Mr. President,--I approach this discussion with awe. The mighty
question, with untold issues, oppresses me. Like a portentous cloud
surcharged with irresistible storm and ruin, it seems to fill the whole
heavens, making me painfully conscious how unequal to the occasion I
am,--how unequal, also, is all that I can say to all that I feel.
In delivering my sentiments to-day I shall speak frankly, according
to my convictions, without concealment or reserve. If anything fell
from the Senator from Illinois [Mr. DOUGLAS], in opening this
discussion, which might seem to challenge a personal contest, I desire
to say that I shall not enter upon it. Let not a word or a tone pass
my lips to divert attention for a moment from the surpassing theme,
by the side of which Senators and Presidents are but dwarfs. I would
not forget those amenities which belong to this place, and are so
well calculated to temper the antagonism of debate; nor can I cease
to remember, and to feel, that, amidst all diversities of opinion, we
are the representatives of thirty-one sister republics, knit together
by indissoluble ties, and constituting that Plural Unit which we all
embrace by the endearing name of country.
The question for your consideration is not exceeded in grandeur by
any which has occurred in our national history since the Declaration
of Independence. In every aspect it assumes gigantic proportions,
whether we consider simply the extent of territory it affects, or the
public faith and national policy which it assails, or that higher
question--that _Question of Questions_, as far above others as Liberty
is above the common things of life--which it opens anew for judgment.
It concerns an immense region, larger than the original Thirteen
States, vying in extent with all the existing Free States,--stretching
over prairie, field, and forest,--interlaced by silver streams, skirted
by protecting mountains, and constituting the heart of the North
American continent,--only a little smaller, let me add, than three
great European countries combined,--Italy, Spain, and France,--each of
which, in succession, has dominated over the globe. This territory has
been likened, on this floor, to the Garden of God. The similitude is
found not merely in its pure and virgin character, but in its actual
geographical situation, occupying central spaces on this hemisphere,
which, in their general relations, may well compare with that "happy
rural seat." We are told that
"Southward through Eden went a river large":
so here a stream flows southward which is larger than the Euphrates.
And here, too, all amid the smiling products of Nature, lavished by
the hand of God, is the lofty Tree of Liberty, planted by our fathers,
which, without exaggeration, or even imagination, may be likened to
"the Tree of Life,
High eminent, blooming ambrosial fruit
Of vegetable gold."
It is with regard to this territory that you are now called to exercise
the grandest function of lawgiver, by establishing rules of polity
which will determine its future character. As the twig is bent the
tree inclines; and the influences impressed upon the early days of an
empire, like those upon a child, are of inconceivable importance to its
future weal or woe. The bill now before us proposes to organize and
equip two new territorial establishments, with Governors, Secretaries,
Legislative Councils, Legislators, Judges, Marshals, and the whole
machinery of civil society. Such a measure at any time would deserve
the most careful attention. But at the present moment it justly excites
peculiar interest, from the effort made--on pretences unsustained by
facts, in violation of solemn covenant, and in disregard of the early
principles of our fathers--to open this immense region to Slavery.
According to existing law, this territory is now guarded against
Slavery by a positive Prohibition, embodied in the Act of Congress
approved March 6th, 1820, preparatory to the admission of Missouri into
the Union as a sister State, and in the following explicit words:--
"SEC. 8. _And be it further enacted_, That in all that territory
_ceded by France to the United States, under the name of
Louisiana_, which lies north of thirty-six degrees and thirty
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 convicted, SHALL BE, AND IS HEREBY, FOREVER
PROHIBITED."
It is now proposed to set aside this Prohibition. But there seems to be
a singular indecision as to the way in which the deed shall be done.
From the time of its first introduction, in the Report of the Committee
on Territories, the proposition has assumed different shapes; and it
promises to assume as many as Proteus,--now one thing in form, and now
another,--now like a serpent, and then like a lion,--but in every form
and shape identical in substance; with but one object,--the overthrow
of the Prohibition of Slavery. At first it proposed simply to declare
that the States formed out of this territory should be admitted into
the Union "with or without Slavery," and did not directly assume to
touch this Prohibition. For some reason this was not satisfactory, and
then it was precipitately proposed to declare that the Prohibition in
the Missouri Act "was superseded by the principles of the legislation
of 1850, commonly called the Compromise Measures, and is hereby
declared inoperative." But this would not do; and it is now proposed to
enact, that the Prohibition, "being inconsistent with the principles
of non-intervention by Congress with Slavery in the States and
Territories, as recognized by the legislation of 1850, commonly called
the Compromise Measures, is hereby declared inoperative and void."
* * * * *
All this is to be done on pretences founded upon the Slavery
enactments of 1850. Now, Sir, I am not here to speak in behalf of
those measures, or to lean in any way upon their support. Relating to
different subject-matters, contained in different acts, which prevailed
successively, at different times, and by different votes,--some persons
voting for one, and some for another, and very few for all,--they
cannot be regarded as a unit, embodying conditions of compact, or
compromise, if you please, adopted equally by all, and therefore
obligatory on all. But since this broken series of measures is adduced
as apology for the proposition now before us, I desire to say, that,
such as they are, they cannot, by any rule of interpretation, by any
charming rod of power, by any magic alchemy, be transmuted into a
repeal of that original Prohibition.
On this head there are several points to which I would merely call
attention, and then pass on. _First_: The Slavery enactments of
1850 did not pretend, in terms, to touch, much less to change, the
condition of the Louisiana Territory, which was already fixed by
Congressional enactment. The two transactions related to different
subject-matters. _Secondly_: The enactments do not directly touch the
subject of Slavery, during the Territorial existence of Utah and New
Mexico; but they provide prospectively, that, when admitted as States,
they shall be received "with or without Slavery." Here certainly
can be no overthrow of an Act of Congress which directly concerns a
Territory _during its Territorial existence_. _Thirdly_: During all
the discussion of these measures in Congress, and afterwards before
the people, and through the public press, at the North and the South
alike, no person was heard to intimate that the Prohibition of Slavery
in the Missouri Act was in any way disturbed. _Fourthly_: The acts
themselves contain a formal provision, that "nothing herein contained
shall be construed to impair or qualify anything" in a certain article
of the Resolution annexing Texas, where it is expressly declared, that,
in any State formed out of territory north of the Missouri Compromise
line, "Slavery or involuntary servitude, except for crime, shall be
prohibited."
I do not dwell on these things. These pretences have been amply
refuted by able Senators who have preceded me. It is clear, beyond
contradiction, that the Prohibition of Slavery in this Territory was
not superseded, or in any way contravened, by the Slavery Acts of
1850. The proposition before you is, therefore, original in character,
without sanction from any former legislation, and it must, accordingly,
be judged by its merits, as an original proposition.
* * * * *
Here, Sir, let it be remembered that the friends of Freedom are
not open to any charge of aggression. They are now standing on the
defensive, guarding the early intrenchments thrown up by our fathers.
No proposition to abolish Slavery anywhere is now before you, but, on
the contrary, a proposition to abolish Freedom. The term Abolitionist,
so often applied in reproach, justly belongs, on this occasion, to him
who would overthrow this well-established landmark. He is, indeed,
no Abolitionist of Slavery; let him be called, Sir, Abolitionist of
Freedom. For myself, whether with many or few, my place is taken. Even
if alone, my feeble arm should not be wanting as a bar against this
outrage.
On two distinct grounds, "strong both against the deed," I arraign
it: _First_, in the name of Public Faith, as an infraction of solemn
obligations, assumed beyond recall by the South, on the admission of
Missouri into the Union as a Slave State. _Secondly_, I arraign it in
the name of Freedom, as an unjustifiable departure from the original
Antislavery policy of our fathers. These two heads I shall consider
in their order, glancing, under the latter, at the objections to the
Prohibition of Slavery in the Territories.
Before I approach the argument, indulge me with a few preliminary
words on the character of this proposition. Slavery is the forcible
subjection of one human being, in person, labor, and property, to
the will of another. In this simple statement is involved its whole
injustice. There is no offence against religion, against morals,
against humanity, which, in the license of this enormity, may not stalk
"unwhipped of justice." For the husband and wife there is no marriage;
for the mother there is no assurance that her infant child will not
be ravished from her breast; for all who bear the name of Slave there
is nothing that they can call their own. Without a father, without a
mother, almost without a God, the slave has nothing but a master. It
would be contrary to that Rule of Right which is ordained by God, if
such a system, though mitigated often by patriarchal kindness, and by
plausible physical comfort, could be otherwise than pernicious. It is
confessed that the master suffers not less than the slave. And this
is not all. The whole social fabric is disorganized; labor loses its
dignity; industry sickens; education finds no schools; and all the
land of Slavery is impoverished. And now, Sir, when the conscience
of mankind is at last aroused to these things, when, throughout the
civilized world, a slave-dealer is a by-word and a reproach, we, as a
nation, are about to open a new market to the traffickers in flesh that
haunt the shambles of the South. Such an act, at this time, is removed
from all reach of that palliation often vouchsafed to Slavery. This
wrong, we are speciously told by those who seek to defend it, is not
our original sin. It was entailed upon us, so we are instructed, by our
ancestors; and the responsibility is often thrown, with exultation,
upon the mother country. Now, without stopping to inquire into the
value of this apology, which is never adduced in behalf of other
abuses, and which availed nothing against that kingly power imposed by
the mother country, but overthrown by our fathers, it is sufficient for
the present purpose to know that it is now proposed to make Slavery our
own original act. Here is a fresh case of actual transgression, which
we cannot cast upon the shoulders of any progenitors, nor upon any
mother country, distant in time or place. The Congress of the United
States, the people of the United States, at this day, in this vaunted
period of light, will be responsible for it, so that it shall be said
hereafter, so long as the dismal history of Slavery is read, that in
the year of Christ 1854 a new and deliberate act was passed by which a
vast territory was opened to its incursions.
Historic instances show how such an act will make us solitary among
the nations. In autocratic Russia, the serfdom which constitutes
the "peculiar institution" of that great empire is never allowed to
travel with the imperial flag, according to American pretension,
into provinces newly acquired by the common blood and treasure, but,
by positive prohibition, in harmony with the general conscience,
is carefully restricted within its ancient confines; and this
prohibition--the Wilmot Proviso of Russia--is rigorously enforced on
every side, in all the provinces, as in Bessarabia on the south, and
Poland on the west, so that, in fact, no Russian nobleman is able to
move into these important territories with his slaves. Thus Russia
speaks for Freedom, and disowns the slaveholding dogma of our country.
India, the land of caste, and Turkey, the abode of polygamy, both
fasten upon Slavery the stigma of reprobation. The Barbary States of
Africa, occupying the same parallels of latitude with the Slave States
of our Union, and resembling them in the nature of their boundaries,
their productions, their climate, and the "peculiar institution" which
sought shelter in both, are changed into Abolitionists. Algiers, seated
on the line of 36° 30´, is dedicated to Freedom. Tunis and Morocco are
doing likewise.
As the effort now making is extraordinary in character, so no
assumption seems too extraordinary to be advanced in its support. The
primal truth of the Equality of Men, proclaimed in our Declaration
of Independence, is assailed, and this Great Charter of our country
discredited. Sir, you and I will soon pass away, but that charter will
continue to stand above impeachment or question. The Declaration of
Independence was a Declaration of Rights, and the language employed,
though general in character, must obviously be confined within the
design and sphere of a Declaration of Rights, involving no such
pitiful absurdity as was attributed to it yesterday by the Senator
from Indiana [Mr. PETTIT]. Sir, who has pretended that all
men are born equal in physical strength or in mental capacities, in
beauty of form or health of body? Certainly not the signers of the
Declaration of Independence, who could have been guilty of no such
self-stultification. Diversity is the law of creation, unrestricted
to race or color. But as God is no respecter of persons, and as all
are equal in his sight, both Dives and Lazarus, master and slave, so
are all equal in natural inborn rights; and pardon me, if I say it
is a mere quibble to adduce, in argument against this vital axiom
of Liberty, the physical or mental inequalities by which men are
characterized, or the unhappy degradation to which, in violation
of a common brotherhood, they are doomed. To deny the Declaration
of Independence is to rush on the bosses of the shield of the
Almighty,--which, in all respects, the supporters of this measure seem
to do.
To the delusive suggestion of the Senator from North Carolina [Mr.
BADGER], that by overthrow of this Prohibition the number of
slaves will not be increased, that there will be simply a beneficent
diffusion of Slavery, and not its extension, I reply at once, that this
argument, if of any value, if not mere words and nothing else, would
equally justify and require the overthrow of the Prohibition of Slavery
in the Free States, and, indeed, everywhere throughout the world. All
the dikes, which, in different countries, from time to time, with the
march of civilization, have been painfully set up against the inroads
of this evil, must be removed, and every land opened anew to its
destructive flood. It is clear, beyond dispute, that by the overthrow
of this Prohibition Slavery will be quickened, and slaves themselves
will be multiplied, while new room and verge will be secured for the
gloomy operations of Slave Law, under which free labor will droop,
and a vast territory be smitten with sterility. Sir, a blade of grass
would not grow where the horse of Attila had trod; nor can any true
prosperity spring up in the footprints of a slave.
But it is argued that slaves will be carried into Nebraska only in
small numbers, and therefore the question is of little practical
moment. My distinguished colleague [Mr. EVERETT], in his
eloquent speech, hearkened to this apology, and allowed himself, while
upholding the Prohibition, to disparage its importance in a manner
from which I feel obliged, kindly, but most strenuously, to dissent.
Sir, the very census attests its vital consequence. There is Missouri,
at this moment, with Illinois on the east and Nebraska on the west,
all covering nearly the same spaces of latitude, and resembling
each other in soil, climate, and natural productions. Mark now the
contrast! By the potent efficacy of the Ordinance of the Northwestern
Territory Illinois is a Free State, while Missouri has eighty-seven
thousand four hundred and twenty-two slaves; and the simple question
which challenges answer is, whether Nebraska shall be preserved in the
condition of Illinois or surrendered to that of Missouri? Surely this
cannot be treated lightly. But I am unwilling to measure the exigency
of the Prohibition by the number of persons, whether many or few, whom
it may protect. Human rights, whether in a multitude or the solitary
individual, are entitled to equal and unhesitating support. In this
spirit, the flag of our country only recently became the impenetrable
panoply of a homeless wanderer who claimed its protection in a distant
sea;[41] and in this spirit I am constrained to declare that there is
no place accessible to human avarice or human lust or human force,
whether the lowest valley or the loftiest mountain-top, whether
the broad flower-spangled prairies or the snowy caps of the Rocky
Mountains, where the Prohibition of Slavery, like the commandments of
the Decalogue, should not go.
[41] Martin Koszta, Hungarian by birth, who had made the
preliminary declaration of citizenship, and had a protection from
the United States Consul at Smyrna, was, July 2, 1853, surrendered
by an Austrian man-of-war in the harbor of Smyrna at the demand of
a man-of-war of the United States.