor nuy 
 law in abridgment of the freedom of siieecli or 
 of the press, or to deprive any one of the right of 
 trial by jury, or of the writ of habeas curjnig ; 
 nor any law requiring any property (lualification, 
 or religious test, for the right to vote, hold oflice, 
 or practice law, or servo on juries, in any Court 
 of Justice; neither shall any person, to be enti- 
 tled to any of said jirivileges, be rcfpiired to faio 
 nn oath or allh-niation to support any law other 
 than the Constitution of the United States. 
 Nor shall cruel or unusual punishments bo al- 
 lowed nor reasonable bail bo refused to any 
 person accused of any crime excei)f treason and 
 murder, nor in the latter ease unless the proof is 
 evideut or the presumption great. 
 
 »»•♦«* 
 
 Sec. 15. And be it further enacted, That all 
 suits, processes, ana proceedings, civil and 
 criminal, at law and in chancery, and all in- 
 dictments and informations which shall bo pend- 
 ing and undetermined in the courts of the Terri- 
 tory of Kansas or of New-]\Ixeico, when this act 
 shall take effect, shall remain in said courts 
 where pending, to be heard, tried, prosecuted, nnd 
 determined in such courts as though this act had 
 not been passed : Provided, ncverthcle.i.i. That 
 all criminal prosecutions now pending in any of 
 the courts ot the Teiritory of Kansas imputing to 
 any person or persons the crime of treason 
 against the United Slates, and all criminal prose- 
 cutions, by information or indictment, against 
 any person or persons for any alleged violation 
 or disregard wdiatever of what are usually known 
 as the laws of the Legislature of Kansas,"shall be 
 forthwith dismissed by the courts where such 
 prosecutions may be pending, and every person 
 who may be restrained of his liberty by reason of 
 said prosecutions, shall lie released therefrom 
 without delay. Nor shall there hereafter be insti- 
 tuted any criminal prosecution, in any of the 
 courts of the United States, or of said Territory, 
 against any person or persons for any such 
 charge of treason in said Territory prior to the 
 passage of this act, or any violation or disregard 
 of said Legislative enactments at any time. 
 
 Sec. 16. And be it further enacted, That all 
 justices of the peace, constables, sheriffs, and all 
 other judicial and ministerial officers, who shall 
 be in otiice within the limits of said Territory 
 when this act shall take effect, shall be, and they 
 are hereb}', authorized and required to continue 
 to exercise and perform the duties of their re- 
 spective otTices as officers of the Territoi-y of 
 Kansas, temporarily, and until they, or others, 
 shall be duly appointed nnd qualified to fill their 
 places, in the manner herein directed, or until 
 their offices shall be abolished. 
 
 Sec. 23 grants to every actual settler a right 
 of preemption to the quoi-ter-section of public 
 land improved and occupied by him in said Ter- 
 ritory of Kansas, prior to Jan. 1st, 1858. 
 
 The two last and most important sections 
 of Mr. Dunn's bill are verbatim as follows : 
 
 Sec. 24. And be il further enacted, That so 
 much of the fourteenth section, and also so much 
 of the thirty-second section, of the act passed at 
 the first session of the thirty-third Congress, 
 
1G2 
 
 THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 
 
 commonly known as the Kansas Ncbrnskr. act, 
 as reads as follows, to wit : " Exrept the eighth 
 section of the act preparatory to the admission 
 of Missouri into the Union, approveil March G, 
 1820, which being inconsistent with tlie principle 
 of non-intervention by Congress with Slavery in 
 the States and Territories as recognized by the 
 legislation of 1850, commonly called the Com- 
 promise Measures, is hereby declared inopera- 
 tive and void ; it being the true intent and mean- 
 ing of this act not to legislate Slavery into any 
 Territory or State, nor to exclude it therefrom, but 
 to leave the pcoi)lc thereof perfectly free to form 
 and regulate their domestic institutions in their 
 own way, subject only to the Constitution of 
 the United States: Provided, That nothing 
 laerein contained shall be construed to revive 
 or put in force any law or regulation which may 
 have existed prior 'fo the act of 6th March, 1820, 
 either protecting, establishing, prohibiting, or 
 abolishing Slavery"— be and the same is hereby 
 repealed, and the said eighth section of said act of 
 the 6th of March, 1820, is hereby revived and de- 
 clared to bo in full force and effect within the said 
 Territories of Kansas and Nebraska : Provided, 
 hotcever, That any person lawfully held to ser- 
 vice in either of said Territories shall not be dis- 
 charged fi-om such service by reason of such re- 
 peal and revival of said eighth section, if such 
 p(: rson shall be permanently removed from such 
 Territory or Territories prior to the 1st day of 
 January, 1858 ; and any child or children born 
 in cither of said Territories, of any female law- 
 fully held to service, if in like manner re- 
 moved without said Territories before the expira- 
 tion of that date, shall not be, by reason of any- 
 thing in this act, emancipated from any service 
 it mi^ht have owed had this act never been 
 passed : And provided further, That any per- 
 son lawfully held to service in any other State or 
 Territory of the United States, and escaping into 
 cither the Territory of Kansas or Nebraska, may 
 be reclaimed and removed to the person or place 
 where such service is due, under any law of the 
 United States which shall be hi force upon the 
 subject. 
 
 Sec. 25. And he it further enacted, That all 
 other parts of the at'oresaid Kansas-Nebraska 
 act which relate to the said Territory of Kansas, 
 and every other law or usage having, or which 
 is pretended to have, any force or effect in 
 said Territory in conflict with the provisions or 
 the spirit of this act, except such laws of Con- 
 
 fress and treaty stipulations as relate to the In- 
 ians, are hereby repealed, and declared void. 
 
 Mr. Dunn having carried a reference to the 
 Committee of the Whole, of a bill introduced 
 by Mr. Grow, repealing all the acts of the al- 
 leged Territorial Legislature of Kansas, now 
 moved and carried a reconsideration of that 
 vote, and proceeded to the striking out of 
 Mr. Grow's bill and the insertion of his own 
 as a substitute. This motion prevailed. 
 "Whereupon Mr. Dunn moved the previous 
 question on ordering this bill to be engrossed 
 and read a third time, which prevailed — 
 Yeas 92 ; Nays 8G — and then the bill passed 
 — Yeas 88 ; Nays 74 — as Ibllows : 
 
 YEAS— Messrs. Albright, Allison, Ball, Bar- 
 bour, Benson, Bishop, Bliss, Bradshaw, Brenton, 
 Bufiinton, Cam])bell of Pa., Campbell of Ohio, 
 Chalfee, Clawson, Colfax, Comius, Covode, 
 Cumback^^DamrcU, Dean, Dick, Dodd, Dunn, 
 Durfce, l?Ui<', Edwards, Emrio, Flagler, Gid- 
 dings, Gilbert, (iranger. Grow, Hall of Mass., 
 Harlan, Hnrriaon, Jiarrn, Ilolloway, liorton of 
 N. Y., Hortou of Ohio, Uughston, Kclsey, King, 
 
 Knnpp, Knight, Knowlton, Knox, Kunkel, Mat- 
 tcson, M'Carty, Miller, Moore, Morgan, Morrill, 
 Nichols, Norton, Oliver, Parker, Pelton, Perry, 
 Pcttit, Pringle, Purviance, Eitchio, Sabin, Sage, 
 Sapp, Sherman, Simmons, Spinner, Stanton, 
 Stranahan, Tappan, Thurston, Todd, Traftoii, 
 Wade, Wakenum, Walbridge, Waldron, Wash- 
 burne of 111., Washburn of IMe., Watson, 
 Welch, Wells, Wood, Woodruff, Woodworth— 
 88. 
 
 NAYS— Messrs. Aiken, Barksdale, Bell, 
 Bowie, Branch, Broom, Burnett, Campbell of 
 Kentucky, Carlile, Caruthers, Caskie, Cobb of 
 Ga., Cobb of Ala., Cox, Craige, Crawford, Cul- 
 len, Davidson, Davis of Md., Denver, Dowdcll, 
 Edmundson, English, Faulkner, Poster, Goode, 
 Greenwood, Harris of Md., Harris of Ala., Harri.^ 
 of Illinois, Houston, Jewett, Jones of Tenn., 
 Jones of Peiin., Kennett, Kidwell, Lake, Letter, 
 Lumpkin, H. Marshall of Kentucky, Marshall of 
 Illinois, Maxwell, Miller of Indiana, Millson, 
 Packer, Peck, Phelps, Powell, Puryear, Quit- 
 man, Eeade, Ready, Ricaud, Rivers, Ruifin, 
 Savage, Shorter, Smith of Tenn., Smith of Va., 
 Sneed, Stephens, Stewart, Swope, Taylor, 
 Trippe, Underwood, Valk, Walker, Warner, 
 Watkins, Winslow, Wright of Miss., Wright of 
 Tenn., and Zollicoffer — 74. 
 
 This bill was not acted on by the Senate. 
 
 The House in the course of its action on the 
 several Annual Appropriation bills, affixed to 
 several of them, respectively, provisos, abol- 
 ishing, repealing, or suspending the various 
 obnoxious acts of the Territorial Legisla- 
 ture ; but all these were resisted by the Sen- 
 ate, and were ultimately given up by the 
 House, save one appropriating $20,000 for 
 the pay and expenses of the next Territorial 
 Legislature, which the Senate gave up, on 
 finding itself in serious disagreement with 
 the House, and thus secured the passage of 
 the Civil Api^ropriation bill. Finally the two 
 Houses were at odds, on a proviso forbidding 
 the employment of the Army to enforce the 
 acts of the Shawnee Mission assemblage, 
 claiming to be a Territorial Legislature of 
 Kansas, when, at noon on the 18 th of August, 
 the Speaker's hammer fell, announcing the 
 termination of the session, leaving the Array 
 bill unpassed. But President Pierce imme- 
 diately issued a proclamation convening an 
 extra session on the 21st (Thursday), when 
 the two Houses reconvened accordingly, and 
 a full quorum of each was found to be pre- 
 sent. The House promptly repassed the 
 Army bill, again affixing a proviso forbid- 
 ding the use of the army to enforce the dis- 
 puted Territorial laws, which proviso the 
 Senate as promptly struck out, and the 
 House as promptly reinserted. The Senate 
 insisted on its disagreement, but asked no 
 conference, and the House (Aug. 22d) by a 
 close vote decided to adhere to its proviso : 
 Yeas 97 ; Nays 93 ; but one of the yeas 
 (Bocock of Va.) was so given in order to 
 be able to move a reconsideration ; so that 
 the true division was 96 to 91, which was 
 the actual division on a motion by Mr. Cobb 
 of Ga. that the House recede from its posi- 
 tion. Finally, a motion to reconsider was 
 
THE KAXSAS-NEBllASKA STRUGGLE. 
 
 1G3 
 
 made and liiid on the table : Yeas 97 ; Xays 
 90 : aiul tlu! House tliert'upuii adjuiinied. 
 
 Aug. 'I'.iil. — 'I'lie Senate also voted to ad- 
 here : Yeas 3;") ; Nays 9. 
 
 Mr. (Jliiyton proposed a Committee of 
 Conference, to which Mr. Seward objected. 
 No action. 
 
 In the House, Mr. Campbell of Oliio pro- 
 posed a similar Committee of Conference. 
 Objected to. , 
 
 Mr. Matteson of New-York submitted 
 the followinjj : 
 
 IVki'rcas, By ftu act passed bv tlio two IIoukos 
 of Cmiu'ress, mid niipmved by tfit; I'rcKidt'iit, eii- 
 tilK'd ".liiiiit rcsoliuidu lor iiiiuexinj;; 'iVxiis to 
 tlio United .States, iijiproved Miircli 1, 1815," ni'- 
 ticles of compact wtic ottered to Texas for her 
 admission into tlio Union " iiim/i ccrftiin comli- 
 tioii.1 (/ml L,ni(ir<in/fi!!,'' tlio tliird article of whicli 
 tendered compact was in tliese words : 
 
 •' New States of eouvouient size, not cxceeJing four 
 in number, iu aiUlitioa to said Statu of Texas, and 
 having suflicient population, may lioreafter, by tlio 
 consent of said State, bo formed out of tlio Territory 
 tlion-of, which shall bo entitled to admission under 
 the Fedi-ral Constitution ; and sucli States as may bo 
 formed out of that portion of said Territory lying south 
 of oli'' 30' north latitude, commonly known us tlio 
 Jlissouri Comi)romise line, shall be admitted into tlio 
 Union, with or without Slavery, as the people of each 
 Stati- asking admission may desire ; and in such 
 State or States as shall l)e formed out of said Terri- 
 tory north of said Compromise lino, Slavery or invol- 
 untary servitude (except for crime) shall be prohibit- 
 ed ;" 
 
 And whereas, Texas, by a solemn public act, 
 done in a convention of the people, according to 
 tlu* requirements of the said act of Con<;rcss,did 
 accept tlio said articles of compact, and was ad- 
 mitted into the Union as one of the United States 
 ujion the " conditions and guarantees" men- 
 tioned iu said joint resolution, and is now a 
 ytute of this Union in virtue thereof; 
 
 And icJiercas, Tlio said third article of com- 
 pact as aforesaid, containincr a limitation of Sla- 
 very iu restricting the number of Slave States to 
 be tormed iu Texas south of thirty-six degrees 
 thirty minutes, to four States in addition to 
 Texas itself, and also a prohibition of Slavery, 
 except for crime, north of thirty-six degrees thirty 
 minutes north latitude, is an independent and 
 substantive motion, irrepealablc by either of the 
 contracting parties without the consent of the 
 other, and is not repealed by the Kansas-Ne- 
 braska act, and could not bo repealed by that 
 act : 
 
 Therefore, bb it resolved. That Slavery, except 
 for crime, in all that part of the former province 
 of Louisiana north of latitude thirty-six degrees 
 thirty minutes is and remaius prohibited, and 
 tliat the President of the United States is under 
 a double obligation to see that provision faith- 
 fully executed, both iis a law of Congress and as 
 a compact with a tlien foreign power, for a great 
 and valuable consideration. 
 
 And whereas. Besides being a compact with 
 Texas, the said third article was a compromise 
 between the Free and Slave States of this Union 
 with limitation of Slavery, both as to the number 
 of Slave States which might be formed in Texas, 
 and the prohibition of Slavery north of tlih'ty-six 
 degrei'S thirty minutes, bv virtue of which Texas 
 wa.s admitted into the Union, and witiiout which 
 she could not have been admitted : Therefore, 
 
 Jic it resolved, That any attempt to violate 
 said thu-d article of compromise, either by ad- 
 mitting a greater number of Slave States south 
 of thu-ty-six degrees thirty minutes than allowed 
 
 therein, or by extending Slavery north of that 
 latitude, is a violation of said compromiso and 
 a direct attack upon tlie harmony and stability 
 of the Union. 
 
 Mr. Dunn of Iiid. moved that this do lie 
 on the table : Carried : Yeas 10 1 : Nays 
 83. ^ 
 
 Mr. Col»b of Ga. moved that the IIou.so 
 recede from its Ktinsas proviso : Defeated : 
 Yeas 97; Nays 100. Adjourned. 
 
 'J'lie .^trug-^lc lor the passajfe of the bill 
 with or witiiout the proviso continued until 
 Saturday, August 30th. when, .several mem- 
 bers, hostile to the proviso, and hitlierto 
 ab.seiit, unjiaired, haviiifi^ returned, the House 
 again passed the Army bill with the proviso 
 modilied as follows : 
 
 Provided, however, that no [lart of tlie milita- 
 ry force of the United States, lor the support of 
 which approiirialions are made liy this act, shall 
 bo employed in aid of the enforcement of any 
 ouaclinents heretofore made by the body claim- 
 ing to be the Territorial Legislature of Kansas. 
 
 The bill passed as reported (under the 
 Previous Question :) Yeas 99 ; Nays 79 ; 
 and was scut to the Senate, where the above 
 Proviso was stricken out : Yeas 20 ; Nays 
 7 ; and the bill thus returned to the House, 
 wlien the Senate's amendment was concur- 
 red in I)y the following vote : 
 
 YEAS— Messrs. Aiken, Akcrs, Barksdale, Bell, 
 Bennett of Miss., Boeock, Bowie, Boveo, Branch, 
 lUirnett, Cadwaladcr, Campbell of Ivy., Carlile, 
 Caskic, Cliugman, Cobb of Ga., Cobb of Ala., 
 Cox, Craige, Crawford, Cullen, Davidson. Da- 
 vis of Jld., Denver, Dowdell, Edmundsoii, Klliott, 
 Ethcredge, Eustis, Evans, Faulkner, Florence, 
 Fuller of Me., Coode, Greenwood, Hall of Iowa, 
 Harris of Md., Harris of Ala., Harris of HI., liar 
 rison, Haven, Hickman, Hoffman, Houston, 
 Jewett, Jones of Tenn., Jones of Penn., Keitt, 
 KeTly, Kennett, Kidwell, Lake, Letcher, Lump- 
 kin, A. K. Marshall of Ky., Humphrev Marshall 
 of Ky., Marshall of 111., JInxwell, McMuilen, 
 McQueen, Miller of lud., Millson, Oliver of Mo., 
 Orr, Packer, Peck, Phelps, Porter, Powell, 
 Puryear, Quitman, Kicaud, Rivers, Kullin, Kust, 
 Saudidge, Savage, Seward, Shorter, Smith of 
 Tenn., Smith of Va., Smith of AIa.,Snced, Ste- 
 phens, Stewart, Swope, Talbott, Taylor, Ti/son, 
 Underwood, Vail, Walker, Warner, AVells, 
 Wheeler, Whitney, Williams, Winslow, Wright 
 of Miss., Wright of Tenn.. and ;^ollieoirer— 101. 
 
 NAYS— Messrs. Albright, Allison, Barbour, 
 Barclay, Bennett of N. Y., Benson, Billing- 
 hurst, Bingham, Bliss, Bradshaw, Brenton, Buf- 
 finton, Campbell of Penn., Campbell of Ohio 
 Chaffee, E. Clark, Clawsou, Colfax, Comins, Co- 
 vode, Cragin, Cuinback, Danirell, Davis of 
 Mass., Dean, Dcwitt, Dick, Dickson, Dodd, 
 Dunn, Durfee, Edie, Edwards, Emrie, Flagler, 
 Galloway, Giddings. Gilbert, Granger, Grow, 
 Harlan, Holloway, Horton of N. Y., Howard, 
 Hughstou, Kelsey, King. Knnpp, Kniglit, Knowl- 
 ton, Knox, Kunliel, Loiter, Mace, JIattesou, Mc- 
 Carty, Morgan. Mott, Murrav, Norton, Oliver of 
 N.Y., Parker, Pelton, IViiningfoii, P.ttit, Pike, 
 I'ringle, I'urviance, liitchie, liuberts, Kidibins, 
 Kobison, Sabin, Sage, Siipj), Sec>tt, Sherman, 
 Simmons, Spinner, Stanton, Stranahan,Ta|ipan, 
 Tliorington, Thurston, Toild, Trafton, Wade, 
 AVakeiuan, Walbridge, Waldron, Washburneof 
 III., Wa.-^hburne of Wis(\, Washburn of Me., 
 \\'elch. Woodruff, and Woodworlh — 'J?. 
 
THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 
 
 16-i 
 
 So the Proviso was beaten at last, and the 
 bill passed, with no restriction ou the Pre- 
 sident's discretion in the use of the Army in 
 Kansas ; just as all attempts of the House, 
 to direct the President to have a nolle pro- 
 sequi entered in the case of the Free-State 
 prisoners in Kansas charged with aiding 
 the formation and adoption of the Free-State 
 constitution as aforesaid, had been previous- 
 ly beaten, after prevailing in the House — 
 the Senate striking them out and the House 
 (i)y a union of nearly all the supporters of 
 
 ■^^''^ 3 
 
 3 
 
 Fillmore with nearly or quite all those sup- /'J^ 
 porting Buchanan) finally acquiescing. 
 
 In conclusion, it may be said, generally, 
 that nothing has been really done, or (owing 
 to the triangular division of parties) couU 
 have been done, by this Congress with re- 
 gard to Kansas, except to collect, authenti- 
 cate, and present facts to be considered and 
 acted on by the People in the ensuing Pre- 
 sidential and Congressional elections. By 
 the result of these, in all human probability, 
 the fate of Kansas is now to be decided. 
 
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