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2nd proof completed Apr. 11th, 2007.
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[Frontispiece: v1.jpg]
[Signature] James G. Blaine
TWENTY YEARS OF CONGRESS:
FROM
LINCOLN TO GARFIELD.
WITH A REVIEW OF
THE EVENTS WHICH LED TO THE POLITICAL REVOLUTION OF 1860.
BY
JAMES G. BLAINE.
VOLUME I.
NORWICH, CONN.:
THE HENRY BILL PUBLISHING COMPANY.
1884.
COPYRIGHT, 1884,
BY JAMES G. BLAINE.
_All rights reserved._
ELECTROTYPED AND PRINTED
BY RAND, AVERY, AND COMPANY,
BOSTON, MASS.
CONTENTS OF VOLUME I.
CHAPTER I.
A REVIEW OF THE EVENTS WHICH LED TO THE POLITICAL REVOLUTION OF
1860.
Original Compromises between the North and the South embodied in
the Constitution.--Early Dissatisfaction with National Boundaries.
--Acquisition of Louisiana from France by President Jefferson.--
Bonaparte's Action and Motive in ceding Louisiana.--State of
Louisiana admitted to the Union against Opposition in the North.--
Agitation of the Slavery Question in Connection with the Admission
of Missouri to the Union.--The Two Missouri Compromises of 1820
and 1821.--Origin and Development of the Abolition Party.--Struggle
over the Right of Petition.
CHAPTER II.
Review of events before 1860 (_continued_).--Early Efforts to
acquire Texas.--Course of President Tyler.--Mr. Calhoun appointed
Secretary of State.--His Successful Management of the Texas Question.
--His Hostility to Mr. Van Buren.--Letters of Mr. Clay and Mr. Van
Buren opposing the Annexation of Texas.--Mr. Clay nominated as the
Whig Candidate for the President in 1844.--Van Buren's Nomination
defeated.--Mr. Polk selected as the Democratic Candidate.--Disquietude
of Mr. Clay.--His Change of Ground.--His Defeat.--Prolonged Rivalry
between Mr. Clay and General Jackson.--Texas formally annexed to
the Union.
CHAPTER III.
Review (_continued_).--Triumph of the Democratic Party.--Impending
Troubles with Mexico.--Position of Parties.--Struggle for the
Equality of Free and Slave States.--Character of the Southern
Leaders.--Their Efforts to control the Government.--Conservative
Course of Secretaries Buchanan and Marcy.--Reluctant to engage in
War with Mexico.--The Oregon Question, 54 deg. 40', or 49 deg..--Critical
Relations with the British Government.--Treaty of 1846.--Character
of the Adjustment.--Our Probable Loss by Unwise Policy of the
Democratic Party.
CHAPTER IV.
Review (_continued_).--Relations with Mexico.--General Taylor
marches his Army to the Rio Grande.--First Encounter with the
Mexican Army.--Excitement in the United States.--Congress declares
War against Mexico.--Ill Temper of the Whigs.--Defeat of the
Democrats in the Congressional Elections of 1846.--Policy of Mr.
Polk in Regard to Acquisition of Territory from Mexico.--Three-
Million Bill.--The Famous Anti-slavery Proviso moved by David
Wilmot.--John Quincy Adams.--His Public Service.--Robert C. Winthrop
chosen Speaker.--Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.--Presidential Election
of 1848.--Effort of the Administration to make a Democratic Hero
out of the Mexican War.--Thomas H. Benton for Lieutenant-General.
--Bill defeated.--Nomination of General Taylor for the Presidency
by the Whigs.--Nomination of General Cass by the Democratic Party.
--Van Buren refuses to support him.--Democratic Bolt in New York.
--Buffalo Convention and the Organization of the Free-soil Party.
--Nomination of Van Buren and Charles Francis Adams.--Mr. Clay's
Discontent.--Mr. Webster's Speech at Marshfield.--General Taylor
elected.--The Barnburners of New York.--Character and Public Services
of Mr. Van Buren.
CHAPTER V.
Review (_continued_).--Contrast between General Taylor and General
Cass.--The Cabinet of President Taylor.--Political Condition of
the Country.--Effect produced by the Discovery of Gold in California.
--Convening of Thirty-first Congress.--Election of Howell Cobb as
Speaker.--President Taylor's Message.--His Recommendations Distasteful
to the South.--Illustrious Membership of the Senate.--Mr. Clay and
the Taylor Administration.--Mr. Calhoun's Last Speech in the Senate.
--His Death.--His Character and Public Services.--Mr. Webster's
7th of March Speech.--Its Effect upon the Public and upon Mr.
Webster.--Mr. Clay's Committee of Thirteen.--The Omnibus Bill.--
Conflict with General Taylor's Administration.--Death of the
President.--Mr. Fillmore reverses Taylor's Policy and supports the
Compromise Measures.--Defeat of Compromise Bill.--Passage of the
Measures separately.--Memorable Session of Congress.--Whig and
Democratic Parties sustain the Compromise Measures.--National
Conventions.--Whigs nominate Winfield Scott over Fillmore.--Mr.
Clay supports Fillmore.--Mr. Webster's Friends.--Democrats nominate
Franklin Pierce.--Character of the Campaign.--Overwhelming Defeat
of Scott.--Destruction of the Whig Party.--Death of Mr. Clay.--
Death of Mr. Webster.--Their Public Characters and Services
compared.
CHAPTER VI.
Review (_continued_).--The Strength of the Democratic Party in
1853.--Popular Strength not so great as Electoral Strength.--The
New President's Pledge not to re-open the Slavery Question.--How
he failed to maintain that Pledge.--The North-west Territory.--Anti-
slavery Restriction of the Missouri Compromise.--Movement to repeal
it by Mr. Clay's Successor in the Senate.--Mr. Douglas adopts the
policy of repealing the Restriction.--It is made an Administration
Measure and carried through Congress.--Colonel Benton's Position.
--Anti-slavery Excitement developed in the Country.--Destruction
of the Whig Party.--New Political Alliances.--American Party.--Know-
Nothings.--Origin and Growth of the Republican Party.--Pro-slavery
Development in the South.--Contest for the Possession of Kansas.--
Prolonged Struggle.--Disunion Tendencies developing in the South.
--Election of N. P. Banks to the Speakership of the House.--The
Presidential Election of 1856.--Buchanan.--Fremont.--Fillmore.--
The Slavery Question the Absorbing Issue.--Triumph of Buchanan.--
Dred Scott Decision.--Mr. Lincoln's Version of it.--Chief Justice
Taney.
CHAPTER VII.
Review (_continued_).--Continuance of the Struggle for Kansas.--
List of Governors.--Robert J. Walker appointed Governor by President
Buchanan.--His Failure.--The Lecompton Constitution fraudulently
adopted.--Its Character.--Is transmitted to Congress by President
Buchanan.--He recommends the Admission of Kansas under its Provisions.
--Pronounces Kansas a Slave State.--Gives Full Scope and Effect to
the Dred Scott Decision.--Senator Douglas refuses to sustain the
Lecompton Iniquity.--His Political Embarrassment.--Breaks with the
Administration.--Value of his Influence against Slavery in Kansas.
--Lecompton Bill passes the Senate.--Could not be forced through
the House.--The English Bill substituted and passed.--Kansas spurns
the Bribe.--Douglas regains his Popularity with Northern Democrats.
--Illinois Republicans bitterly hostile to him.--Abraham Lincoln
nominated to contest the Re-election of Douglas to the Senate.--
Lincoln challenges Douglas to a Public Discussion.--Character of
Each as a Debater.--They meet Seven Times in Debate.--Douglas re-
elected.--Southern Senators arraign Douglas.--His Defiant Answer.
--Danger of Sectional Division in the Democratic Party.
CHAPTER VIII.
Excited Condition of the South.--The John Brown Raid at Harper's
Ferry.--Character of Brown.--Governor Wise.--Hot Temper.--Course
of Republicans in Regard to John Brown.--Misunderstanding of the
Two Sections.--Assembling of the Charleston Convention.--Position
of Douglas and his Friends.--Imperious Demands of Southern Democrats.
--Caleb Cushing selected for Chairman of the Convention.--The South
has Control of the Committee on Resolutions.--Resistance of the
Douglas Delegates.--They defeat the Report of the Committee.--
Delegates from Seven Southern States withdraw.--Convention unable
to make a Nomination.--Adjourns to Baltimore.--Convention divides.
--Nomination of both Douglas and Breckinridge.--Constitutional
Union Convention.--Nomination of Bell and Everett.--The Chicago
Convention.--Its Membership and Character.--Mr. Seward's Position.
--His Disabilities.--Work of his Friends, Thurlow Weed and William
M. Evarts.--Opposition of Horace Greeley.--Objections from Doubtful
States.--Various Candidates.--Nomination of Lincoln and Hamlin.--
Four Presidential Tickets in the Field.--Animated Canvass.--The
Long Struggle over.--The South defeated.--Election of Lincoln.--
Political Revolution of 1860 complete.
CHAPTER IX.
The Tariff Question in its Relation to the Political Revolution of
1860.--A Century's Experience as to Best Mode of levying Duties.--
Original Course of Federal Government in Regard to Revenue.--First
Tariff Act.--The Objects defined in a Preamble.--Constitutional
Power to adopt Protective Measure.--Character of Early Discussions.
--The Illustrious Men who participated.--Mr. Madison the Leader.--
The War Tariff of 1812.--Its High Duties.--The Tariff of 1816.--
Interesting Debate upon its Provisions.--Clay, Webster, and Calhoun
take part.--Business Depression throughout the Country.--Continues
until the Enactment of the Tariff of 1824.--Protective Character
of that Tariff.--Still Higher Duties levied by the Tariff of 1828.
--Southern Resistance to the Protective Principle.--Mr. Calhoun
leads the Nullification Movement in South Carolina.--Compromise
effected on the Tariff Question.--Financial Depression follows.--
Panic of 1837.--Protective Tariff passed in 1842.--Free-trade
Principles triumph with the Election of President Polk.--Tariff of
1846.--Prosperous Condition of the Country.--Differences of Opinion
as to the Causes.--Surplus Revenue.--Plethoric Condition of the
Treasury.--Enactment of the Tariff of 1857.--Both Parties support
it in Congress.--Duties lower than at Any Time since the War of
1812.--Panic of 1857.--Dispute as to its causes.--Protective and
Free-trade Theories as presented by their Advocates.--Connection
of the Tariff with the Election of Mr. Lincoln to the Presidency.
--General Review.
CHAPTER X.
Presidential Election of 1860.--The Electoral and Popular Vote.--
Wide Divergence between the Two.--Mr. Lincoln has a Large Majority
of Electors.--In a Minority of 1,000,000 on Popular Vote.--Beginning
of Secession.--Rash Course of South Carolina.--Reluctance on the
Part of Many Southern States.--Unfortunate Meeting of South-Carolina
Legislature.--Hasty Action of South-Carolina Convention.--The Word
"Ordinance."--Meeting of Southern Senators in Washington to promote
Secession.--Unwillingness in the South to submit the Question to
Popular Vote.--Georgia not eager to Secede.--Action of Other States.
--Meeting of Congress in December, 1860.--Position of Mr. Buchanan.
--His Attachment to the Union as a Pennsylvanian.--Sinister Influences
in his Cabinet.--His Evil Message to Congress.--Analysis of the
Message.--Its Position destructive to the Union.--The President's
Position Illogical and Untenable.--Full of Contradictions.--Extremists
of the South approve the Message.--Demoralizing Effect of the
Message in the North and in the South.--General Cass resigns from
State Department.--Judge Black succeeds him.--Character of Judge
Black.--Secretaries Cobb, Floyd, and Thompson.--Their Censurable
Conduct in the Cabinet.--Their Resignation.--Re-organization of
Cabinet.--Dix, Holt, Stanton.--Close of Mr. Buchanan's Administration.
--Change in the President's Course.--The New Influences.--Analysis
of the President's Course.--There were two Mr. Buchanans.--Personal
and Public Character of Mr. Buchanan.
CHAPTER XI.
Congress during the Winter of 1860-61.--Leave-taking of Senators
and Representatives.--South Carolina the First to secede.--Her
Delegation in the House publish a Card withdrawing.--Other States
follow.--Mr. Lamar of Mississippi.--Speeches of Seceding Senators.
--Mr. Yulee and Mr. Mallory of Florida.--Mr. Clay and Mr. Fitzpatrick
of Alabama.--Jefferson Davis.--His Distinction between Secession
and Nullification.--Important Speech by Mr. Toombs.--He defines
Conditions on which the Union might be allowed to survive.--Mr.
Iverson's Speech.--Georgia Senators withdraw.--Insolent Speech of
Mr. Slidell of Louisiana.--Mr. Judah P. Benjamin's Special Plea
for his State.--His Doctrine of "A Sovereignty held in Trust."--
Same Argument of Mr. Yulee for his State.--Principle of State
Sovereignty.--Disproved by the Treaty of 1783.--Notable Omission
by Secession Senators.--Grievances not stated.--Secession Conventions
in States.--Failure to state Justifying Grounds of Action.--
Confederate Government fail likewise to do it.--Contrast with the
Course of the Colonies.--Congress had given no Cause.--Had not
disturbed Slavery by Adverse Legislation.--List of Measures Favorable
to Slavery.--Policy of Federal Government steadily in that Direction.
--Mr. Davis quoted Menaces, not Acts.--Governing Class in the South.
--Division of Society there.--Republic ruled by an Oligarchy.--
Overthrown by Election of Lincoln.--South refuses to acquiesce.
CHAPTER XII.
Congress in the Winter of 1860-61.--The North offers Many Concessions
to the South.--Spirit of Conciliation.--Committee of Thirteen in
the Senate.--Committee of Thirty-three in the House.--Disagreement
of Senate Committee.--Propositions submitted to House Committee.--
Thomas Corwin's Measure.--Henry Winter Davis.--Justin S. Morrill--
Mr. Houston of Alabama.--Constitutional Amendment proposed by
Charles Francis Adams.--Report of the Committee of Thirty-three.--
Objectionable Measures proposed.--Minority Report by Southern
Members.--The Crittenden Compromise proposed.--Details of that
Compromise.--Mr. Adams's Double Change of Ground.--An Old Resolution
of the Massachusetts Legislature.--Mr. Webster's Criticism Pertinent.
--Various Minority Reports.--The California Members.--Washburn and
Tappan.--Amendment to the Constitution passed by the House.--By
the Senate also.--New Mexico.--The Fugitive-slave Law.--Mr. Clark
of New Hampshire.--Peace Congress.--Invited by Virginia.--Assembles
in Washington.--Peace Measures proposed.--They meet no Favor in
Congress.--Territories of Colorado, Dakota, and Nevada originated.
--Prohibition of Slavery abandoned.--Republicans in Congress do
not ask it.--Explanation required.--James S. Green of Missouri.--
His Character as a Debater.--Northern Republicans frightened at
their own Success.--Anxious for a Compromise.--Dread of Disunion.
--Northern Democrats.--Dangerous Course pursued by them.--General
Demoralization of Northern Sentiment.
CHAPTER XIII.
Mr. Lincoln's Journey from Springfield to Washington.--Speeches on
the Way.--Reaches Washington.--His Secret Journey.--Afterwards
regretted.--Precautions for his Safety.--President Buchanan.--
Secretary Holt.--Troops for the Protection of Washington.--Inauguration
of Mr. Lincoln.--Relief to the Public Anxiety.--Inaugural Address.
--Hopefulness and Security in the North.--Mr. Lincoln's Appeal to
the South.--Fails to appease Southern Wrath.--Dilemma of the South.
--The New Cabinet.--The "Easy Accession" of Former Times.--Seward
Secretary of State.--Chase at the Head of the Treasury.--Radical
Republicans dissatisfied.--Influence of the Blairs.--Comment of
Thaddeus Stevens.--The National Flag in the Confederacy.--Flying
at only Three Points.--Defenseless Condition of the Government.--
Confidence of Disunion Leaders.--Extra Session of the Senate.--
Douglas and Breckinridge.--Their Notable Debate.--Douglas's Reply
to Wigfall.--His Answer to Mason.--Condition of the Territories.--
Slavery not excluded by Law.--Public Opinion in Maine, 1861.--Mr.
Lincoln's Difficult Task.--His Wise Policy.--His Careful Preparation.
--Statesmanship of his Administration.
CHAPTER XIV.
President Lincoln and the Confederate Commissioners.--Misleading
Assurance given by Judge Campbell.--Mr. Seward's Answer to Messrs.
Forsythe and Crawford.--An Interview with the President is desired
by the Commissioners.--Rage in the South.--Condition of the Montgomery
Government.--Roger A. Pryor's Speech.--President determines to send
Provisions to Fort Sumter.--Advises Governor Pickens.--Conflict
precipitated.--The Fort surrenders.--Effect of the Conflict on the
North.--President's Proclamation and Call for Troops.--Responses
of Loyal States.--Popular Uprising.--Democratic Party.--Patriotism
of Senator Douglas.--His Relations with Mr. Lincoln.--His Death.--
Public Service and Character.--Effect of the President's Call on
Southern States.--North Carolina.--Tennessee.--Virginia.--Senator
Mason's Letter.--Responses of Southern Governors to the President's
Call for Troops.--All decline to comply.--Some of them with Insolent
Defiance.--Governors of the Free States.--John A. Andrew, E. D.
Morgan, Andrew G. Curtin, Oliver P. Morton.--Energetic and Patriotic
Action of all Northern Governors.--Exceptional Preparation in
Pennsylvania for the Conflict.--Governors of Free States all
Republicans except in California and Oregon.--Critical Situation
on Pacific Coast.--Loyalty of its People.--President's Reasons for
postponing Session of Congress.--Election in Kentucky.--Union
Victory.--John J. Crittenden and Garrett Davis.--John Bell.--
Disappoints Expectation of Union Men.--Responsibility of Southern
Whigs.--Their Power to arrest the Madness.--Audacity overcomes
Numbers.--Whig Party of the South.--Its Brilliant Array of Leaders.
--Its Destruction.
CHAPTER XV.
Thirty-Seventh Congress assembles.--Military Situation.--List of
Senators: Fessenden, Sumner, Collamer, Wade, Chandler, Hale,
Trumbull, Breckinridge, Baker of Oregon.--List of Members of the
House of Representatives: Thaddeus Stevens, Crittenden, Lovejoy,
Washburne, Bingham, Conkling, Shellabarger.--Mr. Grow elected
Speaker.--Message of President Lincoln.--Its Leading Recommendations.
--His Account of the Outbreak of the Rebellion.--Effect of the
Message on the Northern People.--Battle of Bull Run.--Its Effect
on Congress and the Country.--The Crittenden Resolution adopted.--
Its Significance.--Interesting Debate upon it in the Senate.--First
Action by Congress Adverse to Slavery.--Confiscation of Certain
Slaves.--Large Amount of Business dispatched by Congress.--Striking
and Important Debate between Baker and Breckinridge.--Expulsion of
Mr. Breckinridge from the Senate.--His Character.--Credit due to
Union Men of Kentucky.--Effect produced in the South of Confederate
Success at Bull Run.--Rigorous Policy adopted by the Confederate
Government.--Law respecting "Alien Enemies."--Law sequestrating
their Estates.--Rigidly enforced by Attorney-General Benjamin.--An
Injudicious Policy.
CHAPTER XVI.
Second Session of Thirty-seventh Congress.--The Military Situation.
--Disaster at Ball's Bluff.--Death of Colonel E. D. Baker.--The
President's Message.--Capital and Labor.--Their Relation discussed
by the President.--Agitation of the Slavery Question.--The House
refuses to re-affirm the Crittenden Resolution.--Secretary Cameron
resigns.--Sent on Russian Mission.--Succeeded by Edwin M. Stanton.
--His Vigorous War Measures.--Victories in the Field.--Battle of
Mill Spring.--General Order of the President for a Forward Movement.
--Capture of Fort Henry and Fort Donelson.--Prestige and Popularity
of General Grant.--Illinois Troops.--General Burnside's Victory in
North Carolina.--Effect of the Victories upon the Country.--Continued
Success for the Union in the South-West.--Proposed Celebration.--
The Monitor and the Merrimac.--Ericsson.--Worden.--Capture of New
Orleans by Farragut.--The Navy.--Its Sudden and Great Popularity.
--Legislation in its Favor.--Battle of Shiloh.--Anxiety in the
North.--Death of Albert Sidney Johnston.--General Halleck takes
the Field.--Military Situation in the East.--The President and
General McClellan.--The Peninsular Campaign.--Stonewall Jackson's
Raid.--Its Disastrous Effect.--Fear for Safety of Washington.--Anti-
Slavery Legislation.--District of Columbia.--Compensated Emancipation.
--Colonization.--Confiscation.--Punishment of Treason.
CHAPTER XVII.
Ball's Bluff Disaster.--Mr. Conkling's Resolution of Inquiry.--
Unsatisfactory Reply of Secretary Cameron.--Second Resolution.--
Second Reply.--Incidental Debate on Slavery.--Arrest of General
Charles P. Stone.--His History.--His Response to Criticisms made
upon him.--Responsibility of Colonel Baker.--General Stone before
the Committee on the Conduct of the War.--His Examination.--Testimony
of Officers.--General Stone appears before the Committee a Second
Time.--His Arrest by Order of the War Department.--No Cause assigned.
--Imprisoned in Fort Lafayette.--Solitary Confinement.--Sees Nobody.
--His Wife denied Access to him.--Subject brought into Congress.--
A Search for the Responsibility of the Arrest.--Groundless Assumption
of Mr. Sumner's Connection with it.--Mr. Lincoln's Message in Regard
to the Case.--General Stone's Final Release by an Act of Congress.
--Imprisoned for One Hundred and Eighty-nine Days.--Never told the
Cause.--Never allowed a Trial.--Appears a Third Time before the
Committee.--The True Responsibility for the Arrest.--His Restoration
to Service.--His Resignation.--Joins the Khedive's Service.
CHAPTER XVIII.
The National Finances.--Debt when the Civil War began.--Deadly Blow
to Public Credit.--Treasury Notes due in 1861.--$10,000,000 required.
--An Empty Treasury.--Recommendation by Secretary Dix.--Secretary
Thomas recommends a Pledge of the Public Lands.--Strange Suggestions.
--Heavy Burdens upon the Treasury.--Embarrassment of Legislators.
--First Receipts in the Treasury in 1861.--Chief Dependence had
always been on Customs.--Morrill Tariff goes into Effect.--It meets
Financial Exigencies.--Mr. Vallandigham puts our Revenue at
$50,000,000, our Expenditures at $500,000,000.--Annual Deficiency
under Mr. Buchanan.--Extra Session in July, 1861.--Secretary Chase
recommends $80,000,000 by Taxation, and $240,000,000 by Loans.--
Loan Bill of July 17, 1861.--Its Provisions.--Demand Notes.--Seven-
thirties.--Secretary Chase's Report, December, 1861.--Situation
Serious.--Sales of Public Lands.--Suspension of Specie Payment.--
The Loss of our Coin.--Its Steady Export to Europe.
CHAPTER XIX.
The Legal-tender Bill.--National Finances at the Opening of the
Year 1862.--A Threefold Contest.--The Country thrown upon its own
Resources.--A Good Currency demanded.--Government takes Control of
the Question.--Authorizes the Issue of $150,000,000 of Legal-tender
Notes.--Mr. Spaulding the Author of the Measure.--His Speech.--
Opposed by Mr. Pendleton.--Position of Secretary Chase.--Urges the
Measure upon Congress.--Speeches by Thaddeus Stevens, Mr. Vallandigham,
Mr. V. B. Horton, Mr. Lovejoy, Mr. Conkling, Mr. Hooper, Mr. Morrill,
Mr. Bingham, Mr. Shellabarger, Mr. Pike and Others.--Spirited and
Able Debate.--Bill passes the House.--Its Consideration by the
Senate.--Speeches by Mr. Fessenden, Mr. Sherman, Mr. Sumner, Mr.
Bayard, Mr. Collamer and Others.--Bill passes the Senate.--Its
Weighty Provisions.--Secretary Chase on State Banks.--Policy of
the Legal-tender Bill.--Its Effect upon the Business and Prosperity
of the Country.--Internal Revenue Act.--Necessity of Large Sums
from Taxation.--Public Credit dependent on it.--Constitutional
Provisions.--Financial Policy of Alexander Hamilton.--Excises
Unpopular.--Whiskey Insurrection.--Resistance by Law.--Supreme
Court Decision.--Case of Hylton.--Provisions of New Act.--Searching
Character.--Great Revenue desired.--Credit due to Secretary Chase.
CHAPTER XX.
Elections of 1862.--Mr. Lincoln advances to Aggressive Position on
Slavery.--Second Session of Thirty-seventh Congress adjourns.--
Democratic Hostility to Administration.--Democratic State Conventions.
--Platforms in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois.--Nomination
of Horatio Seymour for Governor of New York.--The President prepares
for a Serious Political Contest.--The Issue shall be the Union or
Slavery.--Conversation with Mr. Boutwell.--Proclamation of
Emancipation.--Meeting of Governors at Altoona.--Compensated
Emancipation proposed for Border States.--Declined by their Senators
and Representatives.--Anti-slavery Policy apparently Disastrous
for a Time.--October Elections Discouraging.--General James S.
Wadsworth nominated against Mr. Seymour.--Illinois votes against
the President.--Five Leading States against the President.--
Administration saved in Part by Border States.--Last Session of
Thirty-seventh Congress.--President urges Compensated Emancipation
again.--Emancipation Proclamation, January 1, 1863.--Long Controversy
over Question of Compensation for Slaves.--Test Case of Missouri.
--Fourteen Million Dollars offered her.--General Pope's Campaign.
--Army of the Potomac.--Battle of Antietam.--McClellan removed.--
Burnside succeeds him.--Defeat at Fredericksburg.--Hooker succeeds
Burnside.--General Situation.--Arming of Slaves.--Habeas Corpus.--
Conscription Law.--Depressed and Depressing Period.
CHAPTER XXI.
The President's Border-State Policy.--Loyal Government erected in
Virginia.--Recognized by Congress and Senators admitted.--Desire
for a New State.--The Long Dissatisfaction of the People of Western
Virginia.--The Character of the People and of their Section.--Their
Opportunity had come.--Organization of the Pierpont Government.--
State Convention and Constitution.--Application to Congress for
Admission.--Anti-slavery Amendment.--Senate Debate: Sumner, Wade,
Powell, Willey, and Others.--House Debate: Stevens, Conway, Bingham,
Segar.--Passage of Bill in Both Branches.--Heavy Blow to the Old
State.--Her Claims deserve Consideration.--Should be treated as
generously at least as Mexico.
CHAPTER XXII.
National Currency and State Bank Currency.--In Competition.--Legal-
tender Bill tended to expand State Bank Circulation.--Secretary
Chase's Recommendation.--Favorably received.--State Bank Circulation,
$150,000,000.--Preliminary Bill to establish National Banks.--
Fessenden.--Sherman.--Hooper.--National Bank System in 1862.--
Discussed among the People.--Recommended by the President.--Mr.
Chase urges it.--Bill introduced and discussed in Senate.--Discussion
in the House.--Bill passed.--Hugh McCulloch of Indiana appointed
Comptroller of the Currency.--Amended Bank Act.--To remedy Defects,
Circulation limited to $500,000,000.--National Power.--State Rights.
--Taxation.--Renewed Debate in Senate and House.--Bill passed.--
Merits of the System.--Former Systems.--First Bank of the United
States.--Charters of United-States Banks, 1791-1816.--National
Banks compared with United-States Banks.--One Defective Element.--
Founded on National Debt.
CHAPTER XXIII.
Depression among the People in 1863.--Military Situation.--Hostility
to the Administration.--Determination to break it down.--Vallandigham's
Disloyal Speech.--Two Rebellions threatened.--General Burnside
takes Command of the Department of the Ohio.--Arrests Vallandigham.
--Tries him by Military Commission.--His Sentence commuted by Mr.
Lincoln.--Habeas Corpus refused.--Democratic Party protests.--
Meeting in Albany.--Letter of Governor Seymour.--Ohio Democrats
send a Committee to Washington.--Mr. Lincoln's Replies to Albany
Meeting and to the Ohio Committee.--Effect of his Words upon the
Country.--Army of the Potomac.--General Hooker's Defeat at
Chancellorsville.--Gloom in the Country.--The President's Letters
to General Hooker.--General Meade succeeds Hooker in Command of
the Army.--Battle of Gettysburg.--Important Victory for the Union.
--Relief to the Country.--General Grant's Victory at Vicksburg.--
Fourth of July.--Notable Coincidence.--State Elections favorable
to the Administration.--Meeting of Thirty-eighth Congress.--Schuyler
Colfax elected Speaker.--Prominent New Members in Each Branch.--E.
D. Morgan, Alexander Ramsey, John Conness, Reverdy Johnson, Thomas
A. Hendricks, Henry Winter Davis, Robert C. Schenck, James A.
Garfield, William B. Allison.--President's Message.--Thirteenth
Amendment to the Constitution.--First proposed by James M. Ashley.
--John B. Henderson proposes Amendment which passes the Senate.--
Debate in Both Branches.--Aid to the Pacific Railroads.--Lieutenant-
General Grant.
CHAPTER XXIV.
Presidential Election of 1864.--Preliminary Movements.--General
Sentiment favors Mr. Lincoln.--Some Opposition to his Renomination.
--Secretary Chase a Candidate.--The "Pomeroy Circular."--Mr. Chase
withdraws.--Republican National Convention.--Baltimore, June 7.--
Fremont and Cochrane nominated.--Speech of Dr. Robert J. Breckinridge.
--Mr. Lincoln renominated.--Candidates for Vice-President.--Andrew
Johnson of Tennessee nominated.--Democratic National Convention.--
Chicago, August 29.--Military Situation discouraging.--Character
of the Convention.--Peace Party prevails.--Speeches of Belmont,
Bigler, Hunt, Long, Seymour.--Nomination of General McClellan for
President.--George H. Pendleton for Vice-President.--Platform.--
Suits Vallandigham.--General McClellan accepts, but evades the
Platform.--General Fremont withdraws.--Success of the Union Army.
--Mr. Lincoln's Popularity.--General McClellan steadily loses
Ground.--Sheridan's Brilliant Victories.--General McClellan receives
the Votes of only Three States.--Governor Seymour defeated in New
York.
CHAPTER XXV.
President's Message, December, 1864.--General Sherman's March.--
Compensated Emancipation abandoned.--Thirteenth Amendment.--Earnestly
recommended by the President.--He appeals to the Democratic Members.
--Mr. Ashley's Energetic Work.--Democratic Opportunity.--Unwisely
neglected.--Mr. Pendleton's Argument.--Final Vote.--Amendment
adopted.--Cases arising under it.--Supreme Court.--Change of Judges
at Different Periods.--Peace Conference at Fortress Monroe.--
Secretary Chase resigns.--Mr. Fessenden succeeds him.--Mr. Fessenden's
Report.--Surrender of Lee.--General Grant's Military Character.--
Assassination of President Lincoln.--His Characteristics.--Cost of
the War.--Compared with Wars of Other Nations.--Our Navy.--Created
during the War.--Effective Blockade.--Its Effect upon the South.--
Its Influence upon the Struggle.--Relative Numbers in Loyal and
Disloyal States.--Comparison of Union and Confederate Armies.--
Confederate Army at the Close of the War.--Union Armies compared
with Armies of Foreign Countries.--Area of the War.--Its Effect
upon the Cost.--Character of Edwin M. Stanton.
CHAPTER XXVI.
Relations with Great Britain.--Close of the Year 1860.--Prince of
Wales's Visit to the United States.--Exchange of Congratulatory
Notes.--Dawn of the Rebellion.--Lord Lyons' Dispatch.--Mr. Seward's
Views.--Lord John Russell's Threats.--Condition of Affairs at Mr.
Lincoln's Inauguration.--Unfriendly Manifestations by Great Britain.
--Recognizes Belligerency of Southern States.--Discourtesy to
American Minister.--England and France make Propositions to the
Confederate States.--Unfriendly in their Character to the United
States.--Full Details given.--Motives inquired into.--Trent Affair.
--Lord John Russell.--Lord Lyons.--Mr. Seward.--Mason and Slidell
released.--Doubtful Grounds assigned.--Greater Wrongs against us
by Great Britain.--Queen Victoria's Friendship.--Isolation of United
States.--Foreign Aid to Confederates on the Sea.--Details given.--
So-called Neutrality.--French Attempt to establish an Empire in
Mexico.--Lord Palmerston in 1848, in 1859, in 1861.--Conclusive
Observations.
ADDENDUM
ERRATUM
APPENDICES
LIST OF STEEL PORTRAITS.
THE AUTHOR
ABRAHAM LINCOLN
CHARLES SUMNER
STEPHEN A. DOUGLAS
WILLIAM PITT FESSENDEN
JOHN C. BRECKINRIDGE
HENRY WINTER DAVIS
THADDEUS STEVENS
BENJAMIN F. WADE
ELIHU B. WASHBURNE
ROBERT C. SCHENCK
WILLIAM D. KELLEY
SAMUEL SHELLABARGER
JUSTIN S. MORRILL
GEORGE S. BOUTWELL
REUBEN E. FENTON
OLIVER P. MORTON
ZACHARIAH CHANDLER
HENRY B. ANTHONY
THOMAS A. HENDRICKS
SIMON CAMERON
JAMES W. GRIMES
JOHN P. HALE
JOHN SHERMAN
WILLIAM WINDOM
JOHN B. HENDERSON
JOHN J. INGALLS
FREDERICK T. FRELINGHUYSEN
CARL SCHURZ
JOHN A. LOGAN
MAP SHOWING THE TERRITORIAL GROWTH OF THE UNITED STATES
TWENTY YEARS OF CONGRESS.
CHAPTER I.
Original Compromises between the North and the South embodied in
the Constitution.--Early Dissatisfaction with National Boundaries.
--Acquisition of Louisiana from France by President Jefferson.--
Bonaparte's Action and Motive in ceding Louisiana.--State of
Louisiana admitted to the Union against Opposition in the North.--
Agitation of the Slavery Question in Connection with the Admission
of Missouri to the Union.--The Two Missouri Compromises of 1820
and 1821.--Origin and Development of the Abolition Party.--Struggle
over the Right of Petition.
The compromises on the Slavery question, inserted in the Constitution,
were among the essential conditions upon which the Federal Government
was organized. If the African slave-trade had not been permitted
to continue for twenty years, if it had not been conceded that
three-fifths of the slaves should be counted in the apportionment
of representatives in Congress, if it had not been agreed that
fugitives from service should be returned to their owners, the
Thirteen States would not have been able in 1787 "to form a more
perfect union." These adjustments in the Constitution were effected
after the Congress of the old Confederation had dedicated the entire
North-west Territory to freedom. The ancient commonwealth of
Virginia had, for the good of all, generously and patriotically
surrendered her title to the great country north of the Ohio and
east of the Mississippi, which to-day constitutes five prosperous
and powerful States and a not inconsiderable portion of a sixth.
This was the first territory of which the General Government had
exclusive control, and the prompt prohibition of slavery therein
by the Ordinance of 1787 is an important and significant fact.
The anti-slavery restriction would doubtless have been applied to
the territory south of the Ohio had the power existed to impose
it. The founders of the government not only looked to the speedy
extinction of slavery, but they especially abhorred the idea of a
geographical line, with freedom decreed on one side, and slavery
established on the other. But the territory south of the Ohio
belonged to the Southern States of the Union,--Kentucky to Virginia;
Tennessee to North Carolina; Alabama and Mississippi to Georgia,
with certain co-extensive claims put forth by South Carolina. When
cessions of this Southern territory were made to the General
Government, the States owning it exacted in every case a stipulation
that slavery should not be prohibited. It thus came to pass that
the Ohio River was the dividing-line. North of it freedom was
forever decreed. South of it slavery was firmly established.
Within the limits of the Union as originally formed the slavery
question had therefore been compromised, the common territory
partitioned, and the Republic, half slave, half free, organized
and sent forth upon its mission.
The Thirteen States whose independence had been acknowledged by
George III., occupied with their outlying territories a vast area,
exceeding in the aggregate eight hundred thousand square miles.
Extended as was this domain, the early statesmen of the Union
discovered that its boundaries were unsatisfactory,--hostile to
our commercial interests in time of peace, and menacing our safety
in time of war. The Mississippi River was our western limit. On
its farther shore, from the Lake of the Woods to the Balize, we
met the flag of Spain. Our southern border was the 31st parallel
of latitude; and the Spanish Floridas, stretching across to the
Mississippi, lay between us and the Gulf of Mexico. We acquired
from Spain the right of deposit for exports and imports at New
Orleans, but the citizens of the Union who lived west of the
Alleganies were discontented and irritated to find a foreign power
practically controlling their trade by intercepting their access
to the sea. One of the great problems imposed upon the founders
of the Union was to remove the burdens and embarrassments which
obstructed the development of the Western States, and thus to render
their inhabitants as loyal by reason of material prosperity as they
already were in patriotic sympathy. The opportunity for relief
came from remote and foreign causes, without our own agency; but
the courageous statesmanship which discerned and grasped the
opportunity, deserved, as it has received, the commemoration of
three generations. The boundaries of the Union were vastly enlarged,
but the geographical change was not greater than the effect produced
upon the political and social condition of the people. The ambitions
developed by the acquisition of new territory led to serious
conflicts of opinion between North and South,--conflicts which
steadily grew in intensity until, by the convulsion of war, slavery
was finally extinguished.
TERRITORIAL CESSIONS IN AMERICA.
A great European struggle, which ended twelve years before our
Revolution began, had wrought important changes in the political
control of North America. The Seven Years' War, identical in time
with the French and Indian War in America, was closed in 1763 by
numerous treaties to which every great power in Europe was in some
sense a party. One of the most striking results of these treaties
on this side of the Atlantic was the cession of Florida to Great
Britain by Spain in exchange for the release of Cuba, which the
English and colonial forces under Lord Albemarle had wrested from
Spanish authority the preceding year. England held Florida for
twenty years, when among the disasters brought upon her by our
Revolution was its retrocession to Spain in 1783,--a result which
was accounted by our forefathers a great gain to the new Republic.
Still more striking were the losses of France. Fifty years before,
by the Treaty of Utrecht, France had surrendered to England the
island of Newfoundland, Nova Scotia (then including New Brunswick),
and the Hudson-bay Territory. She now gave up Canada and Cape
Breton, acknowledged the sovereignty of Great Britain in the original
thirteen Colonies as extending to the Mississippi, and, by a separate
treaty, surrendered Louisiana on the west side of the Mississippi,
with New Orleans on the east side, to Spain. Thus, in 1763, French
power disappeared from North American. The last square mile of
the most valuable colonial territory ever possessed by a European
sovereign was lost under the weak and effeminate rule of Louis XV.,
a reign not fitted for successful war, but distinguished only, as
one of its historians says, for "easy-mannered joyance, and the
brilliant charm of fashionable and philosophical society."
The country which France surrendered to Spain was of vast but
indefinite extent. Added to her other North-American colonies, it
gave to Spain control of more than half the continent. She continued
in possession of Louisiana until the year 1800, when, during some
European negotiations, Bonaparte concluded a treaty at San Ildefonso
with Charles IV., by which the entire territory was retroceded to
France. When the First Consul acquired Louisiana, he appeared to
look forward to a career of peace,--an impression greatly strengthened
by the conclusion of the treaty of Amiens the ensuing year. He
added to his prestige as a ruler when he regained from Spain the
American empire which the Bourbons had weakly surrendered thirty-
seven years before, and he expected a large and valuable addition
to the trade and resources of France from the vast colonial
possession. The formal transfer of so great a territory on a
distant continent was necessarily delayed; and, before the Captain-
general of France reached New Orleans in 1803, the Spanish authorities,
still in possession, had become so odious to the inhabitants of
the western section of the Union by their suspension of the right
of deposit at New Orleans, that there was constant danger of an
armed collision. Mr. Ross of Pennsylvania, an able and conservative
statesman, moved in the Senate of the United States that the
government be instructed to seize New Orleans. Gouverneur Morris,
a statesman of the Revolutionary period, then a senator from New
York, seconded Mr. Ross. So intense was the feeling among the
people that a large army of volunteers could have been easily raised
in the Mississippi valley to march against New Orleans; but the
prudence of Mr. Jefferson restrained every movement that might
involve us in a war with Spain, from which nothing was to be gained,
and by which every thing would be risked.
THE PURCHASE OF LOUISIANA.
Meanwhile Mr. Robert R. Livingston, our minister at Paris, was
pressing the French Government for concessions touching the free
navigation of the Mississippi and the right of deposit at New
Orleans, and was speaking to the First Consul, as a French historian
observes, in a tone which "arrested his attention, and aroused him
to a sense of the new power that was growing beyond the sea." Mr.
Livingston was re-enforced by Mr. Monroe, sent out by President
Jefferson as a special envoy in the spring of 1803, in order to
effect some adjustment of the irritating questions which were
seriously endangering the relations between France and the United
States. The instructions of Mr. Madison, then secretary of State,
to Mr. Monroe, show that the utmost he expected was to acquire from
France the city of New Orleans and the Floridas, of which he believed
France either then was, or was about to become, the actual owner.
Indeed, the treaty by which France had acquired Louisiana was but
imperfectly understood; and, in the slowness and difficulty of
communication, Mr. Madison could not accurately know the full extent
of the cession made at San Ildefonso. But Mr. Jefferson did not
wait to learn the exact provisions of that treaty. He knew
instinctively that they deeply concerned the United States. He
saw with clear vision that by the commercial disability upon the
western section of the Union its progress would be obstructed, its
already attained prosperity checked; and that possibly its population,
drawn first into discontent with the existing order of things,
might be seduced into new and dangerous alliances. He determined,
therefore, to acquire the control of the left bank of the Mississippi
to its mouth, and by the purchase of the Floridas to give to Georgia
and the Mississippi territory (now constituting the States of
Alabama and Mississippi) unobstructed access to the Gulf.
But events beyond the ocean were working more rapidly for the
interest of the United States than any influence which the government
itself could exert. Before Mr. Monroe reached France in the spring
of 1803, another war-cloud of portentous magnitude was hanging over
Europe. The treaty of Amiens had proved only a truce. Awkwardly
constructed, misconstrued and violated by both parties, it was
about to be formally broken. Neither of the plenipotentiaries who
signed the treaty was skilled in diplomacy. Joseph Bonaparte acted
for his brother; England was represented by Lord Cornwallis, who
twenty years before had surrendered the British army at Yorktown.
The wits of London described him afterwards as a general who could
neither conduct a war nor conclude a peace.
Fearing that, in the threatened conflict, England, by her superior
naval force, would deprive him of his newly acquired colonial
empire, and greatly enhance her own prestige by securing all the
American possessions which France had owned prior to 1763, Bonaparte,
by a dash in diplomacy as quick and as brilliant as his tactics on
the field of battle, placed Louisiana beyond the reach of British
power. After returning to St. Cloud from the religious services
of Easter Sunday, April 10, 1803, he called two of his most trusted
advisers, and, in a tone of vehemence and passion, said,--
"I know the full value of Louisiana, and have been desirous of
repairing the fault of the French negotiators who lost it in 1763.
A few lines of a treaty have restored it to me, and now I must
expect to lose it. . . . The English wish to take possession of
it, and it is thus they will begin the war. . . . They have already
twenty ships of the line in the Gulf of Mexico. . . . The conquest
of Louisiana would be easy. I have not a moment to lose in putting
it out of their reach. . . . The English have successively taken
from France the Canadas, Cape Breton, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia,
and the richest portions of Asia. But they shall not have the
Mississippi, which they covet."
The discussion went far into the night. The two ministers differed
widely in the advice which they gave the First Consul; one was in
favor of holding Louisiana at all hazards; the other urged its
prudent cession rather than its inevitable loss by war. They both
remained at St. Cloud for the night. At daybreak the minister who
had advised the cession was summoned by Bonaparte to read dispatches
from London, that moment received, which certainly foreshadowed
war, as the English were making military and naval preparations
with extraordinary rapidity. After reading the dispatches, the
First Consul said,
"Irresolution and deliberation are no longer in season. I renounce
Louisiana. It is not only New Orleans that I will cede, it is the
whole colony without any reservation. I know the value of what I
abandon. It renounce it with the gravest regret. To attempt
obstinately to retain it would be folly. I direct you to negotiate
this affair with the envoy of the United States. Do not even wait
the arrival of Mr. Monroe. Have an interview this very day with
Mr. Livingston. . . . But I require a great deal of money for this
war. I will be moderate. I want fifty millions for Louisiana."
The minister, who was opposed to the sale, interposed, in a subsequent
interview, some observations "upon what the Germans call the _souls_,
as to whether they could be the subject of a contract or sale."
Bonaparte replied with undisguised sarcasm,--
"You are giving me the ideology of the law of nature. But I require
money to make war on the richest nation in the world. Send your
maxims to London. I am sure they will be greatly admired there."
The First Consul afterwards added, "Perhaps it will be objected
that the Americans will be found too powerful for Europe in two or
three centuries; but my foresight does not embrace such remote
fears. Besides, we may hereafter expect rivalries among the members
of the Union. The confederations, which are called perpetual, only
last till one of the contracting parties finds it in his interest
to break them."
SUCCESS OF JEFFERSON'S DIPLOMACY.
Two days after this conversation Mr. Monroe opportunely arrived,
and on the 30th of April the treaty ceding Louisiana to the United
States was formally concluded. Mr. Monroe and Mr. Livingston had
no authority to negotiate for so vast an extent of territory; but
the former was fully possessed of President Jefferson's views, and
felt assured that his instructions would have been ample if the
condition of France had been foreseen when he sailed from America.
Communication with Washington was impossible. Under the most
favorable circumstances, an answer could not be expected in less
then three months. By that time British ships would probably hold
the mouths of the Mississippi, and the flag of St. George be waving
over New Orleans. Monroe and Livingston both realized that hesitation
would be fatal; and they boldly took the responsibility of purchasing
a territory of unknown but prodigious extent, and of pledging the
credit of the government for a sum which, rated by the ability to
pay, was larger than a similar pledge to-day for five hundred
millions of dollars.
The price agreed upon was eleven million two hundred and fifty
thousand dollars in six per cent United States bonds, the interest
of which was made payable in London, Amsterdam, and Paris, and the
principal at the treasury in Washington in sums of three millions
per annum, beginning fifteen years after the bonds were issued.
In a separate treaty made the same day, the United States agreed
to pay twenty million francs additional, to be applied by France
to the satisfaction of certain claims owed to American citizens.
Thus the total cost of Louisiana was eighty millions of francs,
or, in round numbers, fifteen millions of dollars.
No difficulty was experienced in putting the United States in
possession of the territory and of its chief emporium, New Orleans.
The French Government had regarded the possession of so much
consequence, that Bernadotte, afterwards King of Sweden, was at
one time gazetted as Captain-general; and, some obstacles supervening,
the eminent General Victor, afterwards Marshal of France and Duke
of Belluno, was named in his stead. But all these plans were
brushed aside by one stroke of Bonaparte's pen; and the United
States, in consequence of favoring circumstances growing out of
European complications, and the bold and competent statesmanship
of Jefferson, obtained a territory larger in area than that which
was wrested from the British crown by the Revolutionary war.
It seems scarcely credible that the acquisition of Louisiana by
Jefferson was denounced with a bitterness surpassing the partisan
rancor with which later generations have been familiar. No abuse
was too malignant, no epithet too coarse, no imprecation too savage,
to be employed by the assailants of the great philosophic statesman
who laid so broad and deep the foundations of his country's growth
and grandeur. President of a feeble republic, contending for a
prize which was held by the greatest military power of Europe, and
whose possession was coveted by the greatest naval power of the
world, Mr. Jefferson, through his chosen and trusted agents, so
conducted his important negotiation that the ambition of the United
States was successfully interposed between the necessities of the
one and the aggressive designs of the other. Willing to side with
either of these great powers, for the advantage of his own country,
not underrating the dangers of war, yet ready to engage in it for
the control of the great water-way to the Gulf, the President made
the largest conquest ever peacefully achieved, and at a cost so
small that the total sum expended for the entire territory does
not equal the revenue which has since been collected on its soil
in a single month in time of great public peril. The country thus
acquired forms to-day the States of Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri,
Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, Minnesota west of the Mississippi, Colorado
north of the Arkansas, besides the Indian Territory and the
Territories of Dakota, Wyoming, and Montana. Texas was also included
in the transfer, but the Oregon country was not. The Louisiana
purchase did not extend beyond the main range of the Rocky Mountains,
and our title to that large area which is included in the State of
Oregon and in the Territories of Washington and Idaho rests upon
a different foundation, or, rather, upon a series of claims, each
of which was strong under the law of nations. We claimed it first
by right of original discovery of the Columbia River by an American
navigator in 1792; second, by original exploration in 1805; third,
by original settlement in 1810, by the enterprising company of
which John Jacob Astor was the head; and, lastly and principally,
by the transfer of the Spanish title in 1819, many years after the
Louisiana purchase was accomplished. It is not, however, probable
that we should have been able to maintain our title to Oregon if
we had not secured the intervening country. It was certainly our
purchase of Louisiana that enabled us to secure the Spanish title
to the shores of the Pacific, and without that title we could hardly
have maintained our claim. As against England our title seemed to
us to be perfect, but as against Spain our case was not so strong.
The purchase of Louisiana may therefore be fairly said to have
carried with it and secured to us our possession of Oregon.
The acquisition of Louisiana brought incalculable wealth, power,
and prestige to the Union, and must always be regarded as the master-
stroke of policy which advanced the United States from a comparatively
feeble nation, lying between the Atlantic and the Mississippi, to
a continental power of assured strength and boundless promise.
The _coup d'etat_ of the First Consul was an overwhelming surprise
and disappointment to the English Government. Bonaparte was right
in assuming that prompt action on his part was necessary to save
Louisiana from the hands of the English. Twelve days after the
treaty ceding Louisiana to the United States was signed, the British
ambassador at Paris, Lord Whitworth, demanded his passports. At
Dover he met the French ambassador to England, General Andreossy,
who had likewise demanded his passports. Lord Whitworth loaded
General Andreossy with tokens of esteem, and conducted him to the
ship which was to bear him back to France. According to an eminent
historian, "the two ambassadors parted in the presence of a great
concourse of people, agitated, uneasy, sorrowful. On the eve of
so important a determination, the warlike passion subsided; and
men were seized with a dread of the consequences of a desperate
conflict. At this solemn moment the two nations seemed to bid each
other adieu, not to meet again till after a tremendous war and the
convulsion of the world."
THE DESIGNS OF ENGLAND FOILED.
England's acquisition of Louisiana would have proved in the highest
degree embarrassing, if not disastrous, to the Union. At that time
the forts of Spain, transferred to France, and thence to the United
States, were on the east side of the Mississippi, hundreds of miles
from its mouth. If England had seized Louisiana, as Bonaparte
feared, the Floridas, cut off from the other colonies of Spain,
would certainly have fallen into her hands by easy and prompt
negotiation, as they did, a few years later, into the hands of the
United States. England would thus have had her colonies planted
on the three land-sides of the Union, while on the ocean-side her
formidable navy confronted the young republic. No colonial
acquisition ever made by her on any continent has been so profitable
to her commerce, and so strengthening her military position, as
that of Louisiana would have proved. This fact was clearly seen
by Bonaparte when he hastily made the treaty ceding it to the United
States. That England did not at once attempt to seize it, in
disregard of Bonaparte's cession, has been a source of surprise to
many historians. The obvious reason is that she dreaded the
complication of a war in America when she was about to assume so
heavy a burden in the impending European conflict. The inhabitants
of the Union in 1803 were six millions in number, of great energy
and confidence. A large proportion of them were accustomed to the
sea and could send swarms of privateers to prey on British commerce.
Independent citizens would be even more formidable than were the
rebellious colonists in the earlier struggle with the mother country,
and, acting in conjunction with France, could effectively maintain
a contest. Considerations of this nature doubtless induced the
Addington ministry to acquiesce quietly in a treaty whose origin
and whose assured results were in every way distasteful, and even
offensive, to the British Government.
The extent and boundaries of the territory thus ceded by France
were ill-defined, and, in fact, unknown. The French negotiator
who conferred with Monroe and Livingston, declared a large portion
of the country transferred to be no better known at the time "than
when Columbus landed at the Bahamas." There was no way by which
accurate metes and bounds could be described. This fact disturbed
the upright and conscientious Marbois, who thought that "treaties
of territorial cession should contain a guaranty from the grantor."
He was especially anxious, moreover, that no ambiguous clauses
should be introduced in the treaty. He communicated his troubles
on this point to the First Consul, advising him that it seemed
impossible to construct the treaty so as to free it from obscurity
on the important matter of boundaries. Far from exhibiting any
sympathy with his faithful minister's solicitude on this point,
Bonaparte quietly informed him that, "if an obscurity did not
already exist, it would perhaps be good policy to put one in the
treaty." In the possibilities of the First Consul's future, the
acquisition of Spanish America may have been expected, or at least
dreamed of, by him; and an ill-defined, uncertain boundary for
Louisiana might possibly, in a few years, be turned greatly to his
advantage.
EXPANSION OF OUR BOUNDARIES.
There was certainly obscurity enough in the transfer to satisfy
the fullest desire of Bonaparte. France ceded Louisiana to the
United States "with all its rights and appurtenances," as acquired
by the retrocession from Spain under the treaty of San Ildefonso,
Oct. 1, 1800; and by that treaty Spain had "transferred it to France
with the same extent it then had in the hands of Spain, and that
it had when France previously possessed it, and such as it should
be with the treaties subsequently entered into between Spain and
other States." This was simply giving to us what Spain had given
to France, and that was only what France had before given to Spain,
--complicated with such treaties as Spain might have made during
the thirty-seven years of her ownership. It was evident, therefore,
from the very hour of the acquisition, that we should have abundant
trouble with our only remaining neighbors in North America, Spain
and Great Britain, in adjusting the boundaries of the vast country
which we had so successfully acquired from France.
Fortunately for the United States, the patriotic and far-seeing
administration of Mr. Jefferson was as energetic in confirming as
it had been in acquiring our title to the invaluable domain. As
soon as the treaty was received the President called an extra
session of Congress, which assembled on the 17th of October, 1803.
Before the month had expired the treaty was confirmed, and the
President was authorized to take possession of the territory of
Louisiana, and to maintain therein the authority of the United
States. This was not a mere paper warrant for exhibiting a nominal
supremacy by floating our flag, but it gave to the President the
full power to employ the army and navy of the United States and
the militia of the several States to the number of eighty thousand.
It was a wise and energetic measure for the defense of our newly
acquired territory, which in the disturbed condition of Europe,
with all the Great Powers arming from Gibraltar to the Baltic,
might at any moment be invaded or imperiled. The conflict of arms
did not occur until nine years after; and it is a curious and not
unimportant fact, that the most notable defeat of the British troops
in the second war of Independence, as the struggle of 1812 has been
well named, occurred on the soil of the territory for whose protection
the original precaution had been taken by Jefferson.
With all these preparations for defense, Mr. Jefferson did not wait
to have our title to Louisiana questioned or limited. He set to
work at once to proclaim it throughout the length and breadth of
the territory which had been ceded, and to the treaty of cession
he gave the most liberal construction. According to the President,
Louisiana stretched as far to the northward as the Lake of the
Woods; towards the west as far as the Rio Grande in the lower part,
and, in the upper part, to the main chain of mountains dividing
the waters of the Pacific from the waters of the Atlantic. To
establish our sovereignty to the shores of the Pacific became a
matter of instant solicitude with the watchful and patriotic
President. In the previous session he had obtained from Congress
an appropriation of two millions of dollars "for the purpose of
defraying any extraordinary expenses which may be incurred in the
intercourse between the United States and foreign nations." In
the confidential message which so promptly secured the money, the
President suggested that the object to be accomplished was a better
understanding with the Indian tribes, and the fitting out of an
exploring and scientific expedition across the continent, though
our own domain at the time was terminated on the west by the
Mississippi. It was believed, that, between the lines of the
message, Congress could read that our negotiations with France and
Spain touching the free navigation of the Mississippi might soon
reach a crisis. Hence the prompt appropriation of a sum of money
which for the national treasury of that day was very large.
LEWIS AND CLARKE EXPEDITION.
The two men selected to conduct the expedition across the continent,
Meriwether Lewis and William Clarke, were especially fitted for
their arduous task. Both were officers in the army, holding the
rank of captain. Lewis had been private secretary to the President,
and Clarke was brother to the heroic George Rogers Clarke, whose
services were of peculiar value in the Revolutionary struggle.
Before they could complete the preparations for their long and
dangerous journey, the territory to be traversed had been transferred
to the United States, and the expedition at once assumed a significance
and importance little dreamed of when Jefferson first conceived
it. The original design had been a favorite one with Mr. Jefferson
for many years. When he resided at Paris as our minister, before
the Federal Government was organized, he encouraged a similar
expedition, to be fitted out in Kamtchatka, to sail to our western
coast, and thence to come eastward across the continent. This
design was to be executed by the somewhat noted John Ledyard, a
roving and adventurous man from Connecticut, who had accompanied
Captain Cook on his famous voyage to the Pacific, and whom Jefferson
afterwards met in Paris. The necessary authority was obtained from
the Russian Government; but, after Ledyard had reached the borders
of Kamtchatka, he was suddenly recalled, driven with speed day and
night in a closed carriage, on a return journey of several thousand
miles, and set down in Poland, penniless, and utterly broken in
health. This strange action was the offspring of jealousy on the
part of the Empress Catharine, who feared that the energy of the
young and vigorous government of the United States would absorb
the north-west coast of America, upon which the Russian Government
had already set its ambition.
The success of the Lewis and Clarke expedition aided greatly in
sustaining our title to the Oregon country. The joint leaders of
it became celebrated by their arduous achievement, and were rewarded
accordingly. Lewis was appointed governor of Louisiana territory
in 1807, and held the position until his death in 1809; while Clarke
was for a long period governor of the territory of Missouri, serving
in that capacity when the State was admitted to the Union. But
while the Lewis and Clarke expedition largely increased our knowledge
of the country, and added to the strength of our title, it did not
definitely settle any disputed question. With Spain we had constant
trouble in regard to the boundaries of Louisiana, both on the west
in the direction of Texas, and on the east along the confines of
Florida. She had always been dissatisfied with Bonaparte's transfer
of Louisiana to the United States. If that result could have been
foreseen, the treaty of San Ildefonso would never have been made.
The government of the United States believed that Louisiana, as
held by France, had bordered on the Rio Grande, and that, by the
treaty with Bonaparte, we were entitled to territory in the direction
of Florida as far as the Perdido. In the vexatious war with the
Seminoles, General Jackson did not hesitate to march across the
line, capture Pensacola, and seize the Barancas. The comments,
official and personal, which were made on that rash exploit, led
to controversies and estrangements which affected political parties
for many years after. Jackson's hostility to John Quincy Adams,
his exasperating quarrel with Clay, his implacable hatred for
Calhoun, all had their origin in events connected with the Florida
campaign of 1818.
To compose the boundary troubles with Spain, a treaty was negotiated
in 1819, which, with many gains, entailed some signal losses upon
the United States. The whole of Florida was ceded by Spain, an
acquisition which proved of great value to us in every point of
view. As Florida had become separated from the other Spanish
colonies by the cession of Louisiana, the government at Madrid
found difficulty in satisfactorily administering its affairs and
guarding its safety. South of the United States, to the Straits
of Magellan, the Spanish flag floated over every foot of the
continent except the Empire of Brazil and some small colonies in
Guiana. The cession of Louisiana to Bonaparte involved the loss
of Florida which was now formally transferred to the United States.
But Spain received more than an equivalent. The whole of Texas
was fairly included in the Louisiana purchase,--if the well-studied
opinion of such eminent statesmen as Clay, John Quincy Adams, Van
Buren, and Benton may be accepted,--and we paid dearly for Florida
by agreeing to retreat from the Rio Grande to the Sabine as our
south-western frontier, thus surrendering Texas to Mexico. The
western boundary of the Louisiana territory was defined as beginning
at the mouth of the Sabine (which is the boundary of the State of
Louisiana to-day), continuing along its western bank to the 32 deg. of
north latitude, thence by a line due north to the Red River, thence
up the Red River to the 100th meridian west from Greenwich, or the
23d west from Washington, thence due north to the Arkansas, thence
following the Arkansas to its source in latitude 42 deg., and thence
by that parallel to the Pacific Ocean. Should the Arkansas fall
short of the 42 deg., a due north line to that parallel was to be taken.
The United States solemnly renounced all claim to territories west
or south of the line just mentioned, and Spain renounced all claim
to territory east or north of it. Thus all boundary disputes with
Spain were ended, and peace was secured, though at a great cost;
as events in after years so fully proved.
LOUISIANA ADMITTED AS A STATE.
Meanwhile territorial government had been established over a large
section of the country acquired from France; and it was rapidly
peopled by an enterprising emigration, almost wholly from the
Southern States. Louisiana sought to enter the Union in 1811, and
then for the first time occurred an agitation in Congress over the
admission of a slave State. Opposition to it was not, however,
grounded so much upon the existence of slavery as upon the alleged
violation of the Constitution in forming a State from territory
not included in the original government of the Union. Josiah Quincy
of Massachusetts made a violent speech against it, declaring that
if Louisiana were admitted, "the bonds of this Union are virtually
dissolved; that the States which compose it are free from their
moral obligations; and that, as it will be right of all, so it will
be the duty of some, to prepare definitely for a separation, amicably
if they can, violently if they must." Mr. Quincy was disquieted
at the mere thought of extending the Union beyond its original
limits. He had "heard with alarm that six States might grow up
beyond the Mississippi, and that the mouth of the Ohio might be
east of the centre of a contemplated empire." He declared that
"it was not for these men that our fathers fought, not for them
that the Constitution was adopted. Our fathers were not madmen:
they had not taken degrees at the hospital of idiocy." He maintained
with great vehemence that there was "no authority to throw the
rights and liberties of this people into 'hotchpot' with the wild
men of the Missouri, nor with the mixed, though more respectable,
race of Anglo-Hispano-Gallo-Americans who bask on the sands in the
mouth of the Mississippi." Mr. Quincy's sentiments were far more
radical than those held by the mass of Northern or New-England
people, yet there was undoubtedly a strong opposition to the
admission of Louisiana. Many Northern men had opposed the purchase
of the territory from France, believing it to be unconstitutional;
and they dreaded the introduction of senators and representatives
from territory which they considered foreign. Nevertheless the
bill admitting the State passed the House by a vote of two-thirds
of the members. The opposition was wholly from the North, and
largely from New England. The contest was confined to Congress--
the issue failing to excite popular interest. A majority of the
people, both North and South, were convinced that the ownership of
the mouth of the Mississippi was of inestimable value to the Union,
and that it could not be permanently secured except by admitting
as a State the territory which included and controlled it. This
conclusion was strengthened by the near approach of war with Great
Britain, soon after formally declared. The advantage of a loyal
and devoted population at New Orleans, identified in interest and
in sympathy with the government, was too evident to need argument.
If the weight of reason had not already been on the side of admitting
Louisiana, the necessities of war would have enforced it.
Six years after Louisiana entered the Union, Missouri applied for
admission as a slave State. A violent agitation at once arose,
continued for two years, and was finally allayed by the famous
compromise of 1820. The outbreak was so sudden, its course so
turbulent, and its subsidence so complete, that for many years it
was regarded as phenomenal in our politics, and its repetition in
the highest degree improbable if not impossible. The "Missouri
question," as it was popularly termed, formally appeared in Congress
in the month of December, 1818; though during the preceding session
petitions for a State government had been received from the
inhabitants of that territory. When the bill proposing to admit
the State came before the House, Mr. James Tallmadege, jun., of
New York, moved to amend it by providing that "the further introduction
of slavery be prohibited in said State of Missouri, and that all
children born in that State after its admission to the Union shall
be free at the age of twenty-five years." The discussion which
followed was able, excited, and even acrimonious. Mr. Clay took
an active part against the amendment, but his great influence was
unavailing in the face of the strong anti-slavery sentiment which
was so suddenly developed in the North. Both branches of Mr.
Tallmadge's amendment were adopted and the bill was passed. In
the Senate the anti-slavery amendment encountered a furious opposition
and was rejected by a large majority. The House refused to recede;
and, amid great excitement in the country and no little temper in
Congress, each branch voted to adhere to its position. Thus for
the time Missouri was kept out of the Union.
On the second day after the opening of the next Congress, December,
1819, Mr. John Holmes presented a memorial in the House of
Representatives from a convention which had been lately held in
the District of Maine, praying for the admission of said district
into the Union "as a separate and independent State, on an equal
footing with the original States." On the same day, and immediately
after Mr. Holmes had taken his seat, Mr. John Scott, territorial
delegate, brought before the House the memorial presented in the
previous Congress for the admission of Missouri on the same terms
of independence and equality with the old States as prayed for by
Maine. From that hour it was found impossible to consider the
admission of Maine and Missouri separately. Geographically remote,
differing in soil, climate, and products, incapable of competing
with each other in any pursuit, they were thrown into rivalry by
the influence of the one absorbing question of negro slavery.
Southern men were unwilling that Maine should be admitted unless
the enabling Act for Missouri should be passed at the same time,
and Northern men were unwilling that any enabling Act should be
passed for Missouri which did not contain an anti-slavery restriction.
Mr. Clay, then an accepted leader of Southern sentiment,--which in
his later life he ceased to be,--made an earnest, almost fiery,
speech on the question. He declared that before the Maine bill
should be finally acted on, he wanted to know "whether certain
doctrines of an alarming character, with respect to a restriction
on the admission of new States west of the Mississippi, were to be
sustained on this floor." He wanted to know "what conditions
Congress could annex to the admission of a new State; whether,
indeed, there could be a partition of its sovereignty."
THE FIRST MISSOURI COMPROMISE.
Despite the eloquence and the great influence of the Speaker, the
Southern representatives were overborne and the House adopted the
anti-slavery restriction. The Senate refused to concur, united
Maine and Missouri in one bill, and passed it with an entirely new
feature, which was proposed by Mr. Jesse B. Thomas, a senator from
Illinois. That feature was simply the provision, since so widely
known as the Missouri Compromise, which forever prohibited slavery
north of 36 deg. 30' in all the territory acquired from France by the
Louisiana purchase. The House would not consent to admit the two
States in the same bill, but finally agreed to the compromise; and
in the early part of March, 1820, Maine became a member of the
Union without condition. A separate bill was passed, permitting
Missouri to form a constitution preparatory to her admission,
subject to the compromise, which, indeed, formed one section of
the enabling Act. Missouri was thus granted permission to enter
the Union as a slave State. But she was discontented with the
prospect of having free States on three sides,--east, north, and
west.
Although the Missouri Compromise was thus nominally perfected, and
the agitation apparently ended, the most exciting, and in some
respects the most dangerous, phase of the question was yet to be
reached. After the enabling Act was passed, the Missouri Convention
assembled to frame a constitution for the new State. The inhabitants
of the Territory had become angered by the long delay imposed upon
them, caused, as they believed, by the introduction of a question
which concerned only themselves, and which Congress had no right
to control. In this resentful mood they were led by the extremists
of the convention to insert a provision in the constitution,
declaring that "it shall be the duty of the General Assembly, as
soon as may be, to pass such laws as may be necessary to prevent
free negroes or mulattoes from coming to or settling in this State
under any pretext whatever." As soon as the constitution with this
obnoxious clause was transmitted to Congress by the President, the
excitement broke forth with increased intensity and the lines of
the old controversy were at once re-formed.
The parliamentary struggle which ensued was bitter beyond precedent;
threats of dissolving the Union were frequent, and apprehension of
an impending calamity was felt throughout the country. The discussion
continued with unabated vigor and ardor until the middle of February,
and the Congress was to terminate on the ensuing fourth of March.
The House had twice refused to pass the bill admitting Missouri,
declaring that the objectionable clause in her organic law was not
only an insult to every State in which colored men were citizens,
but was in flat contradiction of that provision in the Federal
Constitution which declares that "the citizens of each State shall
be entitled to all the privileges and immunities of citizens in
the several States."
THE SECOND MISSOURI COMPROMISE.
The defeat, apparently final, of the admission of Missouri, created
intense indignation. Southern senators and representatives charged
that they were treated unjustly by the North, and dealt with unfairly
in Congress. In pursuance of the compromise of the year before,
Maine had been admitted and her senators were in their seats. The
organs of Southern opinion accused the North of overreaching the
South in securing, under the name of a compromise, the admission
of Maine, while still retaining the power to exclude Missouri. A
feeling that bad faith had been practiced is sure to create
bitterness, and the accusation of it produces increased bitterness
in return. The North could easily justify itself by argument, but
the statement without argument apparently showed that the South
had been deceived. The course pursued by the senators from Maine,
--John Holmes and John Chandler,--in voting steadily for the
admission of Missouri, tended greatly to check recrimination and
relieve asperity of feeling. Mr. Holmes was a man of ability, of
experience in public affairs, and of eminent distinction at home.
With a rare gift of humor, and with conversational talent almost
unrivaled, he exerted an influence over men in private and social
intercourse which gave him singular power in shaping public questions.
He was an intimate friend and political supporter of Mr. Clay, and
their cordial co-operation at this crisis evoked harmony from chaos,
and brought a happy solution to a question that was troubling every
patriotic heart. They united in a final effort, and through the
instrumentality of a joint committee of seven senators and twenty-
three representatives,--of which Mr. Holmes was chairman on the
part of the Senate, and Mr. Clay on the part of the House,--a second
and final compromise was effected, and the admission of Missouri
secured. This compromise declared that Missouri should be admitted
to the Union upon the fundamental condition that no law should ever
be passed by her Legislature enforcing the objectionable provision
in her constitution, and that by a solemn public act the State
should declare and record her assent to this condition, and transmit
to the President of the United States an authentic copy of the Act.
Missouri accepted the condition promptly but not cheerfully, feeling
that she entered the Union under a severe discipline, and with hard
and humiliating conditions. It was in this compromise, not in the
one of the preceding session, that Mr. Clay was the leading spirit.
Though the first was the more important, and dealt with larger
questions of a more enduring nature, it did not at the time create
so great an impression on the public mind as the second, nor did
its discussion produce so much antagonism between the North and
the South. Thirty years after these events Mr. Clay called attention
to the fact that he had received undeserved credit for the Missouri
Compromise of 1820, which he had supported but not originated. On
the other hand, he had received only the slightest mention for his
agency in the second compromise, which he had really originated
and carried through Congress. The second compromise had passed
out of general recollection before Mr. Clay's death, though it had
made him a Presidential candidate at forty-three years of age.
The most remarkable fact connected with the excitement over the
Missouri question, which engrossed the country for more than two
years, was the absence of any premonition of its coming. There
had been no severe political struggle in the nation since the
contest between Madison and De Witt Clinton in 1812. Monroe had
been chosen almost without opposition in 1816, and, even while the
Missouri controversy was at its height, he was re-elected in 1820
by a practically unanimous vote, the North and the South being
equally cordial in supporting him. In the House of Representatives,
where the battle was so fierce, and the combatants were so evenly
divided, Mr. Clay had been chosen speaker with only eight adverse
votes, and these were given by men who acted from personal prejudice,
and not from political difference. But the outbreak indicated,
and indeed heralded, the re-forming of old party lines. The apparent
unanimity only concealed a division that was already fatally
developed. The party of Jefferson by its very success involved
itself in ruin. Its ancient foe, the eminent and honorable party
of Federalists, made but a feeble struggle in 1816, and completely
disappeared from the national political field four years later,
and even from State contests after the notable defeat of Harrison
Gray Otis by William Eustis for governor of Massachusetts in 1823.
But no political organization can live without opposition. The
disappearance of the Federalists was the signal for factional
divisions among their opponents; and the old Republican party,
which had overthrown the administration of John Adams in 1800,
which had laid the embargo, and forced a war with England, was now
nearing its end. It divided into four parts in the Presidential
election of 1824, and with its ancient creed and organization never
re-appeared in a national contest. Jefferson had combined and
indeed largely created its elements. He beheld it everywhere
victorious for a quarter of a century, and he lived to see it
shattered into fragments by the jealousy of its new leaders. The
Democratic and Whig parties were constructed upon the ruins of the
old organizations. In each were to be found representatives of
the Republicanism of Jefferson and the Federalism of Hamilton.
The ambition of both to trace their lineage to the former was a
striking proof of its popular strength.
The Missouri question marked a distinct era in the political thought
of the country, and made a profound impression on the minds of
patriotic men. Suddenly, without warning, the North and the South,
the free States and the slave States, found themselves arrayed
against each other in violent and absorbing conflict. During the
interval between the adoption of the Federal Constitution and the
admission of Missouri, there had been a great change in the Southern
mind, both as to the moral and the economic aspects of slavery.
This revolution of opinion had been wrought in large degree by the
cotton-plant. When the National Government was organized in 1789,
the annual export of cotton did not exceed three hundred bales.
It was reckoned only among our experimental products. But, stimulated
by the invention of the gin, production increased so rapidly, that,
at the time of Missouri's application for admission to the Union,
cotton-planting was the most remunerative industry in the country.
The export alone exceeded three hundred thousand bales annually.
But this highly profitable culture was in regions so warm that
outdoor labor was unwelcome to the white race. The immediate
consequence was a large advance in the value of slave-labor, and
in the price of slaves. This fact had its quick and decisive
influence, even in those slave-holding States which could not raise
cotton. The inevitable and speedy result was a consolidation of
the political power necessary to protect an interest at once so
vast and so liable to assault.
It was not unnatural that this condition should lead to a violent
outburst on the slavery question, but it was nevertheless wholly
unexpected. The causes which let to it had not been understood
and analyzed. The older class of statesmen, who had come down from
the period of the Revolution, from the great work of cementing the
Union and framing the Constitution, deplored the agitation, and
viewed the results with the gravest apprehension. The compromise
by a geographical line, dividing the slave States from the free,
was regarded by this class of patriots as full of danger,--a constant
menace to the peace and perpetuity of the Union. To Mr. Jefferson,
still living in vigorous old age, the trouble sounded like an alarm-
bell rung at midnight. While the measure was pending in Congress,
he wrote to a member of the House of Representatives, that "the
Missouri question is the most portentous one which has ever threatened
the Union. In the gloomiest hour of the Revolutionary war I never
had any apprehensions equal to those which I feel from this source."
Men on both sides of the controversy began to realize its significance
and to dread its probable results. They likened the partition of
the country by a geographical line unto the ancient agreement
between Abraham and Lot, where one should go to the right, and the
other to the left, with the certainty of becoming aliens, and the
possibility of becoming enemies.
THE MISSOURI ADJUSTMENT SATISFACTORY.
With the settlement of the Missouri question, the anti-slavery
agitation subsided as rapidly as it had arisen. This was a second
surprise to thinking men. The results can, however, be readily
explained. The Northern States felt that they had absolutely
secured to freedom a large territory west and north of Missouri.
The Southern States believed that they had an implied and honorable
understanding,--outside and beyond the explicit letter of the law,
--that new States south of the Missouri line could be admitted with
slavery if they desired. The great political parties then dividing
the country accepted the result and for the next twenty years no
agitation of the slavery question appeared in any political
convention, or affected any considerable body of the people.
Within that period, however, there grew up a school of anti-slavery
men far more radical and progressive than those who had resisted
the admission of Missouri as a slave State. They formed what was
known as the Abolition party, and they devoted themselves to the
utter destruction of slavery by every instrumentality which they
could lawfully employ. Acutely trained in the political as well
as the ethical principles of the great controversy, they clearly
distinguished between the powers which Congress might and might
not exercise under the limitations of the Constitution. They began,
therefore, by demanding the abolition of slavery in the District
of Columbia, and in all the national forts, arsenals, and dock-
yards, where, without question or cavil, the exclusive jurisdiction
belonged to Congress; they asked that Congress, under its constitutional
authority to regulate commerce between the States, would prohibit
the inter-State slave-trade; and they prayed that our ships sailing
on the high-seas should not be permitted by the government to carry
slaves as part of their cargo, under the free flag of the United
States, and outside the local jurisdiction that held them in bondage.
They denied that a man should aid in executing any law whose
enforcement did violence to his conscience and trampled under foot
the Divine commands. Hence they would not assist in the surrender
and return of fugitive slaves, holding it rather to be their duty
to resist such violation of the natural rights of man by every
peaceful method, and justifying their resistance by the truths
embodied in the Declaration of Independence, and, still more
impressively, by the precepts taught in the New Testament.
While encountering, on these issues, the active hostility of the
great mass of the people in all sections of the Union, the
Abolitionists challenged the respect of thinking men, and even
compelled the admiration of some of their most pronounced opponents.
The party was small in number, but its membership was distinguished
for intellectual ability, for high character, for pure philanthropy,
for unquailing courage both moral and physical, and for a controversial
talent which has never been excelled in the history of moral reforms.
It would not be practicable to give the names of all who were
conspicuous in this great struggle, but the mention of James G.
Birney, of Benjamin Lundy, of Arthur Tappan, of the brothers Lovejoy,
of Gerrit Smith, of John G. Whittier, of William Lloyd Garrison,
of Wendell Phillips, and of Gamaliel Bailey, will indicate the
class who are entitled to be held in remembrance so long as the
possession of great mental and moral attributes gives enduring and
honorable fame. Nor would the list of bold and powerful agitators
be complete or just if confined to the white race. Among the
colored men--often denied the simplest rights of citizenship in
the States where they resided--were found many who had received
the gift of tongues, orators by nature, who bravely presented the
wrongs and upheld the rights of the oppressed. Among these Frederick
Douglass was especially and richly endowed not only with the strength
but with the graces of speech; and for many years, from the stump
and from the platform, he exerted a wide and beneficent influence
upon popular opinion.
THE ABOLITION PARTY ORGANIZED.
In the early days of this agitation, the Abolitionists were a
proscribed and persecuted class, denounced with unsparing severity
by both the great political parties, condemned by many of the
leading churches, libeled in the public press, and maltreated by
furious mobs. In no part of the country did they constitute more
than a handful of the population, but they worked against every
discouragement with a zeal and firmness which bespoke intensity of
moral conviction. They were in large degree recruited from the
society of Friends, who brought to the support of the organization
the same calm and consistent courage which had always distinguished
them in upholding before the world their peculiar tenets of religious
faith. Caring nothing for prejudice, meeting opprobrium with
silence, shaming the authors of violence by meek non-resistance,
relying on moral agencies alone, appealing simply to the reason
and the conscience of men, they arrested the attention of the nation
by arraigning it before the public opinion of the world, and
proclaiming its responsibility to the judgment of God.
These apostles of universal liberty besieged Congress with memorials
praying for such legislative measures as would carry out their
designs. Failure after failure only served to inspire them with
fresh courage and more vigorous determination. They were met with
the most resolute resistance by representative from the slave-
holding States, who sought to deny them a hearing, and declared
that the mere consideration of their propositions by Congress would
not only justify, but would inevitably precipitate, a dissolution
of the Union. Undaunted by any form of opposition, the Abolitionists
stubbornly maintained their ground, and finally succeeded in creating
a great popular excitement by insisting on the simple right of
petition as inseparable from free government and free citizenship.
On this issue John Quincy Adams, who had entered the House of
Representatives in 1831, two years after his retirement from the
Presidency, waged a memorable warfare. Not fully sympathizing with
the Abolitionists in their measures or their methods, Mr. Adams
maintained that they had the right to be heard. On this incidental
issue he forced the controversy until it enlisted the attention
of the entire country. He finally drove the opponents of free
discussion to seek shelter under the adoption of an odious rule in
the House of Representatives, popularly named the "Atherton gag,"
from Mr. Charles G. Atherton, a Democratic representative from New
Hampshire, who reported it to the House in December, 1838. The
rule was originally devised, however, in a caucus of Southern
Democratic members. In the light of the present day, when slavery
no longer exists in the land, when speech is absolutely free, in
and out of Congress, it is hard to believe that during the Presidency
of Mr. Van Buren, and under the speakership of Mr. Polk, the House
of Representatives voted that "every petition, memorial, resolution,
proposition, or paper, touching or relating in any way or to any
extent whatever to slavery or the abolition thereof, shall on
presentation, without any further action thereon, be laid upon the
table, without being debated, printed, or referred."
The Southern representatives, both Democrats and Whigs, and the
Northern Democrats, sustained this extraordinary resolution, which
became widely known as the 21st Rule of the House. The Northern
Whigs, to their honor be it said, were steadily against it. The
real design of the measure was to take from Mr. Adams the power of
precipitating a discussion on the slavery question, but the most
unskilled should have seen that in this it would fail. It resembled
in its character the re-actionary and tyrannical edicts so frequently
employed in absolute governments, and was unsuited to the temper,
ran counter to the judgment, and proved offensive to the conscience,
of the American people.
Profoundly opposed as were many citizens to a denial of the right
of petition, very few wished to become identified with the cause
of the Abolitionists. In truth it required no small degree of
moral courage to take position in the ranks of that despised
political sect forty-five years ago. Persecutions of a petty and
social character were almost sure to follow, and not infrequently
grievous wrongs were inflicted, for which, in the absence of a
disposition among the people to see justice done, the law afforded
no redress. Indeed, by an apparent contradiction not difficult to
reconcile, many of those who fought bravely for the right of the
Abolitionists to be heard in Congress by petition, were yet enraged
with them for continually and, as they thought, causelessly, raising
and pressing the issue. They were willing to fight for the right
of the Abolitionists to do a certain thing, and then willing to
fight the Abolitionists for aimlessly and uselessly doing it. The
men who were governed by these complex motives were chiefly Whigs.
They felt that an increase of popular strength to the Abolitionists
must be at the expense of the party which, continuing to make Clay
its idol, was about to make Harrison its candidate. The announcement,
therefore, on the eve of the national contest of 1840, that the
Abolitionists had nominated James G. Birney of Michigan for President,
and Francis J. Le Moyne of Pennsylvania for Vice-President, was
angrily received by the Whigs, and denunciations of the movement
were loud and frequent. The support received by these candidates
was unexpectedly small, and showed little ground, in the judgment
of the Whigs, for the course taken by the Abolitionists. Their
strength was almost wholly confined to New England, Western New
York, and the Western Reserve of Ohio. It was plainly seen, that,
in a large majority of the free States, the Abolitionists had as
yet made no impression on public opinion.
THE COLONIZATION SOCIETY.
Any less earnest body of men would have been discouraged, but the
Abolition party was composed of devotees possessing the true martyr
spirit, and, instead of being appalled by defeat, they were inspired
with fresh zeal, and incited to new effort. They had not failed
to observe, that, while few were disposed to unite in extreme anti-
slavery measures, there was a growing number whose conscience was
aroused on the general subject of human bondage. The emancipation
of negroes with a view to their settlement in Africa, as advocated
by the Colonization Society, received the support of conservative
opponents of slavery, the sympathy of the Churches, and the patronage
of leading men among the slave-holders of the Border States. The
National Government was repeatedly urged to give its aid to the
scheme; and, during the excitement on the Missouri question, Congress
appropriated $100,000, nominally for the return of Africans who
had been unlawfully landed in the United States after the slave
trade was prohibited, but really as an indirect mode of promoting
the project of colonization. As a scheme for the destruction of
domestic slavery it was ridiculed by the Abolitionists, who in the
end violently opposed it as tending to deaden the public conscience
to the more imperative duty of universal emancipation. The
philanthropic efforts of the Society were abundantly rewarded,
however, by the establishment of the Republic of Liberia, whose
career has been eminently creditable and advantageous to the African
race.