Produced by David Widger
AMERICAN ELOQUENCE
STUDIES IN AMERICAN POLITICAL HISTORY
Edited with Introduction by Alexander Johnston
Reedited by James Albert Woodburn
Volume III. (of 4)
V. --THE ANTI-SLAVERY STRUGGLE (Continued from Vol. II.)
VI.--SECESSION.
CONTENTS.
INTRODUCTION
SALMON PORTLAND CHASE On The Kansas-Nebraska Bill
--United States Senate, February 3, 1854.
EDWARD EVERETT On The Kansas-Nebraska Bill
--United States Senate, February 8, 1854.
STEPHEN ARNOLD DOUGLAS On The Kansas-Nebraska Bill
--United States Senate, March 3, 1854.
CHARLES SUMNER On The Crime Against Kansas
--United States Senate, May 20, 1856.
PRESTON S. BROOKS On The Sumner Assault
--House Of Representatives, July 14, 1856.
JUDAH P. BENJAMIN On The Property Doctrine And Slavery In The
Territories --United States Senate, March 11, 1858.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN On The Dred Scott Decision
--Springfield, Ills., June 26, 1857.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN On His Nomination To The United States Senate
--At The Republican State Convention, June 16,1858.
THE LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATE
DOUGLAS In Reply To Lincoln--Freeport, Ills., August 27, 1858.
WILLIAM H. SEWARD
On The Irrepressible Conflict--Rochester, N. Y., October 25, 1858.
VI.-SECESSION.
JOHN PARKER HALE On Secession; Moderate Republican Opinion
--United States Senate, December 5, 1860.
ALFRED IVERSON On Secession; Secessionist Opinion
--United States Senate, December 5, 1860.
BENJAMIN WADE On Secession, And The State Of The Union; Radical
Republican Opinion--United States Senate, December 17, 1860.
JOHN JORDON CRITTENDEN On The Crittenden Compromise; Border State
Unionist Opinion--United States Senate, December 18, 1860.
ROBERT TOOMBS On Secession; Secessionist Opinion
--United States Senate, January 7, 1861.
SAMUEL SULLIVAN COX On Secession; Douglas Democratic Opinion
--House Of Representatives, January 14, 1861.
JEFFERSON DAVIS On Withdrawal From The Union; Secessionist Opinion
--United States Senate, January 21, 1861.
LIST OF PORTRAITS
WILLIAM H. SEWARD -- Frontispiece From a photograph.
SALMON P. CHASE -- From a daguerreotype, engraved by F. E. JONES.
EDWARD EVERETT -- From a painting by R. M. STAIGG.
STEPHEN A. DOUGLASS -- From a steel engraving.
JEFFERSON DAVIS -- From a photograph.
INTRODUCTION TO THE REVISED VOLUME.
The third volume of the American Eloquence is devoted to the
continuation of the slavery controversy and to the progress of the
secession movement which culminated in civil war.
To the speeches of the former edition of the volume have been added:
Everett on the Nebraska bill; Benjamin on the Property Doctrine and
Slavery in the Territories; Lincoln on the Dred Scott Decision; Wade
on Secession and the State of the Union; Crittenden on the Crittenden
Compromise; and Jefferson Davis's notable speech in which he took leave
of the United State Senate, in January, 1861.
Judged by its political consequences no piece of legislation in American
history is of greater historical importance than the Kansas-Nebraska
bill. By that act the Missouri Compromise was repealed and the final
conflict entered upon with the slave power. In addition to the speeches
of Douglas and Chase, representing the best word on the opposing sides
of the famous Nebraska controversy, the new volume includes the notable
contribution by Edward Everett to the Congressional debates on that
subject. Besides being an orator of high rank and of literary renown,
Everett represented a distinct body of political opinion. As a
conservative Whig he voiced the sentiment of the great body of the
followers of Webster and Clay who had helped to establish the Compromise
of 1850 and who wished to leave that settlement undisturbed. The student
of the Congressional struggles of 1854 will be led by a speech like that
of Everett to appreciate that moderate and conservative spirit toward
slavery which would not persist in any anti-slavery action having a
tendency to disturb the harmony of the Union. That this conservative
opinion looked upon the repeal of the Missouri Compromise as an act of
aggression in the interest of slavery is indicated by Everett's speech,
and this gives the speech its historic significance.
Judah P. Benjamin may be said to have been the ablest legal defender of
slavery in public life during the decade of 1850-60. His speech on
the right of property in slaves and the right of slavery to national
protection in the territories was probably the ablest on that side of
the controversy. Lincoln's speech on the Dred Scott Decision has been
substituted for one by John C. Breckinridge on the same subject; this
will serve to bring into his true proportions this great leader of the
combined anti-slavery forces. No voice, in the beginnings of secession
and disunion, could better reflect the positive and uncompromising
Republicanism of the Northwest than that of Wade. The speech from him
which we have appropriated is in many ways worthy of the attention of
the historical student.
We may look to Crittenden as the best expositor of the Crittenden
Compromise, the leading attempt at compromise and conciliation in the
memorable session of Congress of 1860-61. Crittenden's subject and
personality add historical prominence to his speech. The Crittenden
Compromise would probably have been accepted by Southern leaders like
Davis and Toombs if it had been acceptable to the Republican leaders
of the North. The failure of that Compromise made disunion and war
inevitable. Jefferson Davis' memorable farewell to the Senate, following
the assured failure of compromise, seems a fitting close to the period
of our history which brings us to the eve of the Civil War.
The introduction of Professor Johnston on "Secession" is retained as
originally prepared. A study of the speeches, with this introduction
and the appended notes, will give a fair idea of the political issues
dividing the country in the important years immediately preceding the
war. Limitations of space prevent the publication of the full speeches
from the exhaustive Congressional debates, but in several instances
where it has seemed especially desirable omissions from the former
volume have been supplied with the purpose of more fully representing
the subjects and the speakers. To the reader who is interested in
historical politics in America these productions of great political
leaders need no recommendation from the editor.
J. A. W.
SALMON PORTLAND CHASE,
OF OHIO. (BORN 1808, DIED 1873.)
ON THE KANSAS-NEBRASKA BILL; SENATE,
FEBRUARY 3, 1854.
The bill for the organization of the Territories of Nebraska and Kansas
being under consideration--Mr. CHASE submitted the following amendment:
Strike out from section 14 the words "was superseded by the principles
of the legislation of 1850, commonly called the compromise measures, and;
so that the clause will read:
"That the Constitution, and all laws of the United States which are not
locally inapplicable, shall have the same force and effect within the
said Territory of Nebraska as elsewhere within the United States, except
the eighth section of the act preparatory to the admission of Missouri
into the Union, approved March 6, 1820, which is hereby declared
inoperative."
Mr. CHASE said:
Mr. President, I had occasion, a few days ago to expose the utter
groundlessness of the personal charges made by the Senator from Illinois
(Mr. Douglas) against myself and the other signers of the Independent
Democratic Appeal. I now move to strike from this bill a statement
which I will to-day demonstrate to be without any foundation in fact
or history. I intend afterward to move to strike out the whole clause
annulling the Missouri prohibition.
I enter into this debate, Mr. President, in no spirit of personal
unkindness. The issue is too grave and too momentous for the indulgence
of such feelings. I see the great question before me, and that question
only.
Sir, these crowded galleries, these thronged lobbies, this full
attendance of the Senate, prove the deep, transcendent interest of the
theme.
A few days only have elapsed since the Congress of the United States
assembled in this Capitol. Then no agitation seemed to disturb the
political elements. Two of the great political parties of the country,
in their national conventions, had announced that slavery agitation was
at an end, and that henceforth that subject was not to be discussed in
Congress or out of Congress. The President, in his annual message, had
referred to this state of opinion, and had declared his fixed purpose to
maintain, as far as any responsibility attached to him, the quiet of the
country. Let me read a brief extract from that message:
"It is no part of my purpose to give prominence to any subject which may
properly be regarded as set at rest by the deliberate judgment of the
people. But while the present is bright with promise, and the future
full of demand and inducement for the exercise of active intelligence,
the past can never be without useful lessons of admonition and
instruction. If its dangers serve not as beacons, they will evidently
fail to fulfil the object of a wise design. When the grave shall have
closed over all those who are now endeavoring to meet the obligations of
duty, the year 1850 will be recurred to as a period filled with anxious
apprehension. A successful war had just terminated. Peace brought with
it a vast augmentation of territory. Disturbing questions arose, bearing
upon the domestic institutions of one portion of the Confederacy, and
involving the constitutional rights of the States. But, notwithstanding
differences of opinion and sentiment, which then existed in relation
to details and specific provisions, the acquiescence of distinguished
citizens, whose devotion to the Union can never be doubted, had given
renewed vigor to our institutions, and restored a sense of repose and
security to the public mind throughout the Confederacy. That this repose
is to suffer no shock during my official term, if I have power to avert
it, those who placed me here may be assured."
The agreement of the two old political parties, thus referred to by the
Chief Magistrate of the country, was complete, and a large majority of
the American people seemed to acquiesce in the legislation of which he
spoke.
A few of us, indeed, doubted the accuracy of these statements, and the
permanency of this repose. We never believed that the acts of 1850 would
prove to be a permanent adjustment of the slavery question. We believed
no permanent adjustment of that question possible except by a return to
that original policy of the fathers of the Republic, by which slavery
was restricted within State limits, and freedom, without exception or
limitation, was intended to be secured to every person outside of State
limits and under the exclusive jurisdiction of the General Government.
But, sir, we only represented a small, though vigorous and growing,
party in the country. Our number was small in Congress. By some we were
regarded as visionaries--by some as factionists; while almost all agreed
in pronouncing us mistaken.
And so, sir, the country was at peace. As the eye swept the entire
circumference of the horizon and upward to mid-heaven not a cloud
appeared; to common observation there was no mist or stain upon the
clearness of the sky.
But suddenly all is changed. Rattling thunder breaks from the cloudless
firmament. The storm bursts forth in fury. Warring winds rush into
conflict.
"_Eurus, Notusque ruunt, creberque procellis Africus_."
Yes, sir, "_creber procellis Africus_"--the South wind thick with storm.
And now we find ourselves in the midst of an agitation, the end and
issue of which no man can foresee.
Now, sir, who is responsible for this renewal of strife and controversy?
Not we, for we have introduced no question of territorial slavery into
Congress--not we who are denounced as agitators and factionists. No,
sir: the quietists and the finalists have become agitators; they who
told us that all agitation was quieted, and that the resolutions of the
political conventions put a final period to the discussion of slavery.
This will not escape the observation of the country. It is Slavery that
renews the strife. It is Slavery that again wants room. It is Slavery,
with its insatiate demands for more slave territory and more slave
States.
And what does Slavery ask for now? Why, sir, it demands that a
time-honored and sacred compact shall be rescinded--a compact which has
endured through a whole generation--a compact which has been
universally regarded as inviolable, North and South--a compact, the
constitutionality of which few have doubted, and by which all have
consented to abide.
It will not answer to violate such a compact without a pretext. Some
plausible ground must be discovered or invented for such an act; and
such a ground is supposed to be found in the doctrine which was advanced
the other day by the Senator from Illinois, that the compromise acts of
1850 "superseded "the prohibition of slavery north of 36° 30', in the
act preparatory for the admission of Missouri. Ay,sir, "superseded" is
the phrase--"superseded by the principles of the legislation of 1850,
commonly called the compromise measures."
It is against this statement, untrue in fact, and without foundation in
history, that the amendment which I have proposed is directed.
Sir, this is a novel idea. At the time when these measures were before
Congress in 1850, when the questions involved in them were discussed
from day to day, from week to week, and from month to month, in this
Senate chamber, who ever heard that the Missouri prohibition was to be
superseded? What man, at what time, in what speech, ever suggested the
idea that the acts of that year were to affect the Missouri compromise?
The Senator from Illinois the other day invoked the authority of Henry
Clay--that departed statesman, in respect to whom, whatever may be the
differences of political opinion, none question that, among the great
men of this country, he stood proudly eminent. Did he, in the report
made by him as the chairman of the Committee of Thirteen, or in any
speech in support of the compromise acts, or in any conversation in the
committee, or out of the committee, ever even hint at this doctrine of
supersedure? Did any supporter or any opponent of the compromise
acts ever vindicate or condemn them on the ground that the Missouri
prohibition would be affected by them? Well, sir, the compromise acts
were passed. They were denounced North, and they were denounced South.
Did any defender of them at the South ever justify his support of them
upon the ground that the South had obtained through them the repeal of
the Missouri prohibition? Did any objector to them at the North ever
even suggest as a ground of condemnation that that prohibition was swept
away by them? No, sir! No man, North or South, during the whole of
the discussion of those acts here, or in that other discussion which
followed their enactment throughout the country, ever intimated any such
opinion.
Now, sir, let us come to the last session of Congress. A Nebraska bill
passed the House and came to the Senate, and was reported from the
Committee on Territories by the Senator from Illinois, as its chairman.
Was there any provision in it which even squinted toward this notion of
repeal by supersedure? Why, sir, Southern gentlemen opposed it on
the very ground that it left the Territory under the operation of the
Missouri prohibition. The Senator from Illinois made a speech in defence
of it. Did he invoke Southern support upon the ground that it superseded
the Missouri prohibition? Not at all. Was it opposed or vindicated
by anybody on any such ground? Every Senator knows the contrary. The
Senator from Missouri (Mr. Atchison), now the President of this body,
made a speech upon the bill, in which he distinctly declared that the
Missouri prohibition was not repealed, and could not be repealed.
I will send this speech to the Secretary, and ask him to read the
paragraphs marked. The Secretary read as follows:
"I will now state to the Senate the views which induced me to oppose
this proposition in the early part of this session.
"I had two objections to it. One was that the Indian title in that
Territory had not been extinguished, or, at least, a very small portion
of it had been. Another was the Missouri compromise, or, as it is
commonly called, the slavery restriction. It was my opinion at that
time--and I am not now very clear on that subject--that the law of
Congress, when the State of Missouri was admitted into the Union,
excluding slavery from the Territory of Louisiana north of 36° 30',
would be enforced in that Territory unless it was specially rescinded,
and whether that law was in accordance with the Constitution of the
United States or not, it would do its work, and that work would be to
preclude slave-holders from going into that Territory. But when I came
to look into that question, I found that there was no prospect, no
hope, of a repeal of the Missouri compromise excluding slavery from that
Territory. Now, sir, I am free to admit, that at this moment, at this
hour, and for all time to come, I should oppose the organization or
the settlement of that Territory unless my constituents, and
the constituents of the whole South--of the slave States of the
Union,--could go into it upon the same footing, with equal rights and
equal privileges, carrying that species of property with them as other
people of this Union. Yes, sir, I acknowledge that that would have
governed me, but I have no hope that the restriction will ever be
repealed.
"I have always been of opinion that the first great error committed
in the political history of this country was the ordinance of 1787,
rendering the Northwest Territory free territory. The next great error
was the Missouri compromise. But they are both irremediable. There is no
remedy for them. We must submit to them. I am prepared to do it. It is
evident that the Missouri compromise cannot be re-pealed. So far as that
question is concerned, we might as well agree to the admission of this
Territory now as next year, or five or ten years hence."--_Congressional
Globe_, Second Session, 32d Cong., vol. xxvi., page 1113.
That, sir, is the speech of the Senator from Missouri (Mr. Atchison),
whose authority, I think, must go for something upon this question. What
does he say? "When I came to look into that question"--of the possible
repeal of the Missouri prohibition--that was the question he was looking
into--"I found that there was no prospect, no hope, of a repeal of the
Missouri compromise excluding slavery from that Territory." And yet,
sir, at that very moment, according to this new doctrine of the Senator
from Illinois, it had been repealed three years!
Well, the Senator from Missouri said further, that if he thought it
possible to oppose this restriction successfully, he never would consent
to the organization of the territory until it was rescinded. But, said
he, "I acknowledge that I have no hope that the restriction will ever be
repealed." Then he made some complaint, as other Southern gentlemen have
frequently done, of the ordinance of 1787, and the Missouri prohibition;
but went on to say: "They are both irremediable; there is no remedy for
them; we must submit to them; I am prepared to do it; it is evident that
the Missouri compromise cannot be repealed."
Now, sir, when was this said? It was on the morning of the 4th of March,
just before the close of the last session, when that Nebraska bill,
reported by the Senator from Illinois, which proposed no repeal, and
suggested no supersedure, was under discussion. I think, sir, that all
this shows pretty clearly that up to the very close of the last session
of Congress nobody had ever thought of a repeal by supersedure. Then
what took place at the commencement of the present session? The Senator
from Iowa, early in December, introduced a bill for the organization
of the Territory of Nebraska. I believe it was the same bill which was
under discussion here at the last session, line for line, word for word.
If I am wrong, the Senator will correct me.
Did the Senator from Iowa, then, entertain the idea that the Missouri
prohibition had been superseded? No, sir, neither he nor any other man
here, so far as could be judged from any discussion, or statement, or
remark, had received this notion.
Well, on the 4th day of January, the Committee on Territories, through
their chairman, the Senator from Illinois, made a report on the
territorial organization of Nebraska; and that report was accompanied by
a bill. Now, sir, on that 4th day of January, just thirty days ago, did
the Committee on Territories entertain the opinion that the compromise
acts of 1850 superseded the Missouri prohibition? If they did, they were
very careful to keep it to themselves. We will judge the committee by
their own report. What do they say in that? In the first place they
describe the character of the controversy, in respect to the Territories
acquired from Mexico. They say that some believed that a Mexican law
prohibiting slavery was in force there, while others claimed that the
Mexican law became inoperative at the moment of acquisition, and that
slave-holders could take their slaves into the Territory and hold
them there under the provisions of the Constitution. The Territorial
Compromise acts, as the committee tell us, steered clear of these
questions. They simply provided that the States organized out of these
Territories might come in with or without slavery, as they should elect,
but did not affect the question whether slaves could or could not be
introduced before the organization of State governments. That question
was left entirely to judicial decision.
Well, sir, what did the committee propose to do with the Nebraska
Territory? In respect to that, as in respect to the Mexican Territory,
differences of opinion exist in relation to the introduction of slaves.
There are Southern gentlemen who contend that notwithstanding the
Missouri prohibition, they can take their slaves into the territory
covered by it, and hold them there by virtue of the Constitution. On the
other hand the great majority of the American people, North and South,
believe the Missouri prohibition to be constitutional and effectual.
Now, what did the committee pro-pose? Did they propose to repeal the
prohibition? Did they suggest that it had been superseded? Did they
advance any idea of that kind? No, sir. This is their language:
"Under this section, as in the case of the Mexican law in New Mexico
and Utah, it is a disputed point whether slavery is prohibited in the
Nebraska country by valid enactment. The decision of this question
involves the constitutional power of Congress to pass laws prescribing
and regulating the domestic institutions of the various Territories
of the Union. In the opinion of those eminent statesmen who hold that
Congress is invested with no rightful authority to legislate upon the
subject of slavery in the Territories, the eighth section of the act
preparatory to the admission of Missouri is null and void, while the
prevailing sentiment in a large portion of the Union sustains the
doctrine that the Constitution of the United States secures to every
citizen an inalienable right to move into any of the Territories with
his property, of whatever kind and description, and to hold and
enjoy the same under the sanction of law. Your committee do not
feel themselves called upon to enter into the discussion of these
controverted questions. They involve the same grave issues which
produced the agitation, the sectional strife, and the fearful struggle
of 1850."
This language will bear repetition:
"Your committee do not feel themselves called upon to enter into the
discussion of these controverted questions. They involve the same grave
issues which produced the agitation, the sectional strife, and the
fearful struggle of 1850."
And they go on to say:
"Congress deemed it wise and prudent to refrain from deciding the
matters in controversy then, either by affirming or repealing the
Mexican laws, or by an act declaratory of the true intent of the
Constitution and the extent of the protection afforded by it to slave
property in the Territories; so your committee are not prepared now
to recommend a departure from the course pursued on that memorable
occasion, either by affirming or repealing the eighth section of
the Missouri act, or by any act declaratory of the meaning of the
Constitution in respect to the legal points in dispute."
Mr. President, here are very remarkable facts. The Committee on
Territories declared that it was not wise, that it was not prudent, that
it was not right, to renew the old controversy, and to arouse agitation.
They declared that they would abstain from any recommendation of a
repeal of the prohibition, or of any provision declaratory of the
construction of the Constitution in respect to the legal points in
dispute.
Mr. President, I am not one of those who suppose that the question
between Mexican law and the slave-holding claims was avoided in the
Utah and New Mexico Act; nor do I think that the introduction into the
Nebraska bill of the provisions of those acts in respect to slavery
would leave the question between the Missouri prohibition and the same
slave-holding claims entirely unaffected.' I am of a very different
opinion. But I am dealing now with the report of the Senator from
Illinois, as chairman of the committee, and I show, beyond all
controversy, that that report gave no countenance whatever to the
doctrine of repeal by supersedure.
Well, sir, the bill reported by the committee was printed in the
Washington Sentinel on Saturday, January 7th. It contained twenty
sections; no more, no less. It contained no provisions in respect to
slavery, except those in the Utah and New Mexico bills. It left those
provisions to speak for themselves. This was in harmony with the report
of the committee. On the 10th of January--on Tuesday--the act appeared
again in the Sentinel; but it had grown longer during the interval.
It appeared now with twenty-one sections. There was a statement in
the paper that the twenty-first section had been omitted by a clerical
error.
But, sir, it is a singular fact that this twenty-first section is
entirely out of harmony with the committee's report. It undertakes to
determine the effect of the provision in the Utah and New Mexico bills.
It declares, among other things, that all questions pertaining
to slavery in the Territories, and in the new States to be formed
therefrom, are to be left to the decision of the people residing
therein, through their appropriate representatives. This provision, in
effect, repealed the Missouri prohibition, which the committee, in their
report, declared ought not to be done. Is it possible, sir, that this
was a mere clerical error? May it not be that this twenty-first section
was the fruit of some Sunday work, between Saturday the 7th, and Tuesday
the 10th?
But, sir, the addition of this section, it seems, did not help the bill.
It did not, I suppose, meet the approbation of Southern gentlemen,
who contended that they have a right to take their slaves into the
Territories, notwithstanding any prohibition, either by Congress or by a
Territorial Legislature. I dare say it was found that the votes of these
gentlemen could not be had for the bill with that clause in it. It was
not enough that the committee had abandoned their report, and added
this twenty-first section, in direct contravention of its reasonings and
principles. The twenty-first section itself must be abandoned, and the
repeal of the Missouri prohibition placed in a shape which would not
deny the slave-holding claim.
The Senator from Kentucky (Mr. Dixon), on the 16th of January, submitted
an amendment which came square up to repeal, and to the claim. That
amendment, probably, produced some fluttering and some consultation. It
met the views of Southern Senators, and probably determined the shape
which the bill has finally assumed. Of the various mutations which it
has undergone, I can hardly be mistaken in attributing the last to the
amendment of the Senator from Kentucky. That there is no effect without
a cause, is among our earliest lessons in physical philosophy, and I
know of no causes which will account for the remarkable changes which
the bill underwent after the 16th of January, other than that amendment,
and the determination of Southern Senators to support it, and to
vote against any provision recognizing the right of any Territorial
Legislature to prohibit the introduction of slavery.
It was just seven days, Mr. President, after the Senator from Kentucky
had offered his amendment, that a fresh amendment was reported from the
Committee on Territories, in the shape of a new bill, enlarged to forty
sections. This new bill cuts off from the proposed Territory half
a degree of latitude on the south, and divides the residue into
two Territories--the southern Territory of Kansas, and the northern
Territory of Nebraska. It applies to each all the provisions of the
Utah and New Mexico bills; it rejects entirely the twenty-first
clerical-error section, and abrogates the Missouri prohibition by the
very singular provision, which I will read:
"The Constitution and all laws of the United States which are not
locally inapplicable shall have the same force and effect within the
said Territory of Nebraska as elsewhere within the United States, except
the eighth section of the act preparatory to the admission of Missouri
into the Union, approved March 6, 1820, which was superseded by the
principles of the legislation of 1850, commonly called the compromise
measures, and is therefore declared inoperative."
Doubtless, Mr. President, this provision operates as a repeal of the
prohibition. The Senator from Kentucky was right when he said it was in
effect the equivalent of his amendment. Those who are willing to break
up and destroy the old compact of 1820 can vote for this bill with full
assurance that such will be its effect. But I appeal to them not to
vote for this supersedure clause. I ask them not to incorporate into
the legislation of the country a declaration which every one knows to be
wholly untrue.
I have said that this doctrine of supersedure is new. I have now proved
that it is a plant of but ten days' growth. It was never seen or heard
of until the 23d day of January, 1854. It was upon that day that this
tree of Upas was planted; we already see its poison fruits. * * *
The truth is, that the compromise acts of 1850 were not intended to
introduce any principles of territorial organization applicable to any
other Territory except that covered by them. The professed object of
the friends of the compromise acts was to compose the whole slavery
agitation. There were various matters of complaint. The non-surrender
of fugitives from service was one. The existence of slavery and the
slave-trade here in this District and elsewhere, under the exclusive
jurisdiction of Congress, was another. The apprehended introduction of
slavery into the Territories furnished other grounds of controversy.
The slave States complained of the free States, and the free States
complained of the slave States. It was supposed by some that this whole
agitation might be stayed, and finally put at rest by skilfully adjusted
legislation. So, sir, we had the omnibus bill, and its appendages the
fugitive-slave bill and the District slave-trade suppression bill.
To please the North--to please the free States--California was to be
admitted, and the slave depots here in the District were to be broken
up. To please the slave States, a stringent fugitive-slave act was to
be passed, and slavery was to have a chance to get into the new
Territories. The support of the Senators and Representatives from
Texas was to be gained by a liberal adjustment of boundary, and by the
assumption of a large portion of their State debt. The general result
contemplated was a complete and final adjustment of all questions
relating to slavery. The acts passed. A number of the friends of the
acts signed a compact pledging themselves to support no man for any
office who would in any way renew the agitation. The country was
required to acquiesce in the settlement as an absolute finality. No man
concerned in carrying those measures through Congress, and least of all
the distinguished man whose efforts mainly contributed to their success,
ever imagined that in the Territorial acts, which formed a part of the
series, they were planting the germs of a new agitation. Indeed, I have
proved that one of these acts contained an express stipulation which
precludes the revival of the agitation in the form in which it is now
thrust upon the country, without manifest disregard of the provisions of
those acts themselves.
I have thus proved beyond controversy that the averment of the bill,
which my amendment proposes to strike out, is untrue. Senators, will you
unite in a statement which you know to be contradicted by the history of
the country? Will you incorporate into a public statute an affirmation
which is contradicted by every event which attended or followed the
adoption of the compromise acts? Will you here, acting under your high
responsibility as Senators of the States, assert as a fact, by a solemn
vote, that which the personal recollection of every Senator who was here
during the discussion of those compromise acts disproves? I will not
believe it until I see it. If you wish to break up the time-honored
compact embodied in the Missouri compromise, transferred into the joint
resolution for the annexation of Texas, preserved and affirmed by these
compromise acts themselves, do it openly--do it boldly. Repeal the
Missouri prohibition. Repeal it by a direct vote. Do not repeal it by
indirection. Do not "declare" it "inoperative," "because superseded by
the principles of the legislation of 1850."
Mr. President, three great eras have marked the history of this country
in respect to slavery. The first may be characterized as the Era of
ENFRANCHISEMENT. It commenced with the earliest struggles for national
independence. The spirit which inspired it animated the hearts and
prompted the efforts of Washington, of Jefferson, of Patrick Henry, of
Wythe, of Adams, of Jay, of Hamilton, of Morris--in short, of all the
great men of our early history. All these hoped for, all these labored
for, all these believed in, the final deliverance of the country
from the curse of slavery. That spirit burned in the Declaration of
Independence, and inspired the provisions of the Constitution, and the
Ordinance of 1787. Under its influence, when in full vigor, State after
State provided for the emancipation of the slaves within their limits,
prior to the adoption of the Constitution. Under its feebler influence
at a later period, and during the administration of Mr. Jefferson, the
importation of slaves was prohibited into Mississippi and Louisiana, in
the faint hope that those Territories might finally become free States.
Gradually that spirit ceased to influence our public councils, and lost
its control over the American heart and the American policy. Another
era succeeded, but by such imperceptible gradations that the lines which
separate the two cannot be traced with absolute precision. The facts of
the two eras meet and mingle as the currents of confluent streams mix
so imperceptibly that the observer cannot fix the spot where the meeting
waters blend.
This second era was the Era of CONSERVATISM. Its great maxim was to
preserve the existing condition. Men said: Let things remain as they
are; let slavery stand where it is; exclude it where it is not; refrain
from disturbing the public quiet by agitation; adjust all difficulties
that arise, not by the application of principles, but by compromises.
It was during this period that the Senator tells us that slavery was
maintained in Illinois, both while a Territory and after it became a
State, in despite of the provisions of the ordinance. It is true, sir,
that the slaves held in the Illinois country, under the French law,
were not regarded as absolutely emancipated by the provisions of the
ordinance. But full effect was given to the ordinance in excluding
the introduction of slaves, and thus the Territory was preserved
from eventually becoming a slave State. The few slave-holders in
the Territory of Indiana, which then included Illinois, succeeded in
obtaining such an ascendency in its affairs, that repeated applications
were made not merely by conventions of delegates, but by the Territorial
Legislature itself, for a suspension of the clause in the ordinance
prohibiting slavery. These applications were reported upon by John
Randolph, of Virginia, in the House, and by Mr. Franklin in the Senate.
Both the reports were against suspension. The grounds stated by Randolph
are specially worthy of being considered now. They are thus stated in
the report:
"That the committee deem it highly dangerous and inexpedient to impair
a provision wisely calculated to promote the happiness and prosperity
of the Northwestern country, and to give strength and security to that
extensive frontier. In the salutary operation of this sagacious and
benevolent restraint, it is believed that the inhabitants of Indiana
will, at no very distant day, find ample remuneration for a temporary
privation of labor and of emigration."
Sir, these reports, made in 1803 and 1807, and the action of Congress
upon them, in conformity with their recommendation, saved Illinois, and
perhaps Indiana, from becoming slave States. When the people of Illinois
formed their State constitution, they incorporated into it a section
providing that neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall hereafter
be introduced into this State. The constitution made provision for the
continued service of the few persons who were originally held as slaves,
and then bound to service under the Territorial laws, and for the
freedom of their children, and thus secured the final extinction of
slavery. The Senator thinks that this result is not attributable to the
ordinance. I differ from him. But for the ordinance, I have no doubt
slavery would have been introduced into Indiana, Illinois, and Ohio.
It is something to the credit of the Era of Conservatism, uniting its
influences with those of the expiring Era of Enfranchisement, that it
maintained the ordinance of 1787 in the Northwest.
The Era of CONSERVATISM passed, also by imperceptible gradations, into
the Era of SLAVERY PROPAGANDISM. Under the influences of this new spirit
we opened the whole territory acquired from Mexico, except California,
to the ingress of slavery. Every foot of it was covered by a Mexican
prohibition; and yet, by the legislation of 1850, we consented to expose
it to the introduction of slaves. Some, I believe, have actually been
carried into Utah and New Mexico. They may be few, perhaps, but a few
are enough to affect materially the probable character of their future
governments. Under the evil influences of the same spirit, we are now
called upon to reverse the original policy of the Republic; to support
even a solemn compact of the conservative period, and open Nebraska to
slavery.
Sir, I believe that we are upon the verge of another era. That era will
be the Era of REACTION. The introduction of this question here, and its
discussion, will greatly hasten its advent. We, who insist upon the
denationalization of slavery, and upon the absolute divorce of the
General Government from all connection with it, will stand with the men
who favored the compromise acts, and who yet wish to adhere to them,
in their letter and in their spirit, against the repeal of the Missouri
prohibition. But you may pass it here. You may send it to the other
House. It may become a law. But its effect will be to satisfy all
thinking men that no compromises with slavery will endure, except so
long as they serve the interests of slavery; and that there is no safe
and honorable ground for non-slaveholders to stand upon, except that
of restricting slavery within State limits, and excluding it absolutely
from the whole sphere of Federal jurisdiction. The old questions between
political parties are at rest. No great question so thoroughly possesses
the public mind as this of slavery. This discussion will hasten the
inevitable reorganization of parties upon the new issues which our
circumstances suggest. It will light up a fire in the country which may,
perhaps, consume those who kindle it. * * *
EDWARD EVERETT,
OF MASSACHUSETTS.
(BORN 1794, DIED 1865.)
ON THE KANSAS-NEBRASKA BILL;
SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES, FEBRUARY 8, 1854
I will not take up the time of the Senate by going over the somewhat
embarrassing and perplexed history of the bill, from its first entry
into the Senate until the present time. I will take it as it now stands,
as it is printed on our tables, and with the amendment which was offered
by the Senator from Illinois (Mr. Douglas) yesterday, and which, iI
suppose, is now printed, and on our tables; and I will state, as briefly
as I can, the difficulties which I have found in giving my support to
this bill, either as it stands, or as it will stand when the amendment
shall be adopted. My chief objections are to the provisions on the
subject of slavery, and especially to the exception which is contained
in the 14th section, in the following words:
"Except the 8th section of the act preparatory to the admission of
Missouri into the Union, approved March 6, 1820, which was superseded
by the principles of the legislation of 1850, commonly called the
compromise measures, and is hereby declared inoperative."
On the day before yesterday the chairman of the Committee on Territories
proposed to change the words "superseded by" to "inconsistent with,"
as expressing more distinctly all that he meant to convey by that
impression. Yesterday, however, he brought in an amendment drawn up with
great skill and care, on notice given the day before, which is to strike
out the words "which was superseded by the principles of the legislation
of 1850, commonly called the compromise measures, and is hereby declared
inoperative," and to insert in lieu of them the following:
"Which being inconsistent with the principle of non-intervention by
Congress with slavery in the States and Territories, as recognized by
the legislation of 1850, commonly called the compromise measures, is
hereby declared inoperative and void; it being the true intent and
meaning of this act not to legislate slavery into any Territory or
State, nor to exclude it therefrom, but to leave the people thereof
perfectly free to form and regulate their domestic institutions in their
own way, subject only to the Constitution of the United States."
* * * * *
Now, sir, I think, in the first place, that the language of this
proposed enactment, being obscure, is of somewhat doubtful import, and
for that reason, unsatisfactory. I should have preferred a little more
directness. What is the condition of an enactment which is declared by a
subsequent act of Congress to be "inoperative and void?" Does it remain
in force? I take it, not. That would be a contradiction in terms, to say
that an enactment which had been declared by act of Congress inoperative
and void is still in force. Then, if it is not in force, if it is not
only inoperative and void, as it is to be declared, but is not in force,
it is of course repealed. If it is to be repealed, why not say so?
I think it would have been more direct and more parliamentary to say
"shall be and is hereby repealed." Then we should know precisely, so far
as legal and technical terms go, what the amount of this new legislative
provision is.
If the form is somewhat objectionable, I think the substance is still
more so. The amendment is to strike out the words "which was superseded
by," and to insert a provision that the act of 1820 is inconsistent
with the principle of congressional non-intervention, and is therefore
inoperative and void. I do not quite understand how much is conveyed
in this language. The Missouri restriction of 1820, it is said, is
inconsistent with the principle of the legislation of 1850. If anything
more is meant by "the principle" of the legislation of 1850, than the
measures which were adopted at that time in reference to the territories
of New Mexico and Utah--for I may assume that those are the legislative
measures referred to--if anything more is meant than that a certain
measure was adopted, and enacted in reference to those territories, I
take issue on that point. I do not know that it could be proved that,
even in reference to those territories, a principle was enacted at all.
A certain measure, or, if you please, a course of measures, was enacted
in reference to the Territories of New Mexico and Utah; but I do not
know that you can call this enacting a principle. It is certainly
not enacting a principle which is to carry with it a rule for other
Territories lying in other parts of the country, and in a different
legal position. As to the principle of non-intervention on the part
of Congress in the question of slavery, I do not find that, either as
principle or as measure, it was enacted in those territorial bills of
1850. I do not, unless I have greatly misread them, find that there is
anything at all which comes up to that. Every legislative act of those
territorial governments must come before Congress for allowance or
disallowance, and under those bills without repealing them, without
departing from them in the slightest degree, it would be competent for
Congress to-morrow to pass any law on that subject.
How then can it be said that the principle of non-intervention on the
part of Congress in the subject of slavery was enacted and established
by the compromise measures of 1850? But, whether that be so or not, how
can you find, in a simple measure applying in terms to these individual
Territories, and to them alone, a rule which is to govern all other
Territories with a retrospective and with a prospective action? Is
it not a mere begging of the question to say that those compromise
measures, adopted in this specific case, amount to such a general rule?
But, let us try it in a parallel case. In the earlier land legislation
of the United States, it was customary, without exception, when a
Territory became a State, to require that there should be a stipulation
in their State constitution that the public lands sold within their
borders should be exempted from taxation for five years after the sale.
This, I believe, continued to be the uniform practice down to the year
1820, when the State of Missouri was admitted. She was admitted under
the stipulation. If I mistake not, the next State which was admitted
into the Union--but it is not important whether it was the next or
not--came in without that stipulation, and they were left free to tax
the public lands the moment when they were sold. Here was a principle;
as much a principle as it is contended was established in the Utah and
New Mexico territorial bill; but did any one suppose that it acted upon
the other Territories? I believe the whole system is now abolished under
the operation of general laws, and the influence of that example may
have led to the change. But, until it was made by legislation, the mere
fact that public lands sold in Arkansas were immediately subject to
taxation, could not alter the law in regard to the public lands sold in
Missouri, or in any other to where they were they were exempt.