SPEECH 
 
 t 
 
 OF 
 
 WILLIAM H. SEWARD, 
 
 ON THE 
 
 ABOLITION OF SLAVERY 
 
 IN THE 
 
 DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 
 
 Delivered in the Senate of the United States, September 11, 1850. 
 
 WASHINGTON : 
 
 PRINTED AND FOR SALE BY BUELL & BLANCHARD, 
 Sixth street, south of Pennsylvania avenue. 
 
 1850. 
 
1 
 
 Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2018 with funding from 
 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign 
 
 https://archive.org/details/speechofwilliamh00sewa_2 
 
SPEECH. 
 
 Mr. Clay’s bill for the abolition of the slave trade in the District of 
 Columbia being under consideration in Committee of the Whole, Mr. 
 Pearce, of Maryland, moved amendments which provided that the offence 
 of enticing a slave to escape, or the offence of assisting or favoring such 
 an escape, or of harboring a slave with a view to assist his escape from 
 slavery, should be a felony, punishable with not less than two nor more 
 than ten years’ imprisonment in the Penitentiary ; and further conferring 
 upon corporations in the District of Columbia authority to impose condi¬ 
 tions upon the residence of free colored persons within the District. 
 
 These amendments were adopted by a vote of yeas 26, nays 15; where¬ 
 upon Mr. Seward submitted a proposition to strike out the whole bill and 
 insert the following 
 
 AMENDMENT AS A SUBSTITUTE: 
 
 Sec. 1. Slavery shall forever cease within the District of Columbia, and all per¬ 
 sons held in bondage therein shall be free. The Secretary of the Interior shall audit 
 and pay, to all persons holding slaves within the District at the time this act takes 
 effect, such damages as they shall suffer by the passage thereof; and the sum of 
 two hundred thousand dollars is hereby appropriated to carry this act into exe¬ 
 cution, out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated. 
 
 Sec. 2. An election shall be held in the District of Columbia to ascertain whether 
 this bill is approved by the people thereof. Those who approve the act shall ex¬ 
 press their approbation by a ballot containing the words “ For emancipation in the 
 District.” Those who are opposed shall vote by ballot containing the words, 
 “ Against emancipation in the District.” All persons entitled to vote for any muni¬ 
 cipal officer in the District, and all citizens of the United States residing within the 
 District permanently, shall be deemed qualified to vote at such election. Such 
 election shall be held within six months from the passage of this act, and on public 
 notice of not less than three months, to be given by the Marshal of the District. If 
 a majority of the votes given at such election shall be in favor of this act, it shall go 
 into effect immediately. If a majority of the votes shall be against the same, this 
 act shall be void and of no effect. 
 
 The question being on the amendment, 
 
 Mr. SEWARD rose and said : 
 
 Mr. President, in submitting so grave a proposition as this, I am aware 
 that it would have been no unreasonable demand on the patience of the 
 Senate or that of the country, to have asked for time enough to explain the 
 policy of the measure, and to defend the form in which it was submitted. 
 But there remain only fifteen secular days of this session of Congress, and 
 in my judgment the time has come for debate to cease, and for action to 
 go on. For this reason I forbore from debate on offering the amendment; 
 and I forbore, also, because at an earlier stage of the session I had dis¬ 
 cussed at large all the principles involved in the measure. I had another 
 reason for that forbearance. 
 
4 
 
 Speaking for myself alone, and imputing no prejudice and no injustice 
 to others, I may be allowed to remark that the abolition of slavery any¬ 
 where seems to me a just and wise policy, provided it can be effected 
 without producing injury outweighing its benefits. Opposition to eman¬ 
 cipation in the District of Columbia, therefore, seemed to me to be a "bad 
 cause, and it is the nature of a bad cause to betray itself. I did not mis¬ 
 take, then, in supposing that the opposition which my proposition would 
 encounter would prove its best vindication. 
 
 Influenced by these considerations, I shall not now address myself to the 
 broad merits of the question, but shall be content with simply adverting to 
 the points which have been made during the present debate. The first 
 point was made by the honorable Senator from Georgia, [Mr. Dawson,] 
 with the concurrence of some other Senators, and consisted in the im¬ 
 proper or bad motives which they saw fit to impute to the author of the 
 measure. Sir, the great instructor in the art of reasoning (Lord Bacon) 
 teaches that it is better always to answer to the “matter” of an adversary 
 than to his “ person.” The imputation of motives does not come within that 
 rule, and therefore it falls at my feet. The measure I have submitted is 
 either right or wrong. If right, no unworthiness of motive of mine can de¬ 
 tract from its merits: if wrong, no purity of motive can redeem it. 
 
 The second point is that which has been so fully answered by the honor¬ 
 able and distinguished Senator from Kentucky, [Mr. Clay,] viz: that 
 Congress has no power to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia. I 
 find that power in the Constitution, and it is defined by these words: “To 
 exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever over such district, not 
 exceeding ten miles square, as may, by cession of particular States,, 
 and the acceptance of Congress, become the seat of Government of the 
 United States.” 
 
 The District of Columbia is that district not exceeding ten milles square. 
 It has become the seat ofthe Government of the UnitedStates by cession of 
 the State of Maryland, accepted by Congress. It is ofthe very nature of the 
 power that it is “ exclusive,” and applies “ to all cases whatsoever,” when¬ 
 ever the district becomes, in the manner defined, the seat of the Govern¬ 
 ment of the United States. This, I think, is a conclusive answer to the 
 argument of the honorable Senator from Kentucky, that it is limited by an 
 implied understanding that it should not be exercised to abolish slavery. 
 Neither could the State of Maryland make nor could the United States 
 yield such a reservation. 
 
 An exclusive power is that power which is possessed and may be exercis¬ 
 ed independently of all other sovereignties on earth. Congress, then, 
 having “exclusive power,” has absolute sovereignty, unless cases be ex¬ 
 cepted in which it shall not be exercised. But such exceptions are ex¬ 
 cluded by the broad expression, “ in all cases whatsoever.” 
 
 Those who framed the Constitution were fully aware of the extent of the 
 power which it conferred. Mr. Madison thus describes it in the 43d number 
 of the Federalist: 
 
 “ The indispensable necessity of complete authority at the seat of Government 
 carries its own evidence with it. It is a power exercised by every Legislature 
 of the Union—I might say of the world—by virtue of its general supremacy.” 
 
5 
 
 Yes, sir, it is a complete , not an imperfect power. It is a power over the 
 District, equal to any authority which can be exercised by any Legislature 
 of any “ State in this Union,” or by any Legislature of any State or nation 
 “ in the world” It is a power described in the philosophy of Government 
 as “ summum imperium , summo modo —a power, within the region of its 
 exercise, complete, absolute, universal. Now, every Legislature in this 
 Union, every sovereign authority in the world, has the power to abolish 
 slavery. More than half the States in this Union have abolished or pro¬ 
 hibited it. France, England, and Mexico, have abolished and prohibited 
 it. Congress can do, in the District of Columbia, what they have done 
 within their respective dominions. 
 
 I dwell upon this point only a moment longer. Slavery within the Dis¬ 
 trict of Columbia exists only by the action of Congress. Instead of pursu¬ 
 ing the argument further, to prove that Congress has the power to make a 
 free man, I demand proof that Congress possesses the power to make a 
 slave, or hold a man in bondage. 
 
 All the other points which have been raised, apply, not to the merits of 
 the proposition for emancipation, but only to the form and manner of car¬ 
 rying it into effect. Such were the objections raised by my honorable and 
 esteemed friend from Connecticut, [Mr. Baldwin,] and my no less honor¬ 
 able and esteemed friend from Massachusetts, [Mr. Winthrop.] It will be 
 seen at once, that these objections concede that the principle of the meas¬ 
 ure is right. Nevertheless, without holding those gentlemen to this con- 
 cession, but leaving them to judge and act for themselves, I shall be con¬ 
 tent to reply to them, so far only as to vindicate the plan of emancipation 
 embodied in the amendment. What, then, is the form, and what the man¬ 
 ner proposed ? The amendment declares that slavery shall forever cease 
 in the District of Columbia, and that all persons held in bondage therein 
 when the act shall go into effect shall be free. It directs the Secretary of 
 the Interior to pay the damages which any person holding slaves within 
 the District shall incur by reason of its passage, and it appropriates two 
 hundred thousand dollars as a fund for that purpose. The amendment fur¬ 
 ther provides for an election, in which the qualified and competent citizens 
 of the District shall express their approbation or disapprobation of the act. 
 If they disapprove, it shall be void and of no effect. 
 
 I submit, sir, in the first place, that the plan is adequate. It will secure 
 he abolition of slavery within the District, if it obtain the consent of those 
 who are most particularly concerned in the question. I have not learned 
 from either of my honorable friends that he is in favor of emancipating the 
 slaves without the consent of the people in the District, and we have all 
 heard other honorable Senators insist upon that consent as indispensable, 
 d o not insist upon it for myself. I have only surrendered so much to 
 their objections; but if a majority of the Senate should waive the objection, 
 it would give me pleasure to modify the plan accordingly. 
 
 Secondly, the plan is an equal one. While it restores to the slave the 
 inestimable right of freedom, it awards to him who, by authority of Con¬ 
 gress, has hitherto held the slave in bondage, a just remuneration and in¬ 
 demnity for his loss. It is, then, adequate and equal. 
 
6 
 
 Thirdly, the plan is not violent nor capricious, but is deliberate and pru¬ 
 dent; for it makes this solemn transaction to depend upon a canvass to be 
 continued not less than three months, nor longer than six months, among 
 the people of the District. 
 
 Fourthly, the plan is broad enough. I am informed by what I believe 
 credible evidence that the number of slaves within the District, as ascer¬ 
 tained by the census, male and female, old and young, great and small, is 
 about six hundred, and that their value is estimated by those who regard 
 them as subjects of traffic, as I certainly do not, at three hundred dollars 
 for each person, and in the aggregate one hundred and eighty thousand 
 dollars. The amendment appropriates two hundred thousand dollars. If 
 the sum is too great, nothing will be lost. If it is too small, the deficiency 
 can be now or afterwards supplied. 
 
 But my honorable friend from Massachusetts [Mr. Winthrop] objects 
 that the amendment contains no provision for the support of the slaves, or of 
 any of them, after their emancipation. Sir, if I could admit that this ob¬ 
 jection had weight, it would be a sufficient answer that, in the judgment 
 of other Senators, such a provision would only tend to defeat the object 
 in view. 
 
 If honorable Senators think I err in this, let them submit such a 
 provision, and if it do not embarrass the bill, it shall receive my vote. 
 
 But I think the objection itself is not well grounded. The slave is held 
 in bondage, not for his own support and for his own benefit, but for the sup¬ 
 port and benefit of his master. It is the slave, then, that supports or contri¬ 
 butes to the support of the master, and not the master that supports the slave. 
 It is not in humanity that it should be otherwise. Believe the slave, then, from 
 the support of his master, and his whole energies will be directed to making 
 provision for himself and his own family. The instincts of the common nature 
 which he shares with us will do the rest. But you may reply that these 
 persons are degraded, so as to be unable to take care of themselves. On 
 the contrary, it is in this District that the institution assumes its most cheer- 
 ful or least repulsive aspect. Here, in the centre of the Union, in the cap¬ 
 ital of this free empire, the African race has been held in bondage from 
 generation to generation, through a period of near two hundred years. 
 We all trust, we all believe, that the ultimate result of the transfer of this 
 foreign population to our own shores is to be the bringing of them to a 
 condition to support themselves, and to exercise the privileges of self-gov¬ 
 ernment. It is a sad commentary upon the operations of our own insti¬ 
 tutions to say that two hundred years have not been enough to bring these 
 six hundred persons, under such favorable auspices, to the capability of pro¬ 
 viding for their own daily wants. 
 
 The next objection to the measure which I shall notice is, that it is an 
 indiscreet one. This, I think, was the language of my honorable friend 
 from Massachusetts, [Mr. Winthrop.] The objection implies assent to 
 the justice and wisdom of the measure itself, and takes issue only upon the 
 time, occasion, or circumstances in which it is proposed. It concedes, 
 moreover, that it would be proper at a different time, on some other occa¬ 
 sion, or in some other circumstances. 
 
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 Let us see, then, wherein the indiscretion consists. And first as to the 
 occasion. One honorable Senator [Mr. Winthrop] says that by support¬ 
 ing it on this occasion we should incur the risk of losing the bill itself 
 which is proposed to be amended, and thus losing the abolition of the 
 slave trade within the District of Columbia. Suppose we do. What would 
 be the loss ? The amendment before you secures the abolition of the slave 
 trade, for it abolishes slavery altogether. When slavery falls, the trade, 
 which is only an incident of it, must instantly cease. But the Senator is 
 afraid that, between the two, both will be lost. That cannot happen. The 
 passage of either will accomplish the object in view. 
 
 If the amendment shall pass, you will have a better law than the bill of 
 the Committee of Thirteen. If the amendment shall fail, you will still have 
 the bill of the Committee of Thirteen. 
 
 But the bill of the Committee of Thirteen is not put in jeopardy. It is 
 lost, or worse than lost, to us already. If it had not been, I should not 
 have offered my proposition as an amendment! The abolition of the slave 
 trade, indeed, remains in the bill; but conditions have been annexed which 
 cannot be accepted, and which compel us of the free States to reject the 
 bill itself. One of these conditions is, the converting into a felony, pun¬ 
 ishable with ten years’ imprisonment, the act of aiding or favoring the 
 escape of a fugitive slave, or even the act of harboring a slave with a view to 
 aid his escape. The punishment already denounced by the law is severe 
 enough, in my judgment, for an act that is wrong not because it is errone¬ 
 ous in itself, but only because it is declared by the statue to be wrong. 
 The second condition which has been annexed to the bill is the conferring 
 of a right upon the Corporations within the District to impose conditions 
 upon which freed men shall be allowed to enter and remain in the District, 
 or depart from it; in other words, to proscribe free men, who are citizens 
 of the United States and of the free States. 
 
 By the addition of these conditions, the bill has been converted from a law 
 meliorating slavery within the Distiict into a law to fortify slavery and pro¬ 
 scribe free men. When that was done, my last hope, my last purpose, my 
 last thought of supporting the bill, was gone. And yet this bill is the bill 
 which the honorable Senator from Massachusetts complains that I am put¬ 
 ting in jeopardy. This, sir, and nothing other or different from this, is the 
 boon which he says was just within our grasp, and which I have struck, 
 down to the earth. Sir, when my amendment shall have been rejected, 
 this bill will still remain. I wait to see whether he will embrace it, and 
 take it to his bosom. I shall not harbor it; it would sting me to 
 death. 
 
 So much, sir, for the occasion. And now for the indiscretion, so far as 
 it depends upon time and circumstances. I think it wrong to hold men in 
 bondage at any time and under any circumstances. I think it right and 
 just, therefore, to abolish slavery when we have the power, at any time, at 
 all times, under any circumstances. Now, sir, so far as the objection rests 
 upon the time when this measure is proposed, I beg leave to say that if the 
 present is not the right time, then there must be or there must have been 
 some other time, and that must be a time that is already past, or time yet to 
 
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 come. Well, sir, slavery has existed here under the sanction of Congress for 
 fifty years undisturbed. The right time, then, has not passed. It must, there¬ 
 fore, be a future time. Will gentlemen oblige me and the country by tell¬ 
 ing us how far down in the future the right time lies ? When will it be 
 discreet to bring before Congress and the people the abolition of slavery in 
 the District of Columbia ? Sir, let not Senators delude themselves. I had 
 the honor to submit to the Senate some weeks ago a proposition to admit 
 New Mexico as a State. It was rejected then by a vote unanimous except 
 my own—those who were in favor of the measure voting with its opponents, 
 because it was not the right time. They said the Constitution had not been 
 officially received. It was not a fit occasion. The measure was offered 
 as an amendment to a bill. 
 
 Well, sir, the Constitution was officially received yesterday, and the Sen¬ 
 ators of the State were in waiting. But New Mexico, in the mean time, 
 had been organized as a Territory, and her State constitution is not even 
 honored with a reference. There is no right time, no fit occasion, for New 
 Mexico to enter the Union as a free State. So, sir, it will be with the 
 abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia. The right time, if it be 
 not now, will never come. Sir, each Senator must judge for himself. 
 Judging for myself, I am sure the right time has come. Past the middle 
 age of life, it has happened to me now, for the first time, to be a legislator 
 for slaves. I believe it to be my duty to the people of this District, to the 
 country, and to mankind, to restore them to freedom. For the perform¬ 
 ance of such a duty, the first time and the first occasion which offers is the 
 right one. The people who sent me here knew my opinions and my prin¬ 
 ciples on that subject. If I should waive this time and this occasion, such 
 is the uncertainty of human life and of human events that no other may 
 offer themselves to me. I could not return to the people who sent me 
 here, nor could I go before my Maker, having been here, without having 
 humbly, but firmly, endeavored to discharge that great obligation. 
 
 Sir, I can spare one word of reply, not to the wretched imputation that 
 I seek by this measure to dissolve the Union of these States, but to the ar¬ 
 gument that the measure itself tends to so disastrous a consummation. This 
 
 Union is the feeblest and weakest national power that exists on earth, if 
 with twenty millions of freemen now it cannot bear the shock of adding 
 
 six hundred to their number. The Union stands, as I have demonstrated 
 at large on former occasions, not upon a majority of voices in either or both 
 houses of Congress upon any measure whatever, but upon enduring phys 1 - 
 cal, social, and political necessities, which will survive all the questions 
 and commotions and alarms of this day, and will survive the extinction of 
 slavery, not only in the District of Columbia, but throughout the world. 
 Others may try to save it, by concession to slavery, from imaginary perils. 
 I shall still seek to perpetuate it by rendering the exercise of its power 
 equal, impartial, and beneficent to all classes and conditions of mankind.