Mr. President,--It is not only as an infraction of solemn compact,
embodied in ancient law, that I oppose this bill; I arraign it as a
flagrant and extravagant departure from the original policy of our
fathers, consecrated by their lives, opinions, and acts.
[Here Mr. Sumner proceeded to set forth the Antislavery policy at the
foundation of the Government,--less fully than in the earlier speech,
_Freedom National, Slavery Sectional_, but substantially in the same
vein. After alluding to the memorial of Franklin, addressed to the
first Congress under the Constitution, he proceeded as follows.]
The memorial of Franklin, with other memorials of a similar character,
was referred to a Committee, and much debated in the House, which
finally sanctioned the following resolution, and directed the same to
be entered upon its Journals, namely:--
"That Congress have no authority to interfere in the emancipation
of slaves, or in the treatment of them, within any of the
States: _it remaining with the several States alone to provide
any regulations therein which humanity and true policy may
require_."[58]
This resolution, declaring the principle of non-intervention by
Congress with Slavery in the States, was adopted by the same Congress
which had solemnly affirmed the Prohibition of Slavery in all the
existing territory of the Union; so that one may be regarded as the
complement of the other. And it is on these double acts, at the first
organization of the Government, and the recorded sentiments of the
founders, that I take my stand, and challenge all question.
In the country, at this time, there was strictly no dividing line
between Antislavery and Proslavery. The Antislavery sentiment was
thoroughly national, broad and general, pervading alike all parts of
the Union, and uprising from the common heart of the entire people.
The Proslavery interest was strictly personal and pecuniary, and had
its source simply in the self-interest of individual slaveholders. It
contemplated Slavery only as a domestic institution, not as a political
element, and merely stipulated for its security where it actually
existed within the States.
[58] Annals of Congress, 1st Cong. 2d Sess., II. 1472-74, March 23,
1790.
Sir, the original policy of the country, begun under the Confederation,
and recognized at the initiation of the new Government, is clear and
unmistakable. Compendiously expressed, it was _non-intervention by
Congress with Slavery in the States, and its prohibition in all the
national domain_. In this way discordant feelings on this subject
were reconciled. Slave-masters were left at home in their respective
States, under the protection of local laws, to hug Slavery without
interference from Congress, while all opposed to it were exempted from
any responsibility therefor in the national domain. This, Sir, is the
common ground on which our political fabric was reared; and I do not
hesitate to say that it is the only ground on which it can stand in
permanent peace.
* * * * *
Our Republic has swollen in population and power, but it has shrunk
in character. It is not now what it was in the beginning, a Republic
merely permitting, while it regretted Slavery,--tolerating it only
where it could not be removed, and interdicting it where it did not
exist,--but a mighty Propagandist, openly favoring and vindicating
it,--visiting, also, with displeasure all who oppose it.
Sir, our country early reached heights which it could not keep. Its
fall was gentle, but complete. At the session of Congress immediately
following the ratification of the Prohibition of Slavery in the
national domain, a transfer of the territory now constituting Tennessee
was accepted from North Carolina (2d April, 1790), loaded with the
express proviso, "that no regulations made or to be made by Congress
shall tend to emancipate slaves": a formal provision, which, while
admitting the power of Congress over Slavery in the Territories, waived
the prevailing policy of executing it. This was followed, in 1798, by
the transfer from Georgia of the region between her present western
limit and the Mississippi, under a similar condition. In both these
cases apology may be found in the very terms of the transfer, and in
the fact that the region constituted part of two States where Slavery
actually existed,--though it will be confessed that even here there
was a descent from that summit of Freedom on which the Nation had so
proudly rested.
Without tracing this downward course through its successive stages, let
me refer to facts which too palpably reveal the abyss that has been
reached. Early in our history no man was disqualified for public office
by reason of his opinions on this subject; and this condition continued
for a long period. As late as 1820, John W. Taylor, Representative from
New York, who pressed with so much energy, not merely the prohibition
of Slavery in the Territories, but its restriction in the State of
Missouri, was elected to the chair of Henry Clay, as Speaker of the
other House. It is needless to add, that no determined supporter of the
prohibition of Slavery in the Territories at this day could expect that
eminent trust.... To such lowest deep has our Government descended!
These things prepare us to comprehend the true character of the change
with regard to the Territories. In 1787 all existing national domain
was promptly and unanimously dedicated to Freedom, without opposition
or criticism. The interdict of Slavery then covered every inch of
soil belonging to the National Government. Louisiana, an immense
region beyond the bounds of the original States, was subsequently
acquired, and in 1820, after a vehement struggle which shook the whole
land, discomfited Freedom was compelled, by a dividing line, to a
partition with Slavery. This arrangement, which, in its very terms, was
exclusively applicable to a particular territory purchased from France,
has been accepted as final down to the present session of Congress;
but now, Sir, here in 1854, Freedom is suddenly summoned to surrender
even her hard-won moiety. Here are the three stages: at the first, all
consecrated to Freedom; at the second, only half; at the third, all
grasped by Slavery. The original policy of the Government is absolutely
reversed. Slavery, which at the beginning was a sectional institution,
with no foothold anywhere on the National Territory, is now exalted
as national, and all our broad domain is threatened by its blighting
shadow.
* * * * *
Thus much for what I have to say, at this time, of the original policy,
consecrated by the lives, opinions, and acts of our fathers. Certain
reasons are adduced for the proposed departure from their great
example, which, though of little validity, I would not pass in silence.
The Prohibition of Slavery in the Territories is assailed, as beyond
the power of Congress, and an infringement of local sovereignty. On
this account, at this late day, it is pronounced unconstitutional.
Now, without considering minutely the sources from which the power
of Congress over the national domain is derived,--whether from
express grant in the Constitution to make rules and regulations for
the government of the Territory, or from power, necessarily implied,
to govern territory acquired by conquest or purchase,--it seems to
me impossible to deny its existence, without invalidating a large
portion of the legislation of the country, from the adoption of the
Constitution down to the present day. This power was asserted before
the Constitution. It was not denied or prohibited by the Constitution
itself. Exercised from the first existence of the Government, it has
been recognized by the three departments, Executive, Legislative, and
Judicial. Precedents of every kind are thick in its support. Indeed,
the very bill now before us assumes a control of the Territory clearly
inconsistent with those principles of sovereignty which are said to be
violated by Congressional prohibition of Slavery.
Here are provisions determining the main features of the Government,
the distribution of powers in the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial
departments, and the manner in which they shall be respectively
constituted,--securing to the President, with the consent of the
Senate, the appointment of Governor, Secretary, and Judges, and to the
people only the election of the Legislature,--and even ordaining the
qualifications of voters, the salaries of the public officers, and
the daily compensation of the members of the Legislature. Surely, if
Congress may establish these provisions, without interference with the
rights of territorial sovereignty, it is absurd to say that it may not
also prohibit Slavery.
In this very bill there is an express prohibition on the Territory,
borrowed from the Ordinance of 1787, and repeated in every Act
organizing a Territory, or even a new State, down to the present time,
where it is expressly declared that "no tax shall be imposed upon the
property of the United States." Now here is a clear and unquestionable
restriction upon the Territories and States. The public lands of the
United States, situated within an organized Territory or State, cannot
be regarded as the _instruments_ and _means_ necessary and proper
to execute the sovereign powers of the nation, like fortifications,
arsenals, and navy-yards. They are strictly in the nature of _private
property_ of the nation, and as such, unless exempted by the foregoing
prohibition, would clearly be within the scope of local taxation,
liable, like the lands of other proprietors, to all customary burdens
and incidents. Mr. Justice Woodbury has declared, in a well-considered
judgment, that, "where the United States own land situated within
the limits of particular States, and over which they have no cession
of jurisdiction, for objects either special or general, little doubt
exists that the rights and remedies in relation to it are usually such
as apply to other land-owners within the State."[59] I assume, then,
that without this prohibition these lands would be liable to taxation.
Does any one question this? Nobody. The conclusion, then, follows, that
by this prohibition you propose to deprive the present Territory, as
you have deprived other Territories,--ay, and States,--of an essential
portion of its sovereignty.
[59] United States _v._ Ames, 1 Woodbury & Minot, 80.
And these, Sir, are not vain words. The Supreme Court of the United
States has given great prominence to the sovereign right of taxation in
the States. In the case of _Providence Bank_ v. _Billings and Pittman_,
4 Peters, 561, they declare,--
"That the taxing power is of vital importance; _that it is
essential to the existence of Government_; that the relinquishment
of such a power is never to be assumed."
And again, in the case of _Dobbins_ v. _Commissioners of Erie County_,
16 Peters, 447, they say:--
"Taxation is a sacred right, _essential to the existence of
Government, an incident of sovereignty_. The right of legislation
is coëxtensive with the incident, to attach it upon all persons and
property within the jurisdiction of a State."
Now I call upon Senators to remark, that this sacred right, reputed so
essential to the very existence of Government, is abridged in the bill
before us.
For myself, I do not doubt the power of Congress to fasten this
restriction upon the Territory, and afterwards upon the State, as is
always done; but I am at a loss to see on what grounds this restriction
can be placed, which will not also support the Prohibition of Slavery.
The former is an unquestionable infringement of sovereignty, as
declared by our Supreme Court, far more than can be asserted of the
latter.
I am unwilling to admit, Sir, that the Prohibition of Slavery in the
Territories is in any just sense an infringement of local sovereignty.
Slavery is an infraction of the immutable Law of Nature, and as such
cannot be considered a natural incident to any sovereignty, especially
in a country which has solemnly declared, in its Declaration of
Independence, the unalienable right of all men to life, _liberty_, and
the pursuit of happiness. In an age of civilization, and in a land of
rights, Slavery may still be tolerated _in fact_; but its prohibition
within a municipal jurisdiction by the government thereof--as by one of
the States of the Union,--cannot be considered an infraction of natural
rights; nor can its prohibition by Congress in the Territories be
regarded as an infringement of local sovereignty, founded, as it must
be, on natural rights.
Then comes another argument, most fallacious in its character. It
is asserted, that, inasmuch as the Territories were acquired by the
common treasure, they are the common property of the whole Union, and
therefore no citizen can be prevented from carrying into them his
slaves, without infringement of the equal rights and privileges which
belong to him as a citizen of the United States. But it is admitted
that the people of this very Territory, when organized as a State, may
exclude slaves, and in this way abridge an asserted right, founded on
the common property in the Territory. Now, if this can be done by the
few thousand settlers who constitute the State Government, the whole
argument founded on the acquisition of the Territories by a common
treasure is futile and evanescent.
But this argument proceeds on an assumption which cannot stand. It
assumes that Slavery is a National Institution, and that property in
slaves is recognized by the Constitution of the United States. Nothing
can be more false. By the judgment of the Supreme Court of the United
States, and also by the principles of the Common Law, Slavery is a
local municipal institution, deriving its support exclusively from
local municipal laws, and beyond the sphere of these laws it ceases to
exist, except so far as it may be preserved by the uncertain clause
for the rendition of fugitives from service. Madison thought it wrong
to admit in the Constitution the idea that there can be property in
men; and I rejoice to believe that no such idea can be found there. The
Constitution regards slaves always as "persons," with the rights of
"persons,"--never as property. When it is said, therefore, that every
citizen may enter the national domain with his property, it does not
follow, by any rule of logic or of law, that he may carry his slaves.
On the contrary, he can carry only that property which is admitted such
by the universal Law of Nature, written by God's own finger on the
heart of man. In vain do you speak of "rights" in the Territories,--as
if this august word could be profaned to characterize such a claim.
The relation of master and slave is sometimes classed with the
"domestic relations." Now, while it is unquestionably among the powers
of any State, within its own jurisdiction, to change the existing
relation of husband and wife, and to establish polygamy, I presume no
person would contend that a polygamous husband, resident in one of
the States, would be entitled to enter the National Territory with
his harem,--his property, if you please,--and there claim immunity.
Clearly, when he passes the bounds of that local jurisdiction which
sanctions polygamy, the peculiar domestic relation would cease: and it
is precisely the same with Slavery.
* * * * *
Sir, I dismiss these considerations. The Prohibition of Slavery in the
Territory of Kansas and Nebraska stands on foundations of living rock,
upheld by the early policy of the Fathers, by constant precedent, and
time-honored compact. It is now in your power to overturn it; you may
remove the sacred landmark, and open the whole vast domain to Slavery.
To you is committed this high prerogative. Our fathers, on the eve of
the Revolution, set forth in burning words, among their grievances,
that George the Third, "determined to keep open a market where men
should be bought and sold, had prostituted his negative for suppressing
every legislative attempt to prohibit or to restrain this execrable
commerce."[60] Sir, like the English monarch, you may now prostitute
your power to this same purpose. But you cannot escape the judgment of
the world, nor the doom of history.
[60] First Draught of the Declaration of Independence: Jefferson's
Writings, Vol. I. p. 23.
It will be in vain, that, while doing this thing, you plead in apology
the principle of _self-government_, which you profess to recognize in
the Territories. Sir, this very principle, when truly administered,
secures equal rights to all, without distinction of race or color, and
makes Slavery impossible. By no rule of justice, and by no subtilty of
political metaphysics, can the right to hold a fellow-man in bondage
be regarded as essential to self-government. The inconsistency is too
flagrant. It is apparent on the bare statement. It is like saying _two_
and _two_ make _three_. In the name of Liberty you open the door to
Slavery. With professions of Equal Rights on the lips, you trample on
the rights of Human Nature. With a kiss upon the brow of that fair
Territory, you betray it to wretchedness and shame. Well did the
patriot soul exclaim, in bitter words, wrung out by bitter experience,
"O Liberty, what crimes are committed in thy name!"[61]
[61] "O Liberté, que de crimes on commet en ton nom!"--MME. ROLAND.
In vain, Sir, you will plead that this measure proceeds from the
North, as has been suggested by the Senator from Kentucky [Mr.
DIXON]. Even if this were true, it would be no apology. But,
precipitated upon the Senate, as this bill has been, at a moment of
general calm, and in the absence of any controlling exigency, and
then hurried to a vote in advance of the public voice, as if fearful
of arrest, it cannot justly be called the offspring of any popular
sentiment. In this respect it differs widely from the Missouri
Prohibition, which was adopted only after solemn debate, extending
through two sessions of Congress, and ample discussion before the
people. As yet, there is no evidence that this attempt, though espoused
by Northern politicians, proceeds from that Northern sentiment which
throbs and glows, strong and fresh, in the schools, the churches, and
the homes of the people. _Populi omnes AD AQUILONEM positi
Libertatem quandam spirant._[62] And could the abomination which you
seek to perpetrate be now submitted to the awakened millions whose
souls are truly ripened under Northern skies, it would be flouted at
once, with indignant and undying scorn.
[62] Bodinus, de Republica, Lib. I. cap. 8, p. 90.
But the race of men, "white slaves of the North," described and
despised by a Southern statesman, is not yet extinct there, Sir. It
is one of the melancholy tokens of the power of Slavery, under our
political system, and especially through the operations of the National
Government, that it loosens and destroys the character of Northern
men, exerting its subtle influence even at a distance,--like the black
magnetic mountain in the Arabian story, under whose irresistible
attraction, the iron bolts which held together the strong timbers of
a stately ship, floating securely on the distant wave, were drawn
out, till the whole fell apart, and became a disjointed wreck. Alas!
too often those principles which give consistency, individuality, and
form to the Northern character, which render it stanch, strong, and
seaworthy, which bind it together as with iron, are sucked out, one by
one, like the bolts of the ill-fated vessel, and from the miserable
loosened fragments is formed that human anomaly, _a Northern man with
Southern principles_. Sir, no such man can speak for the North.
[Here there was an interruption of prolonged applause in the galleries.]
THE PRESIDENT (Mr. STUART in the chair). The Chair will be obliged
to direct the galleries to be cleared, if order is not preserved.
No applause will be allowed.
SEVERAL VOICES. Let them be cleared now.
MR. SUMNER. Mr. President, this bill is proposed as a measure
of peace. In this way you vainly think to withdraw the subject of
Slavery from National Politics. This is a mistake. Peace depends
on mutual confidence. It can never rest secure on broken faith and
injustice. Permit me to say, frankly, sincerely, and earnestly, that
the subject of Slavery can never be withdrawn from the National
Politics until we return once more to the original policy of our
fathers, at the first organization of the Government under Washington,
when the national ensign nowhere on the National Territory covered a
single slave.
* * * * *
Amidst all seeming discouragements, the great omens are with us.
Art, literature, poetry, religion, everything which elevates man,
all are on our side. The plough, the steam-engine, the railroad, the
telegraph, the book, every human improvement, every generous word
anywhere, every true pulsation of every heart which is not a mere
muscle and nothing else, gives new encouragement to the warfare with
Slavery. The discussion will proceed. Wherever an election occurs,
there this question will arise. Wherever men come together to speak of
public affairs, there again will it be. No political Joshua now, with
miraculous power, can stop the sun in its course through the heavens.
It is even now rejoicing, like a strong man, to run its race, and will
yet send its beams into the most distant plantations, melting the
chains of every slave.
But this movement, or agitation, as it is reproachfully called,
is boldly pronounced injurious to the very object desired. Now,
without entering into details, which neither time nor the occasion
justifies, let me say that this objection belongs to those commonplaces
which have been arrayed against every good movement in the world's
history, against even knowledge itself, against the abolition of the
slave-trade. Perhaps it was not unnatural for the Senator from North
Carolina [Mr. BADGER] to press it, even as vehemently as he
did; but it sounded less natural, when it came, though in more moderate
phrase, from my distinguished friend and colleague from Massachusetts
[Mr. EVERETT]. The past furnishes a controlling example by
which its true character may be determined. Call to mind, Sir, that
the efforts of William Wilberforce encountered this precise objection,
and that the condition of the kidnapped slave was then vindicated, in
language not unlike that of the Senator from North Carolina, by no
less a person than the Duke of Clarence, of the royal family of Great
Britain. In what was called his maiden speech, on the 3d of May, 1792
and preserved in the Parliamentary Debates, he said: "The negroes were
not treated in the manner which had so much agitated the public mind.
He had been an attentive observer of their state, and had no doubt but
he could bring forward proofs to convince their Lordships that their
state was far from being miserable: on the contrary, that, when the
various ranks of society were considered, they were comparatively in
a state of humble happiness." And only the next year, this same royal
prince, in debate in the House of Lords, asserted that the promoters of
the abolition of the slave-trade were "either fanatics or hypocrites,"
and in one of these classes he ranked Wilberforce. Mark now the end.
After years of weary effort, the slave-trade was finally abolished; and
at last, in 1833, the early vindicator of this enormity, the maligner
of a name hallowed among men, was brought to give his royal assent,
as William the Fourth, King of Great Britain, to the immortal Act of
Parliament, greater far than any victory of war, by which Slavery was
abolished throughout the British dominions. Sir, time and the universal
conscience have vindicated the labors of Wilberforce. The movement
against American Slavery, protected by the august names of Washington,
Franklin, and Jefferson, can calmly await a similar judgment.
Sometimes it is said that this movement is dangerous to the Union. In
this solicitude I cannot share. As a lover of concord, and a jealous
partisan of all that makes for peace, I am always glad to express my
attachment to the Union; but I believe that this bond will be most
truly preserved and most beneficently extended (for I shrink from
no expansion where Freedom leads the way) by firmly upholding those
principles of Liberty and Justice which were its early corner-stones.
The true danger to this Union proceeds not from any abandonment of
the "peculiar institution" of the South, but from the abandonment
of the spirit in which the Union was formed,--not from any warfare
upon Slavery within the limits of the Constitution, but from warfare
upon Freedom, like that waged by this very bill. The Union is most
precious; but more precious far are that "general welfare," that
"domestic tranquillity," and those "blessings of Liberty" which it was
established to secure,--all which are now wantonly endangered. Not that
I love the Union less, but Freedom more, do I now, in pleading this
great cause, insist that Freedom, at all hazards, shall be preserved.
The great master, Shakespeare, who with all-seeing mortal eye observed
mankind, and with immortal pen depicted the manners as they rise, has
presented a scene which may be read with advantage by all who would
plunge the South into tempestuous quarrel with the North. I refer
to the well-known passage between Brutus and Cassius. Reading this
remarkable dialogue, it is difficult not to see in Brutus our own
North, and in Cassius the South.
"_Cas._ Urge me no more, I shall forget myself;
Have mind upon your health, tempt me no further.
* * * * *
"_Bru._ Hear me, for I will speak.
Must I give way and room to your rash choler?
* * * * *
"_Cas._ O ye gods! ye gods! must I endure all this?
"_Bru._ All this? Ay, more: fret, till your proud heart break:
_Go, show your slaves how choleric you are,
And make your bondmen tremble._ Must I budge?
Must I observe you? Must I stand and crouch
Under your testy humor?
* * * * *
"_Cas._ Do not presume too much upon my love;
I may do that I shall be sorry for.
"_Bru._ _You have done that you should be sorry for._
There is no terror, Cassius, in your threats;
For I am armed so strong in honesty,
That they pass by me as the idle wind,
Which I respect not.
* * * * *
"_Cas._ A friend should bear his friend's infirmities, But Brutus
makes mine greater than they are.
"_Bru._ I do not, TILL YOU PRACTISE THEM ON ME.
"CAS. You love me not.
"_Bru._ I do not like your faults."
And the colloquy proceeding, each finally comes to understand the
other, appreciates his character and attitude, and the impetuous,
gallant Cassius exclaims, "Give me your hand!"--to which Brutus
replies, "And my heart too!" Afterwards, with hand and heart united, on
the field of Philippi they together upheld the liberties of Rome.
The North and the South, Sir, as I fondly trust, amidst all
differences, will ever have hand and heart for each other; and
believing in the sure prevalence of Almighty Truth, I confidently
look forward to the good time, when both will unite, according to the
sentiments of the Fathers and the true spirit of the Constitution,
in declaring Freedom, and not Slavery, NATIONAL, to the end
that the Flag of the Republic, wherever it floats, on sea or land,
within the National jurisdiction, may cover none but freemen. Then
will be achieved that Union contemplated at the beginning, against
which the storms of faction and the assaults of foreign power shall
beat in vain, as upon the Rock of Ages,--and LIBERTY, seeking
a firm foothold, WILL HAVE AT LAST WHEREON TO STAND AND MOVE THE
WORLD.