Chapter VII: Part 7

Some of you admit that no Republican designedly aided or encouraged
the Harper's Ferry affair; but still insist that our doctrines and
declarations necessarily lead to such results. We do not believe it.
We know we hold to no doctrine, and make no declaration, which was
not held to and made by "our fathers who framed the Government under
which we live." You never dealt fairly by us in relation to this
affair. When it occurred, some important State elections were near
at hand, and you were in evident glee with the belief that, by
charging the blame upon us, you could get an advantage of us in
those elections. The elections came, and your expectations were not
quite fulfilled. Every Republican man knew that, as to himself at
least, your charge was a slander, and he was not much inclined by it
to cast his vote in your favor. Republican doctrines and
declarations are accompanied with a continual protest against any
interference whatever with your slaves, or with you about your
slaves. Surely, this does not encourage them to revolt. True, we do,
in common with "our fathers, who framed the Government under which
we live," declare our belief that slavery is wrong; but the slaves
do not hear us declare even this. For anything we say or do, the
slaves would scarcely know there is a Republican party. I believe
they would not, in fact, generally know it but for your
misrepresentations of us, in their hearing. In your political
contests among yourselves, each faction charges the other with
sympathy with Black Republicanism; and then, to give point to the
charge, defines Black Republicanism to simply be insurrection, blood
and thunder among the slaves.

Slave insurrections are no more common now than they were before the
Republican party was organized. What induced the Southampton
insurrection, twenty-eight years ago, in which, at least, three
times as many lives were lost as at Harper's Ferry?[30] You can
scarcely stretch your very elastic fancy to the conclusion that
Southampton was "got up by Black Republicanism." In the present
state of things in the United States, I do not think a general, or
even a very extensive slave insurrection, is possible. The
indispensable concert of action cannot be attained. The slaves have
no means of rapid communication; nor can incendiary freemen, black
or white, supply it. The explosive materials are everywhere in
parcels; but there neither are, nor can be supplied, the
indispensable connecting trains.

Much is said by Southern people about the affection of slaves for
their masters and mistresses; and a part of it, at least, is true. A
plot for an uprising could scarcely be devised and communicated to
twenty individuals before some one of them, to save the life of a
favorite master or mistress, would divulge it. This is the rule; and
the slave revolution in Hayti was not an exception to it, but a case
occurring under peculiar circumstances,[31] The gunpowder plot of
British history, though not connected with slaves, was more in
point. In that case, only about twenty were admitted to the secret;
and yet one of them, in his anxiety to save a friend, betrayed the
plot to that friend, and, by consequence, averted the calamity.
Occasional poisonings from the kitchen, and open or stealthy
assassinations in the field, and local revolts extending to a score
or so, will continue to occur as the natural results of slavery; but
no general insurrection of slaves, as I think, can happen in this
country for a long time. Whoever much fears, or much hopes for such
an event, will be alike disappointed.

In the language of Mr. Jefferson, uttered many years ago, "It is
still in our power to direct the process of emancipation, and
deportation, peaceably, and in such slow degrees, as that the evil
will wear off insensibly; and their places be, _pari passu_, filled
up by free white laborers. If, on the contrary, it is left to force
itself on, human nature must shudder at the prospect held up."[32]

Mr. Jefferson did not mean to say, nor do I, that the power of
emancipation is in the Federal Government. He spoke of Virginia;
and, as to the power of emancipation, I speak of the slaveholding
States only. The Federal Government, however, as we insist, has the
power of restraining the extension of the institution--the power to
insure that a slave insurrection shall never occur on any American
soil which is now free from slavery.

John Brown's effort was peculiar. It was not a slave insurrection.
It was an attempt by white men to get up a revolt among slaves, in
which the slaves refused to participate. In fact, it was so absurd
that the slaves, with all their ignorance, saw plainly enough it
could not succeed. That affair, in its philosophy, corresponds with
the many attempts, related in history, at the assassination of kings
and emperors. An enthusiast broods over the oppression of a people
till he fancies himself commissioned by Heaven to liberate them. He
ventures the attempt, which ends in little else than his own
execution. Orsini's attempt on Louis Napoleon, and John Brown's
attempt at Harper's Ferry were, in their philosophy, precisely the
same. The eagerness to cast blame on old England in the one case,
and on New England in the other, does not disprove the sameness of
the two things.

And how much would it avail you, if you could, by the use of John
Brown, Helper's Book, and the like, break up the Republican
organization? Human action can be modified to some extent, but human
nature cannot be changed. There is a judgment and a feeling against
slavery in this nation, which cast at least a million and a half of
votes. You cannot destroy that judgment and feeling--that
sentiment--by breaking up the political organization which rallies
around it. You can scarcely scatter and disperse an army which has
been formed into order in the face of your heaviest fire; but if
you could, how much would you gain by forcing the sentiment which
created it out of the peaceful channel of the ballot-box, into some
other channel? What would that other channel probably be? Would the
number of John Browns be lessened or enlarged by the operation?

But you will break up the Union rather than submit to a denial of
your Constitutional rights.[33]

That has a somewhat reckless sound; but it would be palliated, if
not fully justified, were we proposing, by the mere force of
numbers, to deprive you of some right, plainly written down in the
Constitution. But we are proposing no such thing.

When you make these declarations, you have a specific and
well-understood allusion to an assumed Constitutional right of
yours, to take slaves into the federal territories, and to hold them
there as property. But no such right is specifically written in the
Constitution. That instrument is literally silent about any such
right. We, on the contrary, deny that such a right has any existence
in the Constitution, even by implication.

Your purpose, then, plainly stated, is, that you will destroy the
Government, unless you be allowed to construe and enforce the
Constitution as you please, on all points in dispute between you and
us. You will rule or ruin in all events.

This, plainly stated, is your language. Perhaps you will say the
Supreme Court has decided the disputed Constitutional question in
your favor. Not quite so. But waiving the lawyer's distinction
between dictum and decision, the Court have decided the question for
you in a sort of way. The Court have substantially said, it is your
Constitutional right to take slaves into the federal territories,
and to hold them there as property. When I say the decision was made
in a sort of way, I mean it was made in a divided Court, by a bare
majority of the Judges, and they not quite agreeing with one another
in the reasons for making it;[34] that it is so made as that its
avowed supporters disagree with one another about its meaning, and
that it was mainly based upon a mistaken statement of fact--the
statement in the opinion that "the right of property in a slave is
distinctly and expressly affirmed in the Constitution."[35]

An inspection of the Constitution will show that the right of
property in a slave is not "_distinctly_ and _expressly_ affirmed"
in it. Bear in mind, the Judges do not pledge their judicial opinion
that such right is _impliedly_ affirmed in the Constitution; but
they pledge their veracity that it is "_distinctly_ and _expressly_"
affirmed there--"distinctly," that is, not mingled with anything
else--"expressly," that is, in words meaning just that, without the
aid of any inference, and susceptible of no other meaning.

If they had only pledged their judicial opinion that such right is
affirmed in the instrument by implication, it would be open to
others to show that neither the word "slave" nor "slavery" is to be
found in the Constitution, nor the word "property" even, in any
connection with language alluding to the things slave, or slavery,
and that wherever in that instrument the slave is alluded to, he is
called a "person";--and wherever his master's legal right in
relation to him is alluded to, it is spoken of as "service or labor
which may be due,"--as a debt payable in service or labor.[36] Also,
it would be open to show, by contemporaneous history, that this mode
of alluding to slaves and slavery, instead of speaking of them, was
employed on purpose to exclude from the Constitution the idea that
there could be property in man.

To show all this, is easy and certain.[37]

When this obvious mistake of the Judges shall be brought to their
notice, is it not reasonable to expect that they will withdraw the
mistaken statement, and reconsider the conclusion based upon it?

And then it is to be remembered that "our fathers, who framed the
Government under which we live"--the men who made the
Constitution--decided this same Constitutional question in our
favor, long ago--decided it without division among themselves, when
making the decision; without division among themselves about the
meaning of it after it was made, and, so far as any evidence is
left, without basing it upon any mistaken statement of facts.

Under all these circumstances, do you really feel yourselves
justified to break up this Government, unless such a court decision
as yours is, shall be at once submitted to as a conclusive and final
rule of political action? But you will not abide the election of a
Republican President! In that supposed event, you say, you will
destroy the Union; and then, you say, the great crime of having
destroyed it will be upon us! That is cool. A highwayman holds a
pistol to my ear, and mutters through his teeth, "Stand and deliver
or I shall kill you, and then you will be a murderer!"

To be sure, what the robber demanded of me--my money--was my own;
and I had a clear right to keep it; but it was no more my own than
my vote is my own; and the threat of death to me, to extort my
money, and the threat of destruction to the Union, to extort my
vote, can scarcely be distinguished in principle.

A few words now to Republicans. _It is exceedingly desirable that
all parts of this great Confederacy shall be at peace and in
harmony, one with another. Let us Republicans do our part to have it
so. Even though much provoked, let us do nothing through passion and
ill temper. Even though the Southern people will not so much as
listen to us, let us calmly consider their demands, and yield to
them if, in our deliberate view of our duty, we possibly can_.[38]
Judging by all they say and do, and by the subject and nature of
their controversy with us, let us determine, if we can, what will
satisfy them.

Will they be satisfied if the Territories be unconditionally
surrendered to them? We know they will not. In all their present
complaints against us, the Territories are scarcely mentioned.
Invasions and insurrections are the rage now. Will it satisfy them,
if, in the future, we have nothing to do with invasions and
insurrections? We know it will not. We so know, because we know we
never had anything to do with invasions and insurrections; and yet
this total abstaining does not exempt us from the charge and the
denunciation.

The question recurs, what will satisfy them? Simply this: We must
not only let them alone, but we must, somehow, convince them that we
do let them alone. This, we know by experience, is no easy task. We
have been so trying to convince them from the very beginning of our
organization, but with no success. In all our platforms and speeches
we have constantly protested our purpose to let them alone; but this
has had no tendency to convince them. Alike unavailing to convince
them, is the fact that they have never detected a man of us in any
attempt to disturb them.

These natural, and apparently adequate means all failing, what will
convince them? This, and this only; cease to call slavery _wrong_,
and join them in calling it _right_. And this must be done
thoroughly--done in _acts_ as well as in _words_. Silence will not
be tolerated--we must place ourselves avowedly with them. Senator
Douglas's new sedition law must be enacted and enforced, suppressing
all declarations that slavery is wrong, whether made in politics,
in presses, in pulpits, or in private. We must arrest and return
their fugitive slaves with greedy pleasure. We must pull down our
Free State constitutions. The whole atmosphere must be disinfected
from all taint of opposition to slavery, before they will cease to
believe that all their troubles proceed from us.

I am quite aware they do not state their case precisely in this way.
Most of them would probably say to us, "Let us alone, _do_ nothing
to us, and _say_ what you please about slavery." But we do let them
alone--have never disturbed them--so that, after all, it is what we
say, which dissatisfies them. They will continue to accuse us of
doing, until we cease saying.

I am also aware they have not, as yet, in terms, demanded the
overthrow of our Free-State Constitutions.[39] Yet those
Constitutions declare the wrong of slavery, with more solemn
emphasis, than do all other sayings against it; and when all these
other sayings shall have been silenced, the overthrow of these
Constitutions will be demanded, and nothing be left to resist the
demand. It is nothing to the contrary, that they do not demand the
whole of this just now. Demanding what they do, and for the reason
they do, they can voluntarily stop nowhere short of this
consummation. Holding, as they do, that slavery is morally right,
and socially elevating, they cannot cease to demand a full national
recognition of it, as a legal right, and a social blessing.[40]

Nor can we justifiably withhold this on any ground save our
conviction that slavery is wrong. If slavery is right, all words,
acts, laws, and constitutions against it, are themselves wrong, and
should be silenced, and swept away. If it is right, we cannot justly
object to its nationality--its universality; if it is wrong, they
cannot justly insist upon its extension--its enlargement. All they
ask, we could readily grant, if we thought slavery right; all we
ask, they could as readily grant, if they thought it wrong.[41]
Their thinking it right, and our thinking it wrong, is the precise
fact upon which depends the whole controversy. Thinking it right, as
they do, they are not to blame for desiring its full recognition, as
being right; but, thinking it wrong, as we do, can we yield to them?
Can we cast our votes with their view, and against our own? In view
of our moral, social, and political responsibilities, can we do
this?

Wrong as we think slavery is, we can yet afford to let it alone
where it is, because that much is due to the necessity arising from
its actual presence in the nation; but can we, while our votes will
prevent it, allow it to spread into the National Territories, and to
overrun us here in these Free States? If our sense of duty forbids
this, then let us stand by our duty, fearlessly and effectively. Let
us be diverted by none of those sophistical contrivances wherewith
we are so industriously plied and belabored--contrivances such as
groping for some middle ground between the right and the wrong,
vain as the search for a man who should be neither a living man nor
a dead man--such as a policy of "don't care" on a question about
which all true men do care--such as Union appeals beseeching true
Union men to yield to Disunionists, reversing the divine rule, and
calling, not the sinners, but the righteous to repentance--such as
invocations to Washington, imploring men to unsay what Washington
said, and undo what Washington did.

Neither let us be slandered from our duty by false accusations
against us, nor frightened from it by menaces of destruction to the
Government nor of dungeons to ourselves. LET US HAVE FAITH THAT
RIGHT MAKES MIGHT, AND IN THAT FAITH, LET US, TO THE END, DARE TO DO
OUR DUTY AS WE UNDERSTAND IT.

INDEX

A

Andersonville, responsibility for, 190 Andrew, John. A., 105 Antietam, battle of, 115 Appomattox, the surrender at, 177 ff. Atlanta, capture of, 151

B

Bahamas, trade of the, with the Confederacy, 167 ff. Banks, General N.P., 103 Bazaine, General, in command of French army in Mexico, 156 Belle Isle, the prison of, 189 Bentonville, battle of, 183 Bixby, Mrs., letter to, from Lincoln, 152 "Black Republicans," the, 250 Blair, Prank P., difficulties with, 161 Blount, William, 237 Border States, the, and emancipation, 114 ff. Bragg, Gen. Braxton, 136 ff. Brainerd, Cephas, on the Cooper Union address, 211 Brown, John, raid of, 254 Bryant on Lincoln, 202 Buckner, Gen. S.B., 99 Bull Run, second battle of, 122 Burnside, Gen. Ambrose F., and the Army of the Potomac, 127; and the defence of Knoxville, 137 Butler, Benjamin F., 103, 120

C

Cabinet, cabals in the, 160 Cedar Creek, the battle of, 150 ff. Chancellorsville, battle of, 129 Charleston, evacuation of, 169 Chase, Salmon P., and the Presidential election of 1864, 154; resignation of, 154; appointed chief justice, 155; efforts of, for the Presidency, 157; difficulties with, in the Cabinet, 161 Chickamauga, battle of, 136 Clay, Cassius M., 223 Congress and slavery in the Territories, 246 ff. Constitution, the 13th amendment to, 163 ff.; defined by Lincoln, 236 ff.; and property in slaves, 260 ff. "Crocker, Master", 113 Curtin, Gov. A.G., 105 Curtis, Gen. S.R., 108

D

Danville, the prison of, 147, 189 ff.;
mortality in, 159
Davis, Jefferson, and Benj. F. Butler, 120;
and the Peace Conference of Feb., 1865, 163;
capture of, 187;
and the other leaders of the South, 189;
and the management of the Southern
prisons, 190 ff;
as a prisoner and martyr, 191
Douglas, Stephen A., and the debate with Lincoln, cited, 235;
and the sedition act, 263;
and the Dred Scott decision, 246
Dred Scott case, the, 246

E

Early, Jubal A., raid of on Washington, 142 ff.; and the battle of Winchester, 149; and the battle of Cedar Creek, 150 Elliott, Charles W., 213 Emancipation Proclamation, the, 115 ff. Enfield rifles, use of, by Confederates, 146

F

Farragut, Admiral D.G., 111 Few, William, 237 Fisher, Fort, capture of, 167 Fitzsimmons, Thomas, 238 Floyd, General John B., 99 Franklin, battle of, 151 ff. Franklin, Benjamin, 245

G

Georgia, cession of territory by, 239
Gettysburg, campaign of, 132 ff.
Goldsborough, surrender of Johnston's army at, 183
Goodell, Dr. Wm., 212
Grant, Gen. U.S., captures Fort Donelson, 99;
and the Vicksburg campaign, 134;
and the Chattanooga campaign, 136;
commander of the armies, 137 ff.;
suggested for the Presidency, 157;
declines to consider terms of peace, 171;
at Appomattox, 177 ff.;
at Goldsborough, 184 ff.
Greeley, Horace, 105
Greene, Frank V., on Lincoln, 106

H

Halleck, Gen. H.W., 103 Hallowell, Col. Norwood, 116 Hamilton, Alexander, 245 Hancock, Gen. W.S., 127 Harper's Ferry, 124; John Brown's raid at, 254 Helper, H.R., the "Impending Crisis" of, 258 Hewitt, Abram S., 99 ff. Higginson, Col. T.W., 116 Hood, Gen. John B., 151 ff. Hooker, Gen. Joseph, 107, 127, 130 ff., 137

I

Intervention of France and England threatened, 122

J

Jefferson, Thomas, on emancipation, 257 Johnston, Gen. Joseph E., 138, 151, 169, 183 ft.

K

King, Rufus, 241 Knoxville, siege of, 137

L

Lee, Gen. Robert E. and the Antietam campaign, 122;
and the campaign of Gettysburg, 130 ff.;
and the defence of Virginia, 137 ff.;
proposes treaty of peace, 171;
defeated at Five Forks, 171;
at Appomattox, 171
Libby prison, Presidential election in, 158;
mortality in, 159;
record of, 189 ff.
Lincoln, Abraham, and Hewitt, A.S., 100 ff.;
writes to "Master Crocker", 113;
as commander-in-chief, 103 ff.;
and the death penalty for soldiers, 119;
campaign methods of McClellan, 125 ff.;
letter of, appointing Hooker, 128;
to Grant on the fall of Vicksburg, 134;
address of, at Gettysburg, 134;
letter of, to Mrs. Bixby, 152;
re-election of, as President, 157;
and the exchange of prisoners, 158 ff.;
and the control of the administration, 160;
and the Peace Conference of Feb., 1865, 162 ff.;
second inaugural of, 169 ff.;
last public address of, 178;
death of, 181;
and the proposed capture of Jefferson Davis, 188;
death of, reported to the army at Goldsborough, 190;
comparison of, with Washington and Jackson, 195 ff.;
Cooper Union address of, 205 ff.;
writes to Nott, 225 ff.
Lincoln, Robert, on the Cooper Union address, 209
Longstreet, Gen. James, 133, 137
Lookout Mountain, battle of, 137
Louisiana, purchase of, 240
Lowell on Lincoln, 202

M

Maximilian, Prince, and the invasion of Mexico, 156 McClellan, Gen. George B. 102 ff.; and the Antietam campaign, 122 ff.; ordered to report to New Jersey, 126 Meade, Gen. Geo. G., 127, 131 Mifflin, Thomas, 237 Milliken's Bend, battle of, 118 Minnesota, troops from, 165; university of, 167 Missionary Ridge, battle of, 137 Mississippi, organisation of the Territory of, 240 Missouri, admission of, 241 Missouri Compromise, the, 31, 38 Monocacy Creek, battle of, 143 Morgan, Gen. John, 177 Morris, Gouverneur, 245

N

Napoleon, Louis, and the invasion of Mexico, 156 Nashville, battle of, 151 ff. _Nation_, the London, on the character of Lincoln, 198 ff. New Orleans, capture of, 111 ff. Nineteenth Army Corps and Early's raid, 145 North Carolina, cession of territory by, 239 Northwestern Territory, the, of the U.S., 237 Nott, Chas. C., introduction to the Cooper Union address, 215 ff.; letter of, to Lincoln, 224 ff. Noyes, Wm. Curtis, 212

O

Ordinance of 1787, 238 ff.

P

Pea Ridge, battle of, 108 Peace Conference of Feb., 1865, 162 Pickett, Gen. G.E., 133 Pinckney, Charles, 241 ff. Pope, Gen. John, 103, 122 Port Hudson, surrender of, 112 Presidential election in Libby prison, 158 Prisoners, the exchange of, 158 Putnam, George Palmer, and the Cooper Union address, 212

R

Reagan, Postmaster-general, at Goldsborough, 184 Reconstruction, Lincoln's views on, 180 ff. Republican party, the, and slavery in the Territories, 249 ff. Republican Union, the Young Men's, 223, 232 Reynolds, Gen. J.T., 127 Rosecrans, Gen. Wm. S., and the Chattanooga campaign, 136 Rutledge, John, 245

S

Schechter, Rabbi, on the character of Lincoln, 200 Schofield, Gen. Geo. W., 152 Schurz, Carl, on the character of Lincoln, 201 Seward, W.H., 64, 160 Sharp's breech-loaders introduced in 1864, 146 Shaw, Col. R.G., 116 Shenandoah, campaign in the valley of the, 149 Sheridan, Gen. Philip, in the Shenandoah, 149 ff.; wins battle of Five Forks, 171 Sherman, Roger, 237 Sherman, Gen. Wm. T., at Missionary Ridge, 137; captures Atlanta, 151; and the Georgia planter, 164; passes by Charleston, 169; at Goldsborough, 183 ff. Sigel, Gen. Franz, 108 Smith, Gen. Kirby, surrender of, 191 Soldiers authorised to vote in presidential election, 152 Southampton, insurrection at, 256 South Mountain, battle of the, 124 Stanton, Edwin, M., 65, 101 ff., 185 Stephens, Alexander H., and the Peace Conference of Feb., 1865, 162 ff. Sumter, Fort, restoration of the flag on, 182

T

Taylor, Gen. Richard, surrender of, 191 Thomas. Gen. Geo. H., 136

V

Vicksburg, surrender of, 112, 134

W

Wallace, Gen. Lew, 143 Washington assailed by Early, 142 ff. Washington, George, and the Ordinance of 1787, 239; Farewell Address of, 252; the example of, 266 Weitzel, Gen. Godfrey, 119 Whittier on Lincoln, 201 Wilderness, battle of the, 140 ff. Williamson, Hugh, 237 Wilmington, capture of, 167 Winchester, third battle of, 149 Winder, Gen., and the management of the Southern prisons, 190 Wisconsin, troops from, 165 Wisewell, Col. F.H., 144 ff.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 1: This letter has not been published. It is cited here through the courtesy of Mr. Robert Lincoln and Mr. R.W. Gilder.]

[Footnote 2: The text of the speech, as revised by Lincoln and with the introduction and notes by Nott and Brainerd, is given as an appendix to this volume.]

[Footnote 3: The late George Palmer Putnam.]

[Footnote 4:--The Constitution is attested September 17, 1787. It was ratified by all of the States, excepting North Carolina and Rhode Island, in 1788, and went into operation on the first Wednesday in January, 1789. The first Congress proposed, in 1789, ten articles of amendments, all of which were ratified. Article XI. of the amendments was prepared by the Third Congress, in 1794, and Article XII. by the Eighth Congress, in 1803. Another Article was proposed by the Eleventh Congress, prohibiting _citizens_ from receiving titles of nobility, presents or offices, from foreign nations. Although this has been printed as one of the amendments, it was in fact never ratified, being approved by but twelve States. _Vide_ Message of President Monroe, Feb. 4, 1818.]

[Footnote 5:--The Convention consisted of _sixty-five_ members. Of these, _ten_ did not attend the Convention, and _sixteen_ did not sign the Constitution. Of these sixteen, six refused to sign, and published their reasons for so refusing, _viz._: Robert Yates and John Lansing, of New-York; Edmund Randolph and George Mason, of Virginia; Luther Martin, of Maryland, and Elbridge Gerry, of Mass. Alexander Hamilton alone subscribed for New-York, and Rhode Island was not represented in the Convention. The names of the "thirty-nine," and the States which they represented are subsequently given.]

[Footnote 6:--The cession of Territory was authorized by New-York, Feb. 19, 1780; by Virginia, January 2, 1781, and again, (without certain conditions at first imposed,) "at their sessions, begun on the 20th day of October, 1783;" by Mass., Nov. 13, 1784; by Conn., May----, 1786; by S. Carolina, March 8, 1787; by N. Carolina, Dec.----, 1789; and by Georgia at some time prior to April, 1802.

The deeds of cession were executed by New-York, March 1, 1781; by Virginia, March 1, 1784; by Mass., April 19, 1785; by Conn., Sept. 13, 1786; by S. Carolina, August 9, 1787; by N. Carolina, Feb. 25, 1790; and by Georgia, April 24, 1802. Five of these grants were therefore made before the adoption of the Constitution, and one afterward; while the sixth (North Carolina) was authorized before, and consummated afterward. The cession of this State contains the express proviso "that no regulations made, or to be made by Congress, shall tend to emancipate slaves." The cession of Georgia conveys the Territory subject to the Ordinance of '87, except the provision prohibiting slavery.

These dates are also interesting in connection with the extraordinary assertions of Chief Justice Taney, (19 How., page 434,) that "the example of Virginia was soon afterwards followed by other States," and that (p. 436) the power in the Constitution "to dispose of and make all needful rules and regulations respecting the Territory or other property belonging to the United States," was intended only "to transfer to the new Government the property then held in common," "and has no reference whatever to any Territory or other property which the new sovereignty might afterwards itself acquire." On this subject, _vide Federalist_, No. 43, sub. 4 and 5.]

[Footnote 7:--Sherman was from Connecticut; Mifflin from Penn.; Williamson from North Carolina, and M'Henry from Maryland.]

[Footnote 8:--What Mr. M'Henry's views were, it seems impossible to ascertain. When the Ordinance of '87 was passed he was sitting in the Convention. He was afterwards appointed Secretary of War; yet no record has thus far been discovered of his opinion. Mr. M'Henry also wrote a biography of La Fayette, which, however, cannot be found in any of the public libraries, among which may be mentioned the State Library at Albany, and the Astor, Society, and Historical Society Libraries, at New York.

Hamilton says of him, in a letter to Washington _(Works_, vol. vi., p. 65): "M'Henry you know. He would give no strength to the Administration, but he would not disgrace the office; his views are good."]

[Footnote 9:--William Blount was from North Carolina, and William Few from Georgia--the two States which afterward ceded their Territory to the United States. In addition to these facts the following extract from the speech of Rufus King in the Senate, on the Missouri Bill, shows the entire unanimity with which the Southern States approved the prohibition:

"The State of Virginia, which ceded to the United States her claims to this Territory, consented, by her delegates in the Old Congress, to this Ordinance. Not only Virginia, but North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, by the unanimous votes of their delegates in the Old Congress, approved of the Ordinance of 1787, by which Slavery is forever abolished in the Territory northwest of the river Ohio. Without the votes of these States, the Ordinance could not have been passed; and there is no recollection of an opposition from any of these States to the act of confirmation passed under the actual Constitution."]

[Footnote 10:--"The famous Ordinance of Congress of the 13th July, 1787, which has ever since constituted, in most respects, the model of all our territorial governments, and is equally remarkable for the brevity and exactness of its text, and for its masterly display of the fundamental principles of civil and religious liberty."--_Justice Story, 1 Commentaries_: §1312.

"It is well known that the Ordinance of 1787 was drawn by the Hon. Nathan Dane, of Massachusetts, and adopted with scarcely a verbal alteration by Congress. It is a noble and imperishable monument to his fame."--_Id._ note.

The ordinance was reported by a committee, of which Wm. S. Johnson and Charles Pinckney were members. It recites that, "for extending the fundamental principles of civil and religious liberty, which form the basis whereon these republics, their laws and constitutions, are erected; to fix and establish those principles as the basis of all laws, constitutions, and governments which forever hereafter shall be formed in the said Territory; to provide also for the establishment of States and permanent government, and for their admission to a share in the federal councils, on an equal footing with the original States, at as early periods as may be consistent with the general interest--

"It is hereby ordained and declared, by the authority aforesaid, that the following articles shall be considered as articles of compact between the original States and the people and States in the said Territory, and forever remain unalterable, unless by common consent, to wit:"

"_Art._ 6. There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in the said Territory otherwise than in the punishment of crimes whereof the party shall have been duly convicted; provided always that any person escaping into the same, from whom labor or service is lawfully claimed in any one of the original States, such fugitive may be lawfully reclaimed, and conveyed to the person claiming his or her labor or service."

On passing the ordinance, the ayes and nays were required by Judge Yates, of New York, when it appeared _that his was the only vote in the negative_.

The ordinance of April 23, 1784, was a brief outline of that of '87. It was reported by a Committee, of which Mr. Jefferson was chairman, and the report contained a slavery prohibition intended to take effect in 1800. This was stricken out of the report, six States voting to retain it--three voting to strike out--one being divided (N.C.), and the others not being represented. (The assent of nine States was necessary to retain any provision.) And this is the vote alluded to by Mr. Lincoln. But subsequently, March 16, 1785, a motion was made by Rufus King to commit a proposition "that there be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude" in any of the Territories; which was carried by the vote of eight States, including Maryland.--_Journal Am. Congress,_ vol. 4, pp. 373, 380, 481, 752.

When, therefore, the ordinance of '87 came before Congress, on its final passage, the subject of slavery prohibition had been "_agitated_" for nearly three years; and the deliberate and almost unanimous vote of that body upon that question leaves no room to doubt what the fathers believed, and how, in that belief, they acted.]

[Footnote 11:--It singularly and fortunately happens that one of the "thirty-nine," "while engaged on that instrument," viz., while advocating its ratification before the Pennsylvania Convention, did express an opinion upon this "precise question," which opinion was _never_ disputed or doubted, in that or any other Convention, and was accepted by the opponents of the Constitution, as an indisputable fact. This was the celebrated James Wilson, of Pennsylvania. The opinion is as follows:--

MONDAY, _Dec._ 3, 1787.

"With respect to the clause restricting Congress from prohibiting the migration or importation of such persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, prior to the year 1808: The Hon. gentleman says that this clause is not only dark, but intended to grant to Congress, for that time, the power to admit the importation of slaves. No such thing was intended; but I will tell you what was done, and it gives me high pleasure that so much was done. Under the present Confederation, the States may admit the importation of slaves as long as they please; but by this article, after the year 1808, the Congress will have power to prohibit such importation, notwithstanding the disposition of any State to the contrary. I consider this as laying the foundation for banishing slavery out of this country; and though the period is more distant than I could wish, yet it will produce the same kind, gradual change which was pursued in Pennsylvania. It is with much satisfaction that I view this power in the general government, whereby they may lay an interdiction on this reproachful trade. But an immediate advantage is also obtained; for a tax or duty may be imposed on such importation, not exceeding $10 for each person; and this, sir, operates as a partial prohibition; it was all that could be obtained. I am sorry it was no more; but from this I think there is reason to hope that yet a few years, and it will be prohibited altogether. _And in the meantime, the new States which are to be formed will be under the control of Congress in this particular, and slaves will never be introduced amongst them_."--2 _Elliott's Debates_, 423.

It was argued by Patrick Henry in the Convention in Virginia, as follows:

"May not Congress enact that every black man must fight? Did we not see a little of this in the last war? We were not so hard pushed as to make emancipation general. But acts of Assembly passed, that every slave who would go to the army should be free. Another thing will contribute to bring this event about. Slavery is detested. We feel its fatal effects. We deplore it with all the pity of humanity. Let all these considerations press with full force on the minds of Congress. Let that urbanity which, I trust, will distinguish America, and the necessity of national defence--let all these things operate on their minds, they will search that paper, and see if they have power of manumission. And have they not, sir? Have they not power to provide for the general defence and welfare? May they not think that these call for the abolition of slavery? May they not pronounce all slaves free, and will they not be warranted by that power? There is no ambiguous implication, no logical deduction. The paper speaks to the point; they have the power in clear, unequivocal terms, and will clearly and certainly exercise it."--3 _Elliott's Debates_, 534.

Edmund Randolph, one of the framers of the Constitution, replied to Mr. Henry, admitting the general force of the argument, but claiming that, because of other provisions, it had no application to the _States_ where slavery _then_ existed; thus conceding that power to exist in Congress as to all territory belonging to the United States.

Dr. Ramsay, a member of the Convention of South Carolina, in his history of the United States, vol. 3, pages 36, 37, says: "Under these liberal principles, Congress, in organizing _colonies_, bound themselves to impart to their inhabitants all the privileges of coequal States, as soon as they were capable of enjoying them. In their infancy, _government was administered for them_ without any expense. As soon as they should have 60,000 inhabitants, they were authorized to call a convention, and, by common consent, to form their own constitution. This being done, they were entitled to representation in Congress, and every right attached to the original States. These privileges are not confined to any particular country or _complexion_. They are communicable to the emancipated slave (for in the new State of Ohio, slavery is altogether prohibited), to the copper-colored native, and all other human beings who, after a competent residence and degree of civilization, are capable of enjoying the blessings of regular government."]

[Footnote 12:--The Act of 1789, as reported by the Committee, was received and read Thursday, July 16th. The second reading was on Friday, the 17th, when it was committed to the Committee of the whole house, "on Monday next." On Monday, July 20th, it was considered in Committee of the whole, and ordered to a third reading on the following day; on the 21st, it passed the House, and was sent to the Senate. In the Senate it had its first reading on the same day, and was ordered to a second reading on the following day (July 22d), and on the 4th of August it passed, and on the 7th was approved by the President.]

[Footnote 13:--The "sixteen" represented these States: Langdon and Oilman, New Hampshire; Sherman and Johnson, Connecticut; Morris, Fitzsimmons, and Clymer, Pennsylvania; King, Massachusetts; Paterson, New Jersey; Few and Baldwin, Georgia; Bassett and Read, Delaware; Butler, South Carolina; Carroll, Maryland; and Madison, Virginia]

[Footnote 14:--_Vide_ note 3, _ante_.]

[Footnote 15:--Chap. 28, § 7, U.S. Statutes, 5th Congress, 2d Session.]

[Footnote 16:--Langdon was from New Hampshire, Read from Delaware, and Baldwin from Georgia.]

[Footnote 17:--Chap. 38, § 10, U.S. Statutes, 8th Congress, 1st Session.]

[Footnote 18:--Baldwin was from Georgia, and Dayton from New Jersey.]

[Footnote 19:--Rufus King, who sat in the old Congress, and also in the Convention, as the representative of Massachusetts, removed to New York and was sent by that State to the U.S. Senate of the first Congress. Charles Pinckney was hi the House, as a representative of South Carolina.]

[Footnote 20:--Although Mr. Pinckney opposed "slavery prohibition" in 1820, yet his views, with regard to the _powers_ of the general government, may be better judged by his actions in the Convention:

FRIDAY, _June 8th,_ 1787.--"Mr. Pinckney moved 'that the National Legislature shall have the power of negativing all laws to be passed by the State Legislatures, which they may judge improper,' in the room of the clause as it stood reported.

"He grounds his motion on the necessity of one supreme controlling power, and he considers this as the _corner-stone_ of the present system; and hence the necessity of retrenching the State authorities, in order to preserve the good government of the national council."--T. 400, _Elliott's Debates_.

And again, THURSDAY, _August 23d,_ 1787, Mr. Pinckney renewed the motion with some modifications.--T. 1409. _Madison Papers_.

And although Mr. Pinckney, as correctly stated by Mr. Lincoln, "steadily voted against slavery prohibition, and against all compromises," he still regarded the passage of the Missouri Compromise as a great triumph of the South, which is apparent from the following letter:

CONGRESS HALL, _March 2d_, 1820, 3 _o'clock at night_.

DEAR SIR:---I hasten to inform you, that this moment we have carried the question to admit Missouri, and all Louisiana to the southward of 36° 30', free from the restriction of slavery, and give the South, in a short time, an addition of six, perhaps eight, members to the Senate of the United States. It is considered here by the slaveholding States as a great triumph.

The votes were close--ninety to eighty-six--produced by the seceding and absence of a few moderate men from the North. To the north of 36° 30,' there is to be, by the present law, restriction; which you will see by the votes, I voted against. But it is at present of no moment; it is a vast tract, uninhabited, only by savages and wild beasts, in which not a foot of the Indian claims to soil is extinguished, and in which, according to the ideas prevalent, no land office will be opened for a great length of time.

With respect, your obedient servant,

CHARLES PINCKNEY.

But conclusive evidence of Mr. Pinckney's views is furnished in the fact that _he was himself a member of the Committee which reported the Ordinance of_ '87, and that _on every occasion, when it was under the consideration of Congress, he voted against all amendments_.--_Jour. Am. Congress_, Sept. 29th, 1786. Oct. 4th. When the ordinance came up for its final passage, Mr. Pinckney was sitting in the Convention, and did not take any part in the proceedings of Congress.]

[Footnote 21:--By reference to notes 4, 6, 10, 13, 15, and 16 it will be seen that, of the twenty-three who acted upon the question of prohibition, twelve were from the present slaveholding States.]

[Footnote 22:--_Vide_ notes 5 and 17, _ante_.]

[Footnote 23:--"The remaining sixteen" were Nathaniel Gorham, Massachusetts; Alex. Hamilton, New York; William Livingston and David Brearly, New Jersey; Benjamin Franklin, Jared Ingersoll, James Wilson, and Gouverneur Morris, Pennsylvania; Gunning Bedford, John Dickinson, and Jacob Broom, Delaware; Daniel, of St. Thomas, Jenifer, Maryland; John Blair, Virginia; Richard Dobbs Spaight, North Carolina; and John Rutledge and Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, South Carolina.]

[Footnote 24:--"The only distinction between freedom and slavery consists in this: in the former state, a man is governed by the laws to which he has given his consent, either in person or by his representative; in the latter, he is governed by the will of another. In the one case, his life and property are his own; in the other, they depend upon the pleasure of a master. It is easy to discern which of the two states is preferable. No man in his senses can hesitate in choosing to be free rather than slave.... Were not the disadvantages of slavery too obvious to stand in need of it, I might enumerate and describe the tedious train of calamities inseparable from it. I might show that it is fatal to religion and morality; that it tends to debase the mind, and corrupt its noblest springs of action. I might show that it relaxes the sinews of industry and clips the wings of commerce, and works misery and indigence in every shape."--HAMILTON, _Works_, vol. 2, pp. 3, 9.

"That you will be pleased to countenance the restoration of _liberty_ to those unhappy _men_, who, alone in this land of freedom, are degraded into perpetual bondage, and who, amidst the general joy of surrounding freemen, are groaning in servile subjection; that you will devise means for removing this inconsistency from the character of the American people; that you will promote mercy and _justice_ toward this distressed race; and that you will step to the _very verge_ of the power vested in you for discouraging every species of traffic in the persons of our fellow-men."--Philadelphia, Feb. 3rd, 1790. _Franklin's Petition to Congress for the Abolition of Slavery._

Mr. Gouverneur Morris said: "He never would concur in upholding domestic slavery. It was a notorious institution. It was the curse of heaven on the States where it prevailed.... The admission of slavery into the representation, when fairly explained, comes to this--that the inhabitant of South Carolina or Georgia, who goes to the coast of Africa, and, in defiance of the most sacred laws of humanity, tears away his fellow-creatures from their dearest connections, and damns them to the most cruel bondage, shall have more votes, in a government instituted for the protection of the rights of mankind, than the citizen of Pennsylvania or New Jersey, who views with a laudable horror so notorious a practice.... He would sooner submit himself to a tax for paying for all the negroes in the United States than saddle posterity with such a constitution."--_Debate on Slave Representation in the Convention. Madison Papers_.]

[Footnote 25:--An eminent jurist (Chancellor Walworth) has said that "The preamble which was prefixed to these amendments, as adopted by Congress, is important to show in what light that body considered them." (8 _Wend. R.,_ p. 100.) It declares that a number of the State Conventions "having at the time of their adopting the Constitution _expressed_ a _desire_, in order to prevent _misconstruction or abuse of its powers_, that further _declaratory_ and restrictive clauses should be added," resolved, etc.

This preamble is in substance the preamble affixed to the "Conciliatory Resolutions" of Massachusetts, which were drawn by Chief Justice Parsons, and offered in the Convention as a compromise by John Hancock. (_Life Ch. J. Parsons,_ p. 67.) They were afterward copied and adopted with some additions by New Hampshire.

The fifth amendment, on which the Supreme Court relies, is taken almost literally from the declaration of rights put forth by the Convention of New York, and the clause referred to forms the ninth paragraph of the declaration. The tenth amendment, on which Senator Douglas relies, is taken from the Conciliatory Resolutions, and is the first of those resolutions somewhat modified. Thus, these two amendments, sought to be used for slavery, originated in the two great anti-slavery States, New York and Massachusetts.]

[Footnote 26:--The amendments were proposed by Mr. Madison in the House of Representatives, June 8, 1789. They were adopted by the House, August 24, and some further amendments seem to have been transmitted by the Senate, September 9. The printed journals of the Senate do not state the time of the final passage, and the message transmitting them to the State Legislatures speaks of them as adopted at the first session, begun on the fourth day of March, 1789. The date of the introduction and passage of the act enforcing the Ordinance of '87 will be found at note 9, _ante_.]

[Footnote 27:--It is singular that while two of the "thirty-nine" were in that Congress of 1819, there was but one (besides Mr. King) of the "seventy-six." The one was William Smith, of South Carolina. He was then a Senator, and, like Mr. Pinckney, occupied extreme Southern ground.]

[Footnote 28:--The following is an extract from the letter referred to:

"I agree with you cordially in your views in regard to negro slavery. I have long considered it a most serious evil, both socially and politically, and I should rejoice in any feasible scheme to rid our States of such a burden. The Congress of 1787 adopted an ordinance which prohibits the existence of involuntary servitude in our Northwestern Territory forever. I consider it a wise measure. It meets with the approval and assent of nearly every member from the States more immediately interested in slave labor. The prevailing opinion in Virginia is against the spread of slavery in our new Territories, and I trust we shall have a confederation of free States."

The following extract from a letter of Washington to Robert Morris, April, 12th, 1786, shows how strong were his views, and how clearly he deemed emancipation a subject for legislative enactment: "I can only say that there is no man living who wishes more sincerely than I do to see a plan adopted for the abolition of it; but there is but one proper and effective mode by which it can be accomplished, and that is, BY LEGISLATIVE AUTHORITY, and that, as far as _my suffrage will go, shall never be wanting_."]

[Footnote 29:--A Committee of five, consisting of Messrs. Mason, Davis, and Fitch (Democrats), and Collamer and Doolittle (Republicans), was appointed Dec. 14, 1859, by the U.S. Senate, to investigate the Harper's Ferry affair. That Committee was directed, among other things, to inquire: (1) "Whether such invasion and seizure was made under color of any organization intended to subvert the government of any of the States of the Union." (2) "What was the character and extent of such organisation." (3) "And whether any citizens of the United States, not present, were implicated therein, or accessory thereto, by contributions of money, arms, munitions, or otherwise."

The majority of the Committee, Messrs. Mason, Davis, and Fitch, reply to the inquiries as follows:

1. "There will be found in the Appendix a copy of the proceedings of a Convention held at Chatham, Canada, of the Provisional Form of Government there pretended to have been instituted, the object of which clearly was to subvert the government of one or more States, and of course, to that extent, the government of the United States." By reference to the copy of Proceedings it appears that _nineteen_ persons were present at that Convention, _eight_ of whom were either killed or executed at Charlestown, and one examined before the Committee.

2. "The character of the military organization appears, by the commissions issued to certain of the armed party as captains, lieutenants, etc., a specimen of which will be found in the Appendix."

(These Commissions are signed by John Brown as Commander-in-Chief, under the Provisional Government, and by J.H. Kagi as Secretary.)

"It clearly appeared that the scheme of Brown was to take with him comparatively but few men; but those had been carefully trained by military instruction previously, and were to act as officers. For his military force he relied, very clearly, on inciting insurrection amongst the Slaves."

3. "It does not appear that the contributions were made with actual knowledge of the use for which they were designed by Brown, although it does appear that money was freely contributed by those styling themselves the friends of this man Brown, and friends alike of what they styled the cause of freedom (of which they claimed him to be an especial apostle), without inquiring as to the way in which the money would be used by him to advance such pretended cause."

In concluding the report the majority of the Committee thus characterize the "invasion": "It was simply the act of lawless ruffians, under the sanction of no public or political authority--distinguishable only from ordinary felonies by the ulterior ends in contemplation by them," etc.]

[Footnote 30:--The Southampton insurrection, August, 1831, was induced by the remarkable ability of a slave calling himself General Nat Turner. He led his fellow bondsmen to believe that he was acting under the order of Heaven. In proof of this he alleged that the singular appearance of the sun at that time was a divine signal for the commencement of the struggle which would result in the recovery of their freedom. This insurrection resulted in the death of sixty-four white persons, and more than one hundred slaves. The Southampton was the eleventh large insurrection in the Southern States, besides numerous attempts and revolts.]

[Footnote 31:--In March, 1790, the General Assembly of France, on the petition of the _free_ people of color in St. Domingo, many of whom were intelligent and wealthy, passed a decree intended to be in their favor, but so ambiguous as to be construed in favor of both the whites and the blacks. The differences growing out of the decree created two parties--the _whites_ and the people of color; and some blood was shed. In 1791, the blacks again petitioned, and a decree was passed declaring the colored people citizens, who were born of free parents on both sides. This produced great excitement among the whites, and the two parties armed against each other, and horrible massacres and conflagrations followed. Then the Assembly rescinded this last decree, and like results followed, the blacks being the exasperated parties and the aggressors. Then the decree giving citizenship to the blacks was restored, and commissioners were sent out to keep the peace. The commissioners, unable to sustain themselves, between the two parties, with the troops they had, issued a proclamation that all blacks who were willing to range themselves under the banner of the Republic should be free. As a result a very large proportion of the blacks became in fact free. In 1794, the Conventional Assembly _abolished slavery_ throughout the French Colonies. Some years afterward, the French Government sought, with an army of 60,000 men, to reinstate slavery, but were unsuccessful, and then the white planters were driven from the Island.]

[Footnote 32:--_Vide_ Jefferson's Autobiography, commenced January 6th, 1821. JEFFERSON'S _Works_, vol. 1, p. 49.]